Convert any variable to string in C

c string stringify stringification
hakuna matata picture hakuna matata · Jun 19, 2013 · Viewed 10.1k times · Source

Is is possible to convert any variable of any type to string?

I wrote the following

#define TO_STRING(val) #val

Is this a valid way of converting a variable into a string?

Answer

unwind picture unwind · Jun 19, 2013

You will get a string version of the variable's name, i.e. it will convert a to "a". The #when used like this is called the stringification operator.

For example:

#define TO_STRING(val) #val

int main(void)
{
  const int a = 12;
  print("a is %s\n", TO_STRING(a));
  return 0;
}

This will print a is a.

What do you expect to happen?

You can't get the variable's value, of course, since that's not available when the pre-processor runs (which is at compile-time).

Related questions

How do I concatenate const/literal strings in C?

I'm working in C, and I have to concatenate a few things. Right now I have this: message = strcat("TEXT ", var); message2 = strcat(strcat("TEXT ", foo), strcat(" TEXT ", bar)); Now if you have experience in C I'm sure you realize …

Read More
How do I create an array of strings in C?

I am trying to create an array of strings in C. If I use this code: char (*a[2])[14]; a[0]="blah"; a[1]="hmm"; gcc gives me "warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type". What is the correct way to do this? edit: …

Read More
How to convert a string to integer in C?

I am trying to find out if there is an alternative way of converting string to integer in C. I regularly pattern the following in my code. char s[] = "45"; int num = atoi(s); So, is there a better way or …

Read More