String.Format alternative in C++ [duplicate]

Answer 1

For completeness, the boost way would be to use boost::format

cout << boost::format("%s %s > %s") % a % b % c;

Take your pick. The boost solution has the advantage of type safety with the sprintf format (for those who find the << syntax a bit clunky).

Answer 2

The C++ way would be to use a std::stringstream object as:

std::stringstream fmt;
fmt << a << " " << b << " > " << c;

The C way would be to use sprintf.

The C way is difficult to get right since:

• It is type unsafe
• Requires buffer management

Of course, you may want to fall back on the C way if performance is an issue (imagine you are creating fixed-size million little stringstream objects and then throwing them away).

Answer 3

You can just concatenate the strings and build a command line.

std::string command = a + ' ' + b + " > " + c;
system(command.c_str());

You don't need any extra libraries for this.

Answer 4

As already mentioned the C++ way is using stringstreams.

#include <sstream>

string a = "test";
string b = "text.txt";
string c = "text1.txt";

std::stringstream ostr;
ostr << a << " " << b << " > " << c;

Note that you can get the C string from the string stream object like so.

std::string formatted_string = ostr.str();
const char* c_str = formatted_string.c_str();

Answer 5

You can use sprintf in combination with std::string.c_str().

c_str() returns a const char* and works with sprintf:

string a = "test";
string b = "text.txt";
string c = "text1.txt";
char* x = new char[a.length() + b.length() + c.length() + 32];

sprintf(x, "%s %s > %s", a.c_str(), b.c_str(), c.c_str() );

string str = x;
delete[] x;

or you can use a pre-allocated char array if you know the size:

string a = "test";
string b = "text.txt";
string c = "text1.txt";
char x[256];

sprintf(x, "%s %s > %s", a.c_str(), b.c_str(), c.c_str() );

Answer 6

In addition to options suggested by others I can recommend the fmt library which implements string formatting similar to str.format in Python and String.Format in C#. Here's an example:

std::string a = "test";
std::string b = "text.txt";
std::string c = "text1.txt";
std::string result = fmt::format("{0} {1} > {2}", a, b, c);

Disclaimer: I'm the author of this library.