utf-8 encoding a std::string?

Question

I use a drawing api which takes in a const char* to a utf-8 encoded string. Doing myStdString.cstr() does not work, the api fails to draw the string.

for example:

sd::stringsomeText = "■□▢▣▤▥▦▧▨▩▪▫▬▭▮▯▰▱";

will render ???????????????

So how do I get the std::string to act properly?

Thanks

std::string, and it's member functions, should NOT EVER be used for UTF-8! Too many people think that UTF-8 means they can simply use their plain old char without considerations -- they are incorrect. — Billy ONeal
– Billy ONeal, Commented Oct 31, 2010 at 3:07

Marcelo Cantos · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-20 20:37:44Z

3

Try using std::codecvt_utf8 to write the string to a stringstream and then pass the result (stringstream::str) to the API.

edited Oct 20, 2012 at 20:37

user283145

answered Oct 31, 2010 at 3:04

Marcelo Cantos

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Comments

Mark Ransom · Accepted Answer · 2010-10-31 03:03:30Z

There are so many variables here it's hard to know where to begin.

First, verify that the API really and truly supports UTF-8 input, and that it doesn't need some special setup or O/S support to do so. In particular make sure it's using a font with full Unicode support.

Your compiler will be responsible for converting the source file into a string. It probably does not do UTF-8 encoding by default, and may not have an option to do so no matter what. In that case you may have to declare the string as a std::wstring and convert it to UTF-8 from there. Alternatively you can look up each character beyond the first 128 and encode them as hex values in the string, but that's a hassle and makes for an unreadable source.

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