RE: compiler error question

Hi John,

 

>  I need a function that adds an extra backslash to a file path that is
returned by another function. I couldn't find any examples anywhere so I
wrote one of my own and when I compile the code I get the following error:

 

The error means that there are at least two overloaded versions of operator
[] for that type, and the compiler can't work out which one you want. As you
don't say whether you are working in C or C++ (or on which compiler) it's
hard to be more specific than that, but you might want to try changing your
loop variable to type size_t.

 

I would however say that if you are using C++ you really should look at
using a string class (e.g. std::string for cross platform code, or CString
for MFC/ATL code on Windows) for this rather than the C string handling API.

 

For one thing, string libraries make such operations far easier
(ATL::CString can do everything you seek in one line of code, for example).
For another, you are less likely to unwittingly write code containing buffer
overflow issues. Assuming I read what you are trying to do correctly, either
of the following should work:

 

void ReplaceSubstring(std::string& cpstrSource, const std::string&
refcstrSearch, const std::string& refcstrReplace)
{
    std::string::size_type pos = 0;

    while ( (pos = cpstrSource.find(refcstrSearch, pos) ) !=
std::string::npos)
    {
        cpstrSource.replace(pos, refcstrSearch.length(), refcstrReplace);


        pos += refcstrReplace.length();
    }
}

 

std::string path("C:\\This\\is\\a\\test.exe");

 

ReplaceSubstring(path, "\\", "\\\\");

 

 

If you are writing in Visual C++ for Windows, ATL::CString can do this in
one line of code:

 

CString sPath(_T("C:\\This\\is\\a\\test.exe") );



sPath.Replace(_T("\\"), _T("\\\\") );

 

I hope the above helps. Of course, if all you were trying to do is add a
single backslash to the end of the string that's a whole lot easier:

 

path += "\\";

 

 

Cheers,

 

                Anna x

 

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