BSTR to String

[conor0callaghan]

He I want to convert a BSTR to a string so I can cout<< the bstr.
Can anyone help?

 

[Cagliostro]

use
wcout<< theBstr<< ...

Ion Filipski

 

[teriviret]

If you really need to use cout or are curious about how to convert a BSTR to a c-string in general, check out this page on Microsoft's site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...cmfc98/html/_atl_string_conversion_macros.asp

 

[Cagliostro]

I'd advice to read FAQ207-1044

Ion Filipski

 

[AndyRocks]

1) Assuming you are doing so in a console application, you can also use the ATL conversion macros:

#include <atlbase.h>
#include <atlconv.h>

...
int main()
{
USES_CONVERSION; // this is necessary

BSTR strHello = SysAllocString(L&quot;Hello&quot;

std::cout<<OLE2CA(strHello)<<std::endl;

SysFreeString(strHello);

return 0;
}

2) If you don't want ATL headers, you can use VC++ runtime support for COM this way.

...
#include <comdef.h>

int main()
{
BSTR strHello = SysAllocString(L&quot;Hello&quot;

_bstr_t bstrHello(strHello, true); // passing true means
// you should not call
// SysFreeString

std::cout<<LPCSTR(bstrHello)<<std::endl;

return 0;
}

Cheers,
Andy

 

[teriviret]

Wow, that was a painful FAQ to read. May I suggest at least a spell-check?

 

[Cagliostro]

>teriviret
I'm not a native english speaker, but the FAQ I've written really helps. I think is easier to look in the sample from the FAQ than to look for syntactical errors [LOL]. The FAQ is written quite three years ago, but you're the first complaining on spelling. But I'll check for errors. I hope the errors are not in the C++ code .

Ion Filipski

 

[teriviret]

Sorry, I meant no disrespect, but I found it hard to read. But then again I've been getting used to reading Microsoft on-line help, so I guess my brain may be a little warped.

It is nice to see some example code, as Microsoft help is often devoid of it right when you'd need it. May I make one small suggestion though -- on the lines in your example code where you output something, it would help to include what is actually printed, in a comment next to the code.