CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++
cpx
cpx

Reputation: 17577

string to binary

I convert a character to binary using std::bitset<CHAR_BIT> binary('c'); but this doesn't work for a string,

std::string str = "MyString";
std::bitset<SIZE_OF_STRING_IN_BITS> binary(str); //Error Exception

what should be the alternative?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 545

Answers (2)

Robert S. Barnes
Robert S. Barnes

Reputation: 40578

Why do you want to put the raw characters into a bitset? Why not a vector<char> ?

In any event you can get at the raw underlying bits of a string via the c_str() member function which usually returns a raw char* to the raw string data.

Upvotes: 3

Cubbi
Cubbi

Reputation: 47488

You could repeat this action over every character of the string, shifting the bitset by CHAR_BIT to the left every time:

#include <bitset>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <numeric>
#include <climits>
template<size_t N>
std::bitset<N> string_to_bitset(const std::string& s)
{
    return accumulate(s.begin(), s.end(), std::bitset<N>(),
           [](const std::bitset<N>& l, char r)
           {
               return std::bitset<N>(r) | l<<CHAR_BIT;
           });
}
int main()
{
    std::string str = "MyString";
    const size_t SIZE_OF_STRING_IN_BITS = CHAR_BIT * 8;
    std::bitset<SIZE_OF_STRING_IN_BITS> binary = string_to_bitset<SIZE_OF_STRING_IN_BITS> (str);
    std::cout << binary << '\n';
}

Seeing as the size of the bitset has to be a constant expression, I would go with boost::dynamic_bitset unless this string is a compile-time constant.

Upvotes: 1

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