This is autosprintf.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.8 from autosprintf.texi. INFO-DIR-SECTION C++ libraries START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * autosprintf: (autosprintf). Support for printf format strings in C++. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY This file provides documentation for GNU `autosprintf' library. Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This manual is free documentation. It is dually licensed under the GNU FDL and the GNU GPL. This means that you can redistribute this manual under either of these two licenses, at your choice. This manual is covered by the GNU FDL. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (FDL), either version 1.2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF); with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Text, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is at `http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html'. This manual is covered by the GNU GPL. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). A copy of the license is at `http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html'.  File: autosprintf.info, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Prev: (dir), Up: (dir) GNU autosprintf *************** This manual documents the GNU autosprintf class, version 1.0. * Menu: * Introduction:: Introduction * Class autosprintf:: The `autosprintf' class * Using autosprintf:: Using `autosprintf' in own programs  File: autosprintf.info, Node: Introduction, Next: Class autosprintf, Prev: Top, Up: Top 1 Introduction ************** This package makes the C formatted output routines (`fprintf' et al.) usable in C++ programs, for use with the `' strings and the `' streams. It allows to write code like cerr << autosprintf ("syntax error in %s:%d: %s", filename, line, errstring); instead of cerr << "syntax error in " << filename << ":" << line << ": " << errstring; The benefits of the autosprintf syntax are: * It reuses the standard POSIX printf facility. Easy migration from C to C++. * English sentences are kept together. * It makes internationalization possible. Internationalization requires format strings, because in some cases the translator needs to change the order of a sentence, and more generally it is easier for the translator to work with a single string for a sentence than with multiple string pieces. * It reduces the risk of programming errors due to forgotten state in the output stream (e.g. `cout << hex;' not followed by `cout << dec;').  File: autosprintf.info, Node: Class autosprintf, Next: Using autosprintf, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top 2 The `autosprintf' class ************************* An instance of class `autosprintf' just contains a string with the formatted output result. Such an instance is usually allocated as an automatic storage variable, i.e. on the stack, not with `new' on the heap. The constructor `autosprintf (const char *format, ...)' takes a format string and additional arguments, like the C function `printf'. Conversions to `char *' and `std::string' are defined that return the encapsulated string. The destructor `~autosprintf ()' destroys the encapsulated string. An `operator <<' is provided that outputs the encapsulated string to the given `ostream'.  File: autosprintf.info, Node: Using autosprintf, Prev: Class autosprintf, Up: Top 3 Using `autosprintf' in own programs ************************************* To use the `autosprintf' class in your programs, you need to add #include "autosprintf.h" using gnu::autosprintf; to your source code. The include file defines the class `autosprintf', in a namespace called `gnu'. The `using' statement makes it possible to use the class without the (otherwise natural) `gnu::' prefix. When linking your program, you need to link with `libasprintf', because that's where the class is defined. In projects using GNU `autoconf', this means adding `AC_LIB_LINKFLAGS([asprintf])' to `configure.in' or `configure.ac', and using the @LIBASPRINTF@ Makefile variable that it provides.  Tag Table: Node: Top1336 Node: Introduction1696 Node: Class autosprintf2847 Node: Using autosprintf3619  End Tag Table