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CString cstring;
LPSTR str = cstring.GetBuffer();
//access str
cstring.ReleaseBuffer();
With some Windows API, which take a LPSTR but do not write to it and would only need a LPCTSTR, I am sloppy and use the (LPSTR)(LPCTSTR) casting hack.
Disclaimer:
Don't try this at home kids, we are trained professionals.
Neither me or my company endorse this coding style implicitly or explicitly.
Failure is not an option - it's built right in.
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Thr trite answer is, that depends on what the function wants to do with the LPSTR. 
You can call mycstring.GetBuffer(0); to get a pointer to the internal text buffer in the CString object. If you're working in ASCII and not UNICODE then that pointer should match up with LPSTR. If the function you're calling expects the string to be of at least a minimum length then use mycstring.GetBuffer(nMinLength); to get a buffer of at least nMinLength characters. If doing this actually makes your CString longer you can call <code>mycstring.ReleaseBuffer(); afterwards to let the buffer shrink to only what's needed.
If the function that takes a LPSTR wants to write into the string you have to be very careful to pass a big enough buffer and validate it afterwards. mycstring.GetBufferSetLength(nLength); can sometimes be useful for this sort of thing. CStrings are useful but slippery customers 
Nothing is exactly what it seems but everything with seems can be unpicked.
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tom groezer wrote: How do u pass a Cstring into a function that accepts LPSTR?
Usually the above is NOT a good idea, unless yoou know that the function doesn't change the passed buffer. Typically there are the following scenarios:
(1) The function doesn't change the buffer.
(2) The function changes the buffer and it accepts the size of the buffer as parameter
The better way to handle point (1) is rewriting the function prototype in order to accept a LPCSTR argument instead of a LPSTR one, then passing to the function directly the CString object (CString implements a LPCSTR cast operator). If you cannot change the function prototype, but ARE SURE that function doesn't change the buffer, then use the CString::GetBuffer method).
To handle scenario (2), use CString::GetBuffer in a consistent way, for instance:
void fillBuffer(LPSTR lpszBuffer, INT nBufferSize);
void myFunction()
{
const int nSize = 10;
CString myString;
fillBuffer( myString.GetBuffer(nSize), nSize);
myString.ReleaseBuffer();
}
If you hve any doubts, see GetBuffer documentation here [^].
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler.
-- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
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Please look at CString::operator LPCTSTR
CString strTemp;
(LPCTSTR)strTemp;
Regards,
Paresh.
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Paresh Chitte wrote: Please look at CString::operator LPCTSTR
Did you miss the "that accepts LPSTR" part? 
"A good athlete is the result of a good and worthy opponent." - David Crow
"To have a respect for ourselves guides our morals; to have deference for others governs our manners." - Laurence Sterne
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As I didn't know thist GetBuffer ()... I made my own text transformation. I write it down:
char m_cName [20];
LPTSTR CMyClass::TransformTextFormat (const CString szString)
{ for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++)
m_cName[i] = NULL;
for (int j = 0; j < szString.GetLength (); j++)
m_cName[j] = szString[j];
return &m_cName[0];
}
I know is not the most "pretty" way... but it works
Greetings.
--------
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
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Your code will experience troubles with strings longer than 20 characters.
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler.
-- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
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Thanks for the advice...
I supposed so, but there is no problem. I use it in my application with visual/interactive elements whose names are limited to 16 chars.
Anyway... If the char m_cName is set to 100, would it then works with longer names? or still have problems with the length?
Greetings.
--------
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
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Nelek wrote: If the char m_cName is set to 100, would it then works with longer names? or still have problems with the length?
As soon as the length of the string you are assigning (including the end-NULL-byte) is greater than your buffer you have produced a so called buffer overrun error.
That may or may not go unnoticed for a while, but is a sure recipe for disaster.
Failure is not an option - it's built right in.
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Nelek wrote: Anyway... If the char m_cName is set to 100, would it then works with longer names? or still have problems with the length?
No. AFAIK CString can hold several thousand (virtually, an infinite number of) characters, hence your code will not handle properly big CStrings.
On the overall, your code:
Nelek wrote:
m_cName [20];
LPTSTR CMyClass::TransformTextFormat (const CString szString)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++)
m_cName[i] = NULL;
for (int j = 0; j < szString.GetLength (); j++)
m_cName[j] = szString[j];
return &m_cName[0];
}
has, IMHO several flaws:
(1) you should not define variables in header files (only declarations there). If you include the same header file in some source files (that is the usual scenario) then you experience compiler errors.
(2) The function, as it stands, relies on the factthat its argument has a lenght less than a certain amount (unless you use Design by contract technique...). This is dangerous: you have to handle bigger input buffers, without going out of the array boundaries (e.g. copying maximum 19 characters - you need the trailing NULL).
(3) code is inefficient, you first initialize to NULL a characther at time, then copy, a character at time, the CString into your buffer. The first operation is not required, the second one may be performed copying the whole buffer at once (of course you need to NULL terminate the string).
BTW efficience may be not a ISSUE, but reliability must be.
Hope that helps.
(3)
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler.
-- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
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Yes, it is a good explanation. I will take it in consideration. Thanks for the tips and corrections.
Greetings.
--------
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
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Nelek wrote: LPTSTR CMyClass::TransformTextFormat (const CString szString)
Microsoft intended us to take LPCTSTR and to return CString
CString CMyClass::TransformTextFormat (LPCTSTR szString)
And it works! You get rid of the buffer-lenght issue, the handing out of references to private data and the uncertain ownership of newed memory all at once!
A std::string would work the same way.
Failure is not an option - it's built right in.
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Maybe,
but it was the only solution I found to deal a problem with an MFC function that required a LPCSTR as parameter. I tried with CStrings, with &strings, with CString* and everything I thought in that moment. No one worked, because of that I make my own solution. It is not the finest solution, I know... but it works good and I was able to finish my programm
Greetings.
--------
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
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Nelek wrote: an MFC function that required a LPCSTR as parameter. I tried with CStrings, with &strings, with CString* and everything I thought in that moment. No one worked
Huh?
When you've got a CString, and you use it as a parameter to a function taking a LPCTSTR, the operator LPCTSTR() Kicks in and converts.
This wont work with a LPTSTR, though. Notice the missing C!
Here, as the function will write the String, you would need to use GetBuffer( length) / ReleaseBuffer().
Failure is not an option - it's built right in.
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Please have a look at CString::operator LPCTSTR
CString strTemp;
(LPCTSTR)strTemp;
Regards,
Paresh.
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...to find out that it is useless (hint: OP asked for LPSTR).
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler.
-- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
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You could do this (if you're feeling adventurous):
CString sMyString("1234567890");
ThisFunctionNeedsLPSTR((LPSTR)(LPCTSTR)sMyString);
The best advise (as already stated by others) is to use GetBuffer()/ReleaseBuffer().
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001
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That would not be a good idea.
Steve
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It has its right E.G. in CListView or CTreeView, where structs are used for reading and writing, and hence have the strings defined as LPTSTR.
When I am writing into the control, it will not ever alter the string I gave it. So I sometimes just shut up the compiler by using the big club of a double cast.
Failure is not an option - it's built right in.
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Personally, I always use the GetBuffer(), ReleaseBuffer() combo. 
Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself. - Cicero
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And up to now... I will make the same  :P
Greetings.
--------
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
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Hi
I am trying to disable a menu item, but it is only disabling it for me and not graying it out.
For instance I have a menu as following:
File
->Open
->Save
So the "Open" and "Save" are grayed out and disabled, but "File" is not.
How can I make "File" menu item be grayed out on top of being disabled?
By the way - I am using the ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI_RANGE command.
Thanks
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Currently inputting characters into a string varible in the CString class
How can i cut a set of characters from the string into another varible?
for example: - in the string is "Project"
how can i extract just the "Pro" part out of it into a varible?
Thanks for your help
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You can use the String splitting functions of CString Left, Right, Mid. For searching after certain characters you can use the Find methods.
But you have to keep in mind that those are index based functions, so you have to either rely on fixed index positions or your string has to contain nearly the same content.
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AlexDrummer wrote: for example: - in the string is "Project"
how can i extract just the "Pro" part out of it into a varible?
CString s = CString("Project").Left(3);
"A good athlete is the result of a good and worthy opponent." - David Crow
"To have a respect for ourselves guides our morals; to have deference for others governs our manners." - Laurence Sterne
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