EAString

Introduction

EAString implements an extensive suite of C string functionality from <string.h> in a portable way. Much of this functionality is the same as what is present in the C standard and in common (but non-portable) extensions to the C standard. EAString presents a consistent portable interface to its functionality in both 8 bit and 16 bit string form.

The C language provides various functions which work with non-portable data types, such as long. EAString defines all significant data types in terms of portable types such as int32_t and int64_t. Additionally, the EAString versions of functions are usually faster than the C runtime library versions, usually because the EAString versions minimize cache misses and branching, whereas typical C runtime libraries optimize for the smallest memory footprint with little or no regard to other performance characteristics. Also, the EAString functions do not implement locale-specific functionality and thus save time and space as a result. Other packages within EA implement localization functionality in a way that is better suited to high performance game development.

C-style printf functionality is separate from EAString and is found in EASprintf. Memcpy functionality (which comes from the <string.h> header file) is present in EAMemory.

Extension functions

EAString provides extended functionality that isn't found in conventional C libraries, but it useful nevertheless.

Function Description Signature
Strlcat Safe variation of strncat char_t* Strlcat(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
Strlcpy Safe variation of strcpy

char_t* Strlcpy(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
int Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
bool Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);

Stristr Case insensitive version of strstr (find string within string) char_t* Stristr(const char_t* pString, const char_t* pSubString);
FtoaEnglish

Float to ascii; always use English numeric format, regardless of the current locale.

char_t* FtoaEnglish(double dValue, char_t* pResult, int nInputLength, int nPrecision, bool bExponentEnabled);
AtofEnglish Ascii to float; always use English numeric format, regardless of the current locale. double AtofEnglish(const char_t* pString);
StrtodEnglish Same as strtod, but always use English numeric format, regardless of the current locale. double StrtodEnglish(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd);
Memset16 Sets 16 bit values in memory (as opposed to memset's 8 bit values) uint16_t* Memset16(void* pDestination, uint16_t c, size_t count);
Memset32 Sets 32 bit values in memory (as opposed to memset's 8 bit values) uint32_t* Memset32(void* pDestination, uint32_t c, size_t count);
Memset64 Sets 64 bit values in memory (as opposed to memset's 8 bit values) uint64_t* Memset64(void* pDestination, uint64_t c, size_t count);
MemsetN Sets arbitrarily sized values in memory. void* MemsetN (void* pDestination, const void* pSource, size_t sourceBytes, size_t count);
EcvtBuf Base function for converting a float to a %e string.

char_t* EcvtBuf(double dValue, int nDigitCount, int* decimalPos, int* sign, char_t* buffer);

FcvtBuf Base function for converting a float to a %f string. char_t* FcvtBuf(double dValue, int nDigitCountAfterDecimal, int* decimalPos, int* sign, char_t* buffer);

Example usage

We provide a random smattering of example code here.

char16_t buffer[32] = L"hello ";

Strcat(buffer, L"world");

Strlcpy, Strlcat:

char8_t buffer[32];


Strlcpy(buffer, "Hello ", sizeof(buffer));
Strlcat(buffer, "world", sizeof(buffer));

Strlcpy, used to translate UTF8 to UTF16:

char8_t  buffer8[64];
char16_t buffer16[64];


int length16 = Strlcpy(buffer16, buffer8, 64);

U64toa:

char buffer[32];
U64toa(UINT64_C(12345678901234567890), buffer, 16);

AtoI32:

int32_t x = AtoI32("1234567890");

Strtod:

const char16_t* pString = L"12345.678 123.456 1.23456";

while(*pString)
{
    double value = Strtod(pString, &pString);
    printf("Field = %f\n, value);
}

Interface

In each of the functions below, there is an char8_t and char16_t version. So for Strcat there are the following:

char8_t*  Strcat(char8_t*  pDestination, const char8_t*  pSource)
char16_t* Strcat(char16_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource)

The list below may be out of date as you read this, so see EAString.h for a definitive list of supported functionality.

char_t*       Strcat(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource);
char_t*       Strncat(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
char_t*       Strlcat(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
char_t*       Strcpy(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource);
char_t*       Strncpy(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
char_t*       Strlcpy(char_t* pDestination, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
int           Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
int           Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength = (size_t)~0);
bool          Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed); 
bool          Strlcpy(char8_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(char32_t* pDestination, const wchar_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed); 
bool          Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char16_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed);
bool          Strlcpy(wchar_t* pDestination, const char32_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength, size_t& nDestUsed, size_t& nSourceUsed); 
size_t        Strlen(const char_t* pString);
size_t        Strxfrm(char_t* pDest, const char_t* pSource, size_t n);
char_t*       Strdup(const char_t* pString);
char_t*       Strlwr(char_t* pString);
char_t*       Strupr(char_t* pString);
char_t*       Strchr(const char_t* pString, char_t c);
size_t        Strcspn(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2);
char_t*       Strpbrk(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2);
char_t*       Strrchr(const char_t* pString, char_t c);
size_t        Strspn(const char_t* pString, const char_t* pSubString);
char_t*       Strstr(const char_t* pString, const char_t* pSubString);
char_t*       Stristr(const char_t* pString, const char_t* pSubString);
char_t*       Strtok(char_t* pString, const char_t*  pTokens, char_t** pContext);
char_t*       Strset(char_t* pString, char_t c);
char_t*       Strnset(char_t* pString, char_t c, size_t n);
char_t*       Strrev(char_t* pString);
int           Strcmp(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2);
int           Strncmp(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2, size_t n);
int           Stricmp(const char_t*  pString1, const char_t* pString2);
int           Strnicmp(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2, size_t n);
int           Strcoll(const char_t*  pString1, const char_t* pString2);
int           Strncoll(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2, size_t n);
int           Stricoll(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString2);
int           Strnicoll(const char_t* pString1, const char_t* pString1, size_t n);

char_t*       EcvtBuf(double dValue, int nDigitCount, int* decimalPos, int* sign, char_t* buffer);
char_t*       FcvtBuf(double dValue, int nDigitCountAfterDecimal, int* decimalPos, int* sign, char_t* buffer);

char_t*       I32toa(int32_t nValue, char_t* pResult, int nBase);
char_t*       U32toa(uint32_t nValue, char_t* pResult, int nBase);
char_t*       I64toa(int64_t nValue, char_t* pBuffer, int nBase);
char_t*       U64toa(uint64_t nValue, char_t* pBuffer, int nBase);
double        Strtod(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd);
double        StrtodEnglish(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd);
int64_t       StrtoI64(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd, int nBase);
uint64_t      StrtoU64(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd, int nBase);
int32_t       StrtoI32(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd, int nBase);
uint32_t      StrtoU32(const char_t* pString, char_t** ppStringEnd, int nBase);
int32_t       AtoI32(const char_t* pString);
uint32_t      AtoU32(const char_t* pString);
int64_t       AtoI64(const char_t* pString);
uint64_t      AtoU64(const char_t* pString);
double        Atof(const char_t* pString);
double        AtofEnglish(const char_t* pString);
char_t*       Ftoa(double dValue, char_t* pResult, int nInputLength, int nPrecision, bool bExponentEnabled);
char_t*       FtoaEnglish(double dValue, char_t* pResult, int nInputLength, int nPrecision, bool bExponentEnabled);

Encoded Strlcpy Issue

The Strlcpy function size_t Strlcpy(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity, size_t nSourceLength) converts UTF8 text (char8_t) to UCS2 (char16_t). It doesn't work if your pSource string isn't truly UTF8-encoded. Typically this would happen because the source string is using Windows code page 1252 or HTML's ISO 8859-1. All 8 bit strings in EAStdC are assumed to be UTF8 unless specifically documented otherwise.

Any 8 bit text that's not UTF8 has to be defined within the context of a code page; otherwise any chars above 127 have an arbitrary meaning, and may include multi-byte characters for some code pages. If you need to convert code page 1252 to UCS2, you need to implement a function which uses a table that maps the high byte values into their proper Unicode values. It's not so simple to just cast the byte value to char16_t, as some of the code page 1252 characters don't map directly to their numerical values in Unicode, though ISO 8859-1 characters to completely map to their equivalent Unicode values.

The following is an implementation of Strcpy and Strlcpy for ISO 8859-1 char8_t text which isn't currently part of EAStdC:

char16_t* StrcpyISO8859_1(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource)
{
    char16_t* pDestSaved = pDestination;

    while(*pSource)
        *(pDestination++) = (uint8_t)*pSource++;

    *pDestination = 0;

    return pDestSaved;
}

size_t StrlcpyISO8859_1(char16_t* pDestination, const char8_t* pSource, size_t nDestCapacity)
{
    const char8_t* s = pSource;
    size_t n = nDestCapacity;

    if(n && --n)
    {
        do{
            if((*pDestination++ = (uint8_t)*s++) == 0)
                break;
        } while(--n);
    }

    if(!n)
    {
        if(nDestCapacity)
            *pDestination = 0;

        while(*s)
            ++s;
    }

    return (s - pSource - 1);
}