Storing large amounts of strings
Author
Hello,
I want to store strings somewhere so that I can access them later on in my main program. Pre-defined strings if you will.
Basically what I want are strings that have an index value. So I can have a print function where you can parse a number, then it will lookup that number in the strings and print the coresponding string for that number.
It sounds like an array job to me, but I''m not entirely sure how to do it (code wise - C, C++ etc.), so would someone mind helping me with this?
Thanks in advance.
Well, if you are using stl strings then just declare and array or them..
string items[1000]; // 1000 strings!
or if you are using old school char arrays then use a 2d array..
string items[(number of items)][max string length]
and when you want to refer to an individual string, just refer to it as items[0], items[1], ect...
string items[1000]; // 1000 strings!
or if you are using old school char arrays then use a 2d array..
string items[(number of items)][max string length]
and when you want to refer to an individual string, just refer to it as items[0], items[1], ect...
In addition to that, you may want to look into using a data structure such as a map (std::map, etc). Each entry in the map is associated with a key, which can be used for indexing.
quote:Original post by NeonStormIt''s complicated because of the nature of C-style strings. If you''re using C++ at all, skip it. If not...
Ok, I was trying to do this in C with chars.
char ** MsgStrings;// allocate number of strings:MsgStrings = (char **)malloc( NUM_STRINGS * sizeof(char *) ); // allocate each individual string:for( int n = 0; n < NUM_STRINGS; ++n ) MsgStrings[n] = (char *)malloc( STR_LEN + 1 ); // with this method, you have to be careful about cleanup:for( int n = 0; n < NUM_STRINGS; ++n ) free( MsgStrings[n] );free( MsgStrings ); The alternative is to make the number of strings fixed, which reduces one level of memory management:
char * MsgStrings[1000]; // 1000 strings // allocate each string:for( int n = 0; n < 1000; ++n ) MsgStrings[n] = (char *)malloc( STR_LEN + 1 ); // cleanup:for( int n = 0; n < 1000; ++n ) free( MsgStrings[n] ); quote:STL strings I assume is string.h?No, <string> (no ".h"). If you''re using this, you might as well use std::vector, too:
#include <string>#include <vector> using namespace std; vector<string> MsgString; ... // in this case you don''t have to do any memory management at all.MsgString.push_back("Error Number Zero");MsgString.push_back("Error Number One");MsgString.push_Back("Error Number Two"); ...cout << MsgString[2] << endl; // prints "Error Number Two" If you want to associate arbitrary indexes with strings, use a std::map instead of a std::vector.
If you really want them pre-defined, it's easy... make an array of strings. C-style:
That does all the allocation for you.
C++-style:
EDIT - But keep in mind, this way only works if they're static... use Oluseyi's method if you want dynamic strings.
[edited by - Chozo on April 15, 2004 1:16:13 AM]
[edited by - Chozo on April 15, 2004 1:17:35 AM]
char* stingset[] = { "string 1", "string 2", ... "string n"};That does all the allocation for you.
C++-style:
#include <string>std::string stringset[] ={ "string 1", "string 2", ... "string n"};EDIT - But keep in mind, this way only works if they're static... use Oluseyi's method if you want dynamic strings.
[edited by - Chozo on April 15, 2004 1:16:13 AM]
[edited by - Chozo on April 15, 2004 1:17:35 AM]
Author
Thanks for all the replies.
Chozo, that''s what I originally had. I had two arrays with a few strings in them. I don''t know how to create a function to look up an element in a certain array, though. Here''s what I''ve got...
Chozo, that''s what I originally had. I had two arrays with a few strings in them. I don''t know how to create a function to look up an element in a certain array, though. Here''s what I''ve got...
#include <stdio.h>char *MSG_ACTION[] ={ "test1", "test2", "test3"};char *MSG_STATUS[] ={ "1test", "2test", "3test"};void printString(int, int);int main(){ int i, j; print("Choose an array:\t"); scanf("%d", &i); print("Chose an array element:\t"); scanf("%d", &j); printString(i, j); return 0;}// array determines which array we access// element determines which array element (string) to printvoid printString(int array, int element){ // what code do I put in here, any hints?}
Would this accomplish what you want? (Im a little rusty on the old C printf functions so be easy on me 
)
edit: used C++ style comments
[edited by - _Twiggie_ on April 15, 2004 2:45:12 AM]
)void printString(int array, int element){ /* Choose your own method for determining what integral value will access what array */ if(array == 0) /* user wants msg action */ { printf("%s", MSG_ACTION[element]); } else if(array == 1) /* user wants msg status */ { printf("%s", MSG_STATUS[element]); } else { /* user entered an incorrect value */ return; }} edit: used C++ style comments
[edited by - _Twiggie_ on April 15, 2004 2:45:12 AM]
Author
Yep, that was it Twiggie (though I decided to use a switch/case statement to make it a bit easier).
Can''t believe how simple it was, thanks a bunch!!
Can''t believe how simple it was, thanks a bunch!!
You could also use a multi-dimensional array:
Much faster, much cleaner. But it relies very heavily on your arrays being static.
enum ArrayType{ ActionArray, StatusArray};char* arrays[][] ={ { "string 1", "string 2", ... "string n" }, { "string 1", "string 2", ... "string n" }}print_string(ArrayType array, int element){ printf("%s", arrays[array][element];}Much faster, much cleaner. But it relies very heavily on your arrays being static.
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