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can not print correctly after convert QString to char *

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  • Christian EhrlicherC Offline
    Christian EhrlicherC Offline
    Christian Ehrlicher
    Lifetime Qt Champion
    wrote on last edited by Christian Ehrlicher
    #2

    @Mozzie said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

    char* p = s.toUtf8().data();

    C++ basics - you're creating a temporary here so p points to garbage after this statement.

    Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
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    JonBJ MozzieM 2 Replies Last reply
    6
    • R Offline
      R Offline
      Rondog
      wrote on last edited by
      #3

      The one version I think you have a problem with is this:

      char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
      qDebug() << p;
      

      There is a temporary object created and 'p' is a pointer to something that no longer exists when you try to output it on the next line.

      1 Reply Last reply
      5
      • MozzieM Mozzie

        Env: vs2017 , Qt 5.14.0, Qt 5.12.6
        code:

        		QString s = "hello world";
        		qDebug() << s;
        		qDebug() << s.toUtf8().data();
        
        		char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
        		qDebug() << p;
        
        		QByteArray b = s.toUtf8();
        		p = b.data();
        		qDebug() << p;
        
        

        output:

        "hello world"
        hello world
        ????????????????????????????????????????????7
        hello world
        

        can somebody explain this, I'd be appreciate

        JonBJ Online
        JonBJ Online
        JonB
        wrote on last edited by
        #4

        @Mozzie
        For your

        		char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
        		qDebug() << p;
        
        ????????
        

        case. https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qbytearray.html#data

        Returns a pointer to the data stored in the byte array.
        The pointer remains valid as long as the byte array isn't reallocated or destroyed.

        I think it is, between the two lines. That s.toUtf8() looks temporary-ish to me. Use it on one ;line, or give it permanent variable QByteArray b = s.toUtf8(); like you do afterwards, and I think you remove its temporary-ness.

        Note

        For read-only access, constData() is faster because it never causes a deep copy to occur.

        I don't know, but try:

        const char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
        

        Any difference in output?

        Christian EhrlicherC 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • JonBJ JonB

          @Mozzie
          For your

          		char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
          		qDebug() << p;
          
          ????????
          

          case. https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qbytearray.html#data

          Returns a pointer to the data stored in the byte array.
          The pointer remains valid as long as the byte array isn't reallocated or destroyed.

          I think it is, between the two lines. That s.toUtf8() looks temporary-ish to me. Use it on one ;line, or give it permanent variable QByteArray b = s.toUtf8(); like you do afterwards, and I think you remove its temporary-ness.

          Note

          For read-only access, constData() is faster because it never causes a deep copy to occur.

          I don't know, but try:

          const char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
          

          Any difference in output?

          Christian EhrlicherC Offline
          Christian EhrlicherC Offline
          Christian Ehrlicher
          Lifetime Qt Champion
          wrote on last edited by
          #5

          @JonB said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

          Any difference in output?

          For sure not.

          Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
          Visit the Qt Academy at https://academy.qt.io/catalog

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • Christian EhrlicherC Christian Ehrlicher

            @Mozzie said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

            char* p = s.toUtf8().data();

            C++ basics - you're creating a temporary here so p points to garbage after this statement.

            JonBJ Online
            JonBJ Online
            JonB
            wrote on last edited by JonB
            #6

            @Christian-Ehrlicher said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

            C++ basics - you're creating a temporary here so p points to garbage after this statement.

            OK then, let's pick you up on the exactitiudes of this. https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qbytearray.html#data states:

            The pointer remains valid as long as the byte array isn't reallocated or destroyed.

            Are you saying the s.toUtf8() is returning a temporary, or going .data() is a temporary?

            VRoninV 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • JonBJ JonB

              @Christian-Ehrlicher said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

              C++ basics - you're creating a temporary here so p points to garbage after this statement.

              OK then, let's pick you up on the exactitiudes of this. https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qbytearray.html#data states:

              The pointer remains valid as long as the byte array isn't reallocated or destroyed.

              Are you saying the s.toUtf8() is returning a temporary, or going .data() is a temporary?

              VRoninV Offline
              VRoninV Offline
              VRonin
              wrote on last edited by VRonin
              #7

              @JonB said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

              Are you saying the s.toUtf8() is returning a temporary, or going .data() is a temporary?

              The former

              "La mort n'est rien, mais vivre vaincu et sans gloire, c'est mourir tous les jours"
              ~Napoleon Bonaparte

              On a crusade to banish setIndexWidget() from the holy land of Qt

              JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
              1
              • VRoninV VRonin

                @JonB said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

                Are you saying the s.toUtf8() is returning a temporary, or going .data() is a temporary?

                The former

                JonBJ Online
                JonBJ Online
                JonB
                wrote on last edited by
                #8

                @VRonin
                Fine. So I carefully read https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qstring.html#toUtf8

                Returns a UTF-8 representation of the string as a QByteArray.

                @Christian-Ehrlicher says the question/code is "C++ basics". I do not see the word "temporary" there. In fact I search the whole of QString doc page and don't find it. So how do I know this, please?

                aha_1980A 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • JonBJ JonB

                  @VRonin
                  Fine. So I carefully read https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qstring.html#toUtf8

                  Returns a UTF-8 representation of the string as a QByteArray.

                  @Christian-Ehrlicher says the question/code is "C++ basics". I do not see the word "temporary" there. In fact I search the whole of QString doc page and don't find it. So how do I know this, please?

                  aha_1980A Offline
                  aha_1980A Offline
                  aha_1980
                  Lifetime Qt Champion
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #9

                  Hi @JonB,

                  as @Christian-Ehrlicher said, that is C++ basics: https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/lifetime

                  Regards

                  Qt has to stay free or it will die.

                  JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                  2
                  • aha_1980A aha_1980

                    Hi @JonB,

                    as @Christian-Ehrlicher said, that is C++ basics: https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/lifetime

                    Regards

                    JonBJ Online
                    JonBJ Online
                    JonB
                    wrote on last edited by JonB
                    #10

                    @aha_1980
                    Wow, OK, yes, I need to read! My problem is I have been "spoiled" by using C# and then Python/PyQt/PySide2 for so long now that I rarely have to think about this!

                    So let's take a basic, if my C++ holds up. If I write a function

                    QByteArray func()
                    {
                        QByteArray qb;
                        return qb;
                    }
                    

                    does that return such a "temporary object"? And that would be true for any class/struct I decalred and then returned in that fashion?

                    aha_1980A jsulmJ 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                      Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                      Christian Ehrlicher
                      Lifetime Qt Champion
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #11

                      @JonB said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

                      does that return such a "temporary object"?

                      It's not about returning something. It's about the lifetime of an object.

                      Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
                      Visit the Qt Academy at https://academy.qt.io/catalog

                      JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                      1
                      • Christian EhrlicherC Christian Ehrlicher

                        @JonB said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

                        does that return such a "temporary object"?

                        It's not about returning something. It's about the lifetime of an object.

                        JonBJ Online
                        JonBJ Online
                        JonB
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #12

                        @Christian-Ehrlicher

                        Temporary objects are created when a prvalue is materialized so that it can be used as a glvalue, which occurs (since C++17) in the following situations:

                        Lovely!

                        I also note its second item is:

                        returning a prvalue from a function

                        Is that where we are here? I'm not stupid, but I am clearly struggling to recognise which situations this applies in.... :(

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • JonBJ JonB

                          @aha_1980
                          Wow, OK, yes, I need to read! My problem is I have been "spoiled" by using C# and then Python/PyQt/PySide2 for so long now that I rarely have to think about this!

                          So let's take a basic, if my C++ holds up. If I write a function

                          QByteArray func()
                          {
                              QByteArray qb;
                              return qb;
                          }
                          

                          does that return such a "temporary object"? And that would be true for any class/struct I decalred and then returned in that fashion?

                          aha_1980A Offline
                          aha_1980A Offline
                          aha_1980
                          Lifetime Qt Champion
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #13

                          Hi @JonB,

                          if I take your example and do the following: QByteArray ba = func(); then ba lives until it goes out of scope. But if I do QByteArray hex = func().toHex() I have two conversations in one line. That is no problem here, as I take the result of func() and immediately call toHex() on it. But note that afterward neither the returned value of func() nor of toHex() exists anymore, only hex.

                          And that is the whole problem, with data() you access the raw data of an object that's lifetime is already over.

                          Regards

                          Qt has to stay free or it will die.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • MozzieM Mozzie

                            Env: vs2017 , Qt 5.14.0, Qt 5.12.6
                            code:

                            		QString s = "hello world";
                            		qDebug() << s;
                            		qDebug() << s.toUtf8().data();
                            
                            		char* p = s.toUtf8().data();
                            		qDebug() << p;
                            
                            		QByteArray b = s.toUtf8();
                            		p = b.data();
                            		qDebug() << p;
                            
                            

                            output:

                            "hello world"
                            hello world
                            ????????????????????????????????????????????7
                            hello world
                            

                            can somebody explain this, I'd be appreciate

                            hskoglundH Offline
                            hskoglundH Offline
                            hskoglund
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #14

                            @Mozzie You had a bit of bad luck, if you compile in Release mode instead of Debug it'll work fine

                            "hello world"
                            hello world
                            hello world
                            hello world
                            

                            And if you switch to MinGW compiler it'll work both in Debug and Release :-)

                            JonBJ aha_1980A MozzieM 3 Replies Last reply
                            1
                            • Christian EhrlicherC Christian Ehrlicher

                              @Mozzie said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

                              char* p = s.toUtf8().data();

                              C++ basics - you're creating a temporary here so p points to garbage after this statement.

                              MozzieM Offline
                              MozzieM Offline
                              Mozzie
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #15

                              @Christian-Ehrlicher
                              Thank you very much, and thank other replyer.
                              I think i understand your reply, and I do fogot the temp object , maybe because I also use java a lot.

                              and i alse have a few questions:

                              1. where is the temp object in memory, stack or heap or somewhere else.
                              2. if it is on stack, it can not remain until the stack is finished
                              Christian EhrlicherC 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • hskoglundH hskoglund

                                @Mozzie You had a bit of bad luck, if you compile in Release mode instead of Debug it'll work fine

                                "hello world"
                                hello world
                                hello world
                                hello world
                                

                                And if you switch to MinGW compiler it'll work both in Debug and Release :-)

                                JonBJ Online
                                JonBJ Online
                                JonB
                                wrote on last edited by JonB
                                #16

                                @hskoglund
                                Your findings are even more scary in view of the above conversation! :)

                                @aha_1980 , and others
                                I think I get it. Also that it's nothing to do with Qt specific classes. Not because of shared QByteArrays and stuff.

                                So to summarize: s.toUtf8() only "lasts" for the lifetime of the statement (probably rather expression) it is in. But if you go QByteArray b = s.toUtf8() then the b will persist OK as usual. Right?

                                hskoglundH 1 Reply Last reply
                                3
                                • hskoglundH hskoglund

                                  @Mozzie You had a bit of bad luck, if you compile in Release mode instead of Debug it'll work fine

                                  "hello world"
                                  hello world
                                  hello world
                                  hello world
                                  

                                  And if you switch to MinGW compiler it'll work both in Debug and Release :-)

                                  aha_1980A Offline
                                  aha_1980A Offline
                                  aha_1980
                                  Lifetime Qt Champion
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #17

                                  @hskoglund said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

                                  And if you switch to MinGW compiler it'll work both in Debug and Release :-)

                                  Today. Tomorrow it will run away with your wife, bankrupt your workplace and aim for world domination.

                                  t

                                  Qt has to stay free or it will die.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  4
                                  • JonBJ JonB

                                    @hskoglund
                                    Your findings are even more scary in view of the above conversation! :)

                                    @aha_1980 , and others
                                    I think I get it. Also that it's nothing to do with Qt specific classes. Not because of shared QByteArrays and stuff.

                                    So to summarize: s.toUtf8() only "lasts" for the lifetime of the statement (probably rather expression) it is in. But if you go QByteArray b = s.toUtf8() then the b will persist OK as usual. Right?

                                    hskoglundH Offline
                                    hskoglundH Offline
                                    hskoglund
                                    wrote on last edited by hskoglund
                                    #18

                                    Yes! I's just luck that the bits are still around in Release mode. The Debug mode output of ??????? could happen in Release also some other day when the sun doesn't shin.e

                                    Anyway, one simple modification to make it waterproof could be:

                                    QString s = "hello world";
                                    qDebug() << s;
                                    qDebug() << s.toUtf8().data();
                                    
                                    QByteArray a = s.toUtf8();
                                    char* p = a.data();
                                    qDebug() << p;
                                    
                                    QByteArray b = s.toUtf8();
                                    p = b.data();
                                    qDebug() << p;
                                    

                                    Edit: too fast, didn't read the code in the 3d paragraph ! But they are both waterproof now :-)

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • hskoglundH hskoglund

                                      @Mozzie You had a bit of bad luck, if you compile in Release mode instead of Debug it'll work fine

                                      "hello world"
                                      hello world
                                      hello world
                                      hello world
                                      

                                      And if you switch to MinGW compiler it'll work both in Debug and Release :-)

                                      MozzieM Offline
                                      MozzieM Offline
                                      Mozzie
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #19

                                      @hskoglund
                                      that is interesting .
                                      i dont have test on linux or MinGW, maybe vs and MinGW is diffrent on deal with temp object?

                                      hskoglundH 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • MozzieM Mozzie

                                        @hskoglund
                                        that is interesting .
                                        i dont have test on linux or MinGW, maybe vs and MinGW is diffrent on deal with temp object?

                                        hskoglundH Offline
                                        hskoglundH Offline
                                        hskoglund
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #20

                                        @Mozzie Actually MinGW works on Windows as well (I prefer it over MSVC2017 because MinGW compiles/builds my projects faster).

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • MozzieM Mozzie

                                          @Christian-Ehrlicher
                                          Thank you very much, and thank other replyer.
                                          I think i understand your reply, and I do fogot the temp object , maybe because I also use java a lot.

                                          and i alse have a few questions:

                                          1. where is the temp object in memory, stack or heap or somewhere else.
                                          2. if it is on stack, it can not remain until the stack is finished
                                          Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                                          Christian EhrlicherC Offline
                                          Christian Ehrlicher
                                          Lifetime Qt Champion
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #21

                                          @Mozzie said in can not print correctly after convert QString to char *:

                                          where is the temp object in memory, stack or heap or somewhere else.

                                          It's on the stack since you did not allocate it with new

                                          if it is on stack, it can not remain until the stack is finished

                                          No, this is not allowed since it's unnamed.

                                          It's also not c++ specific - you can do the same (in a little bit more obvious way) in C:

                                          int *myPtr = nullptr;
                                          {
                                            int a = 3;
                                            myPtr = &a;
                                            printf("%d\n", *myPtr);   // works fine
                                          }
                                          printf("%d\n", *myPtr);   // works on garbage and may eat kitten
                                          

                                          Qt Online Installer direct download: https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/
                                          Visit the Qt Academy at https://academy.qt.io/catalog

                                          JonBJ MozzieM 2 Replies Last reply
                                          3

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