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Create QString with QStringLiteral and arg

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  • thamT Offline
    thamT Offline
    tham
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Purpose of QStringLiteral is avoid dynamic buffer allocation, but create string with arg do need to know the buffer size at runtime, could I gain any benefits by creating QString by QStringLiteral under this kind of case?

    example :

    QString const birth = QStringLiteral("%1/%2/%3").arg(year).arg(date).arg(time);
    
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    • R Offline
      R Offline
      Rondog
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      @tham said in Create QString with QStringLiteral and arg:

      QString const birth = QStringLiteral("%1/%2/%3").arg(year).arg(date).arg(time);

      I pretty sure you can't use arguments with a QStringLiteral so this won't work (not on my system at least).

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      • mrjjM Offline
        mrjjM Offline
        mrjj
        Lifetime Qt Champion
        wrote on last edited by mrjj
        #3

        Hi
        It does seems to work

        alt text

        With QStringLiteral it makes a QStaticStringData
        else not.

        JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
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        • R Offline
          R Offline
          Rondog
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          I also tried it and found it worked. My bad.

          I remember trying this at some point in the past and found it didn't work (compile error). For this reason I have always been in the habit of using QString instead of QStringLiteral for anything with arguments. From what I understand QStringLiteral is a macro wrapper that makes static text more memory and CPU friendly (it create a QString directly at compile time and not through a constructor from a char pointer) so I always assumed it was specifically aimed at static text.

          mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
          2
          • R Rondog

            I also tried it and found it worked. My bad.

            I remember trying this at some point in the past and found it didn't work (compile error). For this reason I have always been in the habit of using QString instead of QStringLiteral for anything with arguments. From what I understand QStringLiteral is a macro wrapper that makes static text more memory and CPU friendly (it create a QString directly at compile time and not through a constructor from a char pointer) so I always assumed it was specifically aimed at static text.

            mrjjM Offline
            mrjjM Offline
            mrjj
            Lifetime Qt Champion
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            @Rondog

            Hi
            I also though it would not work as it not very static in nature but it seems
            to create this static struct regardless.
            But since we alter it a runtime, it cant be in read only memory so there is still something
            fishy here :)

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            • mrjjM mrjj

              Hi
              It does seems to work

              alt text

              With QStringLiteral it makes a QStaticStringData
              else not.

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

              I don't see the problem/issue.
              https://woboq.com/blog/qstringliteral.html, http://blog.qt.io/blog/2014/06/13/qt-weekly-13-qstringliteral/, https://www.kdab.com/qstringview-diaries-advances-qstringliteral/ may help.

              And I assume that while QStringLiteral("%1/%2/%3") is "a QStringLiteral" (sort of), once you go QStringLiteral("%1/%2/%3").arg(...) then what you get back is a QString, as per e.g. http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qstring.html#arg

              ?

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              • mrjjM Offline
                mrjjM Offline
                mrjj
                Lifetime Qt Champion
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                @JonB
                Hi
                good links. There is nothing wrong but clearly the whole expression cannot be read only so
                i guess only "%1/%2/%3" is in readonly section and rest is dynamic.

                JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
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                • mrjjM mrjj

                  @JonB
                  Hi
                  good links. There is nothing wrong but clearly the whole expression cannot be read only so
                  i guess only "%1/%2/%3" is in readonly section and rest is dynamic.

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

                  @mrjj
                  I believe:

                  • "%1/%2/%3" => read-only/literal string
                  • QStringLiteral("%1/%2/%3") => read-only/literal string
                  • QStringLiteral("%1/%2/%3").arg(...) => function QString::arg() returns a plain QString => whatever rules for QString only, not per se read-only/literal string

                  That's the point --- it's the use of the arg() function that changes the "type".

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                  • thamT Offline
                    thamT Offline
                    tham
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    I guess we can say QStringLiteral may offer some small optimization in this case(part of the string could construct at compile time, no dynamic allocation), unless it wouldn't worse than construct by QString directly?

                    kshegunovK 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • thamT tham

                      I guess we can say QStringLiteral may offer some small optimization in this case(part of the string could construct at compile time, no dynamic allocation), unless it wouldn't worse than construct by QString directly?

                      kshegunovK Offline
                      kshegunovK Offline
                      kshegunov
                      Moderators
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      QStringLiteral will construct a QString object once in the program lifetime from the const char * you pass it. This is happening through a bit of static initialization magic. After that you can use that QString object wherever you feel like it. The idea is that shallow copies of QString (due to it having implicit sharing) is very cheap. If you use "write" operations on it the data will be detached, as it's the case here - arg will copy out the literal part to do the replacement. However you'd still get some small optimization for the initial string construction.

                      Read and abide by the Qt Code of Conduct

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                      • JonBJ Offline
                        JonBJ Offline
                        JonB
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Yes, the initial use of QStringLiteral may save you at least 1 nanosecond or 10 bytes in your overall program... :)

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