QUtf8StringView Class▲
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Header: QUtf8StringView
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Since: Qt 6.0
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CMake:
find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Core)
target_link_libraries(mytarget PRIVATE Qt6::Core)
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qmake: QT += core
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Group: QUtf8StringView is part of tools, string-processing
Detailed Description▲
A QUtf8StringView references a contiguous portion of a UTF-8 string it does not own. It acts as an interface type to all kinds of UTF-8 string, without the need to construct a QString or QByteArray first.
The UTF-8 string may be represented as an array (or an array-compatible data-structure such as std::basic_string, etc.) of char8_t, char, signed char or unsigned char.
QUtf8StringView is designed as an interface type; its main use-case is as a function parameter type. When QUtf8StringViews are used as automatic variables or data members, care must be taken to ensure that the referenced string data (for example, owned by a std::u8string) outlives the QUtf8StringView on all code paths, lest the string view ends up referencing deleted data.
When used as an interface type, QUtf8StringView allows a single function to accept a wide variety of UTF-8 string data sources. One function accepting QUtf8StringView thus replaces several function overloads (taking e.g. QByteArray), while at the same time enabling even more string data sources to be passed to the function, such as u8"Hello World", a char8_t (C++20) or char (C++17) string literal. The char8_t incompatibility between C++17 and C++20 goes away when using QUtf8StringView.
Like all views, QUtf8StringViews should be passed by value, not by reference-to-const:
void myfun1(QUtf8StringView sv); // preferred
void myfun2(const QUtf8StringView &sv); // compiles and works, but slowerIf you want to give your users maximum freedom in what strings they can pass to your function, consider using QAnyStringView instead.
QUtf8StringView can also be used as the return value of a function. If you call a function returning QUtf8StringView, take extra care to not keep the QUtf8StringView around longer than the function promises to keep the referenced string data alive. If in doubt, obtain a strong reference to the data by calling toString() to convert the QUtf8StringView into a QString.
QUtf8StringView is a Literal Type.
Compatible Character Types▲
QUtf8StringView accepts strings over a variety of character types:
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char (both signed and unsigned)
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char8_t (C++20 only)
Sizes and Sub-Strings▲
All sizes and positions in QUtf8StringView functions are in UTF-8 code points (that is, UTF-8 multibyte sequences count as two, three or four, depending on their length). QUtf8StringView does not an attempt to detect or prevent slicing right through UTF-8 multibyte sequences. This is similar to the situation with QStringView and surrogate pairs.
C++20, char8_t, and QUtf8StringView▲
In C++20, u8"" string literals changed their type from const char[] to const char8_t[]. If Qt 6 could have depended on C++20, QUtf8StringView would store char8_t natively, and the following functions and aliases would use (pointers to) char8_t:
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storage_type, value_type, etc
This is what QUtf8StringView is expected to look like in Qt 7, but for Qt 6, this was not possible. Instead of locking users into a C++17-era interface for the next decade, Qt provides two QUtf8StringView classes, in different (inline) namespaces. The first, in namespace q_no_char8_t, has a value_type of const char and is universally available. The second, in namespace q_has_char8_t, has a value_type of const char8_t and is only available when compiling in C++20 mode.
In C++17 mode, q_no_char8_t is an inline namespace, in C++20 it's q_has_char8_t. This means that the name "QUtf8StringView" (without explicit namespace) will denote different types in C++17 and C++20 modes.
Internally, both are instantiations of the same template class, QBasicUtf8StringView. Please do not use the template class's name in your source code.
All Qt APIs use q_no_char8_t::QUtf8StringView due to binary compatibility, but these APIs accept q_has_char8_t::QUtf8StringView as well, since the latter implicitly converts into the former, and vice versa.
In your own code, please use only QUtf8StringView and/or q_no_char8_t::QUtf8StringView:
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If you only target C++20, then use "QUtf8StringView". It will be an alias for q_has_char8_t::QUtf8StringView and you'll never look back.
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If you only target C++17, then use "QUtf8StringView". It will be an alias for q_no_char8_t::QUtf8StringView and for the time being, you're ok.
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If you target both C++17 and C++20, then you have a choice to make:
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If you don't mind the source-incompatibility of return values of QUtf8StringView::data() etc changing when compiling under C++17 or C++20, use "QUtf8StringView". You will need to write your code in such a way that it adapts to the differences in the QUtf8StringView API in different C++ versions.
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If you don't want to deal with the above source-incompatibilities, or if you need to maintain binary compatibility between C++20 and C++17 builds, use "q_no_char8_t::QUtf8StringView" explicitly. Be aware that the q_no_char8_t version will disappear in Qt 7.
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Taken together: Just use QUtf8StringView unless you know what you're doing.
See Also▲
See also QAnyStringView, QUtf8StringView, QString
Member Type Documentation▲
QUtf8StringView::const_iterator▲
This typedef provides an STL-style const iterator for QUtf8StringView.
See Also▲
See also iterator, const_reverse_iterator
QUtf8StringView::const_pointer▲
Alias for value_type *. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
QUtf8StringView::const_reference▲
Alias for value_type &. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
QUtf8StringView::const_reverse_iterator▲
This typedef provides an STL-style const reverse iterator for QUtf8StringView.
See Also▲
See also reverse_iterator, const_iterator
QUtf8StringView::difference_type▲
Alias for std::ptrdiff_t. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
QUtf8StringView::iterator▲
This typedef provides an STL-style const iterator for QUtf8StringView.
QUtf8StringView does not support mutable iterators, so this is the same as const_iterator.
See Also▲
See also const_iterator, reverse_iterator
QUtf8StringView::pointer▲
Alias for value_type *. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
QUtf8StringView does not support mutable pointers, so this is the same as const_pointer.
QUtf8StringView::reference▲
Alias for value_type &. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
QUtf8StringView does not support mutable references, so this is the same as const_reference.
QUtf8StringView::reverse_iterator▲
This typedef provides an STL-style const reverse iterator for QUtf8StringView.
QUtf8StringView does not support mutable reverse iterators, so this is the same as const_reverse_iterator.
See Also▲
See also const_reverse_iterator, iterator
QUtf8StringView::size_type▲
Alias for qsizetype. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
[alias] QUtf8StringView::storage_type▲
Alias for char.
QUtf8StringView::value_type▲
Alias for const char. Provided for compatibility with the STL.
Member Function Documentation▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView()▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView(std::nullptr_t)▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView(const Char *str, qsizetype len)▲
Constructs a string view on str with length len.
The range [str,len) must remain valid for the lifetime of this string view object.
Passing nullptr as str is safe if len is 0, too, and results in a null string view.
The behavior is undefined if len is negative or, when positive, if str is nullptr.
This constructor only participates in overload resolution if Char is a compatible character type. The compatible character types are: char8_t, char, signed char and unsigned char.
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView(const Char *first, const Char *last)▲
Constructs a string view on first with length (last - first).
The range [first,last) must remain valid for the lifetime of this string view object.
Passing \nullptr as first is safe if last is nullptr, too, and results in a null string view.
The behavior is undefined if last precedes first, or first is nullptr and last is not.
This constructor only participates in overload resolution if Char is a compatible character type. The compatible character types are: char8_t, char, signed char and unsigned char.
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView(const Char (&)[N] string = N)▲
Constructs a string view on the character string literal string. The view covers the array until the first Char(0) is encountered, or N, whichever comes first. If you need the full array, use fromArray() instead.
string must remain valid for the lifetime of this string view object.
This constructor only participates in overload resolution if string is an actual array and if Char is a compatible character type. The compatible character types are: char8_t, char, signed char and unsigned char.
See Also▲
See also fromArray()
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView(const Char *str)▲
Constructs a string view on str. The length is determined by scanning for the first Char(0).
str must remain valid for the lifetime of this string view object.
Passing nullptr as str is safe and results in a null string view.
This constructor only participates in overload resolution if str is not an array and if Char is a compatible character type. The compatible character types are: char8_t, char, signed char and unsigned char.
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::QUtf8StringView(const Container &str)▲
Constructs a string view on str. The length is taken from str.size().
str.data() must remain valid for the lifetime of this string view object.
This constructor only participates in overload resolution if Container is an instantiation of std::basic_string with a compatible character type. The compatible character types are: char8_t, char, signed char and unsigned char.
The string view will be empty if and only if str.empty(). It is unspecified whether this constructor can result in a null string view (str.data() would have to return nullptr for this).
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::storage_type QUtf8StringView::at(qsizetype n) const▲
Returns the code point at position n in this string view.
The behavior is undefined if n is negative or not less than size().
See Also▲
See also operator[](), front(), back()
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::storage_type QUtf8StringView::back() const▲
Returns the last code point in the string. Same as last().
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
Calling this function on an empty string view constitutes undefined behavior.
See Also▲
See also front()
QUtf8StringView::const_iterator QUtf8StringView::begin() const▲
Returns a const STL-style iterator pointing to the first code point in the string.
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
See Also▲
QUtf8StringView::const_iterator QUtf8StringView::cbegin() const▲
QUtf8StringView::const_iterator QUtf8StringView::cend() const▲
[constexpr] void QUtf8StringView::chop(qsizetype n)▲
Truncates this string view by n code points.
Same as *this = first(size() - n).
The behavior is undefined when n < 0 or n > size().
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::chopped(qsizetype n) const▲
Returns the substring of length size() - n starting at the beginning of this object.
Same as first(size() - n).
The behavior is undefined when n < 0 or n > size().
See Also▲
QUtf8StringView::const_reverse_iterator QUtf8StringView::crbegin() const▲
QUtf8StringView::const_reverse_iterator QUtf8StringView::crend() const▲
QUtf8StringView::const_pointer QUtf8StringView::data() const▲
Returns a const pointer to the first code point in the string.
The character array represented by the return value is not null-terminated.
See Also▲
[constexpr] bool QUtf8StringView::empty() const▲
Returns whether this string view is empty - that is, whether size() == 0.
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
See Also▲
QUtf8StringView::const_iterator QUtf8StringView::end() const▲
Returns a const STL-style iterator pointing to the imaginary code point after the last code point in the list.
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::first(qsizetype n) const▲
Returns a string view that contains the first n code points of this string.
The behavior is undefined when n < 0 or n > size().
See Also▲
[static constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::fromArray(const Char (&)[Size] string = Size)▲
Constructs a string view on the full character string literal string, including any trailing Char(0). If you don't want the null-terminator included in the view then you can chop() it off when you are certain it is at the end. Alternatively you can use the constructor overload taking an array literal which will create a view up to, but not including, the first null-terminator in the data.
string must remain valid for the lifetime of this string view object.
This function will work with any array literal if Char is a compatible character type. The compatible character types are: char8_t, char, signed char and unsigned char.
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::storage_type QUtf8StringView::front() const▲
Returns the first code point in the string. Same as first().
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
Calling this function on an empty string view constitutes undefined behavior.
See Also▲
See also back()
[constexpr] bool QUtf8StringView::isEmpty() const▲
Returns whether this string view is empty - that is, whether size() == 0.
This function is provided for compatibility with other Qt containers.
See Also▲
[constexpr] bool QUtf8StringView::isNull() const▲
Returns whether this string view is null - that is, whether data() == nullptr.
This functions is provided for compatibility with other Qt containers.
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::last(qsizetype n) const▲
Returns a string view that contains the last n code points of this string.
The behavior is undefined when n < 0 or n > size().
See Also▲
QUtf8StringView::const_reverse_iterator QUtf8StringView::rbegin() const▲
Returns a const STL-style reverse iterator pointing to the first code point in the string, in reverse order.
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
See Also▲
QUtf8StringView::const_reverse_iterator QUtf8StringView::rend() const▲
Returns a STL-style reverse iterator pointing to one past the last code point in the string, in reverse order.
This function is provided for STL compatibility.
See Also▲
[constexpr] qsizetype QUtf8StringView::size() const▲
Returns the size of this string view, in UTF-8 code points (that is, multi-byte sequences count as more than one for the purposes of this function, the same as surrogate pairs in QString and QStringView).
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::sliced(qsizetype pos) const▲
Returns a string view starting at position pos in this object, and extending to its end.
The behavior is undefined when pos < 0 or pos > size().
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::sliced(qsizetype pos, qsizetype n) const▲
Returns a string view containing n code points of this string view, starting at position pos.
The behavior is undefined when pos < 0, n < 0, or pos + n > size().
See Also▲
QString QUtf8StringView::toString() const▲
Returns a deep copy of this string view's data as a QString.
The return value will be a null QString if and only if this string view is null.
[constexpr] void QUtf8StringView::truncate(qsizetype n)▲
Truncates this string view to n code points.
Same as *this = first(n).
The behavior is undefined when n < 0 or n > size().
See Also▲
const int *QUtf8StringView::utf8() const▲
Returns a const pointer to the first code point in the string.
The result is returned as a const char8_t*, so this function is only available when compiling in C++20 mode.
The character array represented by the return value is not null-terminated.
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView::storage_type QUtf8StringView::operator[](qsizetype n) const▲
Obsolete Members for QUtf8StringView▲
The following members of class QUtf8StringView are deprecated. We strongly advise against using them in new code.
Obsolete Member Function Documentation▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::left(qsizetype n) const▲
This function is deprecated. We strongly advise against using it in new code.
Use first() instead in new code.
Returns the substring of length n starting at position 0 in this object.
The entire string is returned if n is greater than or equal to size(), or less than zero.
See Also▲
[constexpr] int QUtf8StringView::length() const▲
This function is deprecated. We strongly advise against using it in new code.
Use size() and port callers to qsizetype.
Same as size(), except returns the result as an int.
This function is provided for compatibility with other Qt containers.
QUtf8StringView can represent strings with more than 231 code points. Calling this function on a string view for which size() returns a value greater than INT_MAX constitutes undefined behavior.
See Also▲
[constexpr] QUtf8StringView QUtf8StringView::mid(qsizetype pos, qsizetype n = -1) const▲
This function is deprecated. We strongly advise against using it in new code.
Returns the substring of length n starting at position pos in this object.
Use sliced() instead in new code.
Returns an empty string view if n exceeds the length of the string. If there are less than n code points available in the string starting at pos, or if n is negative (default), the function returns all code points that are available from pos.