How do I check if a C++ std::string starts with a

Question

How do I implement the following (Python pseudocode) in C++?

if argv[1].startswith('--foo='):
    foo_value = int(argv[1][len('--foo='):])

(For example, if argv[1] is --foo=98, then foo_value is 98.)

Update: I'm hesitant to look into Boost, since I'm just looking at making a very small change to a simple little command-line tool (I'd rather not have to learn how to link in and use Boost for a minor change).

Answer 1

I use std::string::compare wrapped in utility method like below:

static bool startsWith(const string& s, const string& prefix) {
    return s.size() >= prefix.size() && s.compare(0, prefix.size(), prefix) == 0;
}

Answer 2

std::string s = "tititoto";
if (s.rfind("titi", 0) == 0) {
  // s starts with prefix
}

Who needs anything else? Pure STL!

Answer 3

Just for completeness, I will mention the C way to do it:

If str is your original string, substr is the substring you want to check, then

strncmp(str, substr, strlen(substr))

will return 0 if str starts with substr. The functions strncmp and strlen are in the C header file <string.h>

^{(originally posted by Yaseen Rauf here, markup added)}

For a case-insensitive comparison, use strnicmp instead of strncmp.

This is the C way to do it, for C++ strings you can use the same function like this:

strncmp(str.c_str(), substr.c_str(), substr.size())

Answer 4

If you're using Boost, you can do it with boost string algorithms + boost lexical cast:

#include <boost/algorithm/string/predicate.hpp>
#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>

try {    
    if (boost::starts_with(argv[1], "--foo="))
        foo_value = boost::lexical_cast<int>(argv[1]+6);
} catch (boost::bad_lexical_cast) {
    // bad parameter
}

Like most boost libraries, string algorithm & lexical cast are header-only, there's nothing to link in.

This kind of approach, like many of the other answers provided here is ok for very simple tasks, but in the long run you are usually better off using a command line parsing library. Boost has one (Boost.Program_options), which may make sense if you happen to be using Boost already.

Otherwise a search for "c++ command line parser" will yield a number of options.

Answer 5

Why not use gnu getopts? Here's a basic example (without safety checks):

#include <getopt.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
  option long_options[] = {
    {"foo", required_argument, 0, 0},
    {0,0,0,0}
  };

  getopt_long(argc, argv, "f:", long_options, 0);

  printf("%s\n", optarg);
}

For the following command:

$ ./a.out --foo=33

You will get

33

Answer 6

Code I use myself:

std::string prefix = "-param=";
std::string argument = argv[1];
if(argument.substr(0, prefix.size()) == prefix) {
    std::string argumentValue = argument.substr(prefix.size());
}