NAME

       FBB::A2x - Objects performing ascii-to-x (anything) conversions

SYNOPSIS

       #include <bobcat/a2x>
       Linking option: -lbobcat

DESCRIPTION

       FBB::A2x  objects offer the C++ equivalent of the standard C conversion functions atoi(3),
       atol(3), atof(3) etc.  A2x objects generalize these C functions to any type  that  can  be
       extracted  from  an  istream object. Since FBB::A2x represents the object-variant of the C
       functions, and is therefore type-safe and extensible, their use is greatly preferred  over
       using the standard C functions.

       Conversions  to  most  standard  numeric  types  is  also available through functions like
       std::stol, std::stod, etc.

NAMESPACE

       FBB
       All constructors, members, and operators, mentioned in this man-page, are defined  in  the
       namespace FBB.

INHERITS FROM

       std::istringstream

CONSTRUCTORS

       o      A2x():
              This  constructor  constructs  an empty A2x object. No information can be converted
              from a  thus constructed A2x object.

       o      A2x(char const *text):
              This constructor stores text. If text represents a textual value of some type,  the
              A2x  object  may  be  used to initialize or assign this value to a variable of that
              particular type. Extraction, however is also still possible.

       o      A2x(std::string const &str):
              This constructor stores the text contained  in  str.  If  this  text  represents  a
              textual value of some type, the A2x object may be used to initialize or assign this
              value to a variable of that particular type. Extraction  is  also  still  possible.
              The copy constructor is available.

STATIC MEMBER FUNCTION

       o      bool lastFail():
              This  member  returns true if the last conversion failed (i.e., the object’s fail()
              member returned true and returns false otherwise).  This member  allows  checks  on
              the  success  of  the extraction/conversion using anonymous A2x objects. The member
              also returns true when no conversions have as yet been performed.
              Note that this member is a thread-unsafe static member: in a multithreaded  program
              locks may be required to ensure that the proper conversion result is inspected.

MEMBER FUNCTION

       All members of the istringstream class are available.

       o      Type to():
              This  member returns any type Type supporting extractions from i[string]streams. If
              the extraction fails, the A2x object’s good() member will  return  false,  and  the
              Type’s  default  value  is  returned.  This  operator was implemented as a template
              member function. There is also a type conversion operator  available  (see  below),
              but  the  member  function variant may be preferred over the conversion operator in
              situations where explicit disambiguation  is  required  (e.g.,  in  cases  where  a
              conversion  has  no  obvious type solution such as direct insertions) An example is
              provided in the EXAMPLE section below.

OVERLOADED OPERATORS

       o      operator Type():
              Conversion to any type Type supporting extractions from  i[string]streams.  If  the
              extraction  fails, the A2x object’s good() member will return false, and the Type’s
              default value is returned. This operator  was  implemented  as  a  template  member
              function.

       o      istream &operator>>(istream &, Type &):
              Extraction  to  any  type Type supporting extractions from i[string]streams. If the
              extraction fails, the A2x object’s good() member will return false, and the  Type’s
              default  value  is  returned  (this facility is implied by the fact that this class
              inherits from istringstream, but it’s probably useful to stress that the extraction
              operation is still available).

       o      A2x &operator=(char const *):
              Stores  new  text  in  the  A2x  object, resets the status flags to ios::good. If a
              0-pointer is passed, an empty string is stored.

       o      A2x &operator=(std::string const &):
              Stores the text stored in the std::string argument in the A2x  object,  resets  the
              status flags to ios::good.

       o      A2x &operator=(A2x const &):
              The standard overloaded assignment operator is available

EXAMPLE

           int x = A2x("12");

           A2x a2x("12.50");

           double d;

           d = a2x;

           a2x = "err";

           d = a2x;        // d now 0

           a2x = " a";

           char c = a2x;   // c now ’a’

                           // explicit conversion to `double’
           cout << A2x("12.4").to<double>() << endl;

FILES

       bobcat/a2x - defines the class interface

SEE ALSO

       bobcat(7), x2a(3bobcat), atoi(3), atol(3), atof(3), strtod(3), strtol(3), strdoul(3)

BUGS

       None Reported.

DISTRIBUTION FILES

       o      bobcat_4.08.02-x.dsc: detached signature;

       o      bobcat_4.08.02-x.tar.gz: source archive;

       o      bobcat_4.08.02-x_i386.changes: change log;

       o      libbobcat1_4.08.02-x_*.deb: debian package holding the libraries;

       o      libbobcat1-dev_4.08.02-x_*.deb:  debian  package holding the libraries, headers and
              manual pages;

       o      http://sourceforge.net/projects/bobcat: public archive location;

BOBCAT

       Bobcat is an acronym of `Brokken’s Own Base Classes And Templates’.

COPYRIGHT

       This is free software, distributed under the terms  of  the  GNU  General  Public  License
       (GPL).

AUTHOR

       Frank B. Brokken (f.b.brokken@rug.nl).