How do I convert an LPTSTR to an LPCSTR?

Question

So the output of the function GetUserName() gives the username as a LPTSTR. I need to convert this to a LPCSTR, as I want the username to be the name of the an ftpdirectory.

TCHAR id [UNLEN+1];
DWORD size = UNLEN+1;
GetUserName(id, &size); // this is an LPTSTR

FtpCreateDirectory(hFtpSession,id) // 2d parameter should be an LPCSTR

The problem is that I need to convert the LPTSTR string to a LPCSTR string. Now I know that:

LPTSTR is a (non-const) TCHAR string and LPCSTR is a const string.

But how do I convert a TCHAR to a const string?

I should note I don't have a rich programming/C++ background, I should also note that I'm compiling in multi-byte, not unicode.

When not converting anything: GetLastError() returns: 12003 and InternetGetLastResponseInfo() returns:7771a9a8. — Rob, May 12 '12 at 17:16
just to note, FTPCreateDirectory api takes LPCTSTR , so you could simply do FTPCreateDirectory(hFtpSession,&id) — johnathan, May 12 '12 at 19:11
GetUsername also takes a LPTSTR , and there you'd also take the reference of your tchar array. — johnathan, May 12 '12 at 19:13
Turns out I had FILE (not a directory) on my ftpserver that had the exact name of my username. So when I deleted that file, all worked fine. Thanks for your help nevertheless. — Rob, May 12 '12 at 20:52

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered May 12 '12 at 16:58

4

As you are compiling for multi-byte, not unicode you don't have to do anything. LPTSTR will convert implicitly to LPCSTR as it's just a char* to const char* conversion.

answered May 12 '12 at 16:58

CB Bailey

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Thanks very much for your reply, please see my comments under Matteo's answer. – Rob May 12 '12 at 17:12

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:30

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If you are not compiling for Unicode, TCHAR=char, so you don't need to convert anything. On the other hand, when compiling for Unicode you must perform a conversion; there are several alternatives for this, have a look here.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:30

Community

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answered May 12 '12 at 16:58

Matteo Italia

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Interesting, when I just do this: cout << FtpCreateDirectory(hFtpSession,username) << endl; cout << GetLastError() << endl; The boolean turns 0 (indicating the function failed) and the Error message I recieve is: 12003. I can't find what this error means as it is not described on http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms681384(v=vs.85).aspx. – Rob May 12 '12 at 17:07
But if I'd say newstring = "directoryname" and then FtpCreateDirectory(hFtpSession,newstring); it works. Why's that? – Rob May 12 '12 at 17:11

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 12 '12 at 19:15

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TCHAR id [UNLEN+1];
DWORD size = UNLEN+1;
GetUserName(&id[0], &size); // this is an LPTSTR

FtpCreateDirectory(hFtpSession,&id[0]);

This code should work in unicode or multibyte builds.

answered May 12 '12 at 19:15

johnathan

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Thanks for your replies jonathon, but it still doesn't work. I get the exact same errors. But if I'd say newstring = "directoryname" and then FtpCreateDirectory(hFtpSession,newstring); it works... – Rob May 12 '12 at 20:22

How do I convert an LPTSTR to an LPCSTR?

3 Answers3