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c++c++17

Convert a string to std filesystem path

A file path is passed as a string. How do I convert this string to a std::filesystem::path? Example:

#include <filesystem>

std::string inputPath = "a/custom/path.ext";
const std::filesystem::path path = inputPath; // Is this assignment safe?
Solution

  • Yes, this construction is safe†:

    const std::filesystem::path path = inputPath; // Is this assignment safe?

    That is not assignment, that is copy initialization. You are invoking this constructor:

    template< class Source >
path( const Source& source );

    which takes:

    Constructs the path from a character sequence provided by source (4), which is a pointer or an input iterator to a null-terminated character/wide character sequence, an std::basic_string or an std::basic_string_view,

    So you're fine. Plus, it would be really weird if you couldn't construct a filesystem::path from a std::string.

    †See this answer for issues with Windows encodings.