Converting const char to std::string for title

Question

I am working with gnuplot.

In the header file I have the following function:

void PlotPath(Gnuplot& gp, const char* title, bool first_plot = true, bool last_plot = true);

Then, in the cpp file:

template <typename T>
void Path<T>::PlotPath(Gnuplot& gp, const char* title, bool first_plot, bool last_plot)
{
    std::vector<WaypointPath<T>> waypoints = GenerateWaypoints(5000);
    std::vector<std::pair<T, T>> plot_points(5000);

    for (size_t i = 0; i < waypoints.size(); ++i) {
        plot_points[i] = std::make_pair(waypoints[i].position[0], waypoints[i].position[1]);
    }

    if (first_plot) {
        gp << "plot" << gp.file1d(plot_points) << "with lines title '" << title << "',";
    } else {
        gp << gp.file1d(plot_points) << "with lines title '" << title << "',";
    }

    if (last_plot) {
        gp << std::endl;
    }
}

What I want to do is instead of using const char* title, I want to use std::string title. So what I did is as follows and it works but I was wondering whether there is a better way of achieving this task.

template <typename T>
void Path<T>::PlotPath(Gnuplot& gp, const char* title, bool first_plot, bool last_plot)
{
    std::vector<WaypointPath<T>> waypoints = GenerateWaypoints(5000);
    std::vector<std::pair<T, T>> plot_points(5000);

    // Convert const char * to std::string
    std::string string_title = title;

    for (size_t i = 0; i < waypoints.size(); ++i) {
        plot_points[i] = std::make_pair(waypoints[i].position[0], waypoints[i].position[1]);
    }

    if (first_plot) {
        gp << "plot" << gp.file1d(plot_points) << "with lines title '" << string_title << "',";
    } else {
        gp << gp.file1d(plot_points) << "with lines title '" << string_title << "',";
    }

    if (last_plot) {
        gp << std::endl;
    }
}

Here, I am converting the const char* to std::string by creating another variable. But Is there a way of including the std::string title in the function argument itself ?

What I have done here is working fine but I am just searching for a more elegant way of solving this.

Thanking You in anticipation.

Answer 1

Make your argument std::string. std::string has a constructor that takes a const char* so it should not be a problem.