mirror of
https://github.com/catchorg/Catch2.git
synced 2024-11-14 09:49:54 +01:00
71 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
71 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
# String conversions
|
|
|
|
Catch needs to be able to convert types you use in assertions and logging expressions into strings (for logging and reporting purposes).
|
|
Most built-in or std types are supported out of the box but there are three ways that you can tell Catch how to convert your own types (or other, third-party types) into strings.
|
|
|
|
## operator << overload for std::ostream
|
|
|
|
This is the standard way of providing string conversions in C++ - and the chances are you may already provide this for your own purposes. If you're not familiar with this idiom it involves writing a free function of the form:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
std::ostream& operator << ( std::ostream& os, T const& value ) {
|
|
os << convertMyTypeToString( value );
|
|
return os;
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
(where ```T``` is your type and ```convertMyTypeToString``` is where you'll write whatever code is necessary to make your type printable - it doesn't have to be in another function).
|
|
|
|
You should put this function in the same namespace as your type.
|
|
|
|
Alternatively you may prefer to write it as a member function:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
std::ostream& T::operator << ( std::ostream& os ) const {
|
|
os << convertMyTypeToString( *this );
|
|
return os;
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Catch::toString overload
|
|
|
|
If you don't want to provide an ```operator <<``` overload, or you want to convert your type differently for testing purposes, you can provide an overload for ```Catch::toString()``` for your type.
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
namespace Catch {
|
|
std::string toString( T const& value ) {
|
|
return convertMyTypeToString( value );
|
|
}
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Again ```T``` is your type and ```convertMyTypeToString``` is where you'll write whatever code is necessary to make your type printable. Note that the function must be in the Catch namespace, which itself must be in the global namespace.
|
|
|
|
## Catch::StringMaker<T> specialisation
|
|
|
|
There are some cases where overloading toString does not work as expected. Specialising StringMaker<T> gives you more precise, and reliable, control - but at the cost of slightly more code and complexity:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
namespace Catch {
|
|
template<> struct StringMaker<T> {
|
|
static std::string convert( T const& value ) {
|
|
return convertMyTypeToString( value );
|
|
}
|
|
};
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Exceptions
|
|
|
|
By default all exceptions deriving from `std::exception` will be translated to strings by calling the `what()` method. For exception types that do not derive from `std::exception` - or if `what()` does not return a suitable string - use `CATCH_TRANSLATE_EXCEPTION`. This defines a function that takes your exception type, by reference, and returns a string. It can appear anywhere in the code - it doesn't have to be in the same translation unit. For example:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
CATCH_TRANSLATE_EXCEPTION( MyType& ex ) {
|
|
return ex.message();
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
[Home](Readme.md)
|