21 Strings library [strings]

21.4 String view classes [string.view]

The class template basic_string_view describes an object that can refer to a constant contiguous sequence of char-like ([strings.general]) objects with the first element of the sequence at position zero. In the rest of this section, the type of the char-like objects held in a basic_string_view object is designated by charT.

Note: The library provides implicit conversions from const charT* and std::basic_string<charT, ...> to std::basic_string_view<charT, ...> so that user code can accept just std::basic_string_view<charT> as a non-templated parameter wherever a sequence of characters is expected. User-defined types should define their own implicit conversions to std::basic_string_view in order to interoperate with these functions.  — end note ]

The complexity of basic_string_view member functions is Ο(1) unless otherwise specified.

21.4.1 Header <string_view> synopsis [string.view.synop]

namespace std {
  // [string.view.template], class template basic_string_view
  template<class charT, class traits = char_traits<charT>>
  class basic_string_view;

  // [string.view.comparison], non-member comparison functions
  template<class charT, class traits>
    constexpr bool operator==(basic_string_view<charT, traits> x,
                              basic_string_view<charT, traits> y) noexcept;
  template<class charT, class traits>
    constexpr bool operator!=(basic_string_view<charT, traits> x,
                              basic_string_view<charT, traits> y) noexcept;
  template<class charT, class traits>
    constexpr bool operator< (basic_string_view<charT, traits> x,
                              basic_string_view<charT, traits> y) noexcept;
  template<class charT, class traits>
    constexpr bool operator> (basic_string_view<charT, traits> x,
                              basic_string_view<charT, traits> y) noexcept;
  template<class charT, class traits>
    constexpr bool operator<=(basic_string_view<charT, traits> x,
                              basic_string_view<charT, traits> y) noexcept;
  template<class charT, class traits>
    constexpr bool operator>=(basic_string_view<charT, traits> x,
                              basic_string_view<charT, traits> y) noexcept;
  // see [string.view.comparison], sufficient additional overloads of comparison functions

  // [string.view.io], inserters and extractors
  template<class charT, class traits>
    basic_ostream<charT, traits>&
      operator<<(basic_ostream<charT, traits>& os,
                 basic_string_view<charT, traits> str);

  // basic_string_view typedef names
  using string_view    = basic_string_view<char>;
  using u16string_view = basic_string_view<char16_t>;
  using u32string_view = basic_string_view<char32_t>;
  using wstring_view   = basic_string_view<wchar_t>;

  // [string.view.hash], hash support
  template<class T> struct hash;
  template<> struct hash<string_view>;
  template<> struct hash<u16string_view>;
  template<> struct hash<u32string_view>;
  template<> struct hash<wstring_view>;

  inline namespace literals {
  inline namespace string_view_literals {
    // [string.view.literals], suffix for basic_string_view literals
    constexpr string_view    operator "" sv(const char* str, size_t len) noexcept;
    constexpr u16string_view operator "" sv(const char16_t* str, size_t len) noexcept;
    constexpr u32string_view operator "" sv(const char32_t* str, size_t len) noexcept;
    constexpr wstring_view   operator "" sv(const wchar_t* str, size_t len) noexcept;
  }
  }
}

The function templates defined in [utility.swap] and [iterator.range] are available when <string_view> is included.

21.4.2 Class template basic_string_view [string.view.template]

template<class charT, class traits = char_traits<charT>>
class basic_string_view {
public:
  // types
  using traits_type            = traits;
  using value_type             = charT;
  using pointer                = charT*;
  using const_pointer          = const charT*;
  using reference              = charT&;
  using const_reference        = const charT&;
  using const_iterator         = implementation-defined; // see [string.view.iterators]
  using iterator               = const_iterator;229
  using const_reverse_iterator = reverse_iterator<const_iterator>;
  using reverse_iterator       = const_reverse_iterator;
  using size_type              = size_t;
  using difference_type        = ptrdiff_t;
  static constexpr size_type npos = size_type(-1);

  // [string.view.cons], construction and assignment
  constexpr basic_string_view() noexcept;
  constexpr basic_string_view(const basic_string_view&) noexcept = default;
  constexpr basic_string_view& operator=(const basic_string_view&) noexcept = default;
  constexpr basic_string_view(const charT* str);
  constexpr basic_string_view(const charT* str, size_type len);

  // [string.view.iterators], iterator support
  constexpr const_iterator begin() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_iterator end() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_iterator cbegin() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_iterator cend() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_reverse_iterator rbegin() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_reverse_iterator rend() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_reverse_iterator crbegin() const noexcept;
  constexpr const_reverse_iterator crend() const noexcept;

  // [string.view.capacity], capacity
  constexpr size_type size() const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type length() const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type max_size() const noexcept;
  constexpr bool empty() const noexcept;

  // [string.view.access], element access
  constexpr const_reference operator[](size_type pos) const;
  constexpr const_reference at(size_type pos) const;
  constexpr const_reference front() const;
  constexpr const_reference back() const;
  constexpr const_pointer data() const noexcept;

  // [string.view.modifiers], modifiers
  constexpr void remove_prefix(size_type n);
  constexpr void remove_suffix(size_type n);
  constexpr void swap(basic_string_view& s) noexcept;

  // [string.view.ops], string operations
  size_type copy(charT* s, size_type n, size_type pos = 0) const;

  constexpr basic_string_view substr(size_type pos = 0, size_type n = npos) const;
  constexpr int compare(basic_string_view s) const noexcept;
  constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, basic_string_view s) const;
  constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, basic_string_view s,
                        size_type pos2, size_type n2) const;
  constexpr int compare(const charT* s) const;
  constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, const charT* s) const;
  constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, const charT* s,
                        size_type n2) const;
  constexpr size_type find(basic_string_view s, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find(charT c, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find(const charT* s, size_type pos, size_type n) const;
  constexpr size_type find(const charT* s, size_type pos = 0) const;
  constexpr size_type rfind(basic_string_view s, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type rfind(charT c, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type rfind(const charT* s, size_type pos, size_type n) const;
  constexpr size_type rfind(const charT* s, size_type pos = npos) const;
  constexpr size_type find_first_of(basic_string_view s, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_first_of(charT c, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_first_of(const charT* s, size_type pos, size_type n) const;
  constexpr size_type find_first_of(const charT* s, size_type pos = 0) const;
  constexpr size_type find_last_of(basic_string_view s, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_last_of(charT c, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_last_of(const charT* s, size_type pos, size_type n) const;
  constexpr size_type find_last_of(const charT* s, size_type pos = npos) const;
  constexpr size_type find_first_not_of(basic_string_view s, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_first_not_of(charT c, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_first_not_of(const charT* s, size_type pos,
                                        size_type n) const;
  constexpr size_type find_first_not_of(const charT* s, size_type pos = 0) const;
  constexpr size_type find_last_not_of(basic_string_view s,
                                       size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_last_not_of(charT c, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;
  constexpr size_type find_last_not_of(const charT* s, size_type pos,
                                       size_type n) const;
  constexpr size_type find_last_not_of(const charT* s, size_type pos = npos) const;

private:
  const_pointer data_; // exposition only
  size_type size_;     // exposition only
};

In every specialization basic_string_view<charT, traits>, the type traits shall satisfy the character traits requirements ([char.traits]), and the type traits::char_type shall name the same type as charT.

Because basic_string_view refers to a constant sequence, iterator and const_iterator are the same type.

21.4.2.1 Construction and assignment [string.view.cons]

constexpr basic_string_view() noexcept;

Effects: Constructs an empty basic_string_view.

Postconditions: size_ == 0 and data_ == nullptr.

constexpr basic_string_view(const charT* str);

Requires: [str, str + traits::length(str)) is a valid range.

Effects: Constructs a basic_string_view, with the postconditions in Table [tab:string.view.ctr.2].

Table 64basic_string_view(const charT*) effects
ElementValue
data_ str
size_ traits::length(str)

Complexity: Ο(traits::length(str)).

constexpr basic_string_view(const charT* str, size_type len);

Requires: [str, str + len) is a valid range.

Effects: Constructs a basic_string_view, with the postconditions in Table [tab:string.view.ctr.3].

Table 65basic_string_view(const charT*, size_type) effects
ElementValue
data_ str
size_ len

21.4.2.2 Iterator support [string.view.iterators]

using const_iterator = implementation-defined;

A constant random-access iterator type such that, for a const_iterator it, if &*(it + N) is valid, then &*(it + N) == (&*it) + N.

For a basic_string_view str, any operation that invalidates a pointer in the range [str.data(), str.data() + str.size()) invalidates pointers, iterators, and references returned from str's methods.

All requirements on container iterators ([container.requirements]) apply to basic_string_view::const_iterator as well.

constexpr const_iterator begin() const noexcept; constexpr const_iterator cbegin() const noexcept;

Returns: An iterator such that

  • if !empty(), &*begin() == data_,

  • otherwise, an unspecified value such that [begin(), end()) is a valid range.

constexpr const_iterator end() const noexcept; constexpr const_iterator cend() const noexcept;

Returns: begin() + size().

constexpr const_reverse_iterator rbegin() const noexcept; constexpr const_reverse_iterator crbegin() const noexcept;

Returns: const_reverse_iterator(end()).

constexpr const_reverse_iterator rend() const noexcept; constexpr const_reverse_iterator crend() const noexcept;

Returns: const_reverse_iterator(begin()).

21.4.2.3 Capacity [string.view.capacity]

constexpr size_type size() const noexcept;

Returns: size_.

constexpr size_type length() const noexcept;

Returns: size_.

constexpr size_type max_size() const noexcept;

Returns: The largest possible number of char-like objects that can be referred to by a basic_string_view.

constexpr bool empty() const noexcept;

Returns: size_ == 0.

21.4.2.4 Element access [string.view.access]

constexpr const_reference operator[](size_type pos) const;

Requires: pos < size().

Returns: data_[pos].

Throws: Nothing.

Note: Unlike basic_string::operator[], basic_string_view::operator[](size()) has undefined behavior instead of returning charT().  — end note ]

constexpr const_reference at(size_type pos) const;

Throws: out_of_range if pos >= size().

Returns: data_[pos].

constexpr const_reference front() const;

Requires: !empty().

Returns: data_[0].

Throws: Nothing.

constexpr const_reference back() const;

Requires: !empty().

Returns: data_[size() - 1].

Throws: Nothing.

constexpr const_pointer data() const noexcept;

Returns: data_.

Note: Unlike basic_string::data() and string literals, data() may return a pointer to a buffer that is not null-terminated. Therefore it is typically a mistake to pass data() to a routine that takes just a const charT* and expects a null-terminated string.  — end note ]

21.4.2.5 Modifiers [string.view.modifiers]

constexpr void remove_prefix(size_type n);

Requires: n <= size().

Effects: Equivalent to: data_ += n; size_ -= n;

constexpr void remove_suffix(size_type n);

Requires: n <= size().

Effects: Equivalent to: size_ -= n;

constexpr void swap(basic_string_view& s) noexcept;

Effects: Exchanges the values of *this and s.

21.4.2.6 String operations [string.view.ops]

size_type copy(charT* s, size_type n, size_type pos = 0) const;

Let rlen be the smaller of n and size() - pos.

Throws: out_of_range if pos > size().

Requires: [s, s + rlen) is a valid range.

Effects: Equivalent to traits::copy(s, data() + pos, rlen).

Returns: rlen.

Complexity: Ο(rlen).

constexpr basic_string_view substr(size_type pos = 0, size_type n = npos) const;

Let rlen be the smaller of n and size() - pos.

Throws: out_of_range if pos > size().

Effects: Determines rlen, the effective length of the string to reference.

Returns: basic_string_view(data() + pos, rlen).

constexpr int compare(basic_string_view str) const noexcept;

Let rlen be the smaller of size() and str.size().

Effects: Determines rlen, the effective length of the strings to compare. The function then compares the two strings by calling traits::compare(data(), str.data(), rlen).

Complexity: Ο(rlen).

Returns: The nonzero result if the result of the comparison is nonzero. Otherwise, returns a value as indicated in Table [tab:string.view.compare].

Table 66compare() results
ConditionReturn Value
size() < str.size() < 0
size() == str.size() 0
size() > str.size() > 0

constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, basic_string_view str) const;

Effects: Equivalent to: return substr(pos1, n1).compare(str);

constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, basic_string_view str, size_type pos2, size_type n2) const;

Effects: Equivalent to: return substr(pos1, n1).compare(str.substr(pos2, n2));

constexpr int compare(const charT* s) const;

Effects: Equivalent to: return compare(basic_string_view(s));

constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, const charT* s) const;

Effects: Equivalent to: return substr(pos1, n1).compare(basic_string_view(s));

constexpr int compare(size_type pos1, size_type n1, const charT* s, size_type n2) const;

Effects: Equivalent to: return substr(pos1, n1).compare(basic_string_view(s, n2));

21.4.2.7 Searching [string.view.find]

This section specifies the basic_string_view member functions named find, rfind, find_first_of, find_last_of, find_first_not_of, and find_last_not_of.

Member functions in this section have complexity Ο(size() * str.size()) at worst, although implementations are encouraged to do better.

Each member function of the form

constexpr return-type F(const charT* s, size_type pos);

is equivalent to return F(basic_string_view(s), pos);

Each member function of the form

constexpr return-type F(const charT* s, size_type pos, size_type n);

is equivalent to return F(basic_string_view(s, n), pos);

Each member function of the form

constexpr return-type F(charT c, size_type pos);

is equivalent to return F(basic_string_view(&c, 1), pos);

constexpr size_type find(basic_string_view str, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;

Let xpos be the lowest position, if possible, such that the following conditions hold:

  • pos <= xpos

  • xpos + str.size() <= size()

  • traits::eq(at(xpos + I), str.at(I)) for all elements I of the string referenced by str.

Effects: Determines xpos.

Returns: xpos if the function can determine such a value for xpos. Otherwise, returns npos.

Remarks: Uses traits::eq().

constexpr size_type rfind(basic_string_view str, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;

Let xpos be the highest position, if possible, such that the following conditions hold:

  • xpos <= pos

  • xpos + str.size() <= size()

  • traits::eq(at(xpos + I), str.at(I)) for all elements I of the string referenced by str.

Effects: Determines xpos.

Returns: xpos if the function can determine such a value for xpos. Otherwise, returns npos.

Remarks: Uses traits::eq().

constexpr size_type find_first_of(basic_string_view str, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;

Let xpos be the lowest position, if possible, such that the following conditions hold:

  • pos <= xpos

  • xpos < size()

  • traits::eq(at(xpos), str.at(I)) for some element I of the string referenced by str.

Effects: Determines xpos.

Returns: xpos if the function can determine such a value for xpos. Otherwise, returns npos.

Remarks: Uses traits::eq().

constexpr size_type find_last_of(basic_string_view str, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;

Let xpos be the highest position, if possible, such that the following conditions hold:

  • xpos <= pos

  • xpos < size()

  • traits::eq(at(xpos), str.at(I)) for some element I of the string referenced by str.

Effects: Determines xpos.

Returns: xpos if the function can determine such a value for xpos. Otherwise, returns npos.

Remarks: Uses traits::eq().

constexpr size_type find_first_not_of(basic_string_view str, size_type pos = 0) const noexcept;

Let xpos be the lowest position, if possible, such that the following conditions hold:

  • pos <= xpos

  • xpos < size()

  • traits::eq(at(xpos), str.at(I)) for no element I of the string referenced by str.

Effects: Determines xpos.

Returns: xpos if the function can determine such a value for xpos. Otherwise, returns npos.

Remarks: Uses traits::eq().

constexpr size_type find_last_not_of(basic_string_view str, size_type pos = npos) const noexcept;

Let xpos the highest position, if possible, such that the following conditions hold:

  • xpos <= pos

  • xpos < size()

  • traits::eq(at(xpos), str.at(I)) for no element I of the string referenced by str.

Effects: Determines xpos.

Returns: xpos if the function can determine such a value for xpos. Otherwise, returns npos.

Remarks: Uses traits::eq().

21.4.3 Non-member comparison functions [string.view.comparison]

Let S be basic_string_view<charT, traits>, and sv be an instance of S. Implementations shall provide sufficient additional overloads marked constexpr and noexcept so that an object t with an implicit conversion to S can be compared according to Table [tab:string.view.comparison.overloads].

Table 67 — Additional basic_string_view comparison overloads
ExpressionEquivalent to
t == sv S(t) == sv
sv == t sv == S(t)
t != sv S(t) != sv
sv != t sv != S(t)
t < sv S(t) < sv
sv < t sv < S(t)
t > sv S(t) > sv
sv > t sv > S(t)
t <= sv S(t) <= sv
sv <= t sv <= S(t)
t >= sv S(t) >= sv
sv >= t sv >= S(t)

Example: A sample conforming implementation for operator== would be:

template<class T> using __identity = decay_t<T>;
template<class charT, class traits>
  constexpr bool operator==(basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs,
                            basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept {
    return lhs.compare(rhs) == 0;
  }
template<class charT, class traits>
  constexpr bool operator==(basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs,
                            __identity<basic_string_view<charT, traits>> rhs) noexcept {
    return lhs.compare(rhs) == 0;
  }
template<class charT, class traits>
  constexpr bool operator==(__identity<basic_string_view<charT, traits>> lhs,
                            basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept {
    return lhs.compare(rhs) == 0;
  }

 — end example ]

template<class charT, class traits> constexpr bool operator==(basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs, basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept;

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) == 0.

template<class charT, class traits> constexpr bool operator!=(basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs, basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept;

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) != 0.

template<class charT, class traits> constexpr bool operator< (basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs, basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept;

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) < 0.

template<class charT, class traits> constexpr bool operator> (basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs, basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept;

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) > 0.

template<class charT, class traits> constexpr bool operator<=(basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs, basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept;

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) <= 0.

template<class charT, class traits> constexpr bool operator>=(basic_string_view<charT, traits> lhs, basic_string_view<charT, traits> rhs) noexcept;

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) >= 0.

21.4.4 Inserters and extractors [string.view.io]

template<class charT, class traits> basic_ostream<charT, traits>& operator<<(basic_ostream<charT, traits>& os, basic_string_view<charT, traits> str);

Effects: Behaves as a formatted output function ([ostream.formatted.reqmts]) of os. Forms a character sequence seq, initially consisting of the elements defined by the range [str.begin(), str.end()). Determines padding for seq as described in [ostream.formatted.reqmts]. Then inserts seq as if by calling os.rdbuf()->sputn(seq, n), where n is the larger of os.width() and str.size(); then calls os.width(0).

Returns: os

21.4.5 Hash support [string.view.hash]

template<> struct hash<string_view>; template<> struct hash<u16string_view>; template<> struct hash<u32string_view>; template<> struct hash<wstring_view>;

The specialization is enabled ([unord.hash]).

21.4.6 Suffix for basic_string_view literals [string.view.literals]

constexpr string_view operator "" sv(const char* str, size_t len) noexcept;

Returns: string_view{str, len}.

constexpr u16string_view operator "" sv(const char16_t* str, size_t len) noexcept;

Returns: u16string_view{str, len}.

constexpr u32string_view operator "" sv(const char32_t* str, size_t len) noexcept;

Returns: u32string_view{str, len}.

constexpr wstring_view operator "" sv(const wchar_t* str, size_t len) noexcept;

Returns: wstring_view{str, len}.