[c++] How to Convert unsigned char* to std::string in C++?

I have unsigned char*, want to convert it to std::string. Can you please tell me the safest way to do this?

BYTE* is probably a typedef for unsigned char*, but I can't say for sure. It would help if you tell us what BYTE is.

If BYTE* is unsigned char*, you can convert it to an std::string using the std::string range constructor, which will take two generic Iterators.

const BYTE* str1 = reinterpret_cast<const BYTE*> ("Hello World");
int len = strlen(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(str1));
std::string str2(str1, str1 + len);

That being said, are you sure this is a good idea? If BYTE is unsigned char it may contain non-ASCII characters, which can include NULLs. This will make strlen give an incorrect length.

Here is the complete code

#include <bits/stdc++.h>

using namespace std;

typedef unsigned char BYTE;

int main() {
  //method 1;
  std::vector<BYTE> data = {'H','E','L','L','O','1','2','3'};
  //string constructor accepts only const char
  std::string s((const char*)&(data[0]), data.size());
  std::cout << s << std::endl;

  //method 2
  std::string s2(data.begin(),data.end());
  std::cout << s2 << std::endl;

  //method 3
  std::string s3(reinterpret_cast<char const*>(&data[0]), data.size()) ;
  std::cout << s3 << std::endl;
 
  return 0;
}

BYTE is nothing but typedef unsigned char BYTE;

You can easily use any of below constructors

string ( const char * s, size_t n );
string ( const char * s );

If has access to CryptoPP

Readable Hex String to unsigned char

std::string& hexed = "C23412341324AB";
uint8_t      buffer[64] = {0};
StringSource ssk(hexed, true,
            new HexDecoder(new ArraySink(buffer,sizeof(buffer))));

And back

std::string hexed;
uint8_t val[32]  = {0};
StringSource ss(val, sizeof(val), true,new HexEncoder(new StringSink(hexed));
// val == buffer

BYTE *str1 = "Hello World";
std::string str2((char *)str1);  /* construct on the stack */

Alternatively:

std::string *str3 = new std::string((char *)str1); /* construct on the heap */
cout << &str3;
delete str3;