DOC HOME SITE MAP MAN PAGES GNU INFO SEARCH PRINT BOOK
 
C++ Stream Library

ostream(C++)


ostream -- formatted and unformatted output

Syntax

#include <iostream.h>

typedef long streamoff, streampos; class ios { public: enum seek_dir { beg, cur, end }; enum open_mode { in, out, ate, app, trunc, nocreate, noreplace }; enum { skipws=01, left=02, right=04, internal=010, dec=020, oct=040, hex=0100, showbase=0200, showpoint=0400, uppercase=01000, showpos=02000, scientific=04000, fixed=010000, unitbuf=020000, stdio=040000 }; // and lots of other stuff, see ios(C++) ... } ;

class ostream : public ios { public: ostream(streambuf*); ostream& flush(); int opfx(); ostream& put(char); ostream& seekp(streampos); ostream& seekp(streamoff, seek_dir); streampos tellp(); ostream& write(const char* ptr, int n); ostream& write(const unsigned char* ptr, int n); ostream& operator<<(const char*); ostream& operator<<(char); ostream& operator<<(short); ostream& operator<<(int); ostream& operator<<(long); ostream& operator<<(float); ostream& operator<<(double); ostream& operator<<(unsigned char); ostream& operator<<(unsigned short); ostream& operator<<(unsigned int); ostream& operator<<(unsigned long); ostream& operator<<(void*); ostream& operator<<(streambuf*); ostream& operator<<(ostream& (*)(ostream&)); ostream& operator<<(ios& (*)(ios&)); };

class ostream_withassign {
		ostream_withassign();
	istream&	operator=(istream&);
	istream&	operator=(streambuf*);
};

extern ostream_withassign cout; extern ostream_withassign cerr; extern ostream_withassign clog;

ostream& endl(ostream&) ; ostream& ends(ostream&) ; ostream& flush(ostream&) ; ios& dec(ios&) ; ios& hex(ios&) ; ios& oct(ios&) ;

Description

ostreams support insertion (storing) into a streambuf. These are commonly referred to as output operations. The ostream member functions and related functions are described below.

In the following descriptions, assume:

Constructors and assignment


ostream(sb)
Initializes ios state variables and associates buffer sb with the ostream.

ostream_withassign()
Does no initialization. This allows a file static variable of this type (cout, for example) to be used before it is constructed, provided it is assigned to first.

outswa=sb
Associates sb with swa and initializes the entire state of outswa.

inswa=ins
Associates ins->rdbuf() with swa and initializes the entire state of outswa.

Output prefix function


i=outs.opfx()
If outs's error state is nonzero, returns immediately. If outs.tie() is non-null, it is flushed. Returns non-zero except when outs's error state is nonzero.

Output suffix function


osfx()
Performs ``suffix'' actions before returning from inserters. If ios::unitbuf is set, osfx() flushes the ostream. If ios::stdio is set, osfx() flushes stdout and stderr.

osfx() is called by all predefined inserters, and should be called by user-defined inserters as well, after any direct manipulation of the streambuf. It is not called by the binary output functions.

Formatted output functions (inserters)


outs<<x
First calls outs.opfx() and if that returns 0, does nothing. Otherwise inserts a sequence of characters representing x into outs.rdbuf(). Errors are indicated by setting the error state of outs. outs is always returned.

x is converted into a sequence of characters (its representation) according to rules that depend on x's type and outs's format state flags and variables (see ios(C++)). Inserters are defined for the following types, with conversion rules as described below:


char*
The representation is the sequence of characters up to (but not including) the terminating null of the string x points at.

any integral type except char and unsigned char
If x is positive the representation contains a sequence of decimal, octal, or hexadecimal digits with no leading zeros according to whether ios::dec, ios::oct, or ios::hex, respectively, is set in ios's format flags. If none of those flags are set, conversion defaults to decimal. If x is zero, the representation is a single zero character (0). If x is negative, decimal conversion converts it to a minus sign (-) followed by decimal digits. If x is positive and ios::showpos is set, decimal conversion converts it to a plus sign (+) followed by decimal digits. The other conversions treat all values as unsigned. If ios::showbase is set in ios's format flags, the hexadecimal representation contains ``0x'' before the hexadecimal digits, or ``0X'' if ios::uppercase is set. If ios::showbase is set, the octal representation contains a leading 0.

void*
Pointers are converted to integral values and then converted to hexadecimal numbers as if ios::showbase were set.

float, double
The arguments are converted according to the current values of outs.precision(), outs.width() and outs's format flags ios::scientific, ios::fixed, and ios::uppercase. (See ios(C++).) The default value for outs.precision() is 6. If neither ios::scientific nor ios::fixed is set, either fixed or scientific notation is chosen for the representation, depending on the value of x.

char, unsigned char
No special conversion is necessary.

After the representation is determined, padding occurs. If outs.width() is greater than 0 and the representation contains fewer than outs.width() characters, then enough outs.fill() characters are added to bring the total number of characters to ios.width(). If ios::left is set in ios's format flags, the sequence is left-adjusted, that is, characters are added after the characters determined above. If ios::right is set, the padding is added before the characters determined above. If ios::internal is set, the padding is added after any leading sign or base indication and before the characters that represent the value. ios.width() is reset to 0, but all other format variables are unchanged. The resulting sequence (padding plus representation) is inserted into outs.rdbuf().


outs<<sb
If outs.opfx() returns non-zero, the sequence of characters that can be fetched from sb are inserted into outs.rdbuf(). Insertion stops when no more characters can be fetched from sb. No padding is performed. Always returns outs.

Unformatted output functions


outsp=&outs.put(c)
Inserts c into outs.rdbuf(). Sets the error state if the insertion fails.

outsp=&outs.write(s,n)
Inserts the n characters starting at s into outs.rdbuf(). These characters may include zeros (i.e., s need not be a null terminated string).

Other member functions


outsp=&outs.flush()
Storing characters into a streambuf does not always cause them to be consumed (e.g., written to the external file) immediately. flush() causes any characters that may have been stored but not yet consumed to be consumed by calling outs.rdbuf()->sync.

outs<<manip
Equivalent to manip(outs). Syntactically this looks like an insertion operation, but semantically it does an arbitrary operation rather than converting manip to a sequence of characters as do the insertion operators. Predefined manipulators are described below.

Positioning functions


outsp=&ins.seekp(off,dir)
Repositions outs.rdbuf()'s put pointer. See sbuf.pub(C++) for a discussion of positioning.

outsp=&outs.seekp(pos)
Repositions outs.rdbuf()'s put pointer. See sbuf.pub(C++) for a discussion of positioning.

pos=outs.tellp()
The current position of outs.rdbuf()'s put pointer. See sbuf.pub(C++) for a discussion of positioning.

Manipulators


outs<<endl
Ends a line by inserting a newline character and flushing.

outs<<ends
Ends a string by inserting a null (0) character.

outs<<flush
Flushes outs.

outs<<dec
Sets the conversion base format flag to 10. See ios(C++).

outs<<hex
Sets the conversion base format flag to 16. See ios(C++).

outs<<oct
Sets the conversion base format flag to 8. See ios(C++).

See also

ios(C++), sbuf.pub(C++), manip(C++)
© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003