Convert from #define to string c++

Question

I would like to convert from #define to string.

My code:

#ifdef WIN32
#define PREFIX_PATH = "..\\"
#else
#define PREFIX_PATH = "..\\..\\"
#endif


#define VAL(str) #str
#define TOSTRING(str) VAL(str)

string prefix = TOSTRING(PREFIX_PATH);
string path = prefix + "Test\\Input\input.txt";

But, it didn't work..

prefix value is "..\\\"

Any idea what is the problem..

Thanks!

Answer 1

You don't need "=" in defines, or any #str, or "+" between double quoted strings.

#ifdef WIN32
    #define PREFIX_PATH "..\\"
#else
    #define PREFIX_PATH "..\\..\\"
#endif

string path = PREFIX_PATH "Test\\Input\\input.txt";

Answer 2

What about something simpler like that?

#ifdef WIN32
const std::string prefixPath = "..\\";
#else
const std::string prefixPath = "..\\..\\";
#endif

std::string path = prefixPath + "Test\\Input\\input.txt";

PS You may have a typo in the last line, in which you may miss another \ before input.txt.

As an alternative, if your C++ compiler supports this C++11 feature, you may want to use raw string literals, so you can have unescaped \, e.g.:

std::string path = prefixPath + R"(Test\Input\input.txt)";