How to read entire stream into a std::string?

Question

I'm trying to read an entire stream (multiple lines) into a string.

I'm using this code, and it works, but it's offending my sense of style... Surely there's an easier way? Maybe using stringstreams?

void Obj::loadFromStream(std::istream & stream) {    std::string s;    std::streampos p = stream.tellg();  // remember where we are    stream.seekg(0, std::ios_base::end); // go to the end   std::streamoff sz = stream.tellg() - p;  // work out the size   stream.seekg(p);        // restore the position    s.resize(sz);          // resize the string   stream.read(&s[0], sz);  // and finally, read in the data. 

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Actually, a const reference to a string would do as well, and that may make things easier...

const std::string &s(... a miracle occurs here...) 

Answer 1

How about

std::istreambuf_iterator<char> eos; std::string s(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(stream), eos); 

(could be a one-liner if not for MVP)

post-2011 edit, this approach is now spelled

std::string s(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(stream), {});