Setting a char array with c_str()?

Question

char el[3] = myvector[1].c_str();

myvector[i] is a string with three letters in. Why does this error?

Answer 1

It returns type char* which is a pointer to a string. You can't assign this directly to an array like that, as that array already has memory assigned to it. Try:

const char* el = myvector[1].c_str();

But very careful if the string itself is destroyed or changed as the pointer will no longer be valid.

Answer 2

Because a const char * is not a valid initializer for an array. What's more, I believe c_str returns a pointer to internal memory so it's not safe to store.

You probably want to copy the value in some way (memcpy or std::copy or something else).