[Qt-interest] Question about "wchar_t" support on Windows

[Bo Thorsen]

Den 20-01-2011 17:00, Bo Thorsen skrev:
> Den 20-01-2011 16:51, Yves Bailly skrev:
>> Keith Rusler a écrit :
>>> What makes you think it doesn't? If it doesn't, why should it?
>>>
>>> On 20 January 2011 09:38, Yves Bailly<yves.bailly at sescoi.fr
>>> <mailto:yves.bailly at sescoi.fr>>  wrote:
>>>      Keith Rusler a écrit :
>>> >  use QString::toWideChar() or QString::toStdWString().c_str()?
>>>
>>>      I'm aware of these, however it doesn't answer my question:
>>>      why would Qt need to *not* consider "wchar_t" as a native type?
>> What makes me think it doesn't is the presence of this -Zc:wchar_t- 
>> option
>> on the compiler command line.
>>
>> About "why should it",
>> 1- maybe because it seemed to me it *is* a native type according to
>>     the C++ standard, unless I'm not reading it correctly;
>> 2- again, why shouldn't it?
>>
>> I'm just trying to understand why this option is given to the compiler.
>
> After spending the last months coding server side C++ with Visual 
> Studio, it's a great relief to be back with Qt and the QStrings. 
> Outside the Qt code, strings are a fragmented mess that it's 
> impossible to work with. And bastards like CString doesn't make it 
> easier.
>
> wchar_t is not a native type. It's a typedef to something else. With 
> QChar, you know what you get.
>
> If C++ had done strings in a way that makes more sense, maybe QString 
> and QChar wouldn't exist.
>
> I can't give you a single good reason, but when working with strings, 
> the Qt classes just makes you life so much simpler. Again :)

Ah, sorry. I just re-read your question, and now I know what you asked.

I'm guessing it's to make the Qt code more portable. As I wrote, wchar_t 
is not a native type, so this switch makes Visual C++ follow the 
standard more closely. The standard says it's a typedef.

Bo Thorsen,
Fionia Software.

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