Why Does Writing a std::string to a File Produce Boxes Instead of Text?

How to Write a std::string to File Without Seeing Boxes

Question:

When writing a std::string variable to a file using the write() method, the resulting file displays boxes instead of the expected string. Is std::string suitable for this scenario, or should an alternative approach be considered?

Answer:

std::string is indeed suitable for writing to files, but the write() method is intended for binary data. To write a string in text format, consider using an ofstream object. Here's an example:

#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::string name;
    std::cout << "Enter your name: ";
    std::cin >> name;
    std::ofstream out("name.txt");
    out << name;  // Writes the string to the file in text format
    out.close();
    return 0;
}

For binary writing, use the c_str() method to obtain the underlying character data and write it to the file:

#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::string password;
    std::cout << "Enter your password: ";
    std::cin >> password;
    std::ofstream out("password.bin", std::ios::binary);
    out.write(password.c_str(), password.size());  // Writes the password in binary format
    out.close();
    return 0;
}

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