Question

This is the scenario;

// I have created a buffer
void *buffer = operator new(100)

/* later some data from a different buffer is put into the buffer at this pointer
by a function in an external header so I don't know what it's putting in there */

cout << buffer;

I want to print out the data that was put into the buffer at this pointer to see what went in. I would like to just print it out as raw ASCII, I know there will be some non-printable characters in there but I also know some legible text was pushed there.

From what I have read on the Internet cout can’t print out uncasted data like a void, as opposed to an int or char. However, the compiler wont let me cast it on the fly using (char) for example. Should I create a seperate variable that casts the value at the pointer then cout that variable, or is there a way I can do this directly to save on another variable?

Answer 1

Do this:

char* buffer = new char[100];

std::cout << buffer; 
// at some point
delete[] buffer;

void* you only need in certain circumstances, mostly for interop with C interfaces, but this is definitely not a circumstance requiring a void*, which essentially loses all type information.