Question

(using C++, OpenGL/GLUT, Xcode, OSX)

I’m looking for help in drawing random characters to the screen.
I’ve separated the task into 2 parts…

(1) I am able to pick a random UPPER_CASE letter using the following:

    int launchCode1_random = rand() % 26;
    char c1 = (char)(launchCode1_random+65);
    cout << c1 << "\n";

(2) And I can draw strings in OpenGL using the following:

    string launchCode1 = "thing";
    void * fontlaunchCode1 = GLUT_BITMAP_9_BY_15;
    for (string::iterator i = launchCode1.begin(); i != launchCode1.end(); ++i)
    {
        char c = *i;
        glutBitmapCharacter(fontlaunchCode1, c);
    }

… What I would like to write in step 2 above, however, is:

    string launchCode1 = c1;

In doing so, I receive the following error: “No viable conversion from ‘char’ to ‘string’. That makes sense to me on the surface. But I don’t fully understand why or how. And if there is an alternative workaround that I’m not seeing, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

edit…..

Here’s the final, working code with Pubby’s help:

    int launchCode1_random = rand() % 26;
    char c1 = (char)(launchCode1_random+65);
    cout << c1 << "\n";

    string launchCode1 (1, c1);
    void * fontlaunchCode1 = GLUT_BITMAP_9_BY_15;
    for (string::iterator i = launchCode1.begin(); i != launchCode1.end(); ++i)
    {
        char c = *i;
        glutBitmapCharacter(fontlaunchCode1, c);
    }

Answer 1

If you want to construct a std::string from a character you can do this:

string launchCode1(1, c1);

Using this constructor:

string( size_type count, 
        CharT ch, 
        const Allocator& alloc = Allocator() );

http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/string/basic_string/basic_string

I don’t fully understand what you’re doing though. Why even bother with std::string if all you want is a single character? Just do this:

int launchCode1_random = rand() % 26;
char c = (char)(launchCode1_random+65);
glutBitmapCharacter(fontlaunchCode1, c);