i'd like to use the std::string class as often as possible, however there
are many situations (like when using with an RDBMS) where i'd like access to
the character buffer pointer so that i can avoid an extra copy but cannot do
so because the buffer pointer is private to std::string. has there been any
discussion or agreed upon workarounds to this problem?

i'd like to be able to do something like this...

string database_field;
database_field.reserve(100);
database_field.claim_buffer();

DBAPI.get_value("col_name", database_field.ptr); // not really important,
shows need for ptr

database_field.release();


does anyone have any recommendations or possible implementations to refer me
to?
thank you.

jwr

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
j o e l r e e d @ y a h o o . c o m
d e v e l o p m e n t . d i m e n s i o n s . i n t e r n a t i o n a l
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
[ comp.std.c++ is moderated.  To submit articles: try just posting with      ]
[ your news-reader.  If that fails, use mailto:std-c++@ncar.ucar.edu         ]
[ FAQ:      http://reality.sgi.com/employees/austern_mti/std-c++/faq.html    ]
[ Policy:   http://reality.sgi.com/employees/austern_mti/std-c++/policy.html ]
[ Comments? mailto:std-c++-request@ncar.ucar.edu                             ]