#69 Return owl::tstring or owl::tstring_view for functions currently returning LPCTSTR

[Vidar Hasfjord]

Returning LPCTSTR, i.e. a pointer, may lead to pointer comparisons where string comparisons were intended. For example:

:::C++
void Foo(TTreeNode& n)
{
  n.SetText("Oops!");
  if (n.GetText() == "Oops!") // Pointer comparison, never true.
    CHECK(false);
}

With the ubiquitous use of std::string in modern C++ programming, the likelihood of this pitfall has increased.

[Vidar Hasfjord]

Where returning owl::tstring is not feasible or will be costly, e.g. for returning lookup results in a dictionary of static strings (such as the Windows message names in "eventhan.cpp"), we can now use owl::tstring_view [feature-requests:#127], which is a lightweight pointer and size with a string-like API. It is an alias for std::string_view or std::wstring_view, introduced in C++17.

This will eliminate bugs such as win.GetCaption() == "MyCaption", which is a pointer comparison, rather than the string comparison that was intended.

What do you think? Something to implement in OWLNext 8?

[Ognyan Chernokozhev]

What do you think? Something to implement in OWLNext 8?

Yes, I think reducing of raw pointers usage makes sense for safety.