FAQ-0816 How do I convert an 8-bit byte array to a TDesC16?


FAQ-0816 How do I convert an 8-bit byte array to a TDesC16?

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Classification:	C++	Category:	Base
Created:	09/09/2002	Modified:	09/11/2002
Number:	FAQ-0816
Platform:	Symbian OS v6.0, Symbian OS v6.1, Symbian OS v7.0

Question:
I want to send text stored as a TText8* array to the DrawText() method of a bitmapped graphics context. But I need to convert it first to a TDesC16. What's the recommended way to do this?

Answer:
A TPtr8 constructor will do a conversion from TText8* and the Copy() method of TDesC16 will do the conversion to 16-bit, as follows:

TText8[] myData=...;
const TInt length = sizeof(myData); // length of the array
TPtr8 ptr(myData, length, length);
TBuf16 buf16;
buf16.Copy(ptr);
There is incidentally a corresponding Copy() method of TDesC8 which will do the reverse conversion from 16-bit to 8-bit, provided the data values do not exceed 255 (decimal).