What is the Difference Between LPCSTR, LPCTSTR, and LPTSTR in C ?

LPCSTR, LPCTSTR, and LPTSTR: Understanding Character String Type Differences

When working with strings in C , you may encounter terms like LPCSTR, LPCTSTR, and LPTSTR. These typedefs represent different ways of declaring character arrays and pointers, each with specific purposes.

LPCSTR

LPCSTR is a type that stands for Long Pointer to a Constant STRing. It is used to reference a constant, zero-terminated string. This means that the data it points to cannot be modified.

LPCTSTR

LPCTSTR is a type that represents a Long Pointer to a Constant TCHAR STRing. TCHAR refers to either a wide character or a regular character, depending on whether UNICODE is defined in the project. LPCTSTR is used to point to a character array that can be modified only if the project is compiled without the UNICODE flag.

LPTSTR

LPTSTR is a type that represents a Long Pointer to a TCHAR STRing. It is similar to LPCTSTR, but it does not have the const modifier. This means that the data it points to can be modified regardless of whether UNICODE is defined.

Conversion to LV_ITEM Structure

The code snippet you provided involves converting a string to a LV_DISPINFO structure. The pszText member of LV_DISPINFO is type LPCTSTR. This conversion is necessary because the pszText member expects a pointer to a TCHAR string, and string is a regular char string.

By casting string to LPCTSTR and then casting it again to LPTSTR, you ensure that the pointer type matches the expected type of LV_DISPINFO.item.pszText.

It's important to note that this cast assumes that your project is compiled with UNICODE. If UNICODE is not defined, you should use the following conversion instead:

<code class="cpp">dispinfo.item.pszText = (LPCSTR)string;</code>

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