General Stream Manipulation in C++ - Numeric Systems and Bool Values
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In this section we will talk about how you can change the numeric system in which you display a number, but first I'll show you a little trick for telling the cout stream to write the bool values in a more common language. Surely every programmer will know that zero is false and anything else true, but why not make that obvious to anyone?
For this, there are the boolaplha/noboolaplha flags:
cout << boolalpha<< false << " and " << true << noboolalpha << endl;
cout << false << " and " << true << endl;
false and true
0 and 1
Press any key to continue . . .
First, we printed in the more sophisticated way with the flag on. The second line (actually the third in the code snippet) is how they will get the default settings. From this you could already point out the permanent state of the flags. As noted at the end of first line, we changed the flag back to the default behavior; the noboolalpha is set on by default.
In addition, here we should cover the endl manipulator that puts in a new line and flushes the stream. You may also put just a zero char in the console if you apply the ends manipulator. Note the empty space in the example below before the “Press” word.
char a= 'a';
cout << a << ends;
a Press any key to continue . . .
Now how about number systems? We all know that by default, we work in the decimal number system, but sometimes we may want to express/print the number in a different one. The octal and hexadecimal systems are used near the decimal one, so only for these the basic stream manipulators offer support. For others you may write your own one.
int a = 100;
cout << oct << a << endl ;
cout << dec << a << endl;
cout << hex << a << endl;
cout << setbase(9) << a << endl;
cout << showbase<< endl;
cout << oct << a << endl ;
cout << dec << a << endl;
cout << hex << a << endl;
144
100
64
100
0144
100
0x64
Press any key to continue . . .
In the example above, I have already explained everything, but let’s go through it once again for the sake of detail. For setting a specific number in you system, you apply the corresponding manipulator to the stream: the oct stays for the octal number system, the dec for the decimal and the hex for the hexadecimal.
You can also set base explicitly though the setbase() manipulator (be warned; as this requires an argument as input, you need to include the iomanip), but calling it on anything other than 8, 10, or 16 is considered invalid input, and the decimal default will be forced. Now all that remains is learning how we tell the system in which that the number on the screen is displayed.
In order to accomplish this, the so-called showbase manipulator was made. It will display nothing in front of number if it is a decimal, add a “0” if it is in the octal system and a “0X” if the hexadecimal number system is the rule. By default, this is off.
Next: Float Formatting >>
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