#include <windows.h>//for BOOL
#include <stdio.h>   //for printf
//------------------------------------------
// OVERLOADING OPERATORS:
// Talk about customization!
//------------------------------------------
/*
I apologise for this example. I pulled it directly from an
application that I'm writting and stripped it down some to make
it less daunting and more readable. I havent added any coments
beyond what already existed, as I've run out of time. Perhaps
I'll get back to it in the future. For now I think the use of
operator overloading is fairly apparent here. Have a look. I just
overloaded some common operators to perform intuitive operations
on a customized string storing class. Its useful for certain
things; Mainly the fact that even a monkey couldnt screw it up.
Notice that the overloaded operators ( =, +=, !=, ==, and () )
all act and look just like normal functions. Enjoy.
*/
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// _SafeString
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
class _SafeString
{
public:
   _SafeString()
      { String = NULL; };
   ~_SafeString()
      { if (String != NULL) delete [] String; };
   //assign value to string
   void operator= (char * ThisString)
      {
         AllocToSize(strlen(ThisString));
         strcpy(String, ThisString);
      };
   //append value to string
   void operator+= (char * ThisString)
      {
         if (String != NULL)
         {
            ExpandToSize(strlen(ThisString) + strlen(String));
            strcat(String, ThisString);
         }
         else //idiot. Using Append before using New
         {
            AllocToSize(strlen(ThisString));
            strcpy(String, ThisString);
         }
      };
   //compare string
   BOOL operator== (char * ThisString)
      {
         if (strcmp(String, ThisString) == 0)
            return TRUE;
         return FALSE;
      };
   //compare != string
   BOOL operator!= (char * ThisString)
      {
         if (strcmp(String, ThisString) == 0)
            return FALSE;
         return TRUE;
      };
   //get the string length
   int len()
      {
         if (String != NULL)
            return strlen(String);
         return 0;
      };
   //returns pointer to the string
   char * operator() ()
      {
         if (String == NULL)
            return "MemError: String !Exist";
         return String;
      };
private:
   void AllocToSize(unsigned short NewSize);
   void ExpandToSize(unsigned short NewSize);
   char * String;
};
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// _SafeString
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
void _SafeString::AllocToSize(unsigned short NewSize)
{
   //Remember the previous location in memory that String pointed to
   //so we can clean it up at the end
   char * pOldString;
   pOldString = String;
   //Point string to new memory of requested size
   String = new char[NewSize + 1]; //+1 to allow to NULL termination
   //delete the old memory
   //we dont copy any data because we're resetting the string
   if (pOldString != NULL)
      delete [] pOldString;
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
void _SafeString::ExpandToSize(unsigned short NewSize)
{
   //Get the length of the previous string (if it exists)
   unsigned short OldSize = len() + 1; //length of current string
   //Remember the previous location in memory that String pointed to
   //so we can clean it up at the end
   char * pOldString;
   pOldString = String;
   //Point string to new memory of requested size
   String = new char[NewSize + 1]; //+1 to allow to NULL termination
   //copy over the old data to the new location (if it exists)
   if (pOldString != NULL)
   {
      memcpy (String, pOldString, OldSize); //chars size is 1 so we dont need to multiple by sizeof(char)
      //delete the old memory
      delete [] pOldString;
   }
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
//------------------------------------------
// MAIN
//------------------------------------------
int main(void)
{
   _SafeString Text;
   Text = "Hello";
   Text += " World!";
   if (Text == "Hello World!")
      printf("%s\n", Text() );
   else
      printf("Something failed!\n");
   return 0;
}