std::basic_string<CharT,Traits,Allocator>::substr

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

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Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

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Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Strings library

Null-terminated strings

Byte strings

Multibyte strings

Wide strings

Classes

basic_string

basic_string_view (C++17)

char_traits

 

std::basic_string

Member functions basic_string::basic_string basic_string::~basic_string basic_string::operator= basic_string::assign basic_string::assign_range (C++23) basic_string::get_allocator Element access basic_string::at basic_string::operator[] basic_string::front (DR*) basic_string::back (DR*) basic_string::data basic_string::c_str basic_string::operator  basic_string_view (C++17) Iterators basic_string::beginbasic_string::cbegin (DR*) basic_string::endbasic_string::cend (DR*) basic_string::rbeginbasic_string::crbegin (DR*) basic_string::rendbasic_string::crend (DR*) Capacity basic_string::empty basic_string::sizebasic_string::length basic_string::max_size basic_string::reserve basic_string::capacity basic_string::shrink_to_fit (DR*) Operations basic_string::clear basic_string::insert basic_string::insert_range (C++23) basic_string::erase basic_string::push_back basic_string::pop_back (DR*) basic_string::append basic_string::append_range (C++23) basic_string::operator+= basic_string::compare basic_string::replace basic_string::replace_with_range (C++23) basic_string::substr basic_string::copy basic_string::resize basic_string::resize_and_overwrite (C++23)   basic_string::swap

Search basic_string::starts_with (C++20) basic_string::ends_with (C++20) basic_string::contains (C++23) basic_string::find basic_string::rfind basic_string::find_first_of basic_string::find_first_not_of basic_string::find_last_of basic_string::find_last_not_of Constants basic_string::npos Deduction guides (C++17) Non-member functions operator+ swap(std::basic_string) operator""s (C++14) erase(std::basic_string)erase_if(std::basic_string) (C++20)(C++20) I/O operator<<operator>> getline Comparison operator==operator!=operator<operator>operator<=operator>=operator<=> (until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(until C++20)(C++20) Numeric conversion stoistolstoll (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) stoulstoull (C++11)(C++11) stofstodstold (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) to_string (C++11) to_wstring (C++11) Helper classes hash<std::string>hash<std::wstring>hash<std::u32string>hash<std::u16string>hash<std::u8string> (C++11)  (C++11)(C++11)(C++11)(C++20) hash<std::pmr::string>hash<std::pmr::wstring>hash<std::pmr::u32string>hash<std::pmr::u16string>hash<std::pmr::u8string> (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++20)

 

	(1)
basic_string substr( size_type pos = 0, size_type count = npos ) const;			(until C++20)
constexpr basic_string     substr( size_type pos = 0, size_type count = npos ) const;			(since C++20) (until C++23)
constexpr basic_string     substr( size_type pos = 0, size_type count = npos ) const&;			(since C++23)
constexpr basic_string substr( size_type pos = 0, size_type count = npos ) &&;		(2)	(since C++23)

Returns a substring [pos, pos + count). If the requested substring extends past the end of the string, i.e. the count is greater than size() - pos (e.g. if count == npos), the returned substring is [pos, size()).

1) Equivalent to return basic_string(*this, pos, count);.

2) Equivalent to return basic_string(std::move(*this), pos, count);.

Parameters

pos	-	position of the first character to include
count	-	length of the substring

Return value

String containing the substring [pos, pos + count) or [pos, size()).

Exceptions

std::out_of_range if pos > size().

If an exception is thrown for any reason, these functions have no effect (strong exception safety guarantee).

Complexity

Linear in count.

Notes

The allocator of the returned string is default-constructed: the new allocator might not be a copy of get_allocator().

Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
 
int main()
{
    std::string a = "0123456789abcdefghij";
 
    // count is npos, returns [pos, size())
    std::string sub1 = a.substr(10);
    std::cout << sub1 << '\n';
 
    // both pos and pos + count are within bounds, returns [pos, pos + count)
    std::string sub2 = a.substr(5, 3);
    std::cout << sub2 << '\n';
 
    // pos is within bounds, pos + count is not, returns [pos, size())
    std::string sub4 = a.substr(a.size() - 3, 50);
    // this is effectively equivalent to
    // std::string sub4 = a.substr(17, 3);
    // since a.size() == 20, pos == a.size() - 3 == 17, and a.size() - pos == 3
 
    std::cout << sub4 << '\n';
 
    try
    {
        // pos is out of bounds, throws
        std::string sub5 = a.substr(a.size() + 3, 50);
        std::cout << sub5 << '\n';
    }
    catch (const std::out_of_range& e)
    {
        std::cout << "pos exceeds string size\n";
    }
}

Output:

abcdefghij
567
hij
pos exceeds string size

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to previously published C++ standards.

DR	Applied to	Behavior as published	Correct behavior
LWG 847	C++98	there was no exception safety guarantee	added strong exception safety guarantee

See also

copy	copies characters (public member function)
sizelength	returns the number of characters (public member function)
find	finds the first occurrence of the given substring (public member function)
npos [static]	special value. The exact meaning depends on the context (public static member constant)