Function

CFStringCreateFromExternalRepresentation

Creates a string from its “external representation.”

Declaration

CFStringRef CFStringCreateFromExternalRepresentation(CFAllocatorRef alloc, CFDataRef data, CFStringEncoding encoding);

Parameters

alloc: The allocator to use to allocate memory for the new string. Pass NULL or kCFAllocatorDefault to use the current default allocator.
data: The CFData object containing bytes that hold the characters in the specified encoding.
encoding: The encoding to use when interpreting the bytes in the data argument.

Return Value

An immutable string containing the characters from data, or NULL if there was a problem creating the object. Ownership follows the The Create Rule.

Discussion

In the CFData object form, the string can be written to disk as a file or be sent out over a network. If the encoding of the characters in the data object is Unicode, the function reads any BOM (byte order marker) and properly resolves endianness.

The CFStringCreateExternalRepresentation function complements this function by creating an “external representation” CFData object from a string.

See Also

Creating a CFString

Creates an immutable string from a constant compile-time string.

CFStringCreateArrayBySeparatingStrings

Creates an array of CFString objects from a single CFString object.

CFStringCreateByCombiningStrings

Creates a single string from the individual CFString objects that comprise the elements of an array.

CFStringCreateCopy

Creates an immutable copy of a string.

CFStringCreateWithBytes

Creates a string from a buffer containing characters in a specified encoding.

CFStringCreateWithBytesNoCopy

Creates a string from a buffer, containing characters in a specified encoding, that might serve as the backing store for the new string.

CFStringCreateWithCharacters

Creates a string from a buffer of Unicode characters.

CFStringCreateWithCharactersNoCopy

Creates a string from a buffer of Unicode characters that might serve as the backing store for the object.

CFStringCreateWithCString

Creates an immutable string from a C string.

CFStringCreateWithCStringNoCopy

Creates a CFString object from an external C string buffer that might serve as the backing store for the object.

CFStringCreateWithFormat

Creates an immutable string from a formatted string and a variable number of arguments.

CFStringCreateWithFormatAndArguments

Creates an immutable string from a formatted string and a variable number of arguments (specified in a parameter of type va_list).

CFStringCreateWithPascalString

Creates an immutable CFString object from a Pascal string.

CFStringCreateWithPascalStringNoCopy

Creates a CFString object from an external Pascal string buffer that might serve as the backing store for the object.

CFStringCreateWithSubstring

Creates an immutable string from a segment (substring) of an existing string.