Using TaskDialogConfig with std::string

Question

I am trying to to create a Task Dialog, using the TASKDIALOGCONFIG strucutre. My application uses Unicode. This is my code:

string error_text = get_error_text();
string error_code = get_error_code();

TASKDIALOGCONFIG tdc = { sizeof(TASKDIALOGCONFIG) };
tdc.dwCommonButtons = TDCBF_OK_BUTTON;
tdc.pszMainIcon = TD_ERROR_ICON;
tdc.pszWindowTitle = _T("Error");
tdc.pszContent = error_text.c_str(); /* of course this will give a 
                                        const char* instead of a wchar_t* */
tdc.pszExpandedInformation = error_code.c_str(); // here is the same thing
tdc.hwndParent = m_wndParent;

TaskDialogIndirect(&tdc, NULL, NULL, NULL);

I have researched the problem a bit, but I haven't found a solution yet. Could anybody help me?

Answer 1

You have two options:

1. Use ANSI text. Do so by using TASKDIALOGCONFIGA and TaskDialogIndirectA.
2. Use Unicode text. Switch your strings from std::string to std::wstring.

I personally would recommend the latter option.

I would also recommend that you do not use tchar.h, and stop using _T(...). Since you are only targeting Unicode, you should write L"Error" rather than _T("Error"). It only makes sense to use tchar.h if you are writing code that must compile for both MBCS and Unicode targets. That was a necessary evil in the days when we needed to compile for Win 95/98 and Win NT/2000. But those days are long gone.