int8_t* is not compatible for strlen() function; How to resolve this issue?

Question

I am not able to use int8_t* type inside the strlen() function, it gives error like

invalid conversion from int8_t* to const char*`

Please help me, how to resolve this issue?

If I change the type from int8_t* to char* then it is working fine, but I can't use char* as per my project coding guidelines I have to use either int8_t or uint8_t , so please help me to resolve this issue.

Answer 1

The "solution" to this is one of three things:

1. Use char instead of int8_t .
2. Write your own strlen type function.
3. Cast int8_t to char at the callsite.

The cast solution would look something like this:

int8_t something[100];
... something gets set somehow ... 
size_t len = strlen((char *)something); 

or in C++:

size_t len = strlen(static_cast<char *>(something)); 

Personally, I think option 1 is the "right" one if the data being processed is really string data. That is what the char type is for, but not what int8_t is for.

Answer 2

Don't use int8_t unless it meets your requirements. It is not a synonym for char . It is a signed integral type that has exactly 8 bits, and it won't exist on platforms that don't have 8-bit integral types. When you want to deal with char objects, use the type char . That's what it's for.