How can I convert 0x70, 0x61, 0x73 ... etc to Pas ... etc in C++?

I am using MSVC++ 2010 Express, and I would love to know how to convert

BYTE Key[] = {0x50,0x61,0x73,0x73,0x77,0x6F,0x72,0x64}; 

to "Password" I am having a lot of trouble doing this. :( I will use this knowledge to take things such as...

BYTE Key[] { 0xC2, 0xB3, 0x72, 0x3C, 0xC6, 0xAE, 0xD9, 0xB5, 0x34, 0x3C, 0x53, 0xEE, 0x2F, 0x43, 0x67, 0xCE }; 

And other various variables and convert them accordingly.

Id like to end up with "Password" stored in a char.

2 Answers

Key is an array of bytes. If you want to store it in a string, for example, you should construct the string using its range constructor, that is:

string key_string(Key, Key + sizeof(Key)/sizeof(Key[0])); 

Or if you can compile using C++11:

string key_string(begin(Key), end(Key)); 

To get a char* I'd go the C way and use strndup:

char* key_string = strndup(Key, sizeof(Key)/sizeof(Key[0])); 

However, if you're using C++ I strongly suggest you use string instead of char* and only convert to char const* when absolutely necessary (e.g. when calling a C API). See here for good reasons to prefer std::string.

All you are lacking is a null terminator, so after doing this:

char Key_str[(sizeof Key)+1]; memcpy(Key_str,key,sizeof Key); Key_str[sizeof Key] = '\0'; 

Key_str will be usable as a regular char * style string.