std::basic_string::substr

basic_string substr( size_type pos = 0, size_type count = npos ) const;

Returns a substring [pos, pos+count). If the requested substring extends past the end of the string, or if count == npos, the returned substring is [pos, size()).

Parameters

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

Return value

String containing the substring [pos, pos+count).

Exceptions

std::out_of_range if pos > size()

Complexity

Linear in count

Example

Run this code

#include <string>
#include <iostream>
 
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);
    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

Language
Standard library headers
Concepts
Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Algorithms library
Iterators library
Numerics library
Input/output library
Localizations library
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Filesystem library (C++17)
Technical Specifications

Null-terminated strings
Byte strings
Multibyte strings
Wide strings
Classes
basic_string
basic_string_view (C++17)
char_traits