pub struct OsString { /* private fields */ }
Expand description

A type that can represent owned, mutable platform-native strings, but is cheaply inter-convertible with Rust strings.

The need for this type arises from the fact that:

  • On Unix systems, strings are often arbitrary sequences of non-zero bytes, in many cases interpreted as UTF-8.

  • On Windows, strings are often arbitrary sequences of non-zero 16-bit values, interpreted as UTF-16 when it is valid to do so.

  • In Rust, strings are always valid UTF-8, which may contain zeros.

OsString and OsStr bridge this gap by simultaneously representing Rust and platform-native string values, and in particular allowing a Rust string to be converted into an “OS” string with no cost if possible. A consequence of this is that OsString instances are not NUL terminated; in order to pass to e.g., Unix system call, you should create a CStr.

OsString is to &OsStr as String is to &str: the former in each pair are owned strings; the latter are borrowed references.

Note, OsString and OsStr internally do not necessarily hold strings in the form native to the platform; While on Unix, strings are stored as a sequence of 8-bit values, on Windows, where strings are 16-bit value based as just discussed, strings are also actually stored as a sequence of 8-bit values, encoded in a less-strict variant of UTF-8. This is useful to understand when handling capacity and length values.

Capacity of OsString

Capacity uses units of UTF-8 bytes for OS strings which were created from valid unicode, and uses units of bytes in an unspecified encoding for other contents. On a given target, all OsString and OsStr values use the same units for capacity, so the following will work:

use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};

fn concat_os_strings(a: &OsStr, b: &OsStr) -> OsString {
    let mut ret = OsString::with_capacity(a.len() + b.len()); // This will allocate
    ret.push(a); // This will not allocate further
    ret.push(b); // This will not allocate further
    ret
}

Creating an OsString

From a Rust string: OsString implements From<String>, so you can use my_string.into() to create an OsString from a normal Rust string.

From slices: Just like you can start with an empty Rust String and then String::push_str some &str sub-string slices into it, you can create an empty OsString with the OsString::new method and then push string slices into it with the OsString::push method.

Extracting a borrowed reference to the whole OS string

You can use the OsString::as_os_str method to get an &OsStr from an OsString; this is effectively a borrowed reference to the whole string.

Conversions

See the module’s toplevel documentation about conversions for a discussion on the traits which OsString implements for conversions from/to native representations.

Implementations

Constructs a new empty OsString.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let os_string = OsString::new();

Converts to an OsStr slice.

Examples
use std::ffi::{OsString, OsStr};

let os_string = OsString::from("foo");
let os_str = OsStr::new("foo");
assert_eq!(os_string.as_os_str(), os_str);

Converts the OsString into a String if it contains valid Unicode data.

On failure, ownership of the original OsString is returned.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let os_string = OsString::from("foo");
let string = os_string.into_string();
assert_eq!(string, Ok(String::from("foo")));

Extends the string with the given &OsStr slice.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut os_string = OsString::from("foo");
os_string.push("bar");
assert_eq!(&os_string, "foobar");

Creates a new OsString with at least the given capacity.

The string will be able to hold at least capacity length units of other OS strings without reallocating. This method is allowed to allocate for more units than capacity. If capacity is 0, the string will not allocate.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut os_string = OsString::with_capacity(10);
let capacity = os_string.capacity();

// This push is done without reallocating
os_string.push("foo");

assert_eq!(capacity, os_string.capacity());

Truncates the OsString to zero length.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut os_string = OsString::from("foo");
assert_eq!(&os_string, "foo");

os_string.clear();
assert_eq!(&os_string, "");

Returns the capacity this OsString can hold without reallocating.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let os_string = OsString::with_capacity(10);
assert!(os_string.capacity() >= 10);

Reserves capacity for at least additional more capacity to be inserted in the given OsString. Does nothing if the capacity is already sufficient.

The collection may reserve more space to speculatively avoid frequent reallocations.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut s = OsString::new();
s.reserve(10);
assert!(s.capacity() >= 10);

Tries to reserve capacity for at least additional more length units in the given OsString. The string may reserve more space to speculatively avoid frequent reallocations. After calling try_reserve, capacity will be greater than or equal to self.len() + additional if it returns Ok(()). Does nothing if capacity is already sufficient. This method preserves the contents even if an error occurs.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Errors

If the capacity overflows, or the allocator reports a failure, then an error is returned.

Examples
use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
use std::collections::TryReserveError;

fn process_data(data: &str) -> Result<OsString, TryReserveError> {
    let mut s = OsString::new();

    // Pre-reserve the memory, exiting if we can't
    s.try_reserve(OsStr::new(data).len())?;

    // Now we know this can't OOM in the middle of our complex work
    s.push(data);

    Ok(s)
}

Reserves the minimum capacity for at least additional more capacity to be inserted in the given OsString. Does nothing if the capacity is already sufficient.

Note that the allocator may give the collection more space than it requests. Therefore, capacity can not be relied upon to be precisely minimal. Prefer reserve if future insertions are expected.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut s = OsString::new();
s.reserve_exact(10);
assert!(s.capacity() >= 10);

Tries to reserve the minimum capacity for at least additional more length units in the given OsString. After calling try_reserve_exact, capacity will be greater than or equal to self.len() + additional if it returns Ok(()). Does nothing if the capacity is already sufficient.

Note that the allocator may give the OsString more space than it requests. Therefore, capacity can not be relied upon to be precisely minimal. Prefer try_reserve if future insertions are expected.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Errors

If the capacity overflows, or the allocator reports a failure, then an error is returned.

Examples
use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
use std::collections::TryReserveError;

fn process_data(data: &str) -> Result<OsString, TryReserveError> {
    let mut s = OsString::new();

    // Pre-reserve the memory, exiting if we can't
    s.try_reserve_exact(OsStr::new(data).len())?;

    // Now we know this can't OOM in the middle of our complex work
    s.push(data);

    Ok(s)
}

Shrinks the capacity of the OsString to match its length.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut s = OsString::from("foo");

s.reserve(100);
assert!(s.capacity() >= 100);

s.shrink_to_fit();
assert_eq!(3, s.capacity());

Shrinks the capacity of the OsString with a lower bound.

The capacity will remain at least as large as both the length and the supplied value.

If the current capacity is less than the lower limit, this is a no-op.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut s = OsString::from("foo");

s.reserve(100);
assert!(s.capacity() >= 100);

s.shrink_to(10);
assert!(s.capacity() >= 10);
s.shrink_to(0);
assert!(s.capacity() >= 3);

Converts this OsString into a boxed OsStr.

Examples
use std::ffi::{OsString, OsStr};

let s = OsString::from("hello");

let b: Box<OsStr> = s.into_boxed_os_str();

Methods from Deref<Target = OsStr>

Yields a &str slice if the OsStr is valid Unicode.

This conversion may entail doing a check for UTF-8 validity.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsStr;

let os_str = OsStr::new("foo");
assert_eq!(os_str.to_str(), Some("foo"));

Converts an OsStr to a Cow<str>.

Any non-Unicode sequences are replaced with U+FFFD REPLACEMENT CHARACTER.

Examples

Calling to_string_lossy on an OsStr with invalid unicode:

// Note, due to differences in how Unix and Windows represent strings,
// we are forced to complicate this example, setting up example `OsStr`s
// with different source data and via different platform extensions.
// Understand that in reality you could end up with such example invalid
// sequences simply through collecting user command line arguments, for
// example.

#[cfg(unix)] {
    use std::ffi::OsStr;
    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;

    // Here, the values 0x66 and 0x6f correspond to 'f' and 'o'
    // respectively. The value 0x80 is a lone continuation byte, invalid
    // in a UTF-8 sequence.
    let source = [0x66, 0x6f, 0x80, 0x6f];
    let os_str = OsStr::from_bytes(&source[..]);

    assert_eq!(os_str.to_string_lossy(), "fo�o");
}
#[cfg(windows)] {
    use std::ffi::OsString;
    use std::os::windows::prelude::*;

    // Here the values 0x0066 and 0x006f correspond to 'f' and 'o'
    // respectively. The value 0xD800 is a lone surrogate half, invalid
    // in a UTF-16 sequence.
    let source = [0x0066, 0x006f, 0xD800, 0x006f];
    let os_string = OsString::from_wide(&source[..]);
    let os_str = os_string.as_os_str();

    assert_eq!(os_str.to_string_lossy(), "fo�o");
}

Copies the slice into an owned OsString.

Examples
use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};

let os_str = OsStr::new("foo");
let os_string = os_str.to_os_string();
assert_eq!(os_string, OsString::from("foo"));

Checks whether the OsStr is empty.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsStr;

let os_str = OsStr::new("");
assert!(os_str.is_empty());

let os_str = OsStr::new("foo");
assert!(!os_str.is_empty());

Returns the length of this OsStr.

Note that this does not return the number of bytes in the string in OS string form.

The length returned is that of the underlying storage used by OsStr. As discussed in the OsString introduction, OsString and OsStr store strings in a form best suited for cheap inter-conversion between native-platform and Rust string forms, which may differ significantly from both of them, including in storage size and encoding.

This number is simply useful for passing to other methods, like OsString::with_capacity to avoid reallocations.

See the main OsString documentation information about encoding and capacity units.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsStr;

let os_str = OsStr::new("");
assert_eq!(os_str.len(), 0);

let os_str = OsStr::new("foo");
assert_eq!(os_str.len(), 3);

Converts this string to its ASCII lower case equivalent in-place.

ASCII letters ‘A’ to ‘Z’ are mapped to ‘a’ to ‘z’, but non-ASCII letters are unchanged.

To return a new lowercased value without modifying the existing one, use OsStr::to_ascii_lowercase.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut s = OsString::from("GRÜßE, JÜRGEN ❤");

s.make_ascii_lowercase();

assert_eq!("grÜße, jÜrgen ❤", s);

Converts this string to its ASCII upper case equivalent in-place.

ASCII letters ‘a’ to ‘z’ are mapped to ‘A’ to ‘Z’, but non-ASCII letters are unchanged.

To return a new uppercased value without modifying the existing one, use OsStr::to_ascii_uppercase.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let mut s = OsString::from("Grüße, Jürgen ❤");

s.make_ascii_uppercase();

assert_eq!("GRüßE, JüRGEN ❤", s);

Returns a copy of this string where each character is mapped to its ASCII lower case equivalent.

ASCII letters ‘A’ to ‘Z’ are mapped to ‘a’ to ‘z’, but non-ASCII letters are unchanged.

To lowercase the value in-place, use OsStr::make_ascii_lowercase.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;
let s = OsString::from("Grüße, Jürgen ❤");

assert_eq!("grüße, jürgen ❤", s.to_ascii_lowercase());

Returns a copy of this string where each character is mapped to its ASCII upper case equivalent.

ASCII letters ‘a’ to ‘z’ are mapped to ‘A’ to ‘Z’, but non-ASCII letters are unchanged.

To uppercase the value in-place, use OsStr::make_ascii_uppercase.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;
let s = OsString::from("Grüße, Jürgen ❤");

assert_eq!("GRüßE, JüRGEN ❤", s.to_ascii_uppercase());

Checks if all characters in this string are within the ASCII range.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

let ascii = OsString::from("hello!\n");
let non_ascii = OsString::from("Grüße, Jürgen ❤");

assert!(ascii.is_ascii());
assert!(!non_ascii.is_ascii());

Checks that two strings are an ASCII case-insensitive match.

Same as to_ascii_lowercase(a) == to_ascii_lowercase(b), but without allocating and copying temporaries.

Examples
use std::ffi::OsString;

assert!(OsString::from("Ferris").eq_ignore_ascii_case("FERRIS"));
assert!(OsString::from("Ferrös").eq_ignore_ascii_case("FERRöS"));
assert!(!OsString::from("Ferrös").eq_ignore_ascii_case("FERRÖS"));

Trait Implementations

Converts this type into a shared reference of the (usually inferred) input type.
Converts this type into a shared reference of the (usually inferred) input type.
Immutably borrows from an owned value. Read more
Returns a copy of the value. Read more
Performs copy-assignment from source. Read more
Formats the value using the given formatter. Read more

Constructs an empty OsString.

The resulting type after dereferencing.
Dereferences the value.
Mutably dereferences the value.
Extends a collection with the contents of an iterator. Read more
🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (extend_one)
Extends a collection with exactly one element.
🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (extend_one)
Reserves capacity in a collection for the given number of additional elements. Read more
Extends a collection with the contents of an iterator. Read more
🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (extend_one)
Extends a collection with exactly one element.
🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (extend_one)
Reserves capacity in a collection for the given number of additional elements. Read more
Extends a collection with the contents of an iterator. Read more
🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (extend_one)
Extends a collection with exactly one element.
🔬This is a nightly-only experimental API. (extend_one)
Reserves capacity in a collection for the given number of additional elements. Read more

Converts the string reference into a Cow::Borrowed.

Copies any value implementing AsRef<OsStr> into a newly allocated OsString.

Converts a Box<OsStr> into an OsString without copying or allocating.

Converts a Cow<'a, OsStr> into an OsString, by copying the contents if they are borrowed.

Converts an OsString into an Arc<OsStr> by moving the OsString data into a new Arc buffer.

Converts an OsString into a Box<OsStr> without copying or allocating.

Moves the string into a Cow::Owned.

Converts an OsString into a PathBuf

This conversion does not allocate or copy memory.

Converts an OsString into an Rc<OsStr> by moving the OsString data into a new Rc buffer.

Converts a PathBuf into an OsString

This conversion does not allocate or copy memory.

Converts a String into an OsString.

This conversion does not allocate or copy memory.

Creates a value from an iterator. Read more
Creates a value from an iterator. Read more
Creates a value from an iterator. Read more
The associated error which can be returned from parsing.
Parses a string s to return a value of this type. Read more
Feeds this value into the given Hasher. Read more
Feeds a slice of this type into the given Hasher. Read more
The returned type after indexing.
Performs the indexing (container[index]) operation. Read more
Performs the mutable indexing (container[index]) operation. Read more
This method returns an Ordering between self and other. Read more
Compares and returns the maximum of two values. Read more
Compares and returns the minimum of two values. Read more
Restrict a value to a certain interval. Read more
Creates an OsString from a byte vector. Read more
Yields the underlying byte vector of this OsString. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more
This method tests for !=. The default implementation is almost always sufficient, and should not be overridden without very good reason. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more
This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more
This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more
This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more
This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more
Writes a string slice into this writer, returning whether the write succeeded. Read more
Writes a char into this writer, returning whether the write succeeded. Read more
Glue for usage of the write! macro with implementors of this trait. Read more

Auto Trait Implementations

Blanket Implementations

Gets the TypeId of self. Read more
Immutably borrows from an owned value. Read more
Mutably borrows from an owned value. Read more

Returns the argument unchanged.

Calls U::from(self).

That is, this conversion is whatever the implementation of From<T> for U chooses to do.

The resulting type after obtaining ownership.
Creates owned data from borrowed data, usually by cloning. Read more
Uses borrowed data to replace owned data, usually by cloning. Read more
The type returned in the event of a conversion error.
Performs the conversion.
The type returned in the event of a conversion error.
Performs the conversion.