How to convert string to char array in C++?

I would like to convert string to char array but not char*. I know how to convert string to char* (by using malloc or the way I posted it in my code) - but that's not what I want. I simply want to convert string to char[size] array. Is it possible?

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    // char to string
    char tab[4];
    tab[0] = 'c';
    tab[1] = 'a';
    tab[2] = 't';
    tab[3] = '\0';
    string tmp(tab);
    cout << tmp << "\n";

    // string to char* - but thats not what I want

    char *c = const_cast<char*>(tmp.c_str());
    cout << c << "\n";

    //string to char
    char tab2[1024];
    // ?

    return 0;
}

Solution 1:

Simplest way I can think of doing it is:

string temp = "cat";
char tab2[1024];
strcpy(tab2, temp.c_str());

For safety, you might prefer:

string temp = "cat";
char tab2[1024];
strncpy(tab2, temp.c_str(), sizeof(tab2));
tab2[sizeof(tab2) - 1] = 0;

or could be in this fashion:

string temp = "cat";
char * tab2 = new char [temp.length()+1];
strcpy (tab2, temp.c_str());

Solution 2:

Ok, i am shocked that no one really gave a good answer, now my turn. There are two cases;

1. A constant char array is good enough for you so you go with,

   const char *array = tmp.c_str();
   

2. Or you need to modify the char array so constant is not ok, then just go with this

   char *array = &tmp[0];
   

Both of them are just assignment operations and most of the time that is just what you need, if you really need a new copy then follow other fellows answers.