std::basic_string<CharT,Traits,Allocator>::capacity

 

C++

Compiler support

Freestanding and hosted

Language

Standard library headers

Named requirements

Feature test macros (C++20)

Language support library

Concepts library (C++20)

Metaprogramming library (C++11)

Diagnostics library

General utilities library

Strings library

Containers library

Iterators library

Ranges library (C++20)

Algorithms library

Numerics library

Localizations library

Input/output library

Filesystem library (C++17)

Regular expressions library (C++11)

Concurrency support library (C++11)

Technical specifications

Symbols index

External libraries

 

Strings library

Null-terminated strings

Byte strings

Multibyte strings

Wide strings

Classes

basic_string

basic_string_view (C++17)

char_traits

 

std::basic_string

Member functions basic_string::basic_string basic_string::operator= basic_string::assign basic_string::get_allocator Element access basic_string::at basic_string::operator[] basic_string::front (C++11) basic_string::back (C++11) basic_string::data basic_string::c_str basic_string::operator  basic_string_view (C++17) Iterators basic_string::beginbasic_string::cbegin (C++11) basic_string::endbasic_string::cend (C++11) basic_string::rbeginbasic_string::crbegin (C++11) basic_string::rendbasic_string::crend (C++11) Capacity basic_string::empty basic_string::sizebasic_string::length basic_string::max_size basic_string::reserve basic_string::capacity basic_string::shrink_to_fit (C++11)   Operations basic_string::clear basic_string::insert basic_string::erase basic_string::push_back basic_string::pop_back (C++11) basic_string::append basic_string::operator+= basic_string::compare basic_string::starts_with (C++20)   basic_string::ends_with (C++20) basic_string::contains (C++23) basic_string::replace basic_string::substr basic_string::copy basic_string::resize basic_string::resize_and_overwrite (C++23) basic_string::swap

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size_type capacity() const;		(until C++11)
size_type capacity() const noexcept;		(since C++11) (until C++20)
constexpr size_type capacity() const noexcept;		(since C++20)

Returns the number of characters that the string has currently allocated space for.

Parameters

(none)

Return value

Capacity of the currently allocated storage, i.e. the storage available for storing elements.

Complexity

Constant

Notes

Memory locations obtained from the allocator but not available for storing any element are not counted in the allocated storage. Note that the null terminator is not an element of the std::basic_string.

Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <string>
 
void show_capacity(std::string const& s)
{
    std::cout << std::quoted(s) << " has capacity " << s.capacity() << ".\n";
}
 
int main()
{
    std::string s{"Exemplar"};
    show_capacity(s);
 
    s += " is an example string.";
    show_capacity(s);
 
    s.clear();
    show_capacity(s);
 
 
    std::cout << "\nDemonstrate the capacity's growth policy."
                 "\nSize:  Capacity:  Ratio:\n" << std::left;
 
    std::string g;
    auto old_cap {g.capacity()};
 
    for(int mark{}; mark != 5; ++mark)
    {
        while (old_cap == g.capacity()) g.push_back('.');
 
        std::cout << std::setw( 7) << g.size()
                  << std::setw(11) << g.capacity()
                  << std::setw(10) << g.capacity() / static_cast<float>(old_cap) << '\n';
 
        old_cap = g.capacity();
    }
}

Possible output:

"Exemplar" has capacity 15.
"Exemplar is an example string." has capacity 30.
"" has capacity 30.
 
Demonstrate the capacity's growth policy.
Size:  Capacity:  Ratio:
16     30         2
31     60         2
61     120        2
121    240        2
241    480        2

See also

sizelength	returns the number of characters (public member function)
reserve	reserves storage (public member function)