PMString::substring

Question

Hello people.
This is a general question about how best to write some code.
In my many projects I have lots of examples of this kind of code:
PMString *d, Data("SomeString of decent length");
d = Data.Substring(0, 12);
PMString newString = *d;
delete d;
This code could be simplified to something like this:
PMString newString,  Data("SomeString of decent length");
newString = *Data.Substring(0, 12);
but writing it this way leads to memory leaks (usually a good many of them).
Of course, one could simply use d as a pointer in the code, but one still needs to remember to delete the data after the program is finished with it.
Is there a more elegant way to deal with the return value of PMString::Substring in the InDesign SDK?
TIA!
John

Answer 1

You way should work, although your define wasn't quite complete.
Just as a matter of style I think I would prefer not to hide your intentions too much with PMSPtr.
Gone are the days of compilers which only cope with 8 character variable and type names!
Additionally, I would prefer typedef over define.
typedef K2::scoped_ptr<PMString> PMStringPtr;
Then your constructor would work in the same way.
PMStringPtr theDay( inDate.Substring ( 0, 2 ) );
Simple, and it makes the code tidy and self-explanatory. What more could you want? :-)
Regards
Caerwyn