Creating Custom Input Streams in C

Custom input streams in C provide a powerful mechanism for reading data from non-standard sources. While extending the istream class directly may seem like a viable option, it's recommended to explore other approaches to ensure efficient and reliable implementation.

Deriving from streambuf

The preferred method for creating custom streams in C is to derive a customized streambuf class from the std::streambuf base class. By overriding specific operations, such as underflow() and overflow(), you can control the stream's behavior and implement the desired functionality.

Filter Stream Buffers

In situations where data transformation is required, consider creating filter stream buffers. These buffers act as intermediaries between the original stream buffer and the custom stream, allowing for data manipulation during input operations.

Implementing underflow() and overflow()

The underflow() operation is responsible for obtaining data from the underlying stream buffer, while overflow() handles data output. By overriding these functions, you can implement custom data handling logic, such as compression/decompression or encryption/decryption.

Example: Decompressing Data

To demonstrate the use of custom streams, let's create a streambuf that decompresses input data using an external library. Our decompressbuf class overrides underflow() to decompress data from the original stream buffer and store it in an internal buffer.

Using the Custom Stream

Once the custom streambuf is created, you can initialize an istream object with it. This enables you to read data from your decompressing stream buffer seamlessly, as illustrated below:

std::ifstream fin("compressed.data");
decompressbuf debuf(fin.rdbuf());
std::istream decompressed(&debuf);

Conclusion

Deriving from streambuf and implementing filter stream buffers provide flexible and efficient ways to create custom input streams in C . By leveraging these techniques, you can easily customize data handling operations, manage different data formats, and integrate with external libraries.