stream and formatting char type

[blix]

When I output my char to a stream and it has a value of 11, it writes a ^B
(vertical tab). This is understandable. When I attempt to stream it back
into a char variable, it skips it because a tab is considered whitespace.

If I cast the char to int, it'll stream out an 11 so that I can read it in
plain english. Doing this same cast while streaming the value in doesn't
read the value. I have to use a temporary int variable and then assign my
char to it.

Internally I suspect the IOStream library is using the "%c" format
specification if the type is a char. Is there a way to tell the IOStream
library to use the "%d" format specification for the char type?

 

[Jeff Schwab]

When I output my char to a stream and it has a value of 11, it writes a ^B
(vertical tab). This is understandable. When I attempt to stream it back
into a char variable, it skips it because a tab is considered whitespace.

Use the "get" method instead of the extraction operator.

If I cast the char to int, it'll stream out an 11 so that I can read it in
plain english. Doing this same cast while streaming the value in doesn't
read the value. I have to use a temporary int variable and then assign my
char to it.

I think you've got the assignment backwards. Assign the int to the
char, not the char to the int.

Internally I suspect the IOStream library is using the "%c" format
specification if the type is a char. Is there a way to tell the IOStream
library to use the "%d" format specification for the char type?

You could overload >> in the local namespace, but may I suggest you not
bother?