Replace custom BaseString with std::string and std::basic_string

[Copilot]

Replace BaseString in util.h with std::string and std::basic_string

This PR replaces the custom BaseString template class with standard STL string types as suggested in the PR review comment from PR #5594.

Plan:

• Explore repository structure and understand BaseString usage
• Replace BaseString class template definition with std::string/std::basic_string
• Update typedef declarations (String -> std::string, WString -> std::basic_string)
• Update function signatures using WString to use std::basic_string
• Update function implementations to use std::string methods (c_str(), length(), etc.)
• Update string concatenation and operations to work with std::string
• Update the Format class conversion operators to work with std::string/std::basic_string
• Build the code to verify compilation
• Address code review comments
• Run security checks
• Request code review

Changes made:

• Removed the custom BaseString template class from util.h (150+ lines of code)
• Changed String typedef from BaseString<char, strlen, strcpy_s> to std::string
• Changed WString typedef from BaseString<WCHAR, _wcslen, wcscpy_s> to std::basic_string<WCHAR>
  • Note: WCHAR is char16_t on Linux/PAL platforms, so WString is std::basic_string<char16_t> on Linux
• Updated GetLength() calls to length() (std::string standard method)
• Updated implicit conversions to use explicit .c_str() calls where needed
• Updated string concatenation with Format objects to use explicit WString() constructor wrapping
  • Required: Unlike BaseString which had custom operator+ overloads, std::basic_string's operator+ doesn't trigger implicit conversions for user-defined types. The Format class has operator WString(), but it's not invoked when used with std::string's operator+. Therefore, explicit wrapping with WString() is necessary.
• Updated TableOutput::WriteColumn methods to call .c_str() on string parameters
• Used implicit conversion from ArrayHolder to const WCHAR* instead of explicit cast
• When passing String objects to output functions (ExtOut, DMLOut, etc.), explicitly call .c_str() to convert to PCSTR
  • Applied consistently across all platform-specific sections (AMD64, X86, ARM, ARM64, RISCV64, LOONGARCH64)
• Updated comments in Format class conversion operators to reflect the requirement for explicit String()/WString() wrapping when concatenating with Format objects

Testing:

• Clean rebuild successful on Linux x64 Debug configuration
• No security vulnerabilities detected by CodeQL
• All code compiles without warnings or errors

Original prompt

Based on this comment: #5594 (comment), can you open a PR to replace BaseString in util.h with usages of stl::string

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR removes the custom BaseString template class (~150 lines) from util.h and replaces it with standard library string types (std::string and std::basic_string<WCHAR>). The change modernizes the codebase by leveraging STL instead of maintaining custom string implementations.

Changes:

• Removed custom BaseString template class and replaced type definitions with std::string and std::basic_string<WCHAR>
• Updated method calls from GetLength() to standard length() and added explicit c_str() calls where implicit conversions previously occurred
• Added explicit WString() constructor wrapping for Format objects in string concatenation expressions to work with std::basic_string's operator+

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
src/SOS/Strike/util.h	Removed BaseString template class, updated typedefs to use STL types, and added .c_str() calls in Format conversion operator and TableOutput methods
src/SOS/Strike/util.cpp	Updated string concatenations with Format objects to use explicit WString() wrapping, changed GetLength() to length(), and added intermediate pointer variable for ArrayHolder
src/SOS/Strike/strike.cpp	Added explicit WString() wrapping for Format object concatenations and updated all ExtOut calls to use .c_str() on String objects across all platform-specific sections

---

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.