How to assign a value of a string to a std::unique_ptr?

Question

After declaring an std::unique_ptr but without assigning it (so it contains an std::nullptr to begin with) - how to assign a value t

Answer 1

You could use std::make_unique in C++14 to create and move assign without the explicit new or having to repeat the type name std::string

my_str_ptr = std::make_unique<std::string>(another_str_var);

You could reset it, which replaces the managed resources with a new one (in your case there's no actual deletion happening though).

my_str_ptr.reset(new std::string(another_str_var));

You could create a new unique_ptr and move assign it into your original, though this always strikes me as messy.

my_str_ptr = std::unique_ptr<std::string>{new std::string(another_str_var)};