Check if std::string is a valid uuid using boost
boost, boost-uuid, c++, uuid
Solution
The code you had does nothing in terms of validation. Instead it generates a UUID based on the constant passed (like a hash function).
Looking closer I was mistaken. The missing bit of validation appears to be a check on version:
Live On Coliru
#include <boost/uuid/uuid.hpp>
#include <boost/uuid/uuid_io.hpp>
#include <boost/uuid/string_generator.hpp>
#include <iostream>
bool is_valid_uuid(std::string const& maybe_uuid, boost::uuids::uuid& result) {
using namespace boost::uuids;
try {
result = string_generator()(maybe_uuid);
return result.version() != uuid::version_unknown;
} catch(...) {
return false;
}
}
int main() {
std::string maybe_uuid;
std::cout << "Enter a UUID: ";
while (std::cin >> maybe_uuid)
{
boost::uuids::uuid result;
bool is_valid = is_valid_uuid(maybe_uuid, result);
std::cout << "\n'" << maybe_uuid << "' valid: " << std::boolalpha << is_valid << "\n";
if (is_valid)
std::cout << "Parsed value: " << result << "\n";
}
}
Sample output from Coliru: `echo 00000000-0000-{0,4}000-0000-000000000000 $(uuidgen) "{$(uuidgen)}" | ./a.out`:
Enter a UUID:
'00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' valid: false
'00000000-0000-4000-0000-000000000000' valid: true
Parsed value: 00000000-0000-4000-0000-000000000000
'a2c59f5c-6c9b-4800-afb8-282fc5e743cc' valid: true
Parsed value: a2c59f5c-6c9b-4800-afb8-282fc5e743cc
'{82a31d37-6fe4-4b80-b608-c63ec5ecd578}' valid: true
Parsed value: 82a31d37-6fe4-4b80-b608-c63ec5ecd578
Problem
I want to check if a given string is a valid UUID using boost. This is what I have come up with by looking at the documentation on the boost website: ``` void validate_uuid(const std::string& value) { try { boost::uuids::string_generator stringGenerator; (void)stringGenerator(value); } catch (const std::exception& ex) { // ... } } ``` However, this does not always work. If I call the function with a string that is too short for a valid UUID, an exception is thrown as expected. But if I call the function with an invalid UUID (e.g. `00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000000K`) no exception is thrown. Please can someone clarify why this is happening. Also, I've seen the use of boost::lexical_cast to read a string as a UUID as posted here. I'm wondering if I should follow that approach. Any advice appreciated.