从Dacav和pixelpoint的答案中获得灵感。我玩了一下，得到了这个:

#include <cstdarg>
#include <cstdio>
#include <string>

std::string format(const char* fmt, ...)
{
    va_list vl;

    va_start(vl, fmt);
    int size = vsnprintf(0, 0, fmt, vl) + sizeof('\0');
    va_end(vl);

    char buffer[size];

    va_start(vl, fmt);
    size = vsnprintf(buffer, size, fmt, vl);
    va_end(vl);

    return std::string(buffer, size);
}

通过合理的编程实践，我相信代码应该足够了，但是我仍然对更安全的替代方案持开放态度，这些替代方案仍然足够简单，不需要c++ 11。

下面是另一个版本，它使用初始缓冲区来防止在初始缓冲区已经足够多时再次调用vsnprintf()。

std::string format(const char* fmt, ...)
{

    va_list vl;
    int size;

    enum { INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE = 512 };

    {
        char buffer[INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE];

        va_start(vl, fmt);
        size = vsnprintf(buffer, INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE, fmt, vl);
        va_end(vl);

        if (size < INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE)
            return std::string(buffer, size);
    }

    size += sizeof('\0');

    char buffer[size];

    va_start(vl, fmt);
    size = vsnprintf(buffer, size, fmt, vl);
    va_end(vl);

    return std::string(buffer, size);
}

(事实证明，这个版本与Piti Ongmongkolkul的答案相似，只是它没有使用new和delete[]，并且在创建std::string时指定了大小。

The idea here of not using new and delete[] is to imply usage of the stack over the heap since it doesn't need to call allocation and deallocation functions, however if not properly used, it could be dangerous to buffer overflows in some (perhaps old, or perhaps just vulnerable) systems. If this is a concern, I highly suggest using new and delete[] instead. Note that the only concern here is about the allocations as vsnprintf() is already called with limits, so specifying a limit based on the size allocated on the second buffer would also prevent those.)

我喜欢的一个解决方案是，在使缓冲区足够大之后，用sprintf直接在std::string缓冲区中执行此操作:

#include <string>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

string l_output;
l_output.resize(100);

for (int i = 0; i < 1000; ++i)
{       
    memset (&l_output[0], 0, 100);
    sprintf (&l_output[0], "\r%i\0", i);

    cout << l_output;
    cout.flush();
}

因此，创建std::string，调整它的大小，直接访问它的缓冲区…

_return.desc = (boost::format("fail to detect. cv_result = %d") % st_result).str();

更新1:增加了fmt::格式测试

我对这里介绍的方法进行了自己的研究，得到了与这里提到的完全相反的结果。

我用了4个函数/ 4个方法:

可变变量函数+ vsnprintf + std::unique_ptr 可变变量函数+ vsnprintf + std::string 可变变量模板函数+ std::ostringstream + std::tuple +实用程序::for_each 来自Fmt库的Fmt::format函数

对于googletest使用的测试后端。

#include <string>
#include <cstdarg>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <memory>
#include <algorithm>

#include <fmt/format.h>

inline std::string string_format(size_t string_reserve, const std::string fmt_str, ...)
{
    size_t str_len = (std::max)(fmt_str.size(), string_reserve);

    // plain buffer is a bit faster here than std::string::reserve
    std::unique_ptr<char[]> formatted;

    va_list ap;
    va_start(ap, fmt_str);

    while (true) {
        formatted.reset(new char[str_len]);

        const int final_n = vsnprintf(&formatted[0], str_len, fmt_str.c_str(), ap);

        if (final_n < 0 || final_n >= int(str_len))
            str_len += (std::abs)(final_n - int(str_len) + 1);
        else
            break;
    }

    va_end(ap);

    return std::string(formatted.get());
}

inline std::string string_format2(size_t string_reserve, const std::string fmt_str, ...)
{
    size_t str_len = (std::max)(fmt_str.size(), string_reserve);
    std::string str;

    va_list ap;
    va_start(ap, fmt_str);

    while (true) {
        str.resize(str_len);

        const int final_n = vsnprintf(const_cast<char *>(str.data()), str_len, fmt_str.c_str(), ap);

        if (final_n < 0 || final_n >= int(str_len))
            str_len += (std::abs)(final_n - int(str_len) + 1);
        else {
            str.resize(final_n); // do not forget to shrink the size!
            break;
        }
    }

    va_end(ap);

    return str;
}

template <typename... Args>
inline std::string string_format3(size_t string_reserve, Args... args)
{
    std::ostringstream ss;
    if (string_reserve) {
        ss.rdbuf()->str().reserve(string_reserve);
    }
    std::tuple<Args...> t{ args... };
    utility::for_each(t, [&ss](auto & v)
    {
        ss << v;
    });
    return ss.str();
}

for_each实现从这里开始:遍历tuple

#include <type_traits>
#include <tuple>

namespace utility {

    template <std::size_t I = 0, typename FuncT, typename... Tp>
    inline typename std::enable_if<I == sizeof...(Tp), void>::type
        for_each(std::tuple<Tp...> &, const FuncT &)
    {
    }

    template<std::size_t I = 0, typename FuncT, typename... Tp>
    inline typename std::enable_if<I < sizeof...(Tp), void>::type
        for_each(std::tuple<Tp...> & t, const FuncT & f)
    {
        f(std::get<I>(t));
        for_each<I + 1, FuncT, Tp...>(t, f);
    }

}

测试:

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_unique_ptr_0)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = string_format(0, "%s+%u\n", "test test test", 12345);
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_unique_ptr_256)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = string_format(256, "%s+%u\n", "test test test", 12345);
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_std_string_0)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = string_format2(0, "%s+%u\n", "test test test", 12345);
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_std_string_256)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = string_format2(256, "%s+%u\n", "test test test", 12345);
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_string_stream_on_variadic_tuple_0)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = string_format3(0, "test test test", "+", 12345, "\n");
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_string_stream_on_variadic_tuple_256)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = string_format3(256, "test test test", "+", 12345, "\n");
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_string_stream_inline_0)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        std::ostringstream ss;
        ss << "test test test" << "+" << 12345 << "\n";
        const std::string v = ss.str();
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_string_format_on_string_stream_inline_256)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        std::ostringstream ss;
        ss.rdbuf()->str().reserve(256);
        ss << "test test test" << "+" << 12345 << "\n";
        const std::string v = ss.str();
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_fmt_format_positional)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = fmt::format("{0:s}+{1:d}\n", "test test test", 12345);
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

TEST(ExternalFuncs, test_fmt_format_named)
{
    for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
        const std::string v = fmt::format("{first:s}+{second:d}\n", fmt::arg("first", "test test test"), fmt::arg("second", 12345));
        UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(v);
    }
}

UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR。

unsued.hpp:

#define UTILITY_SUPPRESS_OPTIMIZATION_ON_VAR(var)   ::utility::unused_param(&var)

namespace utility {

    extern const volatile void * volatile g_unused_param_storage_ptr;

    extern void
#ifdef __GNUC__
    __attribute__((optimize("O0")))
#endif
        unused_param(const volatile void * p);

}

unused.cpp:

namespace utility {

    const volatile void * volatile g_unused_param_storage_ptr = nullptr;

    void
#ifdef __GNUC__
    __attribute__((optimize("O0")))
#endif
        unused_param(const volatile void * p)
    {
        g_unused_param_storage_ptr = p;
    }

}

结果:

[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_unique_ptr_0
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_unique_ptr_0 (556 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_unique_ptr_256
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_unique_ptr_256 (331 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_std_string_0
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_std_string_0 (457 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_std_string_256
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_std_string_256 (279 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_on_variadic_tuple_0
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_on_variadic_tuple_0 (1214 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_on_variadic_tuple_256
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_on_variadic_tuple_256 (1325 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_inline_0
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_inline_0 (1208 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_inline_256
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_string_format_on_string_stream_inline_256 (1302 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_fmt_format_positional
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_fmt_format_positional (288 ms)
[ RUN      ] ExternalFuncs.test_fmt_format_named
[       OK ] ExternalFuncs.test_fmt_format_named (392 ms)

正如你所看到的，通过vsnprintf+std::string实现等于fmt::format，但比通过vsnprintf+std::unique_ptr更快，而vsnprintf+std::unique_ptr比通过std::ostringstream更快。

测试在Visual Studio 2015 Update 3中编译，运行于Windows 7 x64 / Intel酷睿i7-4820K CPU @ 3.70GHz / 16GB。

你不能直接这样做，因为你没有对底层缓冲区的写访问权(直到c++ 11;见Dietrich Epp的评论)。你必须先在c-string中执行，然后将其复制到std::string中:

  char buff[100];
  snprintf(buff, sizeof(buff), "%s", "Hello");
  std::string buffAsStdStr = buff;

但我不确定为什么不直接使用字符串流?我想你有特定的理由不这么做:

  std::ostringstream stringStream;
  stringStream << "Hello";
  std::string copyOfStr = stringStream.str();

inline void format(string& a_string, const char* fmt, ...)
{
    va_list vl;
    va_start(vl, fmt);
    int size = _vscprintf( fmt, vl );
    a_string.resize( ++size );
    vsnprintf_s((char*)a_string.data(), size, _TRUNCATE, fmt, vl);
    va_end(vl);
}