+ string
+ rpad( const string & s, string::size_type length, char c )
+ {
+ string::size_type l = s.length();
+ if( l >= length ) return s;
+ string reply = s;
+ return reply.append( length-l, c );
+ }
+
+ string
+ lpad( const string & s, size_t length, char c )
+ {
+ string::size_type l = s.length();
+ if( l >= length ) return s;
+ string reply = s;
+ return reply.insert( 0, length-l, c );
+ }
+
+ bool
+ starts_with( const string & s, const string & substr )
+ {
+ return s.find( substr ) == 0;
+ }
+
+ bool
+ ends_with( const string & s, const string & substr )
+ {
+ size_t n = s.rfind( substr );
+ return (n != string::npos) && (n == s.length() - substr.length());
+ }
+
+ string simplify(const string& s)
+ {
+ string result; // reserve size of 's'?
+ string::const_iterator it = s.begin(),
+ end = s.end();
+
+ // advance to first non-space char - simplifes logic in main loop,
+ // since we can always prepend a single space when we see a
+ // space -> non-space transition
+ for (; (it != end) && isspace(*it); ++it) { /* nothing */ }
+
+ bool lastWasSpace = false;
+ for (; it != end; ++it) {
+ char c = *it;
+ if (isspace(c)) {
+ lastWasSpace = true;
+ continue;
+ }
+
+ if (lastWasSpace) {
+ result.push_back(' ');
+ }
+
+ lastWasSpace = false;
+ result.push_back(c);
+ }
+
+ return result;
+ }
+
+ int to_int(const std::string& s, int base)
+ {
+ stringstream ss(s);
+ switch (base) {
+ case 8: ss >> std::oct; break;
+ case 16: ss >> std::hex; break;
+ default: break;
+ }
+
+ int result;
+ ss >> result;
+ return result;
+ }
+