From dea9deca836e2730e463806d444b5c990e372b0b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jamienoss <james.noss@lexisnexis.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:37:14 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] HPCC-12622 Deprecate toCharArray()

Signed-off-by: jamienoss <james.noss@lexisnexis.com>
---
 common/deftype/defvalue.cpp                   | 36 +++++++++----------
 common/fileview2/fvtransform.cpp              |  4 +--
 dali/base/dacoven.cpp                         |  4 +--
 dali/base/dasds.cpp                           | 24 ++++++-------
 dali/daliadmin/daliadmin.cpp                  |  4 +--
 dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefFilesNode.cpp             |  6 ++--
 dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefNodeManager.cpp           |  6 ++--
 dali/dfuplus/dfuplus.cpp                      |  2 +-
 dali/ft/daftformat.cpp                        |  8 ++---
 dali/sasha/saxref.cpp                         |  2 +-
 dali/treeview/connect.cpp                     |  2 +-
 dali/treeview/inspectctrl.cpp                 |  4 +--
 dali/treeview/treeviewdlg.cpp                 |  2 +-
 dali/treeview/util.cpp                        |  2 +-
 deployment/configgen/main.cpp                 |  2 +-
 deployment/configutils/confighelper.hpp       | 10 +++---
 deployment/deploy/DeployTask.cpp              |  8 ++---
 deployment/deploy/DeploymentEngine.cpp        |  2 +-
 deployment/deployutils/deployutils.cpp        |  6 ++--
 ecl/eclagent/eclagent.cpp                     |  8 ++---
 ecl/eclcc/eclcc.cpp                           | 10 +++---
 ecl/hql/hqlesp.cpp                            |  2 +-
 ecl/hql/hqlexpr.cpp                           |  8 ++---
 ecl/hql/hqlfold.cpp                           |  4 +--
 ecl/hql/hqlgram2.cpp                          | 16 ++++-----
 ecl/hqlcpp/hqlwcpp.cpp                        |  2 +-
 ecl/hthor/hthor.cpp                           |  4 +--
 esp/clients/LoggingClient/LocalDataLogger.cpp |  2 +-
 esp/esdllib/esdl_def.cpp                      |  6 ++--
 esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.cpp     | 12 +++----
 esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.hpp     |  2 +-
 esp/services/ws_dfu/ws_dfuService.cpp         |  2 +-
 .../ws_esdlconfig/ws_esdlconfigservice.cpp    |  2 +-
 .../ws_topology/ws_topologyService.cpp        |  2 +-
 esp/smc/SMCLib/TpWrapper.cpp                  |  2 +-
 roxie/ccd/ccdlistener.cpp                     |  6 ++--
 roxie/udplib/udptrr.cpp                       |  8 ++---
 roxie/udplib/udptrs.cpp                       |  6 ++--
 rtl/eclrtl/rtlkey.cpp                         |  2 +-
 services/runagent/frunagent.cpp               |  2 +-
 services/runagent/hodisp_base.cpp             |  6 ++--
 system/hrpc/hrpc.cpp                          | 12 +++----
 system/jhtree/jhtree.cpp                      |  2 +-
 system/jlib/jcomp.cpp                         |  6 ++--
 system/jlib/jexcept.cpp                       |  4 +--
 system/jlib/jfile.cpp                         |  2 +-
 system/jlib/jmisc.cpp                         |  2 +-
 system/jlib/jprop.cpp                         |  4 +--
 system/jlib/jptree.cpp                        | 32 ++++++++---------
 system/jlib/jsocket.cpp                       |  2 +-
 system/jlib/jstring.cpp                       | 24 ++++++-------
 system/jlib/jstring.hpp                       |  5 ++-
 system/jlib/jutil.cpp                         |  2 +-
 system/mp/mpcomm.cpp                          | 14 ++++----
 system/mp/mptag_test.cpp                      |  4 +--
 system/security/shared/basesecurity.hpp       |  6 ++--
 testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp               |  2 +-
 .../distribution/thdistribution.cpp           |  4 +--
 .../hashdistrib/thhashdistribslave.cpp        |  2 +-
 thorlcr/activities/msort/thmsort.cpp          |  2 +-
 thorlcr/activities/thactivityutil.cpp         |  2 +-
 .../activities/xmlwrite/thxmlwriteslave.cpp   |  8 ++---
 thorlcr/master/thmastermain.cpp               |  4 +--
 thorlcr/slave/thslavemain.cpp                 | 14 ++++----
 thorlcr/thorutil/thormisc.cpp                 |  8 ++---
 tools/esdlcmd/esdl2ecl.cpp                    |  2 +-
 tools/testsocket/testsocket.cpp               |  4 +--
 67 files changed, 210 insertions(+), 211 deletions(-)

diff --git a/common/deftype/defvalue.cpp b/common/deftype/defvalue.cpp
index 2bd4fcf4a41..902a3f94ef2 100644
--- a/common/deftype/defvalue.cpp
+++ b/common/deftype/defvalue.cpp
@@ -250,13 +250,13 @@ VarStringValue::VarStringValue(unsigned len, const char *v, ITypeInfo *_type) :
 
 const char *VarStringValue::generateECL(StringBuffer &out)
 {
-    return appendStringAsQuotedECL(out, val.length(), val).toCharArray();
+    return appendStringAsQuotedECL(out, val.length(), val).str();
 }
 
 const char *VarStringValue::generateCPP(StringBuffer &out, CompilerType compiler)
 {
     unsigned len = val.length();
-    return appendStringAsQuotedCPP(out, len, val.get(), len>120).toCharArray();
+    return appendStringAsQuotedCPP(out, len, val.get(), len>120).str();
 }
 
 void VarStringValue::toMem(void *target)
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ __int64 VarStringValue::getIntValue()
 const char *VarStringValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &out)
 {
     out.append(val);
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 void VarStringValue::pushDecimalValue(void)
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ StringValue::StringValue(const char *v, ITypeInfo *_type) : MemoryValue(_type)
 
 const char *StringValue::generateECL(StringBuffer &out)
 {
-    return appendStringAsQuotedECL(out, type->getSize(), (const char *)val.get()).toCharArray();
+    return appendStringAsQuotedECL(out, type->getSize(), (const char *)val.get()).str();
 }
 
 int StringValue::compare(IValue * to)
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ __int64 StringValue::getIntValue()
 const char *StringValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &out)
 {
     out.append(type->getSize(), (const char *)val.get());
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 const char *StringValue::getUTF8Value(StringBuffer &out)
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ const char *StringValue::getUTF8Value(StringBuffer &out)
     unsigned bufflen;
     rtlStrToUtf8X(bufflen, temp.refstr(), type->getSize(), (const char *)val.get());
     out.append(rtlUtf8Size(bufflen, temp.getstr()), temp.getstr());
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 void StringValue::pushDecimalValue()
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ const char * VarUnicodeValue::generateCPP(StringBuffer & out, CompilerType compi
 {
     out.append("(UChar *)");
     unsigned len = val.length()*2+1; // not pretty, but adds one null, so that string is double-null-terminated as required
-    return appendStringAsQuotedCPP(out, len, (char const *)val.get(), len>120).toCharArray();
+    return appendStringAsQuotedCPP(out, len, (char const *)val.get(), len>120).str();
 }
 
 const char * VarUnicodeValue::generateECL(StringBuffer & out)
@@ -1232,7 +1232,7 @@ const char *DataValue::generateECL(StringBuffer &out)
     out.append("X'");
     appendDataAsHex(out, val.length(), val.get());
     out.append('\'');
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@ bool DataValue::getBoolValue()
 const char *DataValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &out)
 {
     appendDataAsHex(out, val.length(), val.get());
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 IValue *createDataValue(const char *val, unsigned size)
@@ -1435,7 +1435,7 @@ const char *QStringValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &out)
     rtlQStrToStr(strLen, strData, strLen, (const char *)val.get());
     out.append(strLen, strData);
     free(strData);
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 void QStringValue::pushDecimalValue()
@@ -1486,7 +1486,7 @@ const char *CharValue::generateCPP(StringBuffer &out, CompilerType compiler)
                 out.append((int)val); 
             break;
     }
-    return out.toCharArray();
+    return out.str();
 }
 
 void CharValue::toMem(void *target)
@@ -1538,7 +1538,7 @@ bool CharValue::getBoolValue()
 
 const char *CharValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &out)
 {
-    return out.append(val).toCharArray();
+    return out.append(val).str();
 }
 
 void CharValue::pushDecimalValue()
@@ -1728,7 +1728,7 @@ const char *IntValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &s)
         s.append((__int64)val);
     else
         s.append(val);
-    return s.toCharArray();
+    return s.str();
 }
 
 bool IntValue::getBoolValue()
@@ -2173,7 +2173,7 @@ const char *DecimalValue::generateCPP(StringBuffer &s, CompilerType compiler)
         s.appendhex(c, false);
     }
     s.append('"');
-    return s.toCharArray();
+    return s.str();
 }
 
 const char *DecimalValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &s)
@@ -2183,7 +2183,7 @@ const char *DecimalValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &s)
     pushDecimalValue();
     DecPopCString(sizeof(strval), strval);
     s.append(strval);
-    return s.toCharArray();
+    return s.str();
 }
 
 bool DecimalValue::getBoolValue()
@@ -2254,19 +2254,19 @@ IValue *createDecimalValueFromStack(ITypeInfo * type)
 const char *BoolValue::generateECL(StringBuffer &s)
 {
     s.append(val ? "true" : "false");
-    return s.toCharArray();
+    return s.str();
 }
 
 const char *BoolValue::generateCPP(StringBuffer &s, CompilerType compiler)
 {
     s.append(val ? "true" : "false");
-    return s.toCharArray();
+    return s.str();
 }
 
 const char *BoolValue::getStringValue(StringBuffer &s)
 {
     s.append(val ? "true" : "false");
-    return s.toCharArray();
+    return s.str();
 }
 
 bool BoolValue::getBoolValue()
diff --git a/common/fileview2/fvtransform.cpp b/common/fileview2/fvtransform.cpp
index acfb2097226..3ff4944c2d0 100644
--- a/common/fileview2/fvtransform.cpp
+++ b/common/fileview2/fvtransform.cpp
@@ -351,11 +351,11 @@ void * ViewTransformerRegistry::resolveExternal(IHqlExpression * funcdef)
 
     ensureFileExtension(lib, SharedObjectExtension);
 
-    Owned<ILoadedDllEntry> match = loadedPlugins->getPluginDll(lib.toCharArray(), NULL, false); // MORE - shouldn't it check the version????
+    Owned<ILoadedDllEntry> match = loadedPlugins->getPluginDll(lib.str(), NULL, false); // MORE - shouldn't it check the version????
     if (!match)
         return NULL;
 
-    return GetSharedProcedure(match->getInstance(), entry.toCharArray());
+    return GetSharedProcedure(match->getInstance(), entry.str());
 }
 
 
diff --git a/dali/base/dacoven.cpp b/dali/base/dacoven.cpp
index 4f032212b34..21fd155c155 100644
--- a/dali/base/dacoven.cpp
+++ b/dali/base/dacoven.cpp
@@ -495,13 +495,13 @@ class CCovenServer: public CCovenBase
         toXML(t, xml);
         Owned<IFile> f = createIFile(storename.get());
         Owned<IFileIO> io = f->open(IFOcreate);
-        io->write(0, xml.length(), xml.toCharArray());
+        io->write(0, xml.length(), xml.str());
         io.clear();
         if (!backupname.isEmpty()) {
             try {
                 f.setown(createIFile(backupname.get()));
                 io.setown(f->open(IFOcreate));
-                io->write(0, xml.length(), xml.toCharArray());
+                io->write(0, xml.length(), xml.str());
                 io.clear();
             }
             catch (IException *e) {
diff --git a/dali/base/dasds.cpp b/dali/base/dasds.cpp
index 9253181620e..55db0495f2e 100644
--- a/dali/base/dasds.cpp
+++ b/dali/base/dasds.cpp
@@ -979,11 +979,11 @@ void writeDelta(StringBuffer &xml, IFile &iFile, const char *msg="", unsigned re
                 lastGood = iFileIO->size();
             }
             stream->seek(0, IFSend);
-            stream->write(xml.length(), xml.toCharArray());
+            stream->write(xml.length(), xml.str());
             stream->flush();
             stream.clear();
             offset_t fLen = lastGood + xml.length();
-            unsigned crc = crc32(xml.toCharArray(), xml.length(), startCrc);
+            unsigned crc = crc32(xml.str(), xml.length(), startCrc);
             char *headerPtr = (char *)header.bufferBase();
             sprintf(strNum, "%010u", ~crc);
             memcpy(headerPtr + deltaHeaderCrcOff, strNum, 10);
@@ -1432,7 +1432,7 @@ class CLegacyBinaryFileExternal : public CExternalFile, implements IExternalHand
             LOG(MCoperatorWarning, unknownJob, e, s.str()); 
             StringBuffer str("EXTERNAL BINARY FILE: \"");
             str.append(filename.str()).append("\" MISSING");
-            CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.toCharArray(), false);
+            CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.str(), false);
             v.serialize(mb);
         }
         else
@@ -1469,7 +1469,7 @@ class CLegacyBinaryFileExternal : public CExternalFile, implements IExternalHand
             {
                 StringBuffer str("EXTERNAL BINARY FILE: \"");
                 str.append(filename.str()).append("\" MISSING");
-                CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.toCharArray(), false);
+                CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.str(), false);
                 v.serialize(mb);
             }
             else
@@ -1537,7 +1537,7 @@ class CBinaryFileExternal : public CExternalFile, implements IExternalHandler
             LOG(MCoperatorWarning, unknownJob, e, s.str());
             StringBuffer str("EXTERNAL BINARY FILE: \"");
             str.append(filename.str()).append("\" MISSING");
-            CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.toCharArray(), false);
+            CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.str(), false);
             v.serialize(mb);
         }
         else
@@ -1570,7 +1570,7 @@ class CBinaryFileExternal : public CExternalFile, implements IExternalHandler
             {
                 StringBuffer str("EXTERNAL BINARY FILE: \"");
                 str.append(filename.str()).append("\" MISSING");
-                CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.toCharArray(), false);
+                CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.str(), false);
                 v.serialize(mb);
             }
             else
@@ -1637,7 +1637,7 @@ class CXMLFileExternal : public CExternalFile, implements IExternalHandler
             LOG(MCoperatorWarning, unknownJob, e, s.str());
             StringBuffer str("EXTERNAL XML FILE: \"");
             str.append(filename.str()).append("\" MISSING");
-            CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.toCharArray(), false);
+            CPTValue v(str.length()+1, str.str(), false);
             v.serialize(mb);
         }
         else
@@ -1669,7 +1669,7 @@ class CXMLFileExternal : public CExternalFile, implements IExternalHandler
             str.append(filename.str()).append("\" MISSING");
             tree.setown(createPTree(owner.queryName()));
             if (withValue)
-                tree->setProp(NULL, str.toCharArray());
+                tree->setProp(NULL, str.str());
         }
         else
         {
@@ -3805,7 +3805,7 @@ int CSDSTransactionServer::run()
                                     SDSManager->getLocks(out);
                                     mb.clear().append(DAMP_SDSREPLY_OK);
                                     mb.append(out.length());
-                                    mb.append(out.length(), out.toCharArray());
+                                    mb.append(out.length(), out.str());
 
                                     break;
                                 }
@@ -5285,9 +5285,9 @@ class CStoreHelper : public CInterface, implements IStoreHelper
                 di->getName(fname);
                 if ('_' != fname.charAt(7)) // Unhelpful naming convention to differentiate store files from externals!
                 {
-                    if (0 == memicmp("inc", fname.toCharArray()+4, 3) || 0 == memicmp("sds", fname.toCharArray()+4, 3))
+                    if (0 == memicmp("inc", fname.str()+4, 3) || 0 == memicmp("sds", fname.str()+4, 3))
                     {
-                        const char *num = fname.toCharArray()+7;
+                        const char *num = fname.str()+7;
                         const char *dot = (const char *)strchr(num, '.');
                         unsigned fileEdition = atoi_l(num, dot-num);
                         int d = (int)fileEdition-(int)edition;
@@ -7115,7 +7115,7 @@ CServerConnection *CCovenSDSManager::createConnectionInstance(CRemoteTreeBase *r
         if (l && '/' == _xpath[l-1])
         {
             tXpath.append(l-1, _xpath);
-            _xpath = tXpath.toCharArray();
+            _xpath = tXpath.str();
         }
     }
     bool newNode = false;
diff --git a/dali/daliadmin/daliadmin.cpp b/dali/daliadmin/daliadmin.cpp
index 0ed47e0bf81..b1bc0a07c76 100644
--- a/dali/daliadmin/daliadmin.cpp
+++ b/dali/daliadmin/daliadmin.cpp
@@ -2078,7 +2078,7 @@ struct CTreeItem : public CInterface
     {
         if (parent)
             parent->getXPath(xpath);
-        xpath.append('/').append(tail->toCharArray());
+        xpath.append('/').append(tail->str());
         if ((index!=0)||tail->IsShared())
             xpath.append('[').append(index+1).append(']');
     }
@@ -2131,7 +2131,7 @@ class CXMLSizesParser : public CInterface
         virtual void beginNode(const char *tag, offset_t startOffset)
         {
             String *tail = levtail;
-            if (levtail&&(0 == strcmp(tag, levtail->toCharArray())))
+            if (levtail&&(0 == strcmp(tag, levtail->str())))
                 tail->Link();
             else
                 tail = new String(tag);
diff --git a/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefFilesNode.cpp b/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefFilesNode.cpp
index de160c693ff..a7891077136 100644
--- a/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefFilesNode.cpp
+++ b/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefFilesNode.cpp
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ void CXRefFilesNode::Deserialize(IPropertyTree& inTree)
     CleanTree(inTree);
     StringBuffer datastr;
     toXML(&inTree,datastr);
-    m_baseTree.setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),(void*)datastr.toCharArray());
+    m_baseTree.setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),(void*)datastr.str());
 }
 
 IPropertyTree* CXRefFilesNode::FindNode(const char* NodeName)
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ bool CXRefFilesNode::AttachPhysical(const char *Partmask,IUserDescriptor* udesc,
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (queryDistributedFileDirectory().exists(logicalName.toCharArray(),udesc))
+    if (queryDistributedFileDirectory().exists(logicalName.str(),udesc))
     {
         ERRLOG("Logical File %s already Exists. Can not reattach to Dali",logicalName.str());
         errstr.appendf("Logical File %s already Exists. Can not reattach to Dali",logicalName.str());
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ bool CXRefFilesNode::AttachPhysical(const char *Partmask,IUserDescriptor* udesc,
     }
 
     Owned<IDistributedFile> dFile = queryDistributedFileDirectory().createNew(fileDesc);
-    dFile->attach(logicalName.toCharArray(),udesc);
+    dFile->attach(logicalName.str(),udesc);
 
     if (!RemoveTreeNode(Partmask)) {                   
         ERRLOG("Removing XRef Branch %s",Partmask);
diff --git a/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefNodeManager.cpp b/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefNodeManager.cpp
index 10bcb99a462..8f80e4deb6f 100644
--- a/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefNodeManager.cpp
+++ b/dali/dfuXRefLib/XRefNodeManager.cpp
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ void CXRefNode::deserializeMessages(IPropertyTree& inTree)
     }
     StringBuffer datastr;
     toXML(&inTree,datastr);
-    m_messages->setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),(void*)datastr.toCharArray());
+    m_messages->setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),(void*)datastr.str());
 }
 
 StringBuffer &CXRefNode::serializeDirectories(StringBuffer &buf)
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ void CXRefNode::deserializeDirectories(IPropertyTree& inTree)
     }
     StringBuffer datastr;
     toXML(&inTree,datastr);
-    m_directories->setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),(void*)datastr.toCharArray());
+    m_directories->setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),(void*)datastr.str());
 
 
 }
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ bool CXRefNode::removeEmptyDirectories(StringBuffer &errstr)
     ForEachItemInRev(i,todelete) 
         t->removeTree((IPropertyTree *)todelete.item(i)); // probably should check succeeded above but next run will correct
     toXML(t,dataStr.clear());
-    m_directories->setPropBin("data",dataStr.length(),(void*)dataStr.toCharArray());
+    m_directories->setPropBin("data",dataStr.length(),(void*)dataStr.str());
     emptyScopes();
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/dali/dfuplus/dfuplus.cpp b/dali/dfuplus/dfuplus.cpp
index f3fc08ffa85..3e4f6d3adfc 100644
--- a/dali/dfuplus/dfuplus.cpp
+++ b/dali/dfuplus/dfuplus.cpp
@@ -1095,7 +1095,7 @@ int CDfuPlusHelper::list()
                 StringBuffer output;
                 output.append(onefile->getName());
                 output.append("\n");
-                fputs(output.toCharArray(),f);
+                fputs(output.str(),f);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/dali/ft/daftformat.cpp b/dali/ft/daftformat.cpp
index b77dd8b6c69..4b4ccd1679b 100644
--- a/dali/ft/daftformat.cpp
+++ b/dali/ft/daftformat.cpp
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ void CCsvPartitioner::storeFieldName(const char * start, unsigned len)
     }
 
     // Check discovered field name uniqueness
-    const char * fn = fieldName.toCharArray();
+    const char * fn = fieldName.str();
     if ( fields->find(fn) != NULL )
     {
         time_t t;
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@ void CCsvPartitioner::storeFieldName(const char * start, unsigned len)
     recordStructure.append(fieldName);
     recordStructure.append(";\n");
 
-    fields->addAtom(fieldName.toCharArray());
+    fields->addAtom(fieldName.str());
 }
 
 size32_t CCsvPartitioner::getSplitRecordSize(const byte * start, unsigned maxToRead, bool processFullBuffer, bool ateof)
@@ -1017,7 +1017,7 @@ void CUtfPartitioner::storeFieldName(const char * start, unsigned len)
     }
 
     // Check discovered field name uniqueness
-    const char * fn = fieldName.toCharArray();
+    const char * fn = fieldName.str();
     if ( fields->find(fn) != NULL )
     {
         time_t t;
@@ -1028,7 +1028,7 @@ void CUtfPartitioner::storeFieldName(const char * start, unsigned len)
     recordStructure.append(fieldName);
     recordStructure.append(";\n");
 
-    fields->addAtom(fieldName.toCharArray());
+    fields->addAtom(fieldName.str());
 }
 
 size32_t CUtfPartitioner::getSplitRecordSize(const byte * start, unsigned maxToRead, bool processFullBuffer, bool ateof)
diff --git a/dali/sasha/saxref.cpp b/dali/sasha/saxref.cpp
index a41e1e7ed12..7a2bf547ca6 100644
--- a/dali/sasha/saxref.cpp
+++ b/dali/sasha/saxref.cpp
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ class CNewXRefManagerBase
         branch->setProp("Cluster",clustname);
         StringBuffer datastr;
         toXML(branch,datastr);
-        root->addPropTree(name,createPTree(name))->setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),datastr.toCharArray());
+        root->addPropTree(name,createPTree(name))->setPropBin("data",datastr.length(),datastr.str());
     }
 
     CNewXRefManagerBase()
diff --git a/dali/treeview/connect.cpp b/dali/treeview/connect.cpp
index 8af51c71caf..8991eb12ca3 100644
--- a/dali/treeview/connect.cpp
+++ b/dali/treeview/connect.cpp
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class RemoteConnection : public Connection, implements IConnection
             ISDSManager & sdsManager = querySDS();
 
             if(xpath) pathToRoot.append(xpath).append("/");
-            conn = sdsManager.connect(pathToRoot.toCharArray(), myProcessSession(), 0, 5000);               
+            conn = sdsManager.connect(pathToRoot.str(), myProcessSession(), 0, 5000);
         }
         catch(IException * e)
         {
diff --git a/dali/treeview/inspectctrl.cpp b/dali/treeview/inspectctrl.cpp
index 67ab0d14810..667251240fd 100644
--- a/dali/treeview/inspectctrl.cpp
+++ b/dali/treeview/inspectctrl.cpp
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class CTreeListItem
             buf.append("[");
             buf.append(parent->queryChildIndex(pTree) + 1);
             buf.append("]");
-            return buf.toCharArray();
+            return buf.str();
         }
         return type == TLT_attribute ? name + 1 : pTree->queryName(); 
     }
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ class CTreeListItem
         else        
             pTree->getProp(name, buf.clear());      
 
-        return buf.toCharArray();
+        return buf.str();
     }
 
     inline TreeList_t getType() const { return type; }
diff --git a/dali/treeview/treeviewdlg.cpp b/dali/treeview/treeviewdlg.cpp
index 473ae6c73e4..f7172d7f76e 100644
--- a/dali/treeview/treeviewdlg.cpp
+++ b/dali/treeview/treeviewdlg.cpp
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ bool saveTree(LPCSTR fname, IPropertyTree & pTree)
         IFileIO * io = f->open(IFOcreate);
         if(io)
         {
-            if(io->write(0, xml.length(), xml.toCharArray()) != xml.length())
+            if(io->write(0, xml.length(), xml.str()) != xml.length())
             {
                 showFIOErr(fname, false);
                 r = false;
diff --git a/dali/treeview/util.cpp b/dali/treeview/util.cpp
index 7393bbdf08b..d2359da1c2c 100644
--- a/dali/treeview/util.cpp
+++ b/dali/treeview/util.cpp
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ void reportException(IException * e)
     StringBuffer eMsg;
     e->errorMessage(eMsg);
     CString msg("An error occured whilst attempting connection:\n");
-    msg += eMsg.toCharArray();
+    msg += eMsg.str();
     msg += ".";
     MessageBox(NULL, msg, "Connection Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
     e->Release();
diff --git a/deployment/configgen/main.cpp b/deployment/configgen/main.cpp
index 83b917c692a..7840fc54251 100644
--- a/deployment/configgen/main.cpp
+++ b/deployment/configgen/main.cpp
@@ -645,7 +645,7 @@ int processRequest(const char* in_cfgname, const char* out_dirname, const char*
           {
             IPropertyTree* pInst = &itInst->query();
             String instName(pInst->queryName());
-            if (!strcmp(instName.toCharArray(), "ThorMasterProcess") || instName.startsWith("RoxieServerProcess"))
+            if (!strcmp(instName.str(), "ThorMasterProcess") || instName.startsWith("RoxieServerProcess"))
             {
               out.appendf("%s=%s;%s%c%s;%s\n", pComponent->queryProp("@name"), pComponent->queryProp("@buildSet"), out_dirname, PATHSEPCHAR, pComponent->queryProp("@name"),"master");
             }
diff --git a/deployment/configutils/confighelper.hpp b/deployment/configutils/confighelper.hpp
index 0fb420c1b61..f38c0b5c4a7 100644
--- a/deployment/configutils/confighelper.hpp
+++ b/deployment/configutils/confighelper.hpp
@@ -30,23 +30,23 @@ class CONFIGUTILS_API CConfigHelper
 
   const char* getConfigXMLDir() const
   {
-    return m_strConfigXMLDir.toCharArray();
+    return m_strConfigXMLDir.str();
   }
   const char* getBuildSetFileName() const
   {
-    return m_strBuildSetFileName.toCharArray();
+    return m_strBuildSetFileName.str();
   }
   const char* getEnvConfFile() const
   {
-    return m_strEnvConfFile.toCharArray();
+    return m_strEnvConfFile.str();
   }
   const char* getConfFile() const
   {
-    return m_strConfFile.toCharArray();
+    return m_strConfFile.str();
   }
   const char* getBuildSetFilePath() const
   {
-    return m_strBuildSetFilePath.toCharArray();
+    return m_strBuildSetFilePath.str();
   }
 
   void getNewComponentListFromBuildSet(const IPropertyTree *pEnvTree, StringArray &sCompArray) const;
diff --git a/deployment/deploy/DeployTask.cpp b/deployment/deploy/DeployTask.cpp
index c42c9fbfb79..047ae59a6d3 100644
--- a/deployment/deploy/DeployTask.cpp
+++ b/deployment/deploy/DeployTask.cpp
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ class CDeployTask : public CInterface, implements IDeployTask
              String err(errbuf.str());
              int index = err.indexOf('\n');
              String* perr = err.substring(0, index > 0? index : err.length());
-             m_errorString.clear().appendf("%s", perr->toCharArray());
+             m_errorString.clear().appendf("%s", perr->str());
              delete perr;
 
              bCopyRC = false;
@@ -1067,7 +1067,7 @@ class CDeployTask : public CInterface, implements IDeployTask
             String err(errbuf.str());
             int index = err.indexOf('\n');
             String* perr = err.substring(0, index > 0? index : err.length());
-            m_errorString.clear().appendf("%s", perr->toCharArray());
+            m_errorString.clear().appendf("%s", perr->str());
             delete perr;
             return false;
           }
@@ -1551,7 +1551,7 @@ class CDeployTask : public CInterface, implements IDeployTask
 
                         unsigned int len = outputStr.length();
                         outputStr.ensureCapacity(len+sz);
-                        if (sz == pFileIO->read(0, sz, (void*)(outputStr.toCharArray() + len)))
+                        if (sz == pFileIO->read(0, sz, (void*)(outputStr.str() + len)))
                             outputStr.setLength(sz+len);
                     }
                 }
@@ -1592,7 +1592,7 @@ class CDeployTask : public CInterface, implements IDeployTask
        String err(errmsg.str());
        int index = err.indexOf('\n');
        String* perr = err.substring(0, index > 0? index : err.length());
-       m_errorString.clear().appendf("%s", perr->toCharArray());
+       m_errorString.clear().appendf("%s", perr->str());
        delete perr;
        return false;
      }
diff --git a/deployment/deploy/DeploymentEngine.cpp b/deployment/deploy/DeploymentEngine.cpp
index 6eb7df1f892..9e3bdd17145 100644
--- a/deployment/deploy/DeploymentEngine.cpp
+++ b/deployment/deploy/DeploymentEngine.cpp
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ void CDeploymentEngine::writeFile(const char* filename, const char* str, EnvMach
             String errmsg(err.str());
             int index = errmsg.indexOf('\n');
             String* perr = errmsg.substring(0, index > 0? index : errmsg.length());
-            output.clear().appendf("%s", perr->toCharArray());
+            output.clear().appendf("%s", perr->str());
             delete perr;
             throw MakeStringException(-1, "%s", output.str());
         }
diff --git a/deployment/deployutils/deployutils.cpp b/deployment/deployutils/deployutils.cpp
index dd4be5bdbf0..e947354f100 100644
--- a/deployment/deployutils/deployutils.cpp
+++ b/deployment/deployutils/deployutils.cpp
@@ -2590,7 +2590,7 @@ bool checkComponentReferences(const IPropertyTree* pEnv,
   {
     String str(xpath);
     String* pStr = str.substring(0, strcspn(xpath, "/"));
-    xpath1.append(pStr->toCharArray());
+    xpath1.append(pStr->str());
     delete pStr;
     xpath2 = pSlash+1;
   }
@@ -3758,7 +3758,7 @@ bool updateDirsWithConfSettings(IPropertyTree* pEnvRoot, IProperties* pParams, b
       if (str.indexOf('[') > 0)
         sb.append(pParams->queryProp("runtime")).append(PATHSEPCHAR).append(sbdir.str() + str.indexOf('['));
       else
-        sb.append(str.toCharArray());
+        sb.append(str.str());
 
       pEnvRoot->setProp("Software/Directories/Category[@name='run']/@dir", sb.str());
       ret = true;
@@ -3777,7 +3777,7 @@ bool updateDirsWithConfSettings(IPropertyTree* pEnvRoot, IProperties* pParams, b
       if (str.indexOf('[') > 0)
         sb.append(pParams->queryProp("log")).append(PATHSEPCHAR).append(sbdir.str() + str.indexOf('['));
       else
-        sb.append(str.toCharArray());
+        sb.append(str.str());
 
       pEnvRoot->setProp("Software/Directories/Category[@name='log']/@dir", sb.str());
       ret = true;
diff --git a/ecl/eclagent/eclagent.cpp b/ecl/eclagent/eclagent.cpp
index ab335bae22a..44a10e6764c 100644
--- a/ecl/eclagent/eclagent.cpp
+++ b/ecl/eclagent/eclagent.cpp
@@ -296,15 +296,15 @@ class CHThorDebugSocketWorker : public CInterface, implements IPooledThread
                     if (reqName.endsWith(requestArrayString))
                     {
                         isRequestArray = true;
-                        queryName.set(reqName.toCharArray(), reqName.length() - requestArrayString.length());
+                        queryName.set(reqName.str(), reqName.length() - requestArrayString.length());
                     }
                     else if (reqName.endsWith(requestString))
                     {
                         isRequest = true;
-                        queryName.set(reqName.toCharArray(), reqName.length() - requestString.length());
+                        queryName.set(reqName.str(), reqName.length() - requestString.length());
                     }
                     else
-                        queryName.set(reqName.toCharArray());
+                        queryName.set(reqName.str());
 
                     queryXML->renameProp("/", queryName.get());  // reset the name of the tree
                 }
@@ -3125,7 +3125,7 @@ void printStart(int argc, const char *argv[])
             cmd.append(' ');
         cmd.append('"').append(argv[argno]).append('"');
     }
-    PrintLog("Starting %s", cmd.toCharArray());
+    PrintLog("Starting %s", cmd.str());
 }
 
 //--------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/ecl/eclcc/eclcc.cpp b/ecl/eclcc/eclcc.cpp
index 17aff680fde..dff05a09da3 100644
--- a/ecl/eclcc/eclcc.cpp
+++ b/ecl/eclcc/eclcc.cpp
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ void EclCC::reportCompileErrors(IErrorReceiver & errorProcessor, const char * pr
         absCCLogName = "log file";
 
     failText.appendf("Compile/Link failed for %s (see '%s' for details)",processName,absCCLogName.str());
-    errorProcessor.reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, failText.toCharArray(), processName, 0, 0, 0);
+    errorProcessor.reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, failText.str(), processName, 0, 0, 0);
     try
     {
         StringBuffer s;
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ void EclCC::instantECL(EclCompileInstance & instance, IWorkUnit *wu, const char
             bool optSaveCpp = optSaveTemps || optNoCompile || wu->getDebugValueBool("saveCppTempFiles", false);
             //New scope - testing things are linked correctly
             {
-                Owned<IHqlExprDllGenerator> generator = createDllGenerator(&errorProcessor, processName.toCharArray(), NULL, wu, templateDir, optTargetClusterType, this, false, false);
+                Owned<IHqlExprDllGenerator> generator = createDllGenerator(&errorProcessor, processName.str(), NULL, wu, templateDir, optTargetClusterType, this, false, false);
 
                 setWorkunitHash(wu, instance.query);
                 if (!optShared)
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ void EclCC::instantECL(EclCompileInstance & instance, IWorkUnit *wu, const char
                 instance.stats.cppSize = generator->getGeneratedSize();
                 if (generateOk && !optNoCompile)
                 {
-                    Owned<ICppCompiler> compiler = createCompiler(processName.toCharArray());
+                    Owned<ICppCompiler> compiler = createCompiler(processName.str());
                     compiler->setSaveTemps(optSaveTemps);
 
                     bool compileOk = true;
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ void EclCC::instantECL(EclCompileInstance & instance, IWorkUnit *wu, const char
             {
                 StringBuffer exceptionText;
                 e->errorMessage(exceptionText);
-                errorProcessor.reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, exceptionText.toCharArray(), queryFullName, 1, 0, 0);
+                errorProcessor.reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, exceptionText.str(), queryFullName, 1, 0, 0);
             }
             e->Release();
         }
@@ -1160,7 +1160,7 @@ void EclCC::processSingleQuery(EclCompileInstance & instance,
         {
             StringBuffer s;
             e->errorMessage(s);
-            errorProcessor.reportError(3, s.toCharArray(), defaultErrorPathname, 1, 0, 0);
+            errorProcessor.reportError(3, s.str(), defaultErrorPathname, 1, 0, 0);
             e->Release();
         }
     }
diff --git a/ecl/hql/hqlesp.cpp b/ecl/hql/hqlesp.cpp
index e98872d875b..60eb2b40763 100644
--- a/ecl/hql/hqlesp.cpp
+++ b/ecl/hql/hqlesp.cpp
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ void WebServicesExtractor::getAttributeText(StringBuffer & text, const char* att
     {
         StringBuffer txt;
         txt.append("Could not read attribute: ").append(attributeName);
-        DBGLOG("%s", txt.toCharArray());
+        DBGLOG("%s", txt.str());
         throw MakeStringException(ERR_NO_ATTRIBUTE_TEXT, "%s", txt.str());
     }
 
diff --git a/ecl/hql/hqlexpr.cpp b/ecl/hql/hqlexpr.cpp
index 8457b1b876e..a60c8df0190 100644
--- a/ecl/hql/hqlexpr.cpp
+++ b/ecl/hql/hqlexpr.cpp
@@ -7919,7 +7919,7 @@ void CHqlScope::throwRecursiveError(IIdAtom * searchName)
 
     StringBuffer msg("Definition of ");
     msg.append(*searchName).append(" contains a recursive dependency");
-    throw createECLError(ERR_RECURSIVE_DEPENDENCY, msg.toCharArray(), filename, 0, 0, 1);
+    throw createECLError(ERR_RECURSIVE_DEPENDENCY, msg.str(), filename, 0, 0, 1);
 }
 
 inline bool namesMatch(const char * lName, const char * rName)
@@ -8114,7 +8114,7 @@ IHqlExpression *CHqlRemoteScope::lookupSymbol(IIdAtom * searchName, unsigned loo
     {
         StringBuffer msg("Definition for ");
         msg.append(*searchName).append(" contains no text");
-        throw createECLError(ERR_EXPORT_OR_SHARE, msg.toCharArray(), filename, 0, 0, 1);
+        throw createECLError(ERR_EXPORT_OR_SHARE, msg.str(), filename, 0, 0, 1);
     }
 
     OwnedHqlExpr recursionGuard = createSymbol(searchName, LINK(processingMarker), ob_exported);
@@ -8140,7 +8140,7 @@ IHqlExpression *CHqlRemoteScope::lookupSymbol(IIdAtom * searchName, unsigned loo
             resolved->removeSymbol(searchName);
         StringBuffer msg("Definition must contain EXPORT or SHARED value for ");
         msg.append(*searchName);
-        throw createECLError(ERR_EXPORT_OR_SHARE, msg.toCharArray(), filename, 0, 0, 1);
+        throw createECLError(ERR_EXPORT_OR_SHARE, msg.str(), filename, 0, 0, 1);
     }
 
     //Preserve ob_sandbox etc. annotated on the original definition, but not on the parsed code.
@@ -9313,7 +9313,7 @@ IHqlExpression *CHqlForwardScope::lookupSymbol(IIdAtom * searchName, unsigned lo
         const char * filename = parentCtx->sourcePath->str();
         StringBuffer msg("Definition must contain EXPORT or SHARED value for ");
         msg.append(*searchName);
-        throw createECLError(ERR_EXPORT_OR_SHARE, msg.toCharArray(), filename, oldSymbol->getStartLine(), oldSymbol->getStartColumn(), 1);
+        throw createECLError(ERR_EXPORT_OR_SHARE, msg.str(), filename, oldSymbol->getStartLine(), oldSymbol->getStartColumn(), 1);
     }
 
     if (!(newSymbol->isExported() || (lookupFlags & LSFsharedOK)))
diff --git a/ecl/hql/hqlfold.cpp b/ecl/hql/hqlfold.cpp
index 36b44ee12f9..34f8214aced 100644
--- a/ecl/hql/hqlfold.cpp
+++ b/ecl/hql/hqlfold.cpp
@@ -617,8 +617,8 @@ IValue * foldExternalCall(IHqlExpression* expr, unsigned foldOptions, ITemplateC
         ensureFileExtension(lib, SharedObjectExtension);
     }
 
-    const char * entrypoint = entry.toCharArray();
-    const char * library = lib.toCharArray();
+    const char * entrypoint = entry.str();
+    const char * library = lib.str();
     if(!body->hasAttribute(pureAtom) && !body->hasAttribute(templateAtom) && !(foldOptions & (HFOfoldimpure|HFOforcefold)))
     {
         if (foldOptions & HFOthrowerror)
diff --git a/ecl/hql/hqlgram2.cpp b/ecl/hql/hqlgram2.cpp
index 99b7981c897..a1d6553cb10 100644
--- a/ecl/hql/hqlgram2.cpp
+++ b/ecl/hql/hqlgram2.cpp
@@ -10124,7 +10124,7 @@ IHqlExpression * HqlGram::resolveImportModule(const attribute & errpos, IHqlExpr
                 msg.appendf("Import names unknown module \"%s\"", id->getAtomNamePtr());
             else
                 msg.appendf("Import item  \"%s\" is not a module", id->getAtomNamePtr());
-            reportError(ERR_MODULE_UNKNOWN, msg.toCharArray(),  
+            reportError(ERR_MODULE_UNKNOWN, msg.str(),
                         lexObject->getActualLineNo(), 
                         lexObject->getActualColumn(), 
                         lexObject->get_yyPosition());
@@ -10903,7 +10903,7 @@ void HqlGram::syntaxError(const char *s, int token, int *expected)
         if (yytext && *yytext)
             msg.append(" \"").append(yytext).append('\"');
 
-        reportError(ERR_UNKNOWN_IDENTIFIER,msg.toCharArray(), lineno, column, pos);
+        reportError(ERR_UNKNOWN_IDENTIFIER,msg.str(), lineno, column, pos);
         return;
     }
     else if ((token == '.') && (expected[0] == ASSIGN) && !expected[1])
@@ -10954,7 +10954,7 @@ void HqlGram::syntaxError(const char *s, int token, int *expected)
                 if (yytext && *yytext)
                     msg.append(yytext);
                 msg.append("' is already defined");
-                reportError(ERR_ID_REDEFINE,msg.toCharArray(), lineno, column, pos);
+                reportError(ERR_ID_REDEFINE,msg.str(), lineno, column, pos);
                 return;
             }
         }
@@ -10986,7 +10986,7 @@ void HqlGram::syntaxError(const char *s, int token, int *expected)
         }
     }
 
-    reportError(ERR_EXPECTED, msg.toCharArray(), lineno, column, pos);
+    reportError(ERR_EXPECTED, msg.str(), lineno, column, pos);
 }
 
 
@@ -11584,13 +11584,13 @@ extern HQL_API IHqlExpression * parseQuery(IHqlScope *scope, IFileContents * con
             if (E->errorCode()==0)
             {
                 StringBuffer s;
-                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, E->errorMessage(s).toCharArray(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
+                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, E->errorMessage(s).str(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
             }
             else
             {
                 StringBuffer s("Internal error: ");
                 E->errorMessage(s);
-                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, s.toCharArray(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
+                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, s.str(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
             }
         }
         E->Release();
@@ -11620,13 +11620,13 @@ extern HQL_API void parseModule(IHqlScope *scope, IFileContents * contents, HqlL
             if (E->errorCode()==0)
             {
                 StringBuffer s;
-                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, E->errorMessage(s).toCharArray(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
+                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, E->errorMessage(s).str(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
             }
             else
             {
                 StringBuffer s("Internal error: ");
                 E->errorMessage(s);
-                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, s.toCharArray(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
+                ctx.errs->reportError(ERR_INTERNALEXCEPTION, s.str(), sourcePath->str(), 0, 0, 1);
             }
         }
         E->Release();
diff --git a/ecl/hqlcpp/hqlwcpp.cpp b/ecl/hqlcpp/hqlwcpp.cpp
index 5277b00169f..46e3174c339 100644
--- a/ecl/hqlcpp/hqlwcpp.cpp
+++ b/ecl/hqlcpp/hqlwcpp.cpp
@@ -1551,7 +1551,7 @@ void HqlCppWriter::flush()
 {
     if (target)
     {
-        target->write(out.length(), out.toCharArray());
+        target->write(out.length(), out.str());
         out.clear();
         startOffset = 0;
     }
diff --git a/ecl/hthor/hthor.cpp b/ecl/hthor/hthor.cpp
index abc929f11d9..5e7a95bf611 100644
--- a/ecl/hthor/hthor.cpp
+++ b/ecl/hthor/hthor.cpp
@@ -8118,7 +8118,7 @@ bool CHThorDiskReadBaseActivity::checkOpenedFile(char const * filename, char con
             }
             else
                 s.append("Could not open local physical file ").append(filename).append(" (").append((unsigned)GetLastError()).append(")");
-            agent.fail(1, s.toCharArray());
+            agent.fail(1, s.str());
         }
     }
     else
@@ -8130,7 +8130,7 @@ bool CHThorDiskReadBaseActivity::checkOpenedFile(char const * filename, char con
         {
             StringBuffer s;
             s.append("File ").append(filename).append(" size is ").append(filesize).append(" which is not a multiple of ").append(fixedDiskRecordSize);
-            agent.fail(1, s.toCharArray());
+            agent.fail(1, s.str());
         }
 
         unsigned readBufferSize = queryReadBufferSize();
diff --git a/esp/clients/LoggingClient/LocalDataLogger.cpp b/esp/clients/LoggingClient/LocalDataLogger.cpp
index 2b22783b29b..dec09053523 100644
--- a/esp/clients/LoggingClient/LocalDataLogger.cpp
+++ b/esp/clients/LoggingClient/LocalDataLogger.cpp
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ StringBuffer& CLocalDataLogger::writeData(const StringBuffer& dataToCache,const
         try{
             Owned<IFileIO> io = file->open(IFOwrite);
             size32_t filesize = dataToCache.length();
-            void* filedata = (void*)dataToCache.toCharArray();
+            void* filedata = (void*)dataToCache.str();
             io->write(0,filesize ,filedata );
             if(m_UrlRoot.length()==0)
                 returnPath.appendf("/Cache?Name=%s.HTML",tokenName.str());
diff --git a/esp/esdllib/esdl_def.cpp b/esp/esdllib/esdl_def.cpp
index 6b03932bd28..6b023968352 100644
--- a/esp/esdllib/esdl_def.cpp
+++ b/esp/esdllib/esdl_def.cpp
@@ -964,7 +964,7 @@ class EsdlDefMethod : public EsdlDefObject, implements IEsdlDefMethod
                 const char * finger = product;
                 while(*finger && *finger !=':'){val.append(*finger++);}
 
-                props->setProp("product_", val.toCharArray());
+                props->setProp("product_", val.str());
                 props->setProp("productdefault_", true);
             }
             else
@@ -987,8 +987,8 @@ class EsdlDefMethod : public EsdlDefObject, implements IEsdlDefMethod
         if (prod.length() > 0)
         {
             if(prod.endsWith(":default"))
-                return prod.substring(0, prod.indexOf(":"))->toCharArray();
-            return prod.toCharArray();
+                return prod.substring(0, prod.indexOf(":"))->str();
+            return prod.str();
         }
         else
             return NULL;
diff --git a/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.cpp b/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.cpp
index e3aa33c71a8..0a010b03582 100644
--- a/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.cpp
+++ b/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.cpp
@@ -125,21 +125,21 @@ void substituteParameters(const IPropertyTree* pEnv, const char *xpath, IPropert
         int pos2 = xpath2.lastIndexOf('/');
 
         if (pos1 != -1 && pos2 != -1)
-          sb.clear().append(xpath2.substring(0, pos2)->toCharArray());
+          sb.clear().append(xpath2.substring(0, pos2)->str());
         else if (pos1 != -1)
-          sb.clear().append(xpath2.substring(0, pos1)->toCharArray());
+          sb.clear().append(xpath2.substring(0, pos1)->str());
 
         Owned<IPropertyTreeIterator> elems = pNode->getElements(sb.str());
 
         if (pos2 != -1)
-          sb.clear().append(xpath2.substring(pos2+ 1, pos1)->toCharArray());
+          sb.clear().append(xpath2.substring(pos2+ 1, pos1)->str());
 
         ForEach(*elems)
         {
           IPropertyTree* elem = &elems->query();
           result.append('\"');
           result.append(elem->queryProp(sb.str()));
-          result.append("\"").append("][").append(pstr->toCharArray());
+          result.append("\"").append("][").append(pstr->str());
         }
 
         result.setLength(result.length() - pstr->length() - 2);
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ void substituteParameters(const IPropertyTree* pEnv, const char *xpath, IPropert
         StringBuffer sb(xpath2);
         int pos = xpath2.indexOf(']');
         if (pos != -1)
-          sb.clear().append(xpath2.toCharArray(), 0, pos);
+          sb.clear().append(xpath2.str(), 0, pos);
 
         result.append('\"');
         result.append(pNode->queryProp(sb.str()));
@@ -4252,7 +4252,7 @@ bool CWsDeployFileInfo::handleHardwareCopy(IPropertyTree *pComponents, IProperty
       String strTagName(xpath3);
       strTagName = *strTagName.substring(1,strTagName.indexOf(' '));
 
-      if (CWsDeployFileInfo::addCopyToPropTree(pEnvRoot2, dupTree, strTagName.toCharArray()) == false)
+      if (CWsDeployFileInfo::addCopyToPropTree(pEnvRoot2, dupTree, strTagName.str()) == false)
         return false;
 
       bWrite = true;
diff --git a/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.hpp b/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.hpp
index 30af4fccc11..2bb0c27c805 100644
--- a/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.hpp
+++ b/esp/services/WsDeploy/WsDeployService.hpp
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ class CCloudActionHandler : public CInterface, implements IInterface
                     if (str.startsWith("SOAP Connection error"))
                         msg.appendf("\nIpAddress: %s\nResult:%s\n", key, "SOAP Connection error - Could not connect to the target");
                     else
-                        msg.appendf("\nIpAddress: %s\nResult:%s\n", key, str.toCharArray());
+                        msg.appendf("\nIpAddress: %s\nResult:%s\n", key, str.str());
                 }
 
                 //Perform the appropriate cancel action
diff --git a/esp/services/ws_dfu/ws_dfuService.cpp b/esp/services/ws_dfu/ws_dfuService.cpp
index ea406163c3a..c07c7d2594d 100644
--- a/esp/services/ws_dfu/ws_dfuService.cpp
+++ b/esp/services/ws_dfu/ws_dfuService.cpp
@@ -1446,7 +1446,7 @@ bool CWsDfuEx::onDFUDefFile(IEspContext &context,IEspDFUDefFileRequest &req, IEs
 
         //set the file
         MemoryBuffer buff;
-        buff.setBuffer(returnStr.length(), (void*)returnStr.toCharArray());
+        buff.setBuffer(returnStr.length(), (void*)returnStr.str());
         resp.setDefFile(buff);
 
         //set the type
diff --git a/esp/services/ws_esdlconfig/ws_esdlconfigservice.cpp b/esp/services/ws_esdlconfig/ws_esdlconfigservice.cpp
index 31f622c8fc1..60b29b0dc5e 100644
--- a/esp/services/ws_esdlconfig/ws_esdlconfigservice.cpp
+++ b/esp/services/ws_esdlconfig/ws_esdlconfigservice.cpp
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ void CWsESDLConfigEx::init(IPropertyTree *cfg, const char *process, const char *
 #ifdef _DEBUG
     StringBuffer thexml;
     toXML(cfg, thexml,0,0);
-    fprintf(stderr, "%s", thexml.toCharArray());
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s", thexml.str());
 #endif
 
     StringBuffer xpath;
diff --git a/esp/services/ws_topology/ws_topologyService.cpp b/esp/services/ws_topology/ws_topologyService.cpp
index e38144b7d6b..ac4a1fd079c 100644
--- a/esp/services/ws_topology/ws_topologyService.cpp
+++ b/esp/services/ws_topology/ws_topologyService.cpp
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ bool CWsTopologyEx::onTpXMLFile(IEspContext &context,IEspTpXMLFileRequest  &req,
         strBuff.append(xmlBuff);
         
         MemoryBuffer membuff;
-        membuff.setBuffer(strBuff.length(), (void*)strBuff.toCharArray());
+        membuff.setBuffer(strBuff.length(), (void*)strBuff.str());
 
         resp.setThefile_mimetype(HTTP_TYPE_APPLICATION_XML);
         resp.setThefile(membuff);
diff --git a/esp/smc/SMCLib/TpWrapper.cpp b/esp/smc/SMCLib/TpWrapper.cpp
index 6495ca50aa8..150c3be8585 100644
--- a/esp/smc/SMCLib/TpWrapper.cpp
+++ b/esp/smc/SMCLib/TpWrapper.cpp
@@ -1735,7 +1735,7 @@ void CTpWrapper::setAttPath(StringBuffer& Path,const char* PathToAppend,const ch
     Path.append(AttValue);
     Path.append("\"]");
     StringBuffer rawPath;
-    const void* buff = (void*)Path.toCharArray();
+    const void* buff = (void*)Path.str();
     JBASE64_Encode(buff,Path.length(),rawPath, false);
     returnStr.append(rawPath.str());
 }
diff --git a/roxie/ccd/ccdlistener.cpp b/roxie/ccd/ccdlistener.cpp
index 7428a7660a1..c067d7b9e9e 100644
--- a/roxie/ccd/ccdlistener.cpp
+++ b/roxie/ccd/ccdlistener.cpp
@@ -1372,15 +1372,15 @@ class RoxieSocketWorker : public RoxieQueryWorker
                     if (reqName.endsWith(requestArrayString))
                     {
                         isRequestArray = true;
-                        queryName.set(reqName.toCharArray(), reqName.length() - requestArrayString.length());
+                        queryName.set(reqName.str(), reqName.length() - requestArrayString.length());
                     }
                     else if (reqName.endsWith(requestString))
                     {
                         isRequest = true;
-                        queryName.set(reqName.toCharArray(), reqName.length() - requestString.length());
+                        queryName.set(reqName.str(), reqName.length() - requestString.length());
                     }
                     else
-                        queryName.set(reqName.toCharArray());
+                        queryName.set(reqName.str());
 
                     queryXML->renameProp("/", queryName.get());  // reset the name of the tree
                 }
diff --git a/roxie/udplib/udptrr.cpp b/roxie/udplib/udptrr.cpp
index 1c09f14dd38..13d55b13812 100644
--- a/roxie/udplib/udptrr.cpp
+++ b/roxie/udplib/udptrr.cpp
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ class CReceiveManager : public CInterface, implements IReceiveManager
                 catch(IException *e) 
                 {
                     StringBuffer s;
-                    DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: send_acknowledge failed node=%u %s", destNodeIndex, e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+                    DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: send_acknowledge failed node=%u %s", destNodeIndex, e->errorMessage(s).str());
                     e->Release();
                 }
             }
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ class CReceiveManager : public CInterface, implements IReceiveManager
                     if (running && e->errorCode() != JSOCKERR_timeout_expired)
                     {
                         StringBuffer s;
-                        DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: receive_sniffer::run read failed %s", e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+                        DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: receive_sniffer::run read failed %s", e->errorMessage(s).str());
                         MilliSleep(1000);
                     }
                     e->Release();
@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@ class CReceiveManager : public CInterface, implements IReceiveManager
                     if (running && e->errorCode() != JSOCKERR_timeout_expired)
                     {
                         StringBuffer s;
-                        DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: failed %i %s", flow_port, e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+                        DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: failed %i %s", flow_port, e->errorMessage(s).str());
                     }
                     e->Release();
                 }
@@ -754,7 +754,7 @@ class CReceiveManager : public CInterface, implements IReceiveManager
                     if (running && e->errorCode() != JSOCKERR_timeout_expired)
                     {
                         StringBuffer s;
-                        DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: receive_data::run read failed port=%u - Exp: %s", parent.data_port,  e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+                        DBGLOG("UdpReceiver: receive_data::run read failed port=%u - Exp: %s", parent.data_port,  e->errorMessage(s).str());
                         MilliSleep(1000); // Give a chance for mem free
                     }
                     e->Release();
diff --git a/roxie/udplib/udptrs.cpp b/roxie/udplib/udptrs.cpp
index 48f33c36c8e..5792407f170 100644
--- a/roxie/udplib/udptrs.cpp
+++ b/roxie/udplib/udptrs.cpp
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class UdpReceiverEntry
         catch(IException *e) 
         {
             StringBuffer s;
-            DBGLOG("UdpSender: sendRequest write failed - %s", e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+            DBGLOG("UdpSender: sendRequest write failed - %s", e->errorMessage(s).str());
             e->Release();
         }
         catch (...) 
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ class CSendManager : public CInterface, implements ISendManager
                         if (running && e->errorCode() != JSOCKERR_timeout_expired)
                         {
                             StringBuffer s;
-                            DBGLOG("UdpSender: send_receive_flow::read failed port=%i %s", receive_port, e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+                            DBGLOG("UdpSender: send_receive_flow::read failed port=%i %s", receive_port, e->errorMessage(s).str());
                         }
                         e->Release();
                     }
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ class CSendManager : public CInterface, implements ISendManager
             {
                 StringBuffer s;
                 StringBuffer url;
-                DBGLOG("UdpSender: multicast_connect or write failed ep=%s - %s", ep.getUrlStr(url).str(), e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray());
+                DBGLOG("UdpSender: multicast_connect or write failed ep=%s - %s", ep.getUrlStr(url).str(), e->errorMessage(s).str());
                 e->Release();
             }
             catch(...) 
diff --git a/rtl/eclrtl/rtlkey.cpp b/rtl/eclrtl/rtlkey.cpp
index 94f58bee716..ed8b09c2780 100644
--- a/rtl/eclrtl/rtlkey.cpp
+++ b/rtl/eclrtl/rtlkey.cpp
@@ -1996,7 +1996,7 @@ const char *CStringSet::describe(StringBuffer &ret)
         appendURL(&ret, (char *) t.getValue(), size, true);
     }
     ret.append(']');
-    return ret.toCharArray();
+    return ret.str();
 }
 
 bool CStringSet::inRange(const void *val) const
diff --git a/services/runagent/frunagent.cpp b/services/runagent/frunagent.cpp
index 0adde254c60..705bc6b2865 100644
--- a/services/runagent/frunagent.cpp
+++ b/services/runagent/frunagent.cpp
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ void cmd_dispatch::action()
     
     
     if (result.length()) {
-        printf("%s\n", result.toCharArray());
+        printf("%s\n", result.str());
     }
     transport->Release();
 }
diff --git a/services/runagent/hodisp_base.cpp b/services/runagent/hodisp_base.cpp
index 9968d46a7e5..4217fe33205 100644
--- a/services/runagent/hodisp_base.cpp
+++ b/services/runagent/hodisp_base.cpp
@@ -163,16 +163,16 @@ int c_dispatch::run()
   { ex1=strdup(s);
   } catch(IHRPC_Exception *e) 
   { StringBuffer s;
-    ex1=alloccat(e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray()," ",id," ",0);
+    ex1=alloccat(e->errorMessage(s).str()," ",id," ",0);
     e->Release();
   } catch(IJSOCK_Exception *e) 
   { StringBuffer s;
-    ex1=alloccat(e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray()," ",id," ",0);
+    ex1=alloccat(e->errorMessage(s).str()," ",id," ",0);
     e->Release();
   } 
   catch (IException *e)
   { StringBuffer s;
-    ex1=alloccat(e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray()," ",id," ",0);
+    ex1=alloccat(e->errorMessage(s).str()," ",id," ",0);
     e->Release();
   }
   catch (...)
diff --git a/system/hrpc/hrpc.cpp b/system/hrpc/hrpc.cpp
index 9a513376539..fc996a40da6 100644
--- a/system/hrpc/hrpc.cpp
+++ b/system/hrpc/hrpc.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ class HRPCException: public CInterface, public IHRPC_Exception
         }
         if (excstr.length()) {
             str.append(" [");
-            str.append(excstr.toCharArray());
+            str.append(excstr.str());
             str.append(']');
         }
         return str;
@@ -364,12 +364,12 @@ void HRPCcommon::doproxy(HRPCcallframe &frame,int fn,IHRPCtransport *tr,HRPCbuff
             }
             catch (ISEH_Exception *e) {
                 StringBuffer msg;
-                _sendexception(rbuff,IRemoteException::EX_HARDWARE,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).toCharArray());
+                _sendexception(rbuff,IRemoteException::EX_HARDWARE,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).str());
                 e->Release();
             }
             catch (IException *e) {
                 StringBuffer msg;
-                _sendexception(rbuff,IRemoteException::EX_STANDARD,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).toCharArray());
+                _sendexception(rbuff,IRemoteException::EX_STANDARD,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).str());
                 e->Release();
             }
             catch (const char *s) {
@@ -666,13 +666,13 @@ void HRPCserver::DoRun(size32_t base)
                     catch (ISEH_Exception *e) {
                         if (async) throw e;
                         StringBuffer msg;
-                        sp->_sendexception(retbuff,IRemoteException::EX_HARDWARE,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).toCharArray());
+                        sp->_sendexception(retbuff,IRemoteException::EX_HARDWARE,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).str());
                         e->Release();
                     }
                     catch (IException *e) {
                         if (async) throw e;
                         StringBuffer msg;
-                        sp->_sendexception(retbuff,IRemoteException::EX_STANDARD,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).toCharArray());
+                        sp->_sendexception(retbuff,IRemoteException::EX_STANDARD,e->errorCode(),e->errorMessage(msg).str());
                         e->Release();
                     }
                     catch (const char *s) {
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@ void HRPCserver::DoRun(size32_t base)
         if (sp==NULL) {
             IHRPC_Exception *e=MakeHRPCexception(HRPCERR_module_not_found,head->module);
             StringBuffer msg;
-            dosendexception(retbuff,IRemoteException::EX_STANDARD,e->errorCode(),NULL,e->errorMessage(msg).toCharArray());
+            dosendexception(retbuff,IRemoteException::EX_STANDARD,e->errorCode(),NULL,e->errorMessage(msg).str());
             e->Release();
             transport->Transmit(retbuff);
         }
diff --git a/system/jhtree/jhtree.cpp b/system/jhtree/jhtree.cpp
index 05ccd1bd4d0..7cb8b91a7c3 100644
--- a/system/jhtree/jhtree.cpp
+++ b/system/jhtree/jhtree.cpp
@@ -1505,7 +1505,7 @@ void dumpNode(FILE *out, CJHTreeNode *node, int length, unsigned rowCount, bool
             offset_t pos = node->getFPosAt(i);
             StringBuffer s;
             appendURL(&s, dst, length, true);
-            fprintf(out, "keyVal %d [%"I64F"d] = %s\n", i, pos, s.toCharArray());
+            fprintf(out, "keyVal %d [%"I64F"d] = %s\n", i, pos, s.str());
         }
     }
     if (!raw)
diff --git a/system/jlib/jcomp.cpp b/system/jlib/jcomp.cpp
index 2254d905a7f..2df1acfa9ce 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jcomp.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jcomp.cpp
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ bool CppCompiler::compileFile(IThreadPool * pool, const char * filename, Semapho
 
     Owned<CCompilerThreadParam> parm;
     if (verbose)
-        PrintLog("%s", expanded.toCharArray());
+        PrintLog("%s", expanded.str());
     parm.setown(new CCompilerThreadParam(expanded, finishedCompiling, logFile));
     pool->start(parm.get());
 
@@ -551,10 +551,10 @@ bool CppCompiler::doLink()
 
     DWORD runcode = 0;
     if (verbose)
-        PrintLog("%s", expanded.toCharArray());
+        PrintLog("%s", expanded.str());
     StringBuffer logFile = StringBuffer(CORE_NAME).append("_link.log.tmp");
     logFiles.append(logFile);
-    bool ret = invoke_program(expanded.toCharArray(), runcode, true, logFile) && (runcode == 0);
+    bool ret = invoke_program(expanded.str(), runcode, true, logFile) && (runcode == 0);
     return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/system/jlib/jexcept.cpp b/system/jlib/jexcept.cpp
index 38ae08a2112..49aae1fc1fd 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jexcept.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jexcept.cpp
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ IMultiException *makeMultiException(const char* source/*=NULL*/)
 void pexception(const char *msg,IException *e)
 { // like perror except for exceptions
     StringBuffer s;
-    fprintf(stderr,"%s : %s\n",msg,e?e->errorMessage(s).toCharArray():"NULL Exception!");
+    fprintf(stderr,"%s : %s\n",msg,e?e->errorMessage(s).str():"NULL Exception!");
 }
 
 void userBreakpoint()
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ void raiseAssertException(const char *assertion, const char *file, unsigned line
 #endif
 #endif
 
-    throw makeStringException(3000, s.toCharArray()); // 3000: internal error
+    throw makeStringException(3000, s.str()); // 3000: internal error
 }
 
 void raiseAssertCore(const char *assertion, const char *file, unsigned line)
diff --git a/system/jlib/jfile.cpp b/system/jlib/jfile.cpp
index dfddef2fe70..bc50fd19cf7 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jfile.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jfile.cpp
@@ -1631,7 +1631,7 @@ IFileIO * createIFileIO(unsigned len, void * buffer)
 
 IFileIO * createIFileIO(StringBuffer & buffer)
 {
-    return _createIFileIO((void *)buffer.toCharArray(), buffer.length(), true);
+    return _createIFileIO((void *)buffer.str(), buffer.length(), true);
 }
 
 IFileIO * createIFileIO(MemoryBuffer & buffer)
diff --git a/system/jlib/jmisc.cpp b/system/jlib/jmisc.cpp
index 6c5c6125be3..e187c76851f 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jmisc.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jmisc.cpp
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ bool invoke_program(const char *command_line, DWORD &runcode, bool wait, const c
         else
             s.append(errno);
 
-        ERRLOG("%s",s.toCharArray());
+        ERRLOG("%s",s.str());
         if(throwException)
             throw MakeStringExceptionDirect(-1, s.str());
         return false;
diff --git a/system/jlib/jprop.cpp b/system/jlib/jprop.cpp
index 853002a70f0..036ca67b604 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jprop.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jprop.cpp
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class CPropertiesBase : public CInterface, implements IPROP
             prop.clip();
             val.clip();
             if (prop.length())
-                setProp(toPType(prop.toCharArray()), val.toCharArray());
+                setProp(toPType(prop.str()), val.str());
         }
     }
     void loadProp(const char *finger, int dft)
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ class CPropertiesBase : public CInterface, implements IPROP
                 prop.clip();
                 val.clip();
                 if (prop.length())
-                    setProp(toPType(prop.toCharArray()), val.toCharArray());
+                    setProp(toPType(prop.str()), val.str());
             }
             if (*finger)
                 finger++;
diff --git a/system/jlib/jptree.cpp b/system/jlib/jptree.cpp
index d752f3c9759..822af1df984 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jptree.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jptree.cpp
@@ -2704,7 +2704,7 @@ void PTree::clone(IPropertyTree &srcTree, IPropertyTree &dstTree, bool sub)
     {
         StringBuffer s;
         verifyex(srcTree.getProp(NULL, s));
-        dstTree.setProp(NULL, s.toCharArray());
+        dstTree.setProp(NULL, s.str());
     }
     else
         dstTree.setProp(NULL, srcTree.queryProp(NULL));
@@ -3148,7 +3148,7 @@ bool PTree::checkPattern(const char *&xxpath) const
                 {
                     StringBuffer s;
                     matchElem->getProp(tProp, s);
-                    ret = match(wild, numeric, xxpath, tType, s.toCharArray(), s.length(), rhs, rhslength, nocase);
+                    ret = match(wild, numeric, xxpath, tType, s.str(), s.length(), rhs, rhslength, nocase);
                 }
                 else
                 {
@@ -4519,7 +4519,7 @@ class CXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPTreeReader
             if ((colon = strchr(tagName.str(), ':')) != NULL)
                 tagName.remove(0, (size32_t)(colon - tagName.str() + 1));
         }
-        iEvent->beginNode(tagName.toCharArray(), startOffset);
+        iEvent->beginNode(tagName.str(), startOffset);
         skipWS();
         bool endTag = false;
         bool base64 = false;
@@ -4578,7 +4578,7 @@ class CXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPTreeReader
             readNext();
             skipWS();
         }
-        iEvent->beginNodeContent(tagName.toCharArray());
+        iEvent->beginNodeContent(tagName.str());
         StringBuffer tagText;
         bool binary = base64;
         if (!endTag)
@@ -4606,7 +4606,7 @@ class CXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPTreeReader
                                 mark.setLength(l+1);
                             }
                             tagText.ensureCapacity(mark.length());
-                            _decodeXML(r, mark.toCharArray(), tagText);
+                            _decodeXML(r, mark.str(), tagText);
                         }
                         readNext();
                         if ('!' == nextChar)
@@ -4655,7 +4655,7 @@ class CXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPTreeReader
                     expecting(">");
             }
         }
-        iEvent->endNode(tagName.toCharArray(), tagText.length(), tagText.toCharArray(), binary, curOffset);
+        iEvent->endNode(tagName.str(), tagText.length(), tagText.str(), binary, curOffset);
     }
 };
 
@@ -4953,7 +4953,7 @@ class CPullXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPullPTreeReader
                         {
                             if (ignoreWhiteSpace)
                             {
-                                const char *tb = mark.toCharArray();
+                                const char *tb = mark.str();
                                 const char *t = tb+l-1;
                                 if (isspace(*t))
                                 {
@@ -4962,11 +4962,11 @@ class CPullXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPullPTreeReader
                                 }
                             }
                             stateInfo->tagText.ensureCapacity(mark.length());
-                            _decodeXML(r, mark.toCharArray(), stateInfo->tagText);
+                            _decodeXML(r, mark.str(), stateInfo->tagText);
                         }
                         if (endOfRoot && mark.length())
                         {
-                            const char *m = mark.toCharArray();
+                            const char *m = mark.str();
                             const char *e = m+mark.length();
                             do { if (!isspace(*m++)) error("Trailing content after close of root tag"); }
                             while (m!=e);
@@ -4994,7 +4994,7 @@ class CPullXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPullPTreeReader
                 {
                     if (endOfRoot && PTreeRead_EOS == e->errorCode() && (state != tagContent2 && mark.length())) // only to provide more meaningful error
                     {
-                        const char *m = mark.toCharArray();
+                        const char *m = mark.str();
                         const char *es = m+mark.length();
                         do
                         { 
@@ -5039,7 +5039,7 @@ class CPullXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPullPTreeReader
             case tagClose:
             {
                 readNext();
-                const char *t = stateInfo->tag.toCharArray();
+                const char *t = stateInfo->tag.str();
                 const char *te = t+stateInfo->tag.length();
                 loop
                 {
@@ -5061,7 +5061,7 @@ class CPullXMLReader : public CXMLReaderBase<X>, implements IPullPTreeReader
             }
             case tagEnd:
             {
-                iEvent->endNode(stateInfo->wnsTag, stateInfo->tagText.length(), stateInfo->tagText.toCharArray(), stateInfo->binary, curOffset);
+                iEvent->endNode(stateInfo->wnsTag, stateInfo->tagText.length(), stateInfo->tagText.str(), stateInfo->binary, curOffset);
                 freeStateInfo.append(*stateInfo);
                 stack.pop();
                 endOfRoot = 0==stack.ordinality();
@@ -5310,7 +5310,7 @@ static void _toXML(const IPropertyTree *tree, IIOStream &out, unsigned indent, u
         {
             empty = false; // can't be empty if compressed;
             verifyex(tree->getProp(NULL, _thislevel));
-            thislevel = _thislevel.toCharArray();
+            thislevel = _thislevel.str();
         }
         else
             empty = (NULL == (thislevel = tree->queryProp(NULL)));
@@ -5589,7 +5589,7 @@ static void _toJSON(const IPropertyTree *tree, IIOStream &out, unsigned indent,
         {
             isNull = false; // can't be empty if compressed;
             verifyex(tree->getProp(NULL, _thislevel));
-            thislevel = _thislevel.toCharArray();
+            thislevel = _thislevel.str();
         }
         else
             isNull = (NULL == (thislevel = tree->queryProp(NULL)));
@@ -5916,7 +5916,7 @@ bool validateXMLParseXPath(const char *xpath, StringBuffer *error)
                 }
                 return false;
             }
-            return validateXPathSyntax(head.toCharArray(), error);
+            return validateXPathSyntax(head.str(), error);
         }
         return true;
     }
@@ -6884,7 +6884,7 @@ class CPullJSONReader : public CJSONReaderBase<X>, implements IPullPTreeReader
             if (stateInfo->type==elementTypeNull)
                 iEvent->endNode(stateInfo->wnsTag, 0, "", false, offset);
             else
-                iEvent->endNode(stateInfo->wnsTag, stateInfo->tagText.length(), stateInfo->tagText.toCharArray(), false, offset);
+                iEvent->endNode(stateInfo->wnsTag, stateInfo->tagText.length(), stateInfo->tagText.str(), false, offset);
         }
         freeStateInfo.append(*stateInfo);
         stack.pop();
diff --git a/system/jlib/jsocket.cpp b/system/jlib/jsocket.cpp
index bec7c5fadd0..d552050e912 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jsocket.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jsocket.cpp
@@ -3179,7 +3179,7 @@ void SocketEndpoint::getUrlStr(char * str, size32_t len) const
         l = len-1;
         str[l] = 0;
     }
-    memcpy(str,_str.toCharArray(),l);
+    memcpy(str,_str.str(),l);
 }
 
 StringBuffer &SocketEndpoint::getUrlStr(StringBuffer &str) const
diff --git a/system/jlib/jstring.cpp b/system/jlib/jstring.cpp
index 554472ea8fa..18af9fea1b8 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jstring.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jstring.cpp
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ StringBuffer & StringBuffer::stripChar(char oldChar)
     return *this;
 }
 
-const char * StringBuffer::toCharArray() const
+const char * StringBuffer::str() const
 {
     buffer[curLen] = '\0';          // There is always room for this null
     return buffer;
@@ -1000,7 +1000,7 @@ String::String(const char * value, int offset, int _count)
 
 String::String(String & value)
 {
-  text = strdup(value.toCharArray());
+  text = strdup(value.str());
 }
 
 String::String(StringBuffer & value)
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ char String::charAt(size32_t index) const
 
 int String::compareTo(const String & value) const
 {
-    return strcmp(text, value.toCharArray());
+    return strcmp(text, value.str());
 }
 
 int String::compareTo(const char* value)  const
@@ -1033,7 +1033,7 @@ int String::compareTo(const char* value)  const
 
 String * String::concat(const String & value) const
 {
-  StringBuffer temp(toCharArray());
+  StringBuffer temp(str());
   temp.append(value);
   return new String(temp.str());
 }
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ bool String::endsWith(const String & value) const
   unsigned len = (size32_t)strlen(text);
 
   if (len >= lenValue)
-    return (memcmp(text+(len-lenValue),value.toCharArray(),lenValue) == 0);
+    return (memcmp(text+(len-lenValue),value.str(),lenValue) == 0);
   return false;
 }
 
@@ -1056,13 +1056,13 @@ bool String::endsWith(const char* value) const
 
 bool String::equals(String & value) const
 {
-    return strcmp(text, value.toCharArray())==0;
+    return strcmp(text, value.str())==0;
 }
 
 
 bool String::equalsIgnoreCase(const String & value) const
 {
-  return stricmp(text, value.toCharArray())==0;
+  return stricmp(text, value.str())==0;
 }
 
 void String::getBytes(int srcBegin, int srcEnd, void * dest, int dstBegin) const
@@ -1094,14 +1094,14 @@ int String::indexOf(int ch, int from) const
 
 int String::indexOf(const String & search) const
 {
-  const char * str = search.toCharArray();
+  const char * str = search.str();
   const char * match = strstr(text, str);
   return match ? (int)(match - text) : -1;
 }
 
 int String::indexOf(const String & search, int from) const
 {
-  const char * str = search.toCharArray();
+  const char * str = search.str();
   const char * match = strstr(text + from, str);
   return match ? (int)(match - text) : -1;
 }
@@ -1140,14 +1140,14 @@ size32_t String::length() const
 bool String::startsWith(String & value) const
 {
   unsigned lenValue = value.length();
-  const char * search = value.toCharArray();
+  const char * search = value.str();
   return (memcmp(text, search, lenValue) == 0);
 }
 
 bool String::startsWith(String & value, int offset) const
 {
   unsigned lenValue = value.length();
-  const char * search = value.toCharArray();
+  const char * search = value.str();
   return (memcmp(text + offset, search, lenValue) == 0);
 }
 
@@ -1166,7 +1166,7 @@ String * String::substring(int beginIndex, int endIndex) const
   return new String(text, beginIndex, endIndex - beginIndex);
 }
 
-const char *String::toCharArray() const
+const char *String::str() const
 {
   return text;
 }
diff --git a/system/jlib/jstring.hpp b/system/jlib/jstring.hpp
index 451ddbf3f70..8cd67c389c0 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jstring.hpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jstring.hpp
@@ -101,14 +101,13 @@ class jlib_decl StringBuffer
     StringBuffer &  newline();
     StringBuffer &  pad(unsigned count);
     StringBuffer &  padTo(unsigned count);
-    inline const char * str() const { return toCharArray(); }
     char *          detach();
     StringBuffer &  clip();
     StringBuffer &  trim();
     StringBuffer &  trimLeft();
     inline StringBuffer &  trimRight() {  return clip(); }
     StringBuffer &  remove(unsigned start, unsigned len);
-    const char *    toCharArray() const;
+    const char *   str() const;
     StringBuffer &  toLowerCase();
     StringBuffer &  toUpperCase();
     StringBuffer &  replace(char oldChar, char newChar);
@@ -227,7 +226,7 @@ class jlib_decl String : public CInterface, implements IInterface
     bool    startsWith(const char* value) const;
     String *  substring(int beginIndex) const;
     String *  substring(int beginIndex, int endIndex) const;
-    const char *toCharArray() const;
+    const char *str() const;
     String *  toLowerCase() const;
     String *  toString();               // Links this
     String *  toUpperCase() const;
diff --git a/system/jlib/jutil.cpp b/system/jlib/jutil.cpp
index 4f0e87c65f6..5baf2d902b0 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jutil.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jutil.cpp
@@ -2080,7 +2080,7 @@ extern jlib_decl void serializeAtom(MemoryBuffer & target, IAtom * name)
 {
     StringBuffer lower(name->str());
     lower.toLowerCase();
-    serialize(target, lower.toCharArray());
+    serialize(target, lower.str());
 }
 
 extern jlib_decl IAtom * deserializeAtom(MemoryBuffer & source)
diff --git a/system/mp/mpcomm.cpp b/system/mp/mpcomm.cpp
index 7caba718cde..194e62f209c 100644
--- a/system/mp/mpcomm.cpp
+++ b/system/mp/mpcomm.cpp
@@ -203,10 +203,10 @@ class CMPException: public CInterface, public IMP_Exception
         StringBuffer tmp;
         switch (error) {
         case MPERR_ok:                          str.append("OK"); break;
-        case MPERR_connection_failed:           str.appendf("MP connect failed (%s)",endpoint.getUrlStr(tmp).toCharArray()); break;
+        case MPERR_connection_failed:           str.appendf("MP connect failed (%s)",endpoint.getUrlStr(tmp).str()); break;
         case MPERR_process_not_in_group:        str.appendf("Current process not in Communicator group"); break;
-        case MPERR_protocol_version_mismatch:   str.appendf("Protocol version mismatch (%s)",endpoint.getUrlStr(tmp).toCharArray()); break;
-        case MPERR_link_closed:                 str.appendf("MP link closed (%s)",endpoint.getUrlStr(tmp).toCharArray()); break;
+        case MPERR_protocol_version_mismatch:   str.appendf("Protocol version mismatch (%s)",endpoint.getUrlStr(tmp).str()); break;
+        case MPERR_link_closed:                 str.appendf("MP link closed (%s)",endpoint.getUrlStr(tmp).str()); break;
         }
         return str;
     }
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ protected: friend class CMPPacketReader;
             try {
                 StringBuffer str;
 #ifdef _TRACE
-                LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP: connecting to %s",remoteep.getUrlStr(str).toCharArray());
+                LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP: connecting to %s",remoteep.getUrlStr(str).str());
 #endif
                 if (((int)tm.timeout)<0)
                     remaining = CONNECT_TIMEOUT;
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ protected: friend class CMPPacketReader;
                     if (attachSocket(newsock,remoteep,hostep,true, NULL)) {
                         newsock->Release();
 #ifdef _TRACE
-                        LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP: connected to %s",str.toCharArray());
+                        LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP: connected to %s",str.str());
 #endif
                         lastxfer = msTick();
                         closed = false;
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ protected: friend class CMPPacketReader;
                 }
 #ifdef _TRACE
                 str.clear();
-                LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP: Retrying connection to %s, %d attempts left",remoteep.getUrlStr(str).toCharArray(),retrycount+1);
+                LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP: Retrying connection to %s, %d attempts left",remoteep.getUrlStr(str).str(),retrycount+1);
 #endif
             }
             ::Release(newsock);
@@ -1752,7 +1752,7 @@ int CMPConnectThread::run()
 #ifdef _TRACE
                     StringBuffer str1;
                     StringBuffer str2;
-                    LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP Connect Thread: connected to %s",remoteep.getUrlStr(str1).toCharArray());
+                    LOG(MCdebugInfo(100), unknownJob, "MP Connect Thread: connected to %s",remoteep.getUrlStr(str1).str());
 #endif
                 }
 #ifdef _FULLTRACE       
diff --git a/system/mp/mptag_test.cpp b/system/mp/mptag_test.cpp
index 6b0c366cbd2..701fc0f29bd 100644
--- a/system/mp/mptag_test.cpp
+++ b/system/mp/mptag_test.cpp
@@ -114,11 +114,11 @@ void test4()
     printf("***Freeing Tag that does not exist****\n");
     try{
         freeMPtag((mptag_t)999);
-    }catch(IException *e){printf("%s\n", e->errorMessage(msg).toCharArray());e->Release();}
+    }catch(IException *e){printf("%s\n", e->errorMessage(msg).str());e->Release();}
     try{
         printf("***Getting Formater for Tag that does not exist***\n");
         queryFormatter((mptag_t)999);
-    }catch(IException *e){printf("%s\n", e->errorMessage(msg2).toCharArray());e->Release();}
+    }catch(IException *e){printf("%s\n", e->errorMessage(msg2).str());e->Release();}
 
 }
 
diff --git a/system/security/shared/basesecurity.hpp b/system/security/shared/basesecurity.hpp
index 49546919927..9fccee52d04 100644
--- a/system/security/shared/basesecurity.hpp
+++ b/system/security/shared/basesecurity.hpp
@@ -290,9 +290,9 @@ class CBaseSecurityManager : public CInterface,
     virtual bool clearPermissionsCache(ISecUser& user) {return false;}
     virtual bool authenticateUser(ISecUser & user, bool &superUser) {return false;}
 protected:
-    const char* getServer(){return m_dbserver.toCharArray();}
-    const char* getUser(){return m_dbuser.toCharArray();}
-    const char* getPassword(){return m_dbpassword.toCharArray();}
+    const char* getServer(){return m_dbserver.str();}
+    const char* getUser(){return m_dbuser.str();}
+    const char* getPassword(){return m_dbpassword.str();}
     int getPoolsize() { return m_poolsize;}
     void setUserMap(const char* user,int uid){synchronized block(m_usermap_mutex); m_usermap.setValue(user, uid);}
     int getUserID(ISecUser& user);
diff --git a/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp b/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp
index e504a7394be..53b755963c4 100644
--- a/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp
+++ b/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class JlibFileIOTest : public CppUnit::TestFixture
             if (ep != NULL)
             {
                 ifile = createRemoteFile(*ep, tmpfile);
-                fprintf(stdout, "Remote: (%s)\n", server.toCharArray());
+                fprintf(stdout, "Remote: (%s)\n", server.str());
             }
             else
             {
diff --git a/thorlcr/activities/distribution/thdistribution.cpp b/thorlcr/activities/distribution/thdistribution.cpp
index 85c2fe4d3e3..b90a3ad8f12 100644
--- a/thorlcr/activities/distribution/thdistribution.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/activities/distribution/thdistribution.cpp
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ class CDistributionActivityMaster : public CMasterActivity
         tmp.append("</XML>");
 
 #if THOR_TRACE_LEVEL >= 5
-        ActPrintLog("Distribution result: %s", tmp.toCharArray());
+        ActPrintLog("Distribution result: %s", tmp.str());
 #endif
 
-        helper->sendResult(tmp.length(), tmp.toCharArray());
+        helper->sendResult(tmp.length(), tmp.str());
 
         destroyThorRow(result);
     }
diff --git a/thorlcr/activities/hashdistrib/thhashdistribslave.cpp b/thorlcr/activities/hashdistrib/thhashdistribslave.cpp
index 304443bd1dc..7153b4146f7 100644
--- a/thorlcr/activities/hashdistrib/thhashdistribslave.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/activities/hashdistrib/thhashdistribslave.cpp
@@ -1075,7 +1075,7 @@ class CDistributorBase : public CSimpleInterface, implements IHashDistributor, i
         {
             StringBuffer temp;
             GetTempName(temp,"hddrecvbuff", true);
-            piperd.setown(createSmartBuffer(activity, temp.toCharArray(), pullBufferSize, rowIf));
+            piperd.setown(createSmartBuffer(activity, temp.str(), pullBufferSize, rowIf));
         }
         else
             piperd.setown(createSmartInMemoryBuffer(activity, rowIf, pullBufferSize));
diff --git a/thorlcr/activities/msort/thmsort.cpp b/thorlcr/activities/msort/thmsort.cpp
index e0da5d9dd55..a1087d6d8e6 100644
--- a/thorlcr/activities/msort/thmsort.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/activities/msort/thmsort.cpp
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ class CMSortActivityMaster : public CMasterActivity
         Owned<IRowInterfaces> auxrowif = createRowInterfaces(helper->querySortedRecordSize(),queryActivityId(),queryCodeContext());
         try
         {
-            imaster->SortSetup(rowif,helper->queryCompare(),helper->querySerialize(),cosortfilenames.length()!=0,true,cosortfilenames.toCharArray(),auxrowif);
+            imaster->SortSetup(rowif,helper->queryCompare(),helper->querySerialize(),cosortfilenames.length()!=0,true,cosortfilenames.str(),auxrowif);
             if (barrier->wait(false)) // local sort complete
             {
                 size32_t maxdeviance = getOptUInt(THOROPT_SORT_MAX_DEVIANCE, 10*1024*1024);
diff --git a/thorlcr/activities/thactivityutil.cpp b/thorlcr/activities/thactivityutil.cpp
index fc2beb8fdf1..25826f14cdb 100644
--- a/thorlcr/activities/thactivityutil.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/activities/thactivityutil.cpp
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ class ThorLookaheadCache: public IThorDataLink, public CSimpleInterface
                 GetTempName(temp,"lookahd",true);
             assertex(bufsize);
             if (allowspill)
-                smartbuf.setown(createSmartBuffer(&activity, temp.toCharArray(), bufsize, queryRowInterfaces(in)));
+                smartbuf.setown(createSmartBuffer(&activity, temp.str(), bufsize, queryRowInterfaces(in)));
             else
                 smartbuf.setown(createSmartInMemoryBuffer(&activity, queryRowInterfaces(in), bufsize));
             if (notify) 
diff --git a/thorlcr/activities/xmlwrite/thxmlwriteslave.cpp b/thorlcr/activities/xmlwrite/thxmlwriteslave.cpp
index c5274faf7e1..d87d6a297b2 100644
--- a/thorlcr/activities/xmlwrite/thxmlwriteslave.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/activities/xmlwrite/thxmlwriteslave.cpp
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ class CXmlWriteSlaveActivity : public CDiskWriteSlaveActivityBase
                 out.set(suppliedHeader);
             else
                 out.set("<Dataset>").newline();
-            outraw->write(out.length(), out.toCharArray());
+            outraw->write(out.length(), out.str());
             if (calcFileCrc)
-                fileCRC.tally(out.length(), out.toCharArray());
+                fileCRC.tally(out.length(), out.str());
         }
         Owned<IXmlWriterExt> writer = createIXmlWriterExt(helper->getXmlFlags(), 0, NULL, (kind==TAKjsonwrite) ? WTJSON : WTStandard);
         writer->outputBeginArray(rowTag); //need this to format rows, even if not outputting it below
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ class CXmlWriteSlaveActivity : public CDiskWriteSlaveActivityBase
                 out.set(suppliedFooter);
             else
                 out.set("</Dataset>").newline();
-            outraw->write(out.length(), out.toCharArray());
+            outraw->write(out.length(), out.str());
             if (calcFileCrc)
-                fileCRC.tally(out.length(), out.toCharArray());
+                fileCRC.tally(out.length(), out.str());
         }
     }
     virtual bool wantRaw() { return true; }
diff --git a/thorlcr/master/thmastermain.cpp b/thorlcr/master/thmastermain.cpp
index 0049077d26f..aebe338a7ed 100644
--- a/thorlcr/master/thmastermain.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/master/thmastermain.cpp
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ int main( int argc, char *argv[]  )
             logHandler = lf->beginLogging();
             createUNCFilename(lf->queryLogFileSpec(), logUrl, false);
         }
-        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Opened log file %s", logUrl.toCharArray());
+        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Opened log file %s", logUrl.str());
         LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Build %s", BUILD_TAG);
         globals->setProp("@logURL", logUrl.str());
 
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ int main( int argc, char *argv[]  )
 
         Owned<CRegistryServer> registry = new CRegistryServer();
         StringBuffer thorEpStr;
-        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "ThorMaster version %d.%d, Started on %s", THOR_VERSION_MAJOR,THOR_VERSION_MINOR,thorEp.getUrlStr(thorEpStr).toCharArray());
+        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "ThorMaster version %d.%d, Started on %s", THOR_VERSION_MAJOR,THOR_VERSION_MINOR,thorEp.getUrlStr(thorEpStr).str());
         LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Thor name = %s, queue = %s, nodeGroup = %s",thorname,queueName.str(),nodeGroup.str());
 
         serverStatus.queryProperties()->setProp("@thorname", thorname);
diff --git a/thorlcr/slave/thslavemain.cpp b/thorlcr/slave/thslavemain.cpp
index 78c671aee44..f34f1922a64 100644
--- a/thorlcr/slave/thslavemain.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/slave/thslavemain.cpp
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ static bool RegisterSelf(SocketEndpoint &masterEp)
 {
     StringBuffer slfStr;
     StringBuffer masterStr;
-    LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "registering %s - master %s",slfEp.getUrlStr(slfStr).toCharArray(),masterEp.getUrlStr(masterStr).toCharArray());
+    LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "registering %s - master %s",slfEp.getUrlStr(slfStr).str(),masterEp.getUrlStr(masterStr).str());
     try
     {
         SocketEndpoint ep = masterEp;
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ static bool RegisterSelf(SocketEndpoint &masterEp)
         else
             PROGLOG("verified mp connection to rest of cluster");
         ::masterNode = LINK(masterNode);
-        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "registered %s",slfStr.toCharArray());
+        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "registered %s",slfStr.str());
     }
     catch (IException *e)
     {
@@ -173,17 +173,17 @@ void UnregisterSelf()
 {
     StringBuffer slfStr;
     slfEp.getUrlStr(slfStr);
-    LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Unregistering slave : %s", slfStr.toCharArray());
+    LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Unregistering slave : %s", slfStr.str());
     try
     {
         CMessageBuffer msg;
         msg.append((int)rc_deregister);
         if (!queryWorldCommunicator().send(msg, masterNode, MPTAG_THORREGISTRATION, 60*1000))
         {
-            LOG(MCerror, thorJob, "Failed to unregister slave : %s", slfStr.toCharArray());
+            LOG(MCerror, thorJob, "Failed to unregister slave : %s", slfStr.str());
             return;
         }
-        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Unregistered slave : %s", slfStr.toCharArray());
+        LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Unregistered slave : %s", slfStr.str());
     }
     catch (IException *e) {
         FLLOG(MCexception(e), thorJob, e,"slave unregistration error");
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ void startSlaveLog()
     StringBuffer url;
     createUNCFilename(lf->queryLogFileSpec(), url);
 
-    LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Opened log file %s", url.toCharArray());
+    LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Opened log file %s", url.str());
     LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Build %s", BUILD_TAG);
     globals->setProp("@logURL", url.str());
 }
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ int main( int argc, char *argv[]  )
 
             LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "ThorSlave Version LCR - %d.%d started",THOR_VERSION_MAJOR,THOR_VERSION_MINOR);
             StringBuffer url;
-            LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Slave %s - temporary dir set to : %s", slfEp.getUrlStr(url).toCharArray(), queryTempDir());
+            LOG(MCdebugProgress, thorJob, "Slave %s - temporary dir set to : %s", slfEp.getUrlStr(url).str(), queryTempDir());
 #ifdef _WIN32
             ULARGE_INTEGER userfree;
             ULARGE_INTEGER total;
diff --git a/thorlcr/thorutil/thormisc.cpp b/thorlcr/thorutil/thormisc.cpp
index f3dcc7290c6..44c359f5c6d 100644
--- a/thorlcr/thorutil/thormisc.cpp
+++ b/thorlcr/thorutil/thormisc.cpp
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ CThorException *_ThorWrapException(IException *e, const char *format, va_list ar
     eStr.appendf("%d, ", e->errorCode());
     e->errorMessage(eStr).append(" : ");
     eStr.limited_valist_appendf(2048, format, args);
-    CThorException *te = new CThorException(e->errorAudience(), e->errorCode(), eStr.toCharArray());
+    CThorException *te = new CThorException(e->errorAudience(), e->errorCode(), eStr.str());
     return te;
 }
 
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@ void SetLogName(const char *prefix, const char *logdir, const char *thorname, bo
 #endif
     logname.append(".log");
     StringBuffer lf;
-    openLogFile(lf, logname.toCharArray());
+    openLogFile(lf, logname.str());
     PrintLog("Opened log file %s", lf.str());
     PrintLog("Build %s", BUILD_TAG);
 }
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ class CTempNameHandler
         tempPrefix.set(_tempPrefix);
         StringBuffer base(name);
         addPathSepChar(base);
-        tempdir.set(base.toCharArray());
+        tempdir.set(base.str());
         recursiveCreateDirectory(tempdir);
 #ifdef _WIN32
         altallowed = false;
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ void loadCmdProp(IPropertyTree *tree, const char *cmdProp)
         prop.clip();
         val.clip();
         if (prop.length())
-            tree->setProp(prop.toCharArray(), val.toCharArray());
+            tree->setProp(prop.str(), val.str());
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/esdlcmd/esdl2ecl.cpp b/tools/esdlcmd/esdl2ecl.cpp
index cb9e6dd0586..26f51b58d8b 100644
--- a/tools/esdlcmd/esdl2ecl.cpp
+++ b/tools/esdlcmd/esdl2ecl.cpp
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ class Esdl2EclCmd : public EsdlConvertCmd
         params->setProp("sourceFileName", finger);
         StringBuffer esdl2eclxslt (optHPCCCompFilesDir.get());
         esdl2eclxslt.append("/xslt/esdl2ecl.xslt");
-        esdl2eclxsltTransform(expstr.str(), esdl2eclxslt.toCharArray(), params, outfile.str());
+        esdl2eclxsltTransform(expstr.str(), esdl2eclxslt.str(), params, outfile.str());
     }
 
     void esdl2eclxsltTransform(const char* xml, const char* sheet, IProperties *params, const char *filename)
diff --git a/tools/testsocket/testsocket.cpp b/tools/testsocket/testsocket.cpp
index aa1df34fe43..3da2a60d268 100644
--- a/tools/testsocket/testsocket.cpp
+++ b/tools/testsocket/testsocket.cpp
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ int doSendQuery(const char * ip, unsigned port, const char * base)
             fullQuery.append(base);
     }
 
-    const char * query = fullQuery.toCharArray();
+    const char * query = fullQuery.str();
     int len=strlen(query);
     int sendlen = len;
     if (persistConnections)
@@ -896,7 +896,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
                     }
                     if (in != stdin)
                         fclose(in);
-                    ret = sendQuery(ip, socketPort, fileContents.toCharArray());
+                    ret = sendQuery(ip, socketPort, fileContents.str());
                 }
                 else
                     printf("File %s could not be opened\n", query);