How to print superscript 3 in C++

Question

I am looking for a way to print superscript 3, I googled a lot and I found a way to print superscript 2:

const char expo_square = 253;

void main () {
    std::cout << expo_square;
    return;
}

After some more googling, I came across the Alt Keycode for superscript 3, which is:

Alt + 0179

The problem with this is that while compiling the C++ source file:

const char expo_cube = 0179;

void main () {
    std::cout << expo_cube;
    return;
}

I get an error:
3d.cpp(18): error C2041: illegal digit '9' for base '8'
(don't mind the file name)

So I tried the next logical thing, since the Alt Keycode for superscript 2 is 253, I tried Alt Keycode 254, but all I ended up getting was:

■

So I wanted to ask:
How can I print superscript 3 in C++?

Does this answer your question? [How to print subscripts/superscripts on a CLI?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/597813/how-to-print-subscripts-superscripts-on-a-cli) — bereal, Jan 14 '22 at 06:44
What character encoding are you using in your terminal? Or, what terminal are you using? That is, does it support unicode, probably UTF-8? — hyde, Jan 14 '22 at 06:59
@hyde I am using the `Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022` terminal for compiling the code, via the `cl` command. — boru, Jan 14 '22 at 07:03

Sercan · Answer 1 · 2022-01-14T06:50:48.120

1

If you prefix the expression with a 0, the compiler considers this value to be represented in the octal radix. Values in octal radix must be in the range of [0,7]. The value 9 in the 0179 expression is outside of the octal radix range.

Try the following solution to print superscript 3:

std::cout << "x\u00b3" << std::endl;

The result: x³

References

How to print subscripts/superscripts on the screen in C++?

edited Jan 14 '22 at 06:50

answered Jan 14 '22 at 06:40

Sercan

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But if I were to use: `Alt + 179`, I get: `│`. However if I used: `Alt + 0179` on my keyboard, I get: `³`. This is what is really confusing me. – boru Jan 14 '22 at 06:42
3

If you have a new question, just make another post. – anatolyg Jan 14 '22 at 07:03
1

@Giant427 that's a question for Super User Stack Exchange. – JHBonarius Jan 14 '22 at 08:24

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 14 '22 at 06:58

Unicode superscript 3, or ³ is \u00b3 in utf-16 and \xc2\xb3 in UTF-8.

Hence, this would work with cout, assuming your console is UTF8.

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    std::cout << "\xc2\xb3" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

To set your console in UTF-8 mode, you can do it in a number of ways, each is OS dependent, if needed at all. On Windows, you can run chcp 65001 from the command prompt before invoking your code:

If you can barely make out ³ getting printed above, let's zoom in closer:

Alternatively, you can do this in code via a Windows API, SetConsoleOutputCP

SetConsoleOutputCP(65001);

So this works as well from a Windows program without having to do any environment changes before running the program.

#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
    SetConsoleOutputCP(65001);
    std::cout << "\xc2\xb3" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

`SetConsoleOutputCP(65001);` is actually much more useful than it seems, I can store the `pi` symbol in a string itself and print it without any issues, this made life a lot easier, thank you for your help, really appreciate it :D — boru, Jan 14 '22 at 07:11
_"assuming your console is UTF8"_ is very important here. Maybe it's good to add that C++ doesn't specifically support unicode: it's the platform that parses it. So on any platform that doesn't have a console that supports UTF-8, the code will not work. — JHBonarius, Jan 14 '22 at 08:23

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 14 '22 at 09:36

Expanding on the question- and answer scopes this function can be used to get superscripts for any power (may be useful to someone):

std::string supow(int pow)
{
    std::string r{}, t{};
    if (pow<0) { r="\u207b"; pow*=-1; } else r.clear();
    t=itoa(pow); //stringize the pow for easier access to digits
    for (auto c:t)
    {
        switch(c-48)
        {
            case 0: r+="\u2070"; break;
            case 1: r+="\u00b9"; break;
            case 2: r+="\u00b2"; break;
            case 3: r+="\u00b3"; break;
            case 4: r+="\u2074"; break;
            case 5: r+="\u2075"; break;
            case 6: r+="\u2076"; break;
            case 7: r+="\u2077"; break;
            case 8: r+="\u2078"; break;
            case 9: r+="\u2079"; break;
        }
    }
    return r;
}

How to print superscript 3 in C++

3 Answers3

References