[#BloombergLP-bslx-TestInStream-getString] = xref:BloombergLP.adoc[BloombergLP]::xref:BloombergLP/bslx.adoc[bslx]::xref:BloombergLP/bslx/TestInStream.adoc[TestInStream]::getString :relfileprefix: ../../../ :mrdocs: If required, throw a `TestInStreamException` (see `throwExceptionIfInputLimitExhausted`); otherwise, consume a string from this input stream, assign that value to the specified `variable`, update the cursor location, and return a reference to this stream. If this stream is initially invalid, this operation has no effect. If this function otherwise fails to extract a valid value, this stream is marked invalid and the value of `variable` is undefined. The string must be prefaced by a non‐negative integer indicating the number of characters composing the string. The behavior is undefined unless the length indicator is non‐negative. == Synopsis Declared in `<bslx_testinstream.h>` [source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"] ---- xref:BloombergLP/bslx/TestInStream.adoc[TestInStream]& getString(xref:bsl/string.adoc[bsl::string]& variable); ---- [.small]#Created with https://www.mrdocs.com[MrDocs]#