[#bsl-basic_string-0ce-copy]
= xref:bsl.adoc[bsl]::xref:bsl/basic_string-0ce.adoc[basic_string<char16_t>]::copy
:relfileprefix: ../../
:mrdocs:

Copy from this string, starting from the optionally specified `position`, the specified `numChars` or `length() ‐ position` characters, whichever is smaller, into the specified `characterString` buffer, and return the number of characters copied. If `position` is not specified, 0 is used. Throw `out_of_range` if `position > length()`. The behavior is undefined unless `characterString` is at least `numChars` long. Note that the output `characterString` is _not_ null‐terminated.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<bslstl_string.h>`

[source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"]
----
xref:bsl/basic_string-0ce/size_type.adoc[size_type]
copy(
    char16_t* characterString,
    xref:bsl/basic_string-0ce/size_type.adoc[size_type] numChars,
    xref:bsl/basic_string-0ce/size_type.adoc[size_type] position = 0) const;
----


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