Return by copy

[kenrus]

I am having difficulty understanding how this situation will work.

using std::string;

//Prototypes
string MixCase(string& sString);
void   UseRef   (string& sRefString);
void   UseCopy(string sCopyString);

void main(int argc, char** argv)
{
      string MyString;

      UseRef   (MixCase(MyString));
      UseCopy(MixCase(MyString));
}

string MixCase(string& sString)
{
    string sTempString;

    ...

    return sTempString;
}

string UseRef(string& sRefString)
{
    //Will sRefString be valid when it comes from MixCase ?????
}

string UseCopy(string sCopyString)
{
    //This should work just fine
}

I am trying to convert Delphi (pascal) code to C++. The Delphi code that I am converting does this type of stuff all the time.

Any comments are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Kendall