\function{array_to_bstring} \synopsis{Convert an array to a binary string} \usage{BString_Type array_to_bstring (Array_Type a)} \description The \ifun{array_to_bstring} function returns the elements of an array \exmp{a} as a binary string. \seealso{bstring_to_array, init_char_array} \done \function{bstring_to_array} \synopsis{Convert a binary string to an array of bytes} \usage{UChar_Type[] bstring_to_array (BString_Type b)} \description The \ifun{bstring_to_array} function returns an array of unsigned characters whose elements correspond to the bytes in the binary string. \seealso{array_to_bstring, init_char_array} \done \function{bstrcat} \synopsis{Concatenate binary strings} \usage{String_Type bstrcat (BString_Type a_1, ..., BString_Type a_N)} \description The \ifun{bstrcat} function concatenates its N binary string arguments \exmp{a_1}, ... \exmp{a_N} together and returns the result. \notes This function will produce a result that is identical to that of \ifun{strcat} if the input strings do not contain null characters. \seealso{strcat, bstrjoin} \done \function{bstrjoin} \synopsis{Concatenate elements of an array of BString_Type objects} \usage{String_Type bstrjoin (Array_Type a [, BString_Type delim])} \description The \ifun{bstrjoin} function operates on an array of binary strings by joining successive elements together separated with the optional delimiter \exmp{delim}. If \exmp{delim} is not specified, then empty string \exmp{""} will be used resulting in a concatenation of the elements. \seealso{bstrcat, strjoin} \done \function{bstrlen} \synopsis{Get the length of a binary string} \usage{UInt_Type bstrlen (BString_Type s)} \description The \ifun{bstrlen} function may be used to obtain the length of a binary string. A binary string differs from an ordinary string (a C string) in that a binary string may include null characters. \example #v+ s = "hello\0"; len = bstrlen (s); % ==> len = 6 len = strlen (s); % ==> len = 5 #v- \seealso{strlen, length} \done \function{count_byte_occurrences} \synopsis{Count the number of occurrences of a byte in a binary string} \usage{UInt_Type count_byte_occurrences (bstring, byte)} \description This function returns the number of times the specified byte occurs in the binary string \exmp{bstr}. \notes This function uses byte-semantics. If character semantics are desired, use the \ifun{count_char_occurrences} function. \seealso{count_char_occurrences} \done \function{is_substrbytes} \synopsis{test if a binary string contains a series of bytes} \usage{Int_Type is_substrbytes (a, b [,ofs])} \description This function may be used to see if the binary string \exmp{a} contains the byte-sequence given by the binary string \exmp{b}. If \exmp{b} is contained in \exmp{a}, then a ones-based offset of the first occurance of \exmp{b} in \exmp{a} is returned. Otherwise, the function will return 0 to indicate that \exmp{a} does not contain \exmp{b}. An optional 1-based parameter \exmp{ofs} may be passed to the function to indicate where in \exmp{a} the search is to start. The returned value is still a 1-based offset from the beginning of \exmp{a} where \exmp{b} is located. \notes Support for the optional argument was added in version 2.3.0. \seealso{is_substr, count_byte_occurrences} \done \function{pack} \synopsis{Pack objects into a binary string} \usage{BString_Type pack (String_Type fmt, ...)} \description The \ifun{pack} function combines zero or more objects (represented by the ellipses above) into a binary string according to the format string \exmp{fmt}. The format string consists of one or more data-type specification characters defined by the following table: #v+ c signed byte C unsigned byte h short H unsigned short i int I unsigned int l long L unsigned long m long long M unsigned long long j 16 bit int J 16 bit unsigned int k 32 bit int K 32 bit unsigned int q 64 bit int Q 64 bit unsigned int f float d double F 32 bit float D 64 bit float s character string, null padded S character string, space padded z character string, null padded x a null pad character #v- A decimal length specifier may follow the data-type specifier. With the exception of the \exmp{s} and \exmp{S} specifiers, the length specifier indicates how many objects of that data type are to be packed or unpacked from the string. When used with the \exmp{s}, \exmp{S}, or \exmp{z} specifiers, it indicates the field width to be used. If the length specifier is not present, the length defaults to one. When packing, unlike the \exmp{s} specifier, the \exmp{z} specifier guarantees that at least one null byte will be written even if the field has to be truncated to do so. With the exception of \exmp{c}, \exmp{C}, \exmp{s}, \exmp{S}, and \exmp{x}, each of these may be prefixed by a character that indicates the byte-order of the object: #v+ > big-endian order (network order) < little-endian order = native byte-order #v- The default is to use native byte order. When unpacking via the \ifun{unpack} function, if the length specifier is greater than one, then an array of that length will be returned. In addition, trailing whitespace and null characters are stripped when unpacking an object given by the \exmp{S} specifier. Trailing null characters will be stripped from an object represented by the \exmp{z} specifier. No such stripping is performed by the \exmp{s} specifier. \example #v+ a = pack ("cc", 'A', 'B'); % ==> a = "AB"; a = pack ("c2", 'A', 'B'); % ==> a = "AB"; a = pack ("xxcxxc", 'A', 'B'); % ==> a = "\0\0A\0\0B"; a = pack ("h2", 'A', 'B'); % ==> a = "\0A\0B" or "\0B\0A" a = pack (">h2", 'A', 'B'); % ==> a = "\0\xA\0\xB" a = pack (" a = "\0B\0A" a = pack ("s4", "AB", "CD"); % ==> a = "AB\0\0" a = pack ("s4s2", "AB", "CD"); % ==> a = "AB\0\0CD" a = pack ("S4", "AB", "CD"); % ==> a = "AB " a = pack ("S4S2", "AB", "CD"); % ==> a = "AB CD" a = pack ("z4", "AB"); % ==> a = "AB\0\0" a = pack ("s4", "ABCDEFG"); % ==> a = "ABCD" a = pack ("z4", "ABCDEFG"); % ==> a = "ABC\0" #v- \seealso{unpack, sizeof_pack, pad_pack_format, sprintf} \done \function{pad_pack_format} \synopsis{Add padding to a pack format} \usage{BString_Type pad_pack_format (String_Type fmt)} \description The \ifun{pad_pack_format} function may be used to add the appropriate padding characters to the format \exmp{fmt} such that the data types specified by the format will be properly aligned on word boundaries. This is especially important when reading or writing files that assume the native alignment. \seealso{pack, unpack, sizeof_pack} \done \function{sizeof_pack} \synopsis{Compute the size implied by a pack format string} \usage{UInt_Type sizeof_pack (String_Type fmt)} \description The \ifun{sizeof_pack} function returns the size of the binary string represented by the format string \exmp{fmt}. This information may be needed when reading a structure from a file. \seealso{pack, unpack, pad_pack_format} \done \function{unpack} \synopsis{Unpack Objects from a Binary String} \usage{(...) = unpack (String_Type fmt, BString_Type s)} \description The \ifun{unpack} function unpacks objects from a binary string \exmp{s} according to the format \exmp{fmt} and returns the objects to the stack in the order in which they were unpacked. See the documentation of the \ifun{pack} function for details about the format string. \example #v+ (x,y) = unpack ("cc", "AB"); % ==> x = 'A', y = 'B' x = unpack ("c2", "AB"); % ==> x = ['A', 'B'] x = unpack ("x x = 0xCDABuh x = unpack ("xxs4", "a b c\0d e f"); % ==> x = "b c\0" x = unpack ("xxS4", "a b c\0d e f"); % ==> x = "b c" #v- \seealso{pack, sizeof_pack, pad_pack_format} \done