Article View: comp.std.c
Article #4872Re: Bit-field sizes
From: Tanmoy Bhattacharya
Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 03:23
Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 03:23
39 lines
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2468 bytes
In article <uYgPxQ9ytt9W084yn@csn.net> thads@csn.net (Thad Smith) writes: TS: In article <4hkgds$bbh@info1.sdrc.com>, TS: larry.jones@sdrc.com (Larry Jones) wrote: TS: >In article <nzRPxQ9ytZZA084yn@csn.net>, thads@csn.net (Thad Smith) writes: TS: >> Can the size of a bit-field, measured in bits, exceed the size of an TS: >> int? The description of bit-fields describes it as an integral TS: >> type with a (programmer-)specified number of bits, not specifically TS: >> constrained in size. ANSI Classic section 3.2.1.1 says, however, that TS: >> bit-fields are promoted to either int or unsigned int. TS: > TS: >No. ANSI Classic 3.5.2.1: TS: > TS: > The expression that specifies the width of a bit-field shall be TS: > an integral constant expression that nas nonnegative value that TS: > shall not exceed the number of bits in an ordinary object of TS: > compatible type. TS: > TS: >The constraint is historical, probably because extracting a bit-field TS: >that is longer than a word is sufficiently complicated as to be contrary TS: >to the ``spirit of C''. TS: TS: What does "ordinary object of compatible type" mean? Could that mean TS: long? I now think that an implementation could allow specification of I don't think so. The bit fields are either int or unsigned, an ordinary object of compatible type is therefore an int or an unsigned. If bitfields could be `long', it would have allowed long. Cheers Tanmoy -- tanmoy@qcd.lanl.gov(128.165.23.46) DECNET: BETA::"tanmoy@lanl.gov"(1.218=1242) Tanmoy Bhattacharya O:T-8(MS B285)LANL,NM87545 H:#9,3000,Trinity Drive,NM87544 Others see <gopher://yaleinfo.yale.edu:7700/00/Internet-People/internet-mail>, <http://alpha.acast.nova.edu/cgi-bin/inmgq.pl>or<ftp://csd4.csd.uwm.edu/pub/ internetwork-mail-guide>. -- <http://nqcd.lanl.gov/people/tanmoy/tanmoy.html> fax: 1 (505) 665 3003 voice: 1 (505) 665 4733 [ Home: 1 (505) 662 5596 ]
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!newshost.lanl.gov!tanmoy From: tanmoy@qcd.lanl.gov (Tanmoy Bhattacharya) Newsgroups: comp.std.c Subject: Re: Bit-field sizes Date: 07 Mar 1996 03:23:00 GMT Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory Distribution: world Message-ID: <TANMOY.96Mar6202300@qcd.lanl.gov> References: <nzRPxQ9ytZZA084yn@csn.net> <4hkgds$bbh@info1.sdrc.com> <uYgPxQ9ytt9W084yn@csn.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: qcd.lanl.gov Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text In-reply-to: thads@csn.net's message of 6 Mar 1996 14:56:50 -0700