Re: [boost] [endian] Refresh based on comments received

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-06-09 14:06:33

Martin Bonner wrote:
> ----Original Message----
> From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden]
> [mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Beman Dawes Sent:
> 08 June 2006 17:51 To: boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: Re: [boost] [endian] Refresh based on comments received
> 
>> Gennaro Prota wrote:
>>
>>> * there is no guarantee that an unsigned char has 8 bits...
>> The C and C++ standards specify char, signed char, and unsigned char
>> all have exactly 8 bits, AFAIK.
> 
> No.  They all have AT LEAST 8 bits, but there are certainly C
> implementations with 9-bit char and 32-bit char.

Thanks for pointing this out. Seem my reply to Kim Barrett.

>  I don't know if any of
> these have C++ compilers (but the standard certainly permits it).  (You
> might of course decide to explicitly limit your library to 8-bit char
> platforms only.)

I don't mind limiting the implementation to 8-bit char platforms, but I 
would like to make the specification suitable for other char sizes if 
that makes sense.

How do 9-bit char and 32-bit char platforms do disk I/O? Do these 
platforms even have disk I/O sub-systems?

Thanks,

--Beman