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Re: Bit-field union bug

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On 08/31/2011 05:57 PM, Seebs wrote:
> On 2011-08-31, Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
>> While I would agree with you, the standard disagrees with both of us.
>> I'm not quite sure what the point of a bitfield is when the compiler is
>> free to insert arbitrary padding between elements, but that is indeed
>> the case.
> 
> The point is that the compiler is *permitted* to coalesce bitfields.  But
> not required to, because some systems really don't provide meaningful support
> for them.

Actually, it is required to do so, when adjacent bit-fields in the same
struct fit in a single storage unit (6.7.2.1p10). And since CHAR_BIT is
required to be >=8, these bit-fields, had they been in the same struct,
would have been required to be stored in adjacent bits of the same
storage unit.

> Basically, bitfields aren't expected to provide an absolutely reliable
> mapping onto a series of bits; they're expected to provide a way that you
> can hint that you don't need a lot of storage, such that compilers can in
> some cases save a few bytes.

An implementation has a lot of freedom to allocate bit-fields; far too
much to make any portable use of them for communications outside of a
single program. However, there's not quite as much freedom as you
thought there was.

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Bit-field union bug Quentin Pope <qp19433@hotmail.NOSPAM.com> - 2011-08-31 21:23 +0000
  Re: Bit-field union bug Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-08-31 14:34 -0700
    Re: Bit-field union bug Quentin Pope <qp19433@hotmail.NOSPAM.com> - 2011-09-03 19:06 +0000
      Re: Bit-field union bug Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2011-09-04 08:19 +1200
        Re: Bit-field union bug Quentin Pope <qp19433@hotmail.NOSPAM.com> - 2011-09-03 21:12 +0000
          Re: Bit-field union bug Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-09-03 22:30 +0100
            Re: Bit-field union bug Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2011-09-04 11:01 +1200
              Re: Bit-field union bug Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-09-04 00:37 +0100
                Re: Bit-field union bug Phil Carmody <thefatphil_demunged@yahoo.co.uk> - 2011-09-06 00:36 +0300
            Re: Bit-field union bug Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-01-24 12:23 -0800
              Re: Bit-field union bug Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-24 21:15 +0000
  Re: Bit-field union bug Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2011-09-01 09:36 +1200
  Re: Bit-field union bug jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2011-08-31 23:38 +0200
  Re: Bit-field union bug Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2011-08-31 15:42 -0600
    Re: Bit-field union bug Seebs <usenet-nospam@seebs.net> - 2011-08-31 21:57 +0000
      Re: Bit-field union bug James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-08-31 18:21 -0400
        Re: Bit-field union bug Seebs <usenet-nospam@seebs.net> - 2011-09-01 02:45 +0000
          Re: Bit-field union bug James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-09-01 06:37 -0400
        Re: Bit-field union bug Kenneth Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2011-09-01 14:19 -0400
          Re: Bit-field union bug James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-09-01 14:46 -0400
      Re: Bit-field union bug Phil Carmody <thefatphil_demunged@yahoo.co.uk> - 2011-09-01 15:34 +0300
        Re: Bit-field union bug Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2011-09-01 07:24 -0700
  Re: Bit-field union bug James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2011-08-31 17:55 -0400
  Re: Bit-field union bug "Scott Fluhrer" <sfluhrer@ix.netcom.com> - 2011-08-31 19:01 -0400
  Re: Bit-field union bug Peter Nilsson <airia@acay.com.au> - 2011-08-31 16:03 -0700
    Re: Bit-field union bug David Thompson <dave.thompson2@verizon.net> - 2011-09-06 01:13 -0400
      Re: Bit-field union bug Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-01-24 12:17 -0800
        Re: Bit-field union bug ec429 <ec429@cam.ac.uk> - 2012-01-25 00:13 +0000
          Re: Bit-field union bug Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-01-25 00:36 +0000
          Re: Bit-field union bug Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-01-31 14:54 -0800
  Re: Bit-field union bug Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2011-09-01 16:27 -0700

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