Re: pragma Pack does not work on GNAT 5.01a for Redhat Linux.

[Simon Wright <simon.j.wright@mac.com>]

"Bob Spooner" <rls19@psu.edu> writes:

> For exchanging binary data between heterogeneous systems, my
> experience has been that record representation clauses are necessary
> to insure that the data representations are identical.

Or (if on GNAT) you could use a version of the compiler's stream
support that uses XDR representations 'on the wire' -- we
transparently communicate between PowerPC and Intel hardware like this
as a matter of course without having to think about it or expend any
effort.

There's always a price to pay, of course; the packing isn't dense, and
it can be quite a challenge to work out what bytes are actually being
sent (eg, if you find yourself having to talk to C after all).