Re: Using representation clauses in networking software

[Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org>]

Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> writes:

> Have there been any efforts to fix representation clauses so that they
> are suitable for expressing elements commonly found in networking
> protocols?
>
> My understanding is that representation clauses are totally unsuitable
> for this purpose because they do not allow the programmer to express
> endianness.  I dimly recall a technical report which argued that
> expressing endianness portably was impossible.  However, Erlang's bit
> syntax seems to be a counterexample, so I wonder if that issue has
> been picked up in recent years.

I haven't tried it but
.. http://www.adaic.com/standards/05rm/html/RM-13-5-3.html