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authorFred Drake <fdrake@acm.org>1999-08-24 20:16:29 (GMT)
committerFred Drake <fdrake@acm.org>1999-08-24 20:16:29 (GMT)
commitb68a125d64f0dc16924031539fca4bed6316e420 (patch)
tree023ed689a43c4d08da0f36fa44862bbcc5b4bae4 /Doc
parent76dd228f52a7ebf70dc1e065fe782ca98698c52d (diff)
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Added additional index entries.
Minor markup nits.
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc')
-rw-r--r--Doc/lib/libstruct.tex25
1 files changed, 14 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libstruct.tex b/Doc/lib/libstruct.tex
index 62892ec..eef84a4 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libstruct.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libstruct.tex
@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
\section{\module{struct} ---
- Interpret strings as packed binary data.}
+ Interpret strings as packed binary data}
\declaremodule{builtin}{struct}
\modulesynopsis{Interpret strings as packed binary data.}
-\indexii{C@\C{}}{structures}
+\indexii{C}{structures}
+\indexiii{packing}{binary}{data}
-This module performs conversions between Python values and \C{}
+This module performs conversions between Python values and C
structs represented as Python strings. It uses \dfn{format strings}
-(explained below) as compact descriptions of the lay-out of the \C{}
-structs and the intended conversion to/from Python values.
+(explained below) as compact descriptions of the lay-out of the C
+structs and the intended conversion to/from Python values. This can
+be used in handling binary data stored in files or from network
+connections, among other sources.
The module defines the following exception and functions:
@@ -40,7 +43,7 @@ The module defines the following exception and functions:
\end{funcdesc}
Format characters have the following meaning; the conversion between
-\C{} and Python values should be obvious given their types:
+C and Python values should be obvious given their types:
\begin{tableiii}{c|l|l}{samp}{Format}{C Type}{Python}
\lineiii{x}{pad byte}{no value}
@@ -96,9 +99,9 @@ example, the Alpha and Merced processors use 64-bit pointer values,
meaning a Python long integer will be used to hold the pointer; other
platforms use 32-bit pointers and will use a Python integer.
-By default, \C{} numbers are represented in the machine's native format
+By default, C numbers are represented in the machine's native format
and byte order, and properly aligned by skipping pad bytes if
-necessary (according to the rules used by the \C{} compiler).
+necessary (according to the rules used by the C compiler).
Alternatively, the first character of the format string can be used to
indicate the byte order, size and alignment of the packed data,
@@ -118,7 +121,7 @@ Native byte order is big-endian or little-endian, depending on the
host system (e.g. Motorola and Sun are big-endian; Intel and DEC are
little-endian).
-Native size and alignment are determined using the \C{} compiler's
+Native size and alignment are determined using the C compiler's
\keyword{sizeof} expression. This is always combined with native byte
order.
@@ -168,6 +171,6 @@ This only works when native size and alignment are in effect;
standard size and alignment does not enforce any alignment.
\begin{seealso}
- \seemodule{array}{packed binary storage of homogeneous data}
- \seemodule{xdrlib}{packing and unpacking of XDR data}
+ \seemodule{array}{Packed binary storage of homogeneous data.}
+ \seemodule{xdrlib}{Packing and unpacking of XDR data.}
\end{seealso}