I need a way to refer to a dword. Is there a way to define a variable with a size that doesn't change even for different compile settings. I need a way to declare a dword to access portions of Grub's boot structure passed to my kernel. I'd like to keep from using int or anything else that would change if I decide to compile as 64 bit, so if I decide to latter, it'll be easier to port it.
No code to show yet... this question is kinda a prerequisite.
sizeof int does not change between 32/64 bit micros, only that of long and pointer.
Assuming of course that the compiler conforms to the ILP32 and LP64 architectures.
If you want to be portable, you can use limits.h and then check for a variable that matches U<TYPE>_MAX == 1 << 31.
I appreciate your input, but is that the only way? It seems crude to refer to something as something it's not. In general, for all basic groupings(byte, word, dword, qword, ...), is it possible to make a macro or something that would allow me to define a specified size to be reserved as either stack or bss?
How about just a byte, is it possible to define a byte(as a byte, not a char)?
In C99 compilers, you have stdint.h
int32_t - always 32 bits
int_least32_t - at least 32 bits
int_fast32_t - the fastest int with at least 32 bits
Without C99, the best you can do is have something like
assert( sizeof(int) * CHAR_BIT == 32 );
which will at least tell you if your compiler isn't producing the exact size required.
If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.
