unsigned char

[sand_man]

Iv'e seen this many times (or something similar).

#define BYTE unsigned char

But isn't a char unsigned by default?

[Thantos]

6.2.5.15 http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg...69/n869.pdf.gz

The three types char, signed char, and unsigned char are collectively called
the character types. The implementation shall define char to have the same range,
representation, and behavior as either signed char or unsigned char.32)

32) CHAR_MIN, defined in <limits.h>, will have one of the values 0 or SCHAR_MIN, and this can be
used to distinguish the two options. Irrespective of the choice made, char is a separate type from the
other two and is not compatible with either.

Edit: Wow 4000 posts. And to think Janurary of 2004 I barely had 1000.

[Stack Overflow]

Hello,

Definition	Type		Value
SCHAR_MIN	signed char	-127
SCHAR_MAX	signed char	+127

UCHAR_MAX	unsigned char	255

CHAR_MIN	char		"see below"
CHAR_MAX	char		"see below"

If the value of an object of type char is treated as a signed integer when used in an expression, the value of CHAR_MIN shall be the same as that of SCHAR_MIN and the value of CHAR_MAX shall be the same as that of SCHAR_MAX. Otherwise, the value of CHAR_MIN shall be 0 and the value of CHAR_MAX shall be the same as that of UCHAR_MAX.

Edit:


- Stack Overflow

[Salem]

> But isn't a char unsigned by default?
Nope - an unqualified char may be either signed or unsigned.

And using #define to create a new type is pointless when typedef is both more capable, and safer.

[sand_man]

Thanks. It couldn't be any clearer.

[quzah]

Actually it could be clearer. The values Stack Overflow gave you were the "minimums". The standard defines that the character data types have those minimum values. That is to say, it's perferctly legal as far as ANSI goes, to have a char type whose minimum value is ... wait a minute! Holy Deja Vu Batman!

Not exactly. The standard defines "minimum values" for each, not fixed numbers.

A char has the following "minimum values":

a) The low end is CHAR_MIN, which is either SCHAR_MIN or 0, depending on if it is signed by default or not.
b) The high end is CHAR_MAX, which is either SCHAR_MAX, or UCHAR_MAX, again depending if it is signed or not.

A signed char has the following "minimum values":

a) The low end is SCHAR_MIN, which is -127.
b) The high end is SCHAR_MAX, which is 127.

An unsigned char has the following "minimum values":

a) The low end is 0, because there is no UCHAR_MIN macro.
b) The high end is UCHAR_MAX which must be ((2^CHAR_BIT)-1).

And finally, CHAR_BIT must be a minimum of 8.

Again, these are minimums, so it need not be some set value, just so long as it meets the minimum definitions.

Quzah.

[sand_man]

Thanks Quzah.