Issue #8469: Add standard sizes to table in struct documentation; additional
clarifications and documentation tweaks.
Backport of revisions 81955-81956 from py3k.
diff --git a/Doc/library/struct.rst b/Doc/library/struct.rst
index 166b734..5849261 100644
--- a/Doc/library/struct.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/struct.rst
@@ -82,129 +82,9 @@
--------------
Format strings are the mechanism used to specify the expected layout when
-packing and unpacking data. They are built up from format characters, which
-specify the type of data being packed/unpacked. In addition, there are
-special characters for controlling the byte order, size, and alignment.
-
-Format Characters
-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-
-Format characters have the following meaning; the conversion between C and
-Python values should be obvious given their types:
-
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| Format | C Type | Python | Notes |
-+========+=========================+====================+============+
-| ``x`` | pad byte | no value | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``c`` | :ctype:`char` | string of length 1 | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``b`` | :ctype:`signed char` | integer | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``B`` | :ctype:`unsigned char` | integer | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``?`` | :ctype:`_Bool` | bool | \(1) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``h`` | :ctype:`short` | integer | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``H`` | :ctype:`unsigned short` | integer | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``i`` | :ctype:`int` | integer | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``I`` | :ctype:`unsigned int` | integer or long | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``l`` | :ctype:`long` | integer | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``L`` | :ctype:`unsigned long` | long | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``q`` | :ctype:`long long` | long | \(2),\(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``Q`` | :ctype:`unsigned long | long | \(2),\(3) |
-| | long` | | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``f`` | :ctype:`float` | float | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``d`` | :ctype:`double` | float | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``s`` | :ctype:`char[]` | string | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``p`` | :ctype:`char[]` | string | |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-| ``P`` | :ctype:`void \*` | long | \(3) |
-+--------+-------------------------+--------------------+------------+
-
-Notes:
-
-(1)
- The ``'?'`` conversion code corresponds to the :ctype:`_Bool` type defined by
- C99. If this type is not available, it is simulated using a :ctype:`char`. In
- standard mode, it is always represented by one byte.
-
- .. versionadded:: 2.6
-
-(2)
- The ``'q'`` and ``'Q'`` conversion codes are available in native mode only if
- the platform C compiler supports C :ctype:`long long`, or, on Windows,
- :ctype:`__int64`. They are always available in standard modes.
-
- .. versionadded:: 2.2
-
-(3)
- When attempting to pack a non-integer using any of the integer conversion
- codes, if the non-integer has a :meth:`__index__` method then that method is
- called to convert the argument to an integer before packing. If no
- :meth:`__index__` method exists, or the call to :meth:`__index__` raises
- :exc:`TypeError`, then the :meth:`__int__` method is tried. However, the use
- of :meth:`__int__` is deprecated, and will raise :exc:`DeprecationWarning`.
-
- .. versionchanged:: 2.7
- Use of the :meth:`__index__` method for non-integers is new in 2.7.
-
- .. versionchanged:: 2.7
- Prior to version 2.7, not all integer conversion codes would use the
- :meth:`__int__` method to convert, and :exc:`DeprecationWarning` was
- raised only for float arguments.
-
-
-A format character may be preceded by an integral repeat count. For example,
-the format string ``'4h'`` means exactly the same as ``'hhhh'``.
-
-Whitespace characters between formats are ignored; a count and its format must
-not contain whitespace though.
-
-For the ``'s'`` format character, the count is interpreted as the size of the
-string, not a repeat count like for the other format characters; for example,
-``'10s'`` means a single 10-byte string, while ``'10c'`` means 10 characters.
-For packing, the string is truncated or padded with null bytes as appropriate to
-make it fit. For unpacking, the resulting string always has exactly the
-specified number of bytes. As a special case, ``'0s'`` means a single, empty
-string (while ``'0c'`` means 0 characters).
-
-The ``'p'`` format character encodes a "Pascal string", meaning a short
-variable-length string stored in a fixed number of bytes. The count is the total
-number of bytes stored. The first byte stored is the length of the string, or
-255, whichever is smaller. The bytes of the string follow. If the string
-passed in to :func:`pack` is too long (longer than the count minus 1), only the
-leading count-1 bytes of the string are stored. If the string is shorter than
-count-1, it is padded with null bytes so that exactly count bytes in all are
-used. Note that for :func:`unpack`, the ``'p'`` format character consumes count
-bytes, but that the string returned can never contain more than 255 characters.
-
-For the ``'I'``, ``'L'``, ``'q'`` and ``'Q'`` format characters, the return
-value is a Python long integer.
-
-For the ``'P'`` format character, the return value is a Python integer or long
-integer, depending on the size needed to hold a pointer when it has been cast to
-an integer type. A *NULL* pointer will always be returned as the Python integer
-``0``. When packing pointer-sized values, Python integer or long integer objects
-may be used. For 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.
-
-For the ``'?'`` format character, the return value is either :const:`True` or
-:const:`False`. When packing, the truth value of the argument object is used.
-Either 0 or 1 in the native or standard bool representation will be packed, and
-any non-zero value will be True when unpacking.
+packing and unpacking data. They are built up from :ref:`format-characters`,
+which specify the type of data being packed/unpacked. In addition, there are
+special characters for controlling the :ref:`struct-alignment`.
.. _struct-alignment:
@@ -279,6 +159,127 @@
count of zero. See :ref:`struct-examples`.
+.. _format-characters:
+
+Format Characters
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Format characters have the following meaning; the conversion between C and
+Python values should be obvious given their types:
+
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| Format | C Type | Python type | Standard size | Notes |
++========+=========================+====================+================+============+
+| ``x`` | pad byte | no value | | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``c`` | :ctype:`char` | string of length 1 | 1 | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``b`` | :ctype:`signed char` | integer | 1 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``B`` | :ctype:`unsigned char` | integer | 1 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``?`` | :ctype:`_Bool` | bool | 1 | \(1) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``h`` | :ctype:`short` | integer | 2 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``H`` | :ctype:`unsigned short` | integer | 2 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``i`` | :ctype:`int` | integer | 4 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``I`` | :ctype:`unsigned int` | integer | 4 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``l`` | :ctype:`long` | integer | 4 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``L`` | :ctype:`unsigned long` | integer | 4 | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``q`` | :ctype:`long long` | integer | 8 | \(2), \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``Q`` | :ctype:`unsigned long | integer | 8 | \(2), \(3) |
+| | long` | | | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``f`` | :ctype:`float` | float | 4 | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``d`` | :ctype:`double` | float | 8 | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``s`` | :ctype:`char[]` | string | | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``p`` | :ctype:`char[]` | string | | |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+| ``P`` | :ctype:`void \*` | integer | | \(3) |
++--------+-------------------------+--------------------+----------------+------------+
+
+Notes:
+
+(1)
+ The ``'?'`` conversion code corresponds to the :ctype:`_Bool` type defined by
+ C99. If this type is not available, it is simulated using a :ctype:`char`. In
+ standard mode, it is always represented by one byte.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 2.6
+
+(2)
+ The ``'q'`` and ``'Q'`` conversion codes are available in native mode only if
+ the platform C compiler supports C :ctype:`long long`, or, on Windows,
+ :ctype:`__int64`. They are always available in standard modes.
+
+ .. versionadded:: 2.2
+
+(3)
+ When attempting to pack a non-integer using any of the integer conversion
+ codes, if the non-integer has a :meth:`__index__` method then that method is
+ called to convert the argument to an integer before packing. If no
+ :meth:`__index__` method exists, or the call to :meth:`__index__` raises
+ :exc:`TypeError`, then the :meth:`__int__` method is tried. However, the use
+ of :meth:`__int__` is deprecated, and will raise :exc:`DeprecationWarning`.
+
+ .. versionchanged:: 2.7
+ Use of the :meth:`__index__` method for non-integers is new in 2.7.
+
+ .. versionchanged:: 2.7
+ Prior to version 2.7, not all integer conversion codes would use the
+ :meth:`__int__` method to convert, and :exc:`DeprecationWarning` was
+ raised only for float arguments.
+
+
+A format character may be preceded by an integral repeat count. For example,
+the format string ``'4h'`` means exactly the same as ``'hhhh'``.
+
+Whitespace characters between formats are ignored; a count and its format must
+not contain whitespace though.
+
+For the ``'s'`` format character, the count is interpreted as the size of the
+string, not a repeat count like for the other format characters; for example,
+``'10s'`` means a single 10-byte string, while ``'10c'`` means 10 characters.
+For packing, the string is truncated or padded with null bytes as appropriate to
+make it fit. For unpacking, the resulting string always has exactly the
+specified number of bytes. As a special case, ``'0s'`` means a single, empty
+string (while ``'0c'`` means 0 characters).
+
+The ``'p'`` format character encodes a "Pascal string", meaning a short
+variable-length string stored in a fixed number of bytes. The count is the total
+number of bytes stored. The first byte stored is the length of the string, or
+255, whichever is smaller. The bytes of the string follow. If the string
+passed in to :func:`pack` is too long (longer than the count minus 1), only the
+leading count-1 bytes of the string are stored. If the string is shorter than
+count-1, it is padded with null bytes so that exactly count bytes in all are
+used. Note that for :func:`unpack`, the ``'p'`` format character consumes count
+bytes, but that the string returned can never contain more than 255 characters.
+
+For the ``'P'`` format character, the return value is a Python integer or long
+integer, depending on the size needed to hold a pointer when it has been cast to
+an integer type. A *NULL* pointer will always be returned as the Python integer
+``0``. When packing pointer-sized values, Python integer or long integer objects
+may be used. For 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.
+
+For the ``'?'`` format character, the return value is either :const:`True` or
+:const:`False`. When packing, the truth value of the argument object is used.
+Either 0 or 1 in the native or standard bool representation will be packed, and
+any non-zero value will be True when unpacking.
+
+
+
.. _struct-examples:
Examples
@@ -342,7 +343,7 @@
.. _struct-objects:
-Objects
+Classes
-------
The :mod:`struct` module also defines the following type: