Question

Is this even possible? basically I have a c++ application which sends packed 32 bit integers to a web server. the php file queries the web server and retrieves a xml file containing all of this packed data, now knowing the format of this packed data isnt a problem, its just how can I make this usable?

the data is made up of different types. some will be single bits, others will be 8 or 16 depending on what it is im storing

any info on this would be greatly appreceated. thanks!

Answer 1

PHP supports bitwise operators: http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.bitwise.php

So after you have an integer variable with the packed data in PHP, just bitwise-and it with a bitmask, and you get the field you want. Like this:

$myInteger = 5;                              // bit representation 101
$leastMeaningfulBit = $myInteger & (1 << 0); // sets $leastMeaningfulBit to 1.
$secondBit = $myInteger & (1 << 1);          // sets $secondBit to 0.
$thirdBit = $myInteger & (1 << 2);           // sets $thirdBit to 1.

etc.