http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=1146780


in reply to Converting negative number to binary with specific width

The problem is that the b format is for unsigned integers only, so your -1 gets turned into an unsigned int and printing that overflows your field width, giving you lots of ones.The help for sprintf says :- 

%b    an unsigned integer, in binary

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BTW sprintf always prints the entire number even if it's bigger than the field width, so this is never going to work for 10 bit binary.

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Re^2: Converting negative number to binary with specific width
by pjkang7 (Novice) on Nov 05, 2015 at 16:52 UTC

    Thanks, I simply did want -1 to show up as 1111111111... of width 10. which, in unsigned int, it would mean infinite (hence lots of ones...) but I just wanted to cut it at ten 1s.

    I did not know sprintf always print the entire number. Thanks.

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