How do I convert bitset to array of bytes/uint8?

Question

I need to extact bytes from the bitset which may (not) contain a multiple of CHAR_BIT bits. I now how many of the bits in the bitset I need to put into an array. For example,

the bits set is declared as std::bitset < 40> id;

There is a separate variable nBits how many of the bits in id are usable. Now I want to extract those bits in multiples of CHAR_BIT. I also need to take care of cases where nBits % CHAR_BIT != 0. I am okay to put this into an array of uint8

Answer 1

You can use boost::dynamic_bitset, which can be converted to a range of "blocks" using boost::to_block_range.

#include <cstdlib>
#include <cstdint>
#include <iterator>
#include <vector>
#include <boost/dynamic_bitset.hpp>

int main()
{
    typedef uint8_t Block; // Make the block size one byte
    typedef boost::dynamic_bitset<Block> Bitset;

    Bitset bitset(40); // 40 bits

    // Assign random bits
    for (int i=0; i<40; ++i)
    {
        bitset[i] = std::rand() % 2;
    }

    // Copy bytes to buffer
    std::vector<Block> bytes;
    boost::to_block_range(bitset, std::back_inserter(bytes));
}

Answer 2

Unfortunately there's no good way within the language, assuming you need for than the number of bits in an unsigned long (in which case you could use to_ulong). You'll have to iterate over all the bits and generate the array of bytes yourself.