Defining and using union WordByte : Union « Data Type « C++

1. C++
2. Data Type
3. Union

Defining and using union WordByte

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
union WordByte
{
  private:
    unsigned short w;         // 16 bits
    unsigned char b[2];       // Two bytes: b[0], b[1]
  public:                     // Word- and byte-access:
    unsigned short& word()    { 
        return w; 
    }
    unsigned char&  lowByte() { 
        return b[0]; 
    }
    unsigned char&  highByte(){ 
        return b[1]; 
    }
};
int main()
{
    WordByte wb;
    wb.word() = 256;
    cout << "\nWord:      " << (int)wb.word();
    cout << "\nLow-byte:  " << (int)wb.lowByte()
         << "\nHigh-byte: " << (int)wb.highByte()
         << endl;
    return 0;
}

           
       

Related examples in the same category

1.	Use union to swap bytes
2.	Anonymous Unions