[c] Display the binary representation of a number in C?

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Is there a printf converter to print in binary format?

Still learning C and I was wondering:

Given a number, is it possible to do something like the following?

char a = 5;
printf("binary representation of a = %b",a);
> 101

Or would i have to write my own method to do the transformation to binary?

There is no direct format specifier for this in the C language. Although I wrote this quick python snippet to help you understand the process step by step to roll your own.

#!/usr/bin/python

dec = input("Enter a decimal number to convert: ")
base = 2
solution = ""

while dec >= base:
    solution = str(dec%base) + solution
    dec = dec/base
if dec > 0:
    solution = str(dec) + solution

print solution

Explained:

dec = input("Enter a decimal number to convert: ") - prompt the user for numerical input (there are multiple ways to do this in C via scanf for example)

base = 2 - specify our base is 2 (binary)

solution = "" - create an empty string in which we will concatenate our solution

while dec >= base: - while our number is bigger than the base entered

solution = str(dec%base) + solution - get the modulus of the number to the base, and add it to the beginning of our string (we must add numbers right to left using division and remainder method). the str() function converts the result of the operation to a string. You cannot concatenate integers with strings in python without a type conversion.

dec = dec/base - divide the decimal number by the base in preperation to take the next modulo

if dec > 0: solution = str(dec) + solution - if anything is left over, add it to the beginning (this will be 1, if anything)

print solution - print the final number

Based on dirkgently's answer, but fixing his two bugs, and always printing a fixed number of digits:

void printbits(unsigned char v) {
  int i; // for C89 compatability
  for(i = 7; i >= 0; i--) putchar('0' + ((v >> i) & 1));
}

Use a lookup table, like:

char *table[16] = {"0000", "0001", .... "1111"};

then print each nibble like this

printf("%s%s", table[a / 0x10], table[a % 0x10]);

Surely you can use just one table, but it will be marginally faster and too big.

This code should handle your needs up to 64 bits.

char* pBinFill(long int x,char *so, char fillChar); // version with fill
char* pBin(long int x, char *so);                    // version without fill
#define width 64

char* pBin(long int x,char *so)
{
 char s[width+1];
 int    i=width;
 s[i--]=0x00;   // terminate string
 do
 { // fill in array from right to left
  s[i--]=(x & 1) ? '1':'0';  // determine bit
  x>>=1;  // shift right 1 bit
 } while( x > 0);
 i++;   // point to last valid character
 sprintf(so,"%s",s+i); // stick it in the temp string string
 return so;
}

char* pBinFill(long int x,char *so, char fillChar)
{ // fill in array from right to left
 char s[width+1];
 int    i=width;
 s[i--]=0x00;   // terminate string
 do
 {
  s[i--]=(x & 1) ? '1':'0';
  x>>=1;  // shift right 1 bit
 } while( x > 0);
 while(i>=0) s[i--]=fillChar;    // fill with fillChar 
 sprintf(so,"%s",s);
 return so;
}

void test()
{
 char so[width+1]; // working buffer for pBin
 long int   val=1;
 do
 {
   printf("%ld =\t\t%#lx =\t\t0b%s\n",val,val,pBinFill(val,so,0));
   val*=11; // generate test data
 } while (val < 100000000);
}

Output:
00000001 = 0x000001 =   0b00000000000000000000000000000001
00000011 = 0x00000b =   0b00000000000000000000000000001011
00000121 = 0x000079 =   0b00000000000000000000000001111001
00001331 = 0x000533 =   0b00000000000000000000010100110011
00014641 = 0x003931 =   0b00000000000000000011100100110001
00161051 = 0x02751b =   0b00000000000000100111010100011011
01771561 = 0x1b0829 =   0b00000000000110110000100000101001
19487171 = 0x12959c3 =  0b00000001001010010101100111000011

You have to write your own transformation. Only decimal, hex and octal numbers are supported with format specifiers.

There is no direct way (i.e. using printf or another standard library function) to print it. You will have to write your own function.

/* This code has an obvious bug and another non-obvious one :) */
void printbits(unsigned char v) {
   for (; v; v >>= 1) putchar('0' + (v & 1));
}

If you're using terminal, you can use control codes to print out bytes in natural order:

void printbits(unsigned char v) {
    printf("%*s", (int)ceil(log2(v)) + 1, ""); 
    for (; v; v >>= 1) printf("\x1b[2D%c",'0' + (v & 1));
}

#include<iostream>
#include<conio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
using namespace std;
void displayBinary(int n)
{
       char bistr[1000];
       itoa(n,bistr,2);       //2 means binary u can convert n upto base 36
       printf("%s",bistr);

}

int main()
{
    int n;
    cin>>n;
    displayBinary(n);
    getch();
    return 0;
}