CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonbyte
gauravranganath
gauravranganath

Reputation: 11

Having trouble converting "large" integers to bytes in Python

When I try to pack an integer number, I'm getting an unexpected output. For values less than or equal to 16 the output is just as I expected, however, for values greater it breaks the output I expect. I've attached a few examples below.

Integer: 4
Output: b'\x00\x00\x00\x04'

Integer: 56
Output: b'\x00\x00\x008'

In this instance the integer 4 works just fine, however, I expected the output for 56 to be b'\x00\x00\x00\x38' (converted to hex)

Integer: 20
Output: b'\x00\x00\x00\x14'

Integer: 56
Output: b'\x00\x00\x00('

Integer: 8
Output: b'\x00\x00\x00\x08'

I this instance the integer 8 gives me an expected output, however, for the integer 20 I expect b'\x00\x00\x00\x14' and for a size of 40 I expect b'\x00\x00\x00\x28' (This is one is especially confusing me because of the "(").

I've tried 3 different ways so far to convert these integers however they all give me special characters for larger integers.

struct.pack('>i', (size)

bytes([size])

(int(size)).to_bytes(1, byteorder='big')

I suspect that I need to manipulate the integer before packing it someway, but I feel very stuck at the moment. Is there something wrong with what I assume should be the expected output? Or is there any hint you could give me to set me on the right path?

PS: This is my first post so apologies if I'm not being clear haha

Upvotes: 0

Views: 301

Answers (1)

wjandrea
wjandrea

Reputation: 33179

For printable characters in the ASCII range, Python displays them as the characters themselves.

>>> b'\x38'
b'8'
>>> b'\x28'
b'('

In other words, you're confusing your data with its representation.

Upvotes: 2

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