struct¶

Functions to convert between Python values and C structs represented as Python strings. It uses format strings (explained below) as compact descriptions of the lay-out of the C structs and the intended conversion to/from Python values.

The optional first format char indicates byte order, size and alignment:

@: native order, size & alignment (default) =: native order, std. size & alignment <: little-endian, std. size & alignment >: big-endian, std. size & alignment !: same as >

The remaining chars indicate types of args and must match exactly; these can be preceded by a decimal repeat count:

x: pad byte (no data); c:char; b:signed byte; B:unsigned byte; ?: _Bool (requires C99; if not available, char is used instead) h:short; H:unsigned short; i:int; I:unsigned int; l:long; L:unsigned long; f:float; d:double.

Special cases (preceding decimal count indicates length):

s:string (array of char); p: pascal string (with count byte).

Special case (only available in native format):

P:an integer type that is wide enough to hold a pointer.

Special case (not in native mode unless ‘long long’ in platform C):

q:long long; Q:unsigned long long

Whitespace between formats is ignored.

The variable struct.error is an exception raised on errors.