Bitwise ops on char[array] in c++

[vusak]

can anyone tell me if there is a way to apply bitwise operations, like & ^ | ~ << >> to an array of unsigned char as one contiguous block of bits?

ie. say i have

unsigned char value[5]
unsigned char mask[5]

is doing something like (value[] &= mask[]) reliable or well defined?

currently im implementing it as

for( i = 0 to 5 ) { value[i] &= mask[i] }

which isnt a problem, however if thats a loop i dont need, then it would be nice to drop it

moreso my functions for << and >> are pretty ugly and i know im losing the benefits of bitwise stuff with the way ive done it

thanks

[weaknessforcats]

If you are really using C++, then you should be using the bitset<> template from the C++ Standard LIbrary:

[code=cpp]
bitset<32> mybits; //creates 32 bits
mybits.Set(15); //set bit 15 to true
mybits.Reset(8) ; //reset bit 8 to false
mybits.flip(5); //flip true to false or false to true as the case may be
mybits.test(20) //returns true if bit 20 is true and false otherwise.
etc...
[/code]

The use of C-style bitfields is not compatible with C++.

[vusak]

ive wrapped it all up nicely in class, i didnt find bitset flexible enough for my needs, im trying to maintain hardware and compiler independence, although im not too experienced with working on this kind of data type in this way

but if there is a way to perform bitwise ops across contiguous bits of memory, id love to know, ive been searching all over