Perl in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

pack

Synopsis

pack template, list
                  

Takes a list of values and packs it into a binary structure, returning the string containing the structure. templateis a sequence of characters that give the order and type of values, as follows:

Character	Meaning
@	Null-fill to absolute position.
(	Start of a ( ) group.
a	An ASCII string, will be null padded.
A	An ASCII string, will be space padded.
b	A bit string, low-to-high order (such as vec( )).
B	A bit string, high-to-low order.
c	A signed char value.
C	An unsigned char value.
d	A double-precision float in the native format.
D	A long double-precision float in the native format. Long doubles are avai able only if your system supports long double values and if Perl has been compiled to support these values. Causes a fatal error otherwise. New in 5.8.
f	A single-precision float in the native format.
F	A floating-point value in the native format, i.e., a Perl internal floating-point value (NV). New in 5.8.
h	A hexadecimal string, low nybble first.
H	A hexadecimal string, high nybble first.
i	A signed integer value.
I	An unsigned integer value.
l	A signed long value.
j	A signed integer value, i.e., a Perl internal integer (IV). New in 5.8.
J	An unsigned integer value, i.e., a Perl internal unsigned integer (UV). New in 5.8.
L	An unsigned long value.
n	A short in “network” (big-endian) order.
N	A long in “network” (big-endian) order.
p	A pointer to a string.
P	A pointer to a structure (fixed-length string).
q	A signed quad (64-bit) value. ...