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I2BIN()

Convert Harbour numeric into signed short encoded bytes
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 Syntax

        I2BIN( <nNumber> ) --> cBuffer  

 Arguments

        <nNumber>   is a numeric value to convert (decimal digits are 
                  ignored).

 Returns

        I2BIN()   return two bytes character string that contain 16 bit 
                  encoded signed short integer (least significant byte
                  first).

 Description

      I2BIN() is one of the low level binary conversion functions, those
      functions convert between Harbour numeric and a character
      representation of numeric value. I2BIN() take a numeric integer
      value and convert it into two bytes of encoded 16 bit signed short
      integer.

      You might ask what is the need for such functions, well, first of
      all it allow you to read/write information from/to a binary file
      (like extracting information from DBF header), it is also a useful
      way to share information from source other than Harbour (C for
      instance).

      I2BIN() is the opposite of BIN2I()

 Examples

 
      // Update DBF "last update" date
      #include "fileio.ch"
      FUNCTION main()
      LOCAL nHandle, cYear, cMonth, cDay
      use test
      ? "Original update date is:", lupdate()
      close
      nHandle := fopen( "test.dbf", FO_READWRITE )
      IF nHandle > 0
         fseek( nHandle, 1, )
         cYear  := I2BIN( 68 )
         cMonth := I2BIN(  8 )
         cDay   := I2BIN(  1 )
         fwrite( nHandle, cYear , 1 )   // write only the first byte
         fwrite( nHandle, cMonth, 1 )
         fwrite( nHandle, cDay  , 1 )
         fclose( nHandle )
         use test
         ? "New update date is:", lupdate()
         close
      ELSE
         ? "Can not open file"
      ENDIF
      RETURN NIL
 

Status

      Ready

 Compliance

      I2BIN() works exactly like CA-Clipper's I2BIN()

 Files

      Library is rtl