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NAME

Scalar::Vec::Util - Utility routines for vec strings.

VERSION

Version 0.08

SYNOPSIS

use Scalar::Vec::Util qw<vfill vcopy veq>;
my $s;
vfill $s, 0, 100, 1; # Fill with 100 bits 1 starting at 0.
my $t;
vcopy $s, 20, $t, 10, 30; # Copy 30 bits from $s, starting at 20,
# to $t, starting at 10.
vcopy $t, 10, $t, 20, 30; # Overlapping areas DWIM.
if (veq $t, 10, $t, 20, 30) { ... } # Yes, they are equal now.

DESCRIPTION

This module provides a set of utility routines that efficiently manipulate bits in vec strings. Highly optimized XS functions are used whenever possible, but straightforward pure Perl replacements are also available for platforms without a C compiler.

Note that this module does not aim at reimplementing bit vectors : all its functions can be used on any Perl string, just like "vec" in perlfunc.

CONSTANTS

SVU_PP

True when pure Perl fallbacks are used instead of XS functions.

SVU_SIZE

The size (in bits) of the unit used for bit operations. The higher this value is, the faster the XS functions are. It is usually CHAR_BIT * $Config{alignbytes}, except on non-little-endian architectures where it currently falls back to CHAR_BIT (e.g. SPARC).

FUNCTIONS

vfill

vfill $vec, $start, $length, $bit;

Starting at $start in $vec, fills $length bits with ones if $bit is true and with zeros if $bit is false.

$vec is upgraded to a string and extended if necessary. Bits that are outside of the specified area are left untouched.

vcopy

vcopy $from => $from_start, $to => $to_start, $length;

Copies $length bits starting at $from_start in $from to $to_start in $to.

$from and $to are allowed to be the same scalar, and the given areas can rightfully overlap.

$from is upgraded to a string if it isn't one already. If $from_start + $length goes out of the bounds of $from, then the extra bits are treated as zeros. $to is upgraded to a string and extended if necessary. The content of $from is not modified, except when it is equal to $to. Bits that are outside of the specified area are left untouched.

This function does not need to allocate any extra memory.

vshift

vshift $v, $start, $length => $bits, $insert;

In the area starting at $start and of length $length in $v, shift bits abs $bits positions left if $bits > 0 and right otherwise.

When $insert is defined, the resulting gap is also filled with ones if $insert is true and with zeros if $insert is false.

$v is upgraded to a string if it isn't one already. If $start + $length goes out of the bounds of $v, then the extra bits are treated as zeros. Bits that are outside of the specified area are left untouched.

This function does not need to allocate any extra memory.

vrot

vrot $v, $start, $length, $bits;

In the area starting at $start and of length $length in $v, rotates bits abs $bits positions left if $bits > 0 and right otherwise.

$v is upgraded to a string if it isn't one already. If $start + $length goes out of the bounds of $v, then the extra bits are treated as zeros. Bits that are outside of the specified area are left untouched.

This function currently allocates an extra buffer of size O($bits).

veq

veq $v1 => $v1_start, $v2 => $v2_start, $length;

Returns true if the $length bits starting at $v1_start in $v1 and $v2_start in $v2 are equal, and false otherwise.

$v1 and $v2 are upgraded to strings if they aren't already, but their contents are never modified. If $v1_start + $length (respectively $v2_start + $length) goes out of the bounds of $v1 (respectively $v2), then the extra bits are treated as zeros.

This function does not need to allocate any extra memory.

EXPORT

The functions "vfill", "vcopy", "vshift", "vrot" and "veq" are only exported on request. All of them are exported by the tags ':funcs' and ':all'.

The constants "SVU_PP" and "SVU_SIZE" are also only exported on request. They are all exported by the tags ':consts' and ':all'.

BENCHMARKS

The following timings were obtained by running the samples/bench.pl script. The _pp entries are the pure Perl versions, whereas _bv are Bit::Vector versions.

  • This is for perl 5.8.8 on a Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz machine (unit is 64 bits).

    Filling bits at a given position :
    Rate vfill_pp vfill_bv vfill
    vfill_pp 80.3/s -- -100% -100%
    vfill_bv 1053399/s 1312401% -- -11%
    vfill 1180792/s 1471129% 12% --
    Copying bits from a bit vector to a different one :
    Rate vcopy_pp vcopy_bv vcopy
    vcopy_pp 112/s -- -100% -100%
    vcopy_bv 62599/s 55622% -- -89%
    vcopy 558491/s 497036% 792% --
    Moving bits in the same bit vector from a given position
    to a different one :
    Rate vmove_pp vmove_bv vmove
    vmove_pp 64.8/s -- -100% -100%
    vmove_bv 64742/s 99751% -- -88%
    vmove 547980/s 845043% 746% --
    Testing bit equality from different positions of different
    bit vectors :
    Rate veq_pp veq_bv veq
    veq_pp 92.7/s -- -100% -100%
    veq_bv 32777/s 35241% -- -94%
    veq 505828/s 545300% 1443% --
  • This is for perl 5.10.0 on a Pentium 4 3.0GHz (unit is 32 bits).

    Rate vfill_pp vfill_bv vfill
    vfill_pp 185/s -- -100% -100%
    vfill_bv 407979/s 220068% -- -16%
    vfill 486022/s 262184% 19% --
    Rate vcopy_pp vcopy_bv vcopy
    vcopy_pp 61.5/s -- -100% -100%
    vcopy_bv 32548/s 52853% -- -83%
    vcopy 187360/s 304724% 476% --
    Rate vmove_pp vmove_bv vmove
    vmove_pp 63.1/s -- -100% -100%
    vmove_bv 32829/s 51933% -- -83%
    vmove 188572/s 298787% 474% --
    Rate veq_pp veq_bv veq
    veq_pp 34.2/s -- -100% -100%
    veq_bv 17518/s 51190% -- -91%
    veq 192181/s 562591% 997% --
  • This is for perl 5.10.0 on an UltraSPARC-IIi (unit is 8 bits).

    Rate vfill_pp vfill vfill_bv
    vfill_pp 4.23/s -- -100% -100%
    vfill 30039/s 709283% -- -17%
    vfill_bv 36022/s 850568% 20% --
    Rate vcopy_pp vcopy_bv vcopy
    vcopy_pp 2.74/s -- -100% -100%
    vcopy_bv 8146/s 297694% -- -60%
    vcopy 20266/s 740740% 149% --
    Rate vmove_pp vmove_bv vmove
    vmove_pp 2.66/s -- -100% -100%
    vmove_bv 8274/s 311196% -- -59%
    vmove 20287/s 763190% 145% --
    Rate veq_pp veq_bv veq
    veq_pp 7.33/s -- -100% -100%
    veq_bv 2499/s 33978% -- -87%
    veq 19675/s 268193% 687% --

CAVEATS

Please report architectures where we can't use the alignment as the move unit. I'll add exceptions for them.

DEPENDENCIES

perl 5.6.

A C compiler. This module may happen to build with a C++ compiler as well, but don't rely on it, as no guarantee is made in this regard.

Carp, Exporter (core modules since perl 5), XSLoader (since perl 5.6.0).

SEE ALSO

Bit::Vector gives a complete reimplementation of bit vectors.

AUTHOR

Vincent Pit, <perl at profvince.com>, http://www.profvince.com.

You can contact me by mail or on irc.perl.org (vincent).

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-scalar-vec-util at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Scalar-Vec-Util. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc Scalar::Vec::Util

Tests code coverage report is available at http://www.profvince.com/perl/cover/Scalar-Vec-Util.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Copyright 2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013 Vincent Pit, all rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.