String to Word Array?

[Phredrick Dobbs]

I know that there is a string to byte array function, but I need a string to word array. Not knowing much about variable types in labview, the way I would do this would be to multiply the 0, n, 2n... bytes by 256, and add them to the 1, n+1, 2n+1... bytes respecitively, storing the result in a new array of words.

Is there a more elegant method or a built in function for doing so?

[Phredrick Dobbs]

Also, I have another question (which popped up after closer inspection). The file format I'm using is:

Two byte binary number (space) Two byte binary number (space) ... etc.

So the above would not help.

So what I did was decimate the array into 3 arrays and ignored the 3rd and did what I described above.

Is there a better way of doing this, also?

-Dobbs

[Photon_Dan]

If you've got a two-byte BINARY number, none of the above will work. 😞 I think you mean a two-byte integer number. Also, the string to byte array converts strings to an array of their raw ASCII byte values. I thought that's what you wanted, but if what you are talking about is a string like "12 34 56 78" and you want an array with elements {12, 34, 56, 78}, you'll have to do some more fiddling. You could use the "Spreadsheet String to Array" function with as the delimiter. Just remember to slap an =CR LF at the end of your string. Also, make a %d (or %x if your string is hex) as the format specifier. Wire up a 2D (!) array of U16 and then index the output to get your 1D array of words.

Dan Press
www.primetest.com

[Phredrick Dobbs]

Terribly sorry, I meant an integer composed of 16 bits in a maximally efficient manner.
That is in binary format, as opposed to ASCII format.

(The format such that you can represent 0 to 65535 with 2 bytes on the hard drive. I call it a binary number, but I suppose you were thinking something like the ASCII string "01"?)

-Dobbs

It all works, though, except for my other and much stranger problem:

http://exchange.ni.com/servlet/ProcessRequest?RHIVEID=101&RPAGEID=135&HOID=506500000008000000A1270000&UCATEGORY_0=_49_%24_6_&UCATEGORY_S=0

[Rob Cole]

I have built a library VI for turning a string containing hex data into an array of bytes. This may be the kind of thing you are looking for.

After reading your answer that contains further questions, I did a quick modification to skip every third character.

My routine uses a for loop and then gets one character based on the loop index times 3, gets the second character by adding one to that and then puts the characters together.

I hope this helps.

Rob

[Photon_Dan]

I think what you are asking for is a string to word array function that gives you an array of U16 integers. If so, I've got your example VI right here. Judge its elegance. Do I get extra points for using a function in the "Advanced" palette?

Dan Press
www.primetest.com

[Phredrick Dobbs]

Exquisite. Thanks, even better than mine (which has an ugly for loop in it)

Technically mine decimates the array into four pieces and ignores the last two, but close enough. 🙂

-Dobbs