BYTESWAP Procedure

Reverse the byte order for each element of an array.

Usage

BYTESWAP, a

Input Parameters

a—A numerical array or scalar.

Output Parameters

a—On return, the byte order has been reversed in each element of a.

Keywords

None.

Discussion

This routine is useful for transferring data between big-endian and little-endian machines.

Note: The input parameter is the same as the output parameter, which means that the content of the input variable a is overwritten by the result.

Example

a = DINDGEN(9)
OPENW, 1, 'zzzz'
WRITEU, 1, a
CLOSE, 1

; On a machine with opposite endian-ness to the machine 
; used to write 'zzzz':
a = DBLARR(9)
OPENR, 1, 'zzzz'
READU, 1, a
CLOSE, 1
PM, a
BYTESWAP, a
PM, a