Converting an int into a 4 byte char array (C)

Question

Hey, I\'m looking to convert a int that is inputed by the user into 4 bytes, that I am assigning to a character array. How can this be done?

Example:

Convert

Answer 1

An int is equivalent to uint32_t and char to uint8_t.

I'll show how I resolved client-server communication, sending the actual time (4 bytes, formatted in Unix epoch) in a 1-bit array, and then re-built it in the other side. (Note: the protocol was to send 1024 bytes)

• Client side

  uint8_t message[1024];
  uint32_t t = time(NULL);
  
  uint8_t watch[4] = { t & 255, (t >> 8) & 255, (t >> 16) & 255, (t >> 
  24) & 255 };
  
  message[0] = watch[0];
  message[1] = watch[1];
  message[2] = watch[2];
  message[3] = watch[3];
  send(socket, message, 1024, 0);
  

• Server side

  uint8_t res[1024];
  uint32_t date;
  
  recv(socket, res, 1024, 0);
  
  date = res[0] + (res[1] << 8) + (res[2] << 16) + (res[3] << 24);
  
  printf("Received message from client %d sent at %d\n", socket, date);
  

Hope it helps.