C++ struct alignment question

Question

I have a predefined struct (actually several) where variables span across 32-bit word boundary. In Linux (and Windows using GCC) I am able to get my structs to pack to the

Answer 1

Shorter example with only conforming code

---

struct unpacked {  // apparently my other example was too long and confusing
    uint32_t a;    // ...here is a much shorter example with only the conforming
    uint32_t b;    // ...code. (The other program had the gcc-specific declaration,
    uint32_t c;    // but only for test code. Still, it was a bit long.)
    uint32_t troubleMaker;
};

struct unpacked su;
char *bits = "Lorem ipsum dolor";

void f(void) {
  uint32_t x;

  memcpy(&x, bits, 4);
  su.a = x & 7;
  su.b = x >> 3 & 1;
  su.c = x >> 4 & 0x7fff;
  memcpy(&x, bits + 2, 4);
  su.troubleMaker = x >> 3 & 0xffff;
  return 0;
}