BitArray Class¶

class BitArray([auto, length, offset, **kwargs])¶

The Bits class is the base class for BitArray and so (with the exception of __hash__) all of its methods are also available for BitArray objects. The initialiser is also the same as for Bits and so won’t be repeated here.

A BitArray is a mutable Bits, and so the one thing all of the methods listed here have in common is that they can modify the contents of the bitstring.

Methods¶

append¶

BitArray.append(bs)¶
Join a BitArray to the end of the current BitArray.
>>> s = BitArray('0xbad')
>>> s.append('0xf00d')
>>> s
BitArray('0xbadf00d')

byteswap¶

BitArray.byteswap([fmt, start, end, repeat=True])¶
Change the endianness of the BitArray in-place according to fmt. Return the number of swaps done.

The fmt can be an integer, an iterable of integers or a compact format string similar to those used in pack (described in Compact format strings). It defaults to 0, which means reverse as many bytes as possible. The fmt gives a pattern of byte sizes to use to swap the endianness of the BitArray. Note that if you use a compact format string then the endianness identifier (<, > or @) is not needed, and if present it will be ignored.

start and end optionally give a slice to apply the transformation to (it defaults to the whole BitArray). If repeat is True then the byte swapping pattern given by the fmt is repeated in its entirety as many times as possible.
>>> s = BitArray('0x00112233445566')
>>> s.byteswap(2)
3
>>> s
BitArray('0x11003322554466')
>>> s.byteswap('h')
3
>>> s
BitArray('0x00112233445566')
>>> s.byteswap([2, 5])
1
>>> s
BitArray('0x11006655443322')
It can also be used to swap the endianness of the whole BitArray.
>>> s = BitArray('uintle32=1234')
>>> s.byteswap()
>>> print(s.uintbe)
1234

clear¶

BitArray.clear()¶

Removes all bits from the bitstring.

s.clear() is equivalent to del s[:] and simply makes the bitstring empty.

insert¶

BitArray.insert(bs, pos)¶
Inserts bs at pos.

When used with the BitStream class the pos is optional, and if not present the current bit position will be used. After insertion the property pos will be immediately after the inserted bitstring.
>>> s = BitStream('0xccee')
>>> s.insert('0xd', 8)
>>> s
BitStream('0xccdee')
>>> s.insert('0x00')
>>> s
BitStream('0xccd00ee')

invert¶

BitArray.invert([pos])¶
Inverts one or many bits from 1 to 0 or vice versa.

pos can be either a single bit position or an iterable of bit positions. Negative numbers are treated in the same way as slice indices and it will raise IndexError if pos < -len(s) or pos > len(s). The default is to invert the entire BitArray.
>>> s = BitArray('0b111001')
>>> s.invert(0)
>>> s.bin
'011001'
>>> s.invert([-2, -1])
>>> s.bin
'011010'
>>> s.invert()
>>> s.bin
'100101'

overwrite¶

BitArray.overwrite(bs, pos)¶
Replaces the contents of the current BitArray with bs at pos.

When used with the BitStream class the pos is optional, and if not present the current bit position will be used. After insertion the property pos will be immediately after the overwritten bitstring.
>>> s = BitArray(length=10)
>>> s.overwrite('0b111', 3)
>>> s
BitArray('0b0001110000')
>>> s.pos
6

prepend¶

BitArray.prepend(bs)¶
Inserts bs at the beginning of the current BitArray.
>>> s = BitArray('0b0')
>>> s.prepend('0xf')
>>> s
BitArray('0b11110')

replace¶

BitArray.replace(old, new[, start, end, count, bytealigned])¶
Finds occurrences of old and replaces them with new. Returns the number of replacements made.

If bytealigned is True then replacements will only be made on byte boundaries. start and end give the search range and default to 0 and len respectively. If count is specified then no more than this many replacements will be made.
>>> s = BitArray('0b0011001')
>>> s.replace('0b1', '0xf')
3
>>> print(s.bin)
0011111111001111
>>> s.replace('0b1', '', count=6)
6
>>> print(s.bin)
0011001111

reverse¶

BitArray.reverse([start, end])¶
Reverses bits in the BitArray in-place.

start and end give the range and default to 0 and len respectively.
>>> a = BitArray('0b10111')
>>> a.reverse()
>>> a.bin
'11101'

rol¶

BitArray.rol(bits[, start, end])¶
Rotates the contents of the BitArray in-place by bits bits to the left.

start and end define the slice to use and default to 0 and len respectively.

Raises ValueError if bits < 0.
>>> s = BitArray('0b01000001')
>>> s.rol(2)
>>> s.bin
'00000101'

ror¶

BitArray.ror(bits[, start, end])¶

Rotates the contents of the BitArray in-place by bits bits to the right.

start and end define the slice to use and default to 0 and len respectively.

Raises ValueError if bits < 0.

set¶

BitArray.set(value[, pos])¶
Sets one or many bits to either 1 (if value is True) or 0 (if value isn’t True). pos can be either a single bit position or an iterable of bit positions. Negative numbers are treated in the same way as slice indices and it will raise IndexError if pos < -len(s) or pos > len(s). The default is to set every bit in the BitArray.

Using s.set(True, x) can be more efficient than other equivalent methods such as s[x] = 1, s[x] = "0b1" or s.overwrite('0b1', x), especially if many bits are being set.
>>> s = BitArray('0x0000')
>>> s.set(True, -1)
>>> print(s)
0x0001
>>> s.set(1, (0, 4, 5, 7, 9))
>>> s.bin
'1000110101000001'
>>> s.set(0)
>>> s.bin
'0000000000000000'

Properties¶

Note that the bin, oct, hex, int, uint and float properties can all be shortened to their initial letter. Properties can also have a length in bits appended to them to make properties such as u8 or floatle64 (a length after ths bytes property is an exception as it is in units of bytes instead of bits). These properties with lengths can be used to quickly create a new bitstring.

>>> a = BitArray()
>>> a.f32 = 17.6
>>> a.h
'418ccccd'
>>> a.i7 = -1
>>> a.b
'1111111'

bin / b¶

BitArray.bin

BitArray.b

Writable version of Bits.bin.

bfloat / bfloatbe / bfloatle / bfloatne¶

BitArray.bfloat

BitArray.bfloatbe

BitArray.bfloatle

BitArray.bfloatne

Writable versions of Bits.bfloat / Bits.bfloatbe / Bits.bfloatle / Bits.bfloatne.

bool¶

BitArray.bool

Writable version of Bits.bool.

bytes¶

BitArray.bytes

Writable version of Bits.bytes.

hex / h¶

BitArray.hex

BitArray.h

Writable version of Bits.hex.

int / i¶

BitArray.int
BitArray.i
Writable version of Bits.int. The properties can have a bit length appended to it such as i32 or int5 to specify the new length of the bitstring. Using a length too small to contain the value given will raise a CreationError.

When used as a setter without a new length the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.
>>> s = BitArray('0xf3')
>>> s.int
-13
>>> s.int = 1232
ValueError: int 1232 is too large for a BitArray of length 8.

intbe¶

BitArray.intbe

Writable version of Bits.intbe.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

intle¶

BitArray.intle

Writable version of Bits.intle.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

intne¶

BitArray.intne

Writable version of Bits.intne.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

float / floatbe / f¶

BitArray.float

BitArray.floatbe

BitArray.f

Writable version of Bits.float. The standard float, the big-endian floatbe and the shortened f are all equivalent.

The properties can have a bit length appended to them such as f16 or floatle64 to specify the new length of the bitstring. Using a length that doesn’t support any floating point types will raise a CreationError.

floatle¶

BitArray.floatle

Writable version of Bits.floatle.

floatne¶

BitArray.floatne

Writable version of Bits.floatne.

oct / o¶

BitArray.oct

BitArray.o

Writable version of Bits.oct.

se¶

BitArray.se

Writable version of Bits.se.

ue¶

BitArray.ue

Writable version of Bits.uie.

sie¶

BitArray.sie

Writable version of Bits.sie.

uie¶

BitArray.uie

Writable version of Bits.ue.

uint / u¶

BitArray.uint

BitArray.u

Writable version of Bits.uint.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

uintbe¶

BitArray.uintbe

Writable version of Bits.uintbe.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

uintle¶

BitArray.uintle

Writable version of Bits.uintle.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

uintne¶

BitArray.uintne

Writable version of Bits.uintne.

When used as a setter the value must fit into the current length of the BitArray, else a ValueError will be raised.

Special Methods¶

delitem¶

BitArray.__delitem__(key)¶

del s[start:end:step]

Deletes the slice specified.

iadd¶

BitArray.__iadd__(bs)¶
s1 += s2

Appends bs to the current bitstring.

Note that for BitArray objects this will be an in-place change, whereas for Bits objects using += will not call this method - instead a new object will be created (it is equivalent to a copy and an __add__).
>>> s = BitArray(ue=423)
>>> s += BitArray(ue=12)
>>> s.read('ue')
423
>>> s.read('ue')
12

iand¶

BitArray.__iand__(bs)¶

s &= bs

In-place bit-wise AND between two bitstrings. If the two bitstrings are not the same length then a ValueError is raised.

ilshift¶

BitArray.__ilshift__(n)¶

s <<= n

Shifts the bits in-place n bits to the left. The n right-most bits will become zeros and bits shifted off the left will be lost.

imul¶

BitArray.__imul__(n)¶
s *= n

In-place concatenation of n copies of the current bitstring.
>>> s = BitArray('0xbad')
>>> s *= 3
>>> s.hex
'badbadbad'

ior¶

BitArray.__ior__(bs)¶

s |= bs

In-place bit-wise OR between two bitstrings. If the two bitstrings are not the same length then a ValueError is raised.

irshift¶

BitArray.__irshift__(n)¶

s >>= n

Shifts the bits in-place n bits to the right. The n left-most bits will become zeros and bits shifted off the right will be lost.

ixor¶

BitArray.__ixor__(bs)¶

s ^= bs

In-place bit-wise XOR between two bitstrings. If the two bitstrings are not the same length then a ValueError is raised.

setitem¶

BitArray.__setitem__(key, value)¶
s1[start:end:step] = s2

Replaces the slice specified with a new value.
>>> s = BitArray('0x00000000')
>>> s[::8] = '0xf'
>>> print(s)
0x80808080
>>> s[-12:] = '0xf'
>>> print(s)
0x80808f