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Last active November 30, 2015 20:26
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Bit flags
This is an example, using a 8-bit unsigned integer to store 8 flags:
`unsigned char options;`
It is common to use larger fields, e.g. 32 bits, but I use 8 here for simplicity.
The possible options, that can be turned on or off independently are declared in an enum like this (just using some arbitrary identifiers):
```
enum Options {
OpAutoRedraw = 0x01,
OpAntiAlias = 0x02,
OpPixelShader = 0x04,
OpVertexShader = 0x08,
OpFullscreen = 0x10,
OpDaylight = 0x20
// ...
};
```
Note how each option is given a specific value. These values are carefully picked to match each bit in the 8-bit variable:
```
// 0x01 == 1 == "00000001"
// 0x02 == 2 == "00000010"
// 0x04 == 4 == "00000100"
// 0x08 == 8 == "00001000"
// 0x10 == 16 == "00010000"
// 0x20 == 32 == "00100000"
// 0x40 == 64 == "01000000"
// 0x80 == 128 == "10000000"
```
Now, each flag can be set independently, by using the bitwise OR operator:
```
options = OpAutoRedraw | OpVertexShader | OpFullscreen;
// options == 0x01 | 0x08 | 0x10 == "00011001"
```
And can be tested using the bitwise AND operator:
```
if (options & OpAutoRedraw) {} // true
if (options & OpAntiAlias) {} // false
```
I hope this helps!
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