badmatch_question.erl

% 16:21 < badmatch> Is there any way to create binary of given length from 
%                   string, i.e. <<Name:(12*8)>> when Name can be larger 
%                  (cut it) or smaller (add trailing zeros) than 12 bytes?

% nox's solution on-channel
-module(badmatch_question).
-compile(export_all).

-spec binary_with_zero_pad(string(), non_neg_integer()) -> binary().
binary_with_zero_pad(Str, N) ->
  Bin = list_to_binary(lists:sublist(Str, N)),
  <<Bin/binary, 0:(N - byte_size(Bin))/unit:8>>.

courtesy of nox:

Bin = list_to_binary(lists:sublist(L, N)), <<Bin/binary,0:(N - byte_size(Bin))/unit:8>>.

Ah, thanks, just saw the comment when I edited. :o)