[Rd] 1954 from NA

[Adrian Dușa]

Dear R devs,

I am probably missing something obvious, but still trying to understand why
the 1954 from the definition of an NA has to fill 32 bits when it normally
doesn't need more than 16.

Wouldn't the code below achieve exactly the same thing?

typedef union
{
    double value;
    unsigned short word[4];
} ieee_double;


#ifdef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
static CONST int hw = 0;
static CONST int lw = 3;
#else  /* !WORDS_BIGENDIAN */
static CONST int hw = 3;
static CONST int lw = 0;
#endif /* WORDS_BIGENDIAN */


static double R_ValueOfNA(void)
{
    volatile ieee_double x;
    x.word[hw] = 0x7ff0;
    x.word[lw] = 1954;
    return x.value;
}

This question has to do with the tagged NA values from package haven, on
which I want to improve. Every available bit counts, especially if
multi-byte characters are going to be involved.

Best wishes,
-- 
Adrian Dusa
University of Bucharest
Romanian Social Data Archive
Soseaua Panduri nr. 90-92
050663 Bucharest sector 5
Romania
https://adriandusa.eu

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