\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{article} % Packages \usepackage{fancyhdr} % For header and footer \usepackage{multicol} % Allows multicols in tables \usepackage{tabularx} % Intelligent column widths \usepackage{tabulary} % Used in header and footer \usepackage{hhline} % Border under tables \usepackage{graphicx} % For images \usepackage{xcolor} % For hex colours %\usepackage[utf8x]{inputenc} % For unicode character support \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} % Without this we get weird character replacements \usepackage{colortbl} % For coloured tables \usepackage{setspace} % For line height \usepackage{lastpage} % Needed for total page number \usepackage{seqsplit} % Splits long words. %\usepackage{opensans} % Can't make this work so far. Shame. Would be lovely. \usepackage[normalem]{ulem} % For underlining links % Most of the following are not required for the majority % of cheat sheets but are needed for some symbol support. \usepackage{amsmath} % Symbols \usepackage{MnSymbol} % Symbols \usepackage{wasysym} % Symbols %\usepackage[english,german,french,spanish,italian]{babel} % Languages % Document Info \author{Magnus (Fylke)} \pdfinfo{ /Title (erlang-binaries.pdf) /Creator (Cheatography) /Author (Magnus (Fylke)) /Subject (Erlang Binaries Cheat Sheet) } % Lengths and widths \addtolength{\textwidth}{6cm} \addtolength{\textheight}{-1cm} \addtolength{\hoffset}{-3cm} \addtolength{\voffset}{-2cm} \setlength{\tabcolsep}{0.2cm} % Space between columns \setlength{\headsep}{-12pt} % Reduce space between header and content \setlength{\headheight}{85pt} % If less, LaTeX automatically increases it \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt} % Remove footer line \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt} % Remove header line \renewcommand{\seqinsert}{\ifmmode\allowbreak\else\-\fi} % Hyphens in seqsplit % This two commands together give roughly % the right line height in the tables \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} \onehalfspacing % Commands \newcommand{\SetRowColor}[1]{\noalign{\gdef\RowColorName{#1}}\rowcolor{\RowColorName}} % Shortcut for row colour \newcommand{\mymulticolumn}[3]{\multicolumn{#1}{>{\columncolor{\RowColorName}}#2}{#3}} % For coloured multi-cols \newcolumntype{x}[1]{>{\raggedright}p{#1}} % New column types for ragged-right paragraph columns \newcommand{\tn}{\tabularnewline} % Required as custom column type in use % Font and Colours \definecolor{HeadBackground}{HTML}{333333} \definecolor{FootBackground}{HTML}{666666} \definecolor{TextColor}{HTML}{333333} \definecolor{DarkBackground}{HTML}{66AADE} \definecolor{LightBackground}{HTML}{EBF4FA} \renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault} \color{TextColor} % Header and Footer \pagestyle{fancy} \fancyhead{} % Set header to blank \fancyfoot{} % Set footer to blank \fancyhead[L]{ \noindent \begin{multicols}{3} \begin{tabulary}{5.8cm}{C} \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \vspace{-7pt} {\parbox{\dimexpr\textwidth-2\fboxsep\relax}{\noindent \hspace*{-6pt}\includegraphics[width=5.8cm]{/web/www.cheatography.com/public/images/cheatography_logo.pdf}} } \end{tabulary} \columnbreak \begin{tabulary}{11cm}{L} \vspace{-2pt}\large{\bf{\textcolor{DarkBackground}{\textrm{Erlang Binaries Cheat Sheet}}}} \\ \normalsize{by \textcolor{DarkBackground}{Magnus (Fylke)} via \textcolor{DarkBackground}{\uline{cheatography.com/93081/cs/20609/}}} \end{tabulary} \end{multicols}} \fancyfoot[L]{ \footnotesize \noindent \begin{multicols}{3} \begin{tabulary}{5.8cm}{LL} \SetRowColor{FootBackground} \mymulticolumn{2}{p{5.377cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Cheatographer}} \\ \vspace{-2pt}Magnus (Fylke) \\ \uline{cheatography.com/fylke} \\ \end{tabulary} \vfill \columnbreak \begin{tabulary}{5.8cm}{L} \SetRowColor{FootBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{p{5.377cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Cheat Sheet}} \\ \vspace{-2pt}Published 25th September, 2019.\\ Updated 8th March, 2023.\\ Page {\thepage} of \pageref{LastPage}. \end{tabulary} \vfill \columnbreak \begin{tabulary}{5.8cm}{L} \SetRowColor{FootBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{p{5.377cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Sponsor}} \\ \SetRowColor{white} \vspace{-5pt} %\includegraphics[width=48px,height=48px]{dave.jpeg} Measure your website readability!\\ www.readability-score.com \end{tabulary} \end{multicols}} \begin{document} \raggedright \raggedcolumns % Set font size to small. Switch to any value % from this page to resize cheat sheet text: % www.emerson.emory.edu/services/latex/latex_169.html \footnotesize % Small font. \begin{multicols*}{2} \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{X} \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Overview}} \tn \SetRowColor{white} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{Erlang can match binaries just as any list of things. `\textless{}\textless{}E1, E2, E3\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = Bin` divides the binary `Bin` into three elements of type `integer` of one byte each. This means that `Bin` has to be 24 bits long, or we get a `badmatch`. You can also make partial matches, in a `{[}Head | Tail{]}` fashion, by putting `/bitstring` on the last element, like so: `\textless{}\textless{}E1, E2, E3/bitstring\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = Bin`. This is a {\bf{type modifier}} and tells Erlang that there are two 8-bit elements, in `E1` and `E2` respectively, and then an undetermined amount of bits stored in `E3`.% Row Count 11 (+ 11) } \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}-} \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{x{2.66 cm} x{1.596 cm} x{3.344 cm} } \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{3}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Type Modifiers}} \tn % Row 0 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} {\bf{Type}} & {\bf{Size in bits}} & {\bf{Remarks}} \tn % Row Count 2 (+ 2) % Row 1 \SetRowColor{white} `integer` & As many as it takes & Default size is 8 bits \tn % Row Count 5 (+ 3) % Row 2 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} `float` & {\bf{64}}|32|16 & Need to specify length if other than default: \{\{noshy\}\}`\textless{}\textless{}A:16/float\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` \tn % Row Count 10 (+ 5) % Row 3 \SetRowColor{white} \{\{noshy\}\}`binary|bytes` & 8 per chunk & Anything matched must be of size evenly divisible by 8 (this is default) \tn % Row Count 15 (+ 5) % Row 4 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} \{\{noshy\}\}`bitstring|bits` & 1 per chunk & Will always match, use as Tail for a list \tn % Row Count 18 (+ 3) % Row 5 \SetRowColor{white} \{\{noshy\}\}`utf8|utf16|utf32` & 8-32, 16-32, and 32 & `\textless{}\textless{}"abc"/utf8\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` is the same as `\textless{}\textless{}\$a/utf8, \$b/utf8, \$c/utf8\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` \tn % Row Count 22 (+ 4) % Row 6 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} \{\{noshy\}\}`signed|{\bf{unsigned}}` & N/A & Default is unsigned \tn % Row Count 25 (+ 3) % Row 7 \SetRowColor{white} \{\{noshy\}\}`{\bf{big}}|little|native` & N/A & Endianness - `native` is resolved at load time to whatever the CPU uses \tn % Row Count 30 (+ 5) \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} \vfill \columnbreak \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{x{2.66 cm} x{1.596 cm} x{3.344 cm} } \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{3}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Type Modifiers (cont)}} \tn % Row 8 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} \{\{noshy\}\}`unit:IntLiteral` & N/A & Define a custom unit of length 1..256 \tn % Row Count 3 (+ 3) \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}---} \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{x{4 cm} x{4 cm} } \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{2}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Examples}} \tn % Row 0 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} {\bf{Expression}} & {\bf{Result}} \tn % Row Count 1 (+ 1) % Row 1 \SetRowColor{white} `\textless{}\textless{}97, 98, 99\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & `\textless{}\textless{}"abc"\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` (turn off with \seqsplit{`shell:strings(false)`)} \tn % Row Count 4 (+ 3) % Row 2 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} `\textless{}\textless{}A:2/unit:6, B:1/unit:4\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = \textless{}\textless{}7, 42\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & `A = 114` `B = 10` \tn % Row Count 6 (+ 2) % Row 3 \SetRowColor{white} `\textless{}\textless{}A:16/float\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = \textless{}\textless{}1, 17\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & \seqsplit{`1.627206802368164e-5`} \tn % Row Count 8 (+ 2) % Row 4 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} `\textless{}\textless{}A/signed\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = \textless{}\textless{}255\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & `-1` \tn % Row Count 10 (+ 2) % Row 5 \SetRowColor{white} `\textless{}\textless{}A:16/big\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = \textless{}\textless{}255, 0\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & `65280` \tn % Row Count 12 (+ 2) % Row 6 \SetRowColor{LightBackground} `\textless{}\textless{}A:16/little\textgreater{}\textgreater{} = \textless{}\textless{}255, 0\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & `255` \tn % Row Count 14 (+ 2) % Row 7 \SetRowColor{white} `\textless{}\textless{}"p{\"o}pc{\"o}rn"/utf8\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` & How Erlang handles unicode \tn % Row Count 16 (+ 2) \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}--} \SetRowColor{LightBackground} \mymulticolumn{2}{x{8.4cm}}{When constructing a binary, if the size of an integer `N` is too large to fit inside the given segment, the most significant bits are silently discarded and only the `N` least significant bits kept.} \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}--} \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{X} \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Segments}} \tn \SetRowColor{white} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{Each segment in a binary has the following general syntax: \{\{noshy\}\}`Value:Size/TypeSpecifierList`. The `Size` and `TypeSpecifier` can be omitted. \newline % Row Count 3 (+ 3) `Value` is either a literal or a variable, `Size` is multiplied by the unit in `TypeSpecifierList`, and can be any expression that evaluates to an `integer`\textasciicircum{}1\textasciicircum{}. Think of 'Size' as the number of items of the type in the 'TypeSpecifierList' \newline % Row Count 8 (+ 5) {\bf{Contrived example:}} `\textless{}\textless{}X:4/little-signed-integer-unit:8\textgreater{}\textgreater{}` has a total size of 4*8 = 32 bits, and it contains a signed integer in little endian byte order.% Row Count 12 (+ 4) } \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}-} \SetRowColor{LightBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{\textasciicircum{}1\textasciicircum{} Mostly true, see Bit Syntax Expressions in Erlang documentation for complete picture.} \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}-} \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{X} \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Binary Comprehension Example}} \tn \SetRowColor{white} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{Just like with lists, there is a notation for binary comprehension. Below is an example of how to use this to convert a 32 bit integer into a hex representation: \newline % Row Count 4 (+ 4) `int\_as\_hex(Int) -\textgreater{}` \newline % Row Count 5 (+ 1) `~~~~IntAsBin = \textless{}\textless{}Int:32\textgreater{}\textgreater{},` \newline % Row Count 6 (+ 1) `~~~~"0x" ++ lists:flatten({[}byte\_to\_hex(\textless{}\textless{}Byte\textgreater{}\textgreater{}) || \textless{}\textless{}Byte:8\textgreater{}\textgreater{} \textless{}= IntAsBin{]}).` \newline % Row Count 8 (+ 2) `byte\_to\_hex(\textless{}\textless{}Nibble1:4, Nibble2:4\textgreater{}\textgreater{}) -\textgreater{}` \newline % Row Count 9 (+ 1) `~~~~{[}integer\_to\_list(Nibble1, 16), \seqsplit{integer\_to\_list(Nibble2}, 16)){]}.`% Row Count 11 (+ 2) } \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}-} \SetRowColor{LightBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{You can mix list- and binary comprehension: if the generator is a list, use `\textless{}-`, if it's a binary, use `\textless{}=`. If you want the result to be a binary, use `\textless{}\textless{}\textgreater{}\textgreater{}`, if you want a list, use `{[}{]}` around the expression.} \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}-} \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} \begin{tabularx}{8.4cm}{X} \SetRowColor{DarkBackground} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{\bf\textcolor{white}{Troubleshooting}} \tn \SetRowColor{white} \mymulticolumn{1}{x{8.4cm}}{Use the Erlang shell to trial and error you way to a correct expression. A useful tool for understanding why your binaries are badmatching is `bit\_size`: \newline % Row Count 4 (+ 4) `bit\_size(\textless{}\textless{}1/integer\textgreater{}\textgreater{}). =\textgreater{} 8` `bit\_size(\textless{}\textless{}\textless{}\textless{}1:1, 0:1\textgreater{}\textgreater{}/bitstring\textgreater{}\textgreater{}). =\textgreater{} 2` \newline % Row Count 6 (+ 2) `bit\_size(\textless{}\textless{}1.0/float\textgreater{}\textgreater{}). =\textgreater{} 64` `bit\_size(\textless{}\textless{}\textless{}\textless{}1, 2\textgreater{}\textgreater{}/binary\textgreater{}\textgreater{}). =\textgreater{} 16` \newline % Row Count 8 (+ 2) A related one is `byte\_size`: \newline % Row Count 9 (+ 1) `MinBytesToEncodeNumber = \seqsplit{byte\_size(binary:encode\_unsigned(Number))}.`% Row Count 11 (+ 2) } \tn \hhline{>{\arrayrulecolor{DarkBackground}}-} \end{tabularx} \par\addvspace{1.3em} % That's all folks \end{multicols*} \end{document}