Hello BrowserUk

Thank you for your time and effort to help me with my problem. Thank you for the tip.

Based on my code if I am using an int size 32 bit works fine. But I was trying to get a solution for small negative numbers, no more than -127 which is the limit of 8 bit int. A tried a dew different solutions but none successfully so far, any ideas?

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my @array = (3,-3);

foreach $_ (@array){
    if ($_ < 0) {
    print "Value: $_ is negative\n";
    my $negative_b = dec2bin($_,32,"i");
    print "Negative binary: ".$negative_b."\n";
    my $negative_d = bin2dec($negative_b,"i");
    print "Negative_binary back to decimal: ".$negative_d."\n";
    }
    else {
    print "Value: $_ is possitive\n";
    my $possitive_b = dec2bin($_,8,"N");
    print "Possitive binary: ".$possitive_b."\n";
    my $possitive_d = bin2dec($possitive_b,"N");
    print "Possitive_binary back to decimal: ".$possitive_d."\n";
    }
}

sub dec2bin {
    my $bits      = shift;
    my $possition = shift;
    my $template  = shift;
    my $str = unpack("B32", pack($template, $bits));
    $str = substr $str, -$possition;
    return $str;
}

sub bin2dec {
    my $bits     = shift;
    my $template = shift;
    return unpack($template, pack("B32", substr("0" x 32 . $bits , -32
+)));
}

__END__

Value: 3 is possitive
Possitive binary: 00000011
Possitive_binary back to decimal: 3
Value: -3 is negative
Negative binary: 11111101111111111111111111111111
Negative_binary back to decimal: -3
[download]

But I was trying to get a solution for small negative numbers, no more than -127 which is the limit of 8 bit int.

If you want to pack 8-bit numbers, do not use 32-bit templates; nor 'B32'.

Think! read, and think again.

(Hint:8-bit signed numbers; 'B8' and 'c'...)

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Hello again BrowserUk,

I could not get a better answer than that. :D I will work on it, I am under some pressure to finish something else but I would love to work on it. I need to read thoroughly the documentation I agree with you 100%. Again thank you for your time and effort. I will get back to you with an answer in a few days. Hopefully soon. :D

Seeking for Perl wisdom...on the process of learning...not there...yet!