The problem is that the b format is for unsigned integers only, so your -1 gets turned into an unsigned int and printing that overflows your field width, giving you lots of ones.The help for sprintf says :-

%b an unsigned integer, in binary

BTW sprintf always prints the entire number even if it's bigger than the field width, so this is never going to work for 10 bit binary.


In reply to Re: Converting negative number to binary with specific width by RichardK
in thread Converting negative number to binary with specific width by pjkang7

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