Since you are using the term "$rec_len", the perhaps significant thing here is what is called Network order.
The Internet Protocol defines big-endian as the standard network byte order used for all numeric values in the packet headers and by many higher level protocols and file formats that are designed for use over IP....other stuff about the socket API...
The internet wouldn't work if there weren't some standards for this stuff. Often communicating over the internet requires conversion from the little endian format to big endian (Intel is a major force!). Local file storage is usually done in the native way the platform most naturally uses.
This whole business gets really messy if you are transferring a file between different architectures -> you just have to know what it is that you are dealing with. Standards for floating point binary are problematic.
But often you do know - example if it is say a Microsoft .WAV file - it is little endian and there is a detailed spec that defines all this.
Anyway sorry there is no "one size fits all" that can be universally discovered on the "fly". I should note that if you are defining the protocol, converting to an ascii representation within a file is "thinkable" if the performance hit is not a problem.
In reply to Re: How to easily convert the pack function from little endian to big endian
by Marshall
in thread How to easily convert the pack function from little endian to big endian
by semiconPERL
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