mdb_inval_bits()

const char *mdb_inval_bits(int width, int start, int stop);

The mdb_inval_bits() function is used, along with mdb_one_bit(), to print a graphical representation of a bit field. This function marks a sequence of bits as invalid or reserved by displaying an 'x' at the appropriate bit location. Each bit in the bit field is represented as a period (.), except for those bits in the range of bit positions specified by the start and stop parameters. Bits are numbered starting from zero. For example, the following source code:

mdb_printf("%s = reserved\n", mdb_inval_bits(8, 7, 7));

produces this output:

x... .... = reserved

The function returns a pointer to an appropriately sized, null-terminated string containing the formatted bit representation. The string is automatically garbage-collected upon completion of the current dcmd.