XPost: alt.folklore.computers   
   From: johnl@taugh.com   
      
   According to John Ames  :   
   >> No. You simply used *casting* .   
   >>   
   >> k=*(int *)(buffer +4) etc etc.   
   >   
   >You do have to be careful with this as it's not guaranteed that the   
   >compiler won't take liberties in arranging members of a struct for   
   >optimization purposes, ...   
      
   No, the C Standard says:   
      
     Within a structure object, the non-bit-field members and the units in which   
   bit-fields   
     reside have addresses that increase in the order in which they are declared.   
      
   There can be bits of padding to get fields aligned as needed, but no   
   reordering.   
   It is pretty common to use structure declarations with common fields at the   
   front to do varriant records.   
      
   --   
   Regards,   
   John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for   
   Dummies",   
   Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly   
      
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