What's the proper way to initialize an unsigned integer to 0xFFFFFFFF in Powershell?

Question

My CRC calculation algorithm requires that I initialize a 32-bit unsigned integer variable to 0xFFFFFFFF (all 1's in binary so that I can use the variable as a bitmask). If I just write [uint32]$r=0xFFFFFFFF, I get the following error message:

Cannot convert value "-1" to type "System.UInt32". Error: "Value was either too large or too small for a UInt32."

The syntax I'm currently using is [uint32]$r="0xFFFFFFFF", but it seems a bit over the top with the string to integer conversion (I'm coming from the C/C++ programming world). I'm pretty new to Powershell, so I was wondering if Powershell has a more efficient/straightforward way of initializing a variable like this.

You can use `[UInt32] "0xFFFFFFFF"` - why is that "over the top"? — Bill_Stewart, Dec 19 '17 at 20:46
You don't need the string. PowerShell interprets `0xFFFFFFFF` as a hex value. — Maximilian Burszley, Dec 19 '17 at 21:11
Yes, but you can't cast directly as `UInt32` without the quotes--because `0xFFFFFFFF` casts to `Int` value `-1` on right-hand side first. The quotes avoid the right-hand cast and allows left-hand cast to work. — Bill_Stewart, Dec 19 '17 at 21:38

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 19 '17 at 20:53

6

How about [UInt32]::MaxValue.

The value of this constant is 4,294,967,295; that is, hexadecimal 0xFFFFFFFF.

answered Dec 19 '17 at 20:53

vrdse

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This can be validated with the following snippet: `'{0:x}' -f [UInt32]::MaxValue` – Maximilian Burszley Dec 19 '17 at 21:29

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 19 '17 at 21:19

0

PowerShell doesn't have any syntax for UInt32 literals, but you could cast an Int64 literal to [uint32] with the l type postfix:

[uint32]0xFFFFFFFFl

answered Dec 19 '17 at 21:19

Mathias R. Jessen

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What's the proper way to initialize an unsigned integer to 0xFFFFFFFF in Powershell?

2 Answers2