Thanks Dave!

The TwosComplementRegister is a good package and will be a helpful guide --
thanks for pointing me to it.

For posterity I want to post the key functionality here (which was in
#asSignedInteger). It more or less describes how to take bits (as an
ordered collection of some kind) that are already in two's complement
negative format and convert them to a Squeak negative Integer:

asSignedInteger

self negative
ifTrue: [^ ((bits reversed collect: [:e | e value not])
inject: 0
into: [:val :bit | bit value
ifTrue: [val << 1 + 1]
ifFalse: [val << 1]]) negated - 1]
ifFalse: [^ self asUnsignedInteger]

Thanks again,

On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 2:19 PM David T. Lewis <lewis at mail.msen.com> wrote:

> Try loading package TwosComplement from the SqueakMap loader, or
> install it like this:
>
>   Installer ss project: 'TwosComplement';
>       package: 'TwosComplement';
>       install.
>
> Then inspect these:
>
>   TwosComplementRegister width: 8 value: -1.
>
>   255 asRegister: 8. "same as above but note the overflow bit is set"
>
>   TwosComplementRegister width: 64 value: -1.
>
> Dave
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 02:09:15PM -0400, Eric Gade wrote:
> > Hi Karl,
> >
> > Integer readFrom: '11111111' readStream base: 2.  ?
> > >
> >
> > When I evaluate this in Squeak, the Integer produced is 255 (I need to
> get
> > from 255 to -1 -- and back again if possible).
> >
> > One hint that I've found in the image is that Integers respond to a
> message
> > #highBitOfMagnitude, which gives me the value of the most significant bit
> > in the integer. That is a starting point if I want to treat the bits in
> > twos-complement: I can determine if the desired representation should be
> > negative or positive. However, I'm not sure how to actually translate the
> > bits into a matching Squeak integer with the correct sign and value.
> >
> > Here is a more concrete explanation of my issue: In the implementation /
> > simulation, Register objects store their values as Squeak Integers, and
> > they are truncated at evaluation to be 32-bit integers. Some instructions
> > will treat a register as signed and others as unsigned. For unsigned
> > treatment, there's no problem: Squeak always has the correct bit values
> for
> > what I need. I just need to figure out what to "do" with the integer in
> the
> > register when I want to treat it as signed. In the case of a value like
> -1
> > ('11111111') I can send that #highBitOfMagnitude to determine if it
> should
> > be a negative or positive value, but then what? I can't just send
> > #negative, because that gives me -255
> >
> > PS - Perhaps at some point there was a #twosComplement method implemented
> > on Integers. There is an EToys object that is currently sending the
> message
> > (which has no implementors in 5.3 as far as I can see): SecurityManager
> >>
> > #asn1Integer:
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 1:44 PM karl ramberg <karlramberg at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Integer readFrom: '11111111' readStream base: 2.  ?
> > >
> > > Best,
> > > Karl
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 6:36 PM Eric Gade <eric.gade at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi everyone,
> > >>
> > >> I'm smack in the middle of making some RISC-V tools in Squeak, which
> > >> means I'm dealing with a lot of low-level bit manipulation.
> > >>
> > >> One question I have is how best to deal with two's complement
> > >> representations of integers in Squeak, and how to translate between
> the
> > >> different (positive v negative) values based on a given set of bits
> (or a
> > >> byteArray or whatever).
> > >>
> > >> For example, doing the following:
> > >> -1 printStringBase: 2 nDigits: 8. "11111111"
> > >> Gives the expected binary value "11111111"
> > >>
> > >> However (and as we should expect), evaluating the following:
> > >> 2r11111111. "255"
> > >>
> > >> Gives the (again, expected) value 255.
> > >>
> > >> My question is: what is the best way to convert between the
> complements
> > >> in Squeak? How can I take 255, examine its bits, and get -1 as the
> response
> > >> (or convert in the reverse)? I'm assuming there are already ways to
> deal
> > >> with this, I just cannot find them.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks!
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Eric
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Eric
>
> >
>
>
>

-- 
Eric
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