Changing Bits in Flag Words
Writing, reading or toggling bits in flags can be done only using the OR, AND and NOT operations - operations which can be performed quickly in the processor.
To set a bit, OR the status byte with a mask byte. Any bits set in the mask byte or the status byte will be set in the result.
int setBit(int val, int bit_position) { return val | (1 << bit_position); }To clear a bit, perform a NOT operation on the mask byte, then AND it with the status byte. The result will have the appropriate flag cleared (set to 0).
int clearBit(int val, int bit_position) { return val & ~(1 << bit_position); }To toggle a bit, XOR the status byte and the mask byte. This will set a bit if it is cleared or clear a bit if it is set.
int toggleBit(int val, int bit_position) { return val ^ (1 << bit_position); }Read more about this topic: Flag Word
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