I have a C++ program representing a TCP header as a struct:
#include "stdafx.h"
/* TCP HEADER
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Source Port | Destination Port |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Sequence Number |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Acknowledgment Number |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Data | |U|A|P|R|S|F| |
| Offset| Reserved |R|C|S|S|Y|I| Window |
| | |G|K|H|T|N|N| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Checksum | Urgent Pointer |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| Options | Padding |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| data |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
*/
typedef struct { // RFC793
WORD wSourcePort;
WORD wDestPort;
DWORD dwSequence;
DWORD dwAcknowledgment;
unsigned int byReserved1:4;
unsigned int byDataOffset:4;
unsigned int fFIN:1;
unsigned int fSYN:1;
unsigned int fRST:1;
unsigned int fPSH:1;
unsigned int fACK:1;
unsigned int fURG:1;
unsigned int byReserved2:2;
unsigned short wWindow;
WORD wChecksum;
WORD wUrgentPointer;
} TCP_HEADER, *PTCP_HEADER;
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
printf("TCP header length: %d\n", sizeof(TCP_HEADER));
return 0;
}
If I run this program I get the size of this header as 24 bytes, which is not the size I was expecting. If I change the type of the field "wWindow" to "unsigned int wWindow:16", which has the same number of bits as an unsigned short, the program tells me the size of the struct is now 20 bytes, the correct size. Why is this?
I am using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 with SP1 on a 32-bit x86 machine.
See this question: Why isn't sizeof for a struct equal to the sum of sizeof of each member? .
I believe that compiler takes a hint to disable padding when you use the "unsigned int wWindow:16" syntax.
Also, note that a short is not guaranteed to be 16 bits. The guarantee is that: 16 bits <= size of a short <= size of an int.