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c++binarycharactersentinel

Binary file special characters


I'm coding a suffix array sorting, and this algorithm appends a sentinel character to the original string. This character must not be in the original string.

Since this algorithm will process binary files bytes, is there any special byte character that I can ensure I won't find in any binary file? If it exists, how do I represent this character in C++ coding?

I'm on linux, I'm not sure if it makes a difference.


Solution

  • No, there is not. Binary files can contain every combination of byte values. I wouldn't call them 'characters' though, because they are binary data, not (necessarily) representing characters. But whatever the name, they can have any value.