X Bit Map - Format

Format

XBM data typically appears in headers (.h files) and consist of a series of static unsigned char arrays containing the monochrome pixel data. They feature one array per image stored in the header.

The following piece of C code exemplifies an XBM file:

#define test_width 16 #define test_height 7 static char test_bits = { 0x13, 0x00, 0x15, 0x00, 0x93, 0xcd, 0x55, 0xa5, 0x93, 0xc5, 0x00, 0x80, 0x00, 0x60 };

In place of the usual image-file-format header, XBM files have two or four #define statements. The first two #defines specify the height and width of the bitmap in pixels. The second two, if they exist, specify the position of any hotspot within the bitmap. (Programmers use a hotspot within the image for bitmapped cursors to define where to position the "pointer" of the cursor, generally at 0,0.)

The image data consists of a line of pixel values stored in a static array. Because a single bit represents each pixel (black or white), each byte in the array contains the information for eight pixels, with the upper left pixel in the bitmap represented by the low bit of the first byte in the array. If the image width does not match a multiple of 8, the display mechanism ignores and discards the extra bits in the last byte of each row.

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