[Pyrex] Efficient char* block to string conversion? (including embedded nulls)

[Michael Sparks]

Hi,


I've got some data referenced by a char* that I manage using a structure
like this:

   ctypedef struct decode_buffer:
      char * buffer
      int len
      int status

Into which a decode library gives me back some binary data. I've got a
method for copying this data out into a python string, which currently
looks like this:

      if self.decodeBuffer.len >0:
         r=['x']*self.decodeBuffer.len         # I realise this is icky!
         for i from 0 <= i < self.decodeBuffer.len:
            j=self.decodeBuffer.buffer[i]
            j= j & 255
            r[i] = chr(j)
         return ''.join(r)
      else:
          return ""

It's far from perfect I'm aware, but it does what I need it to - which is
nice. However it's not very efficient - is there any way of speeding this
up? (My only experience with python extensions is via Pyrex - so if it
involves delving inside python types, please assume I'm an idiot who knows
nothing!)

Many thanks in advance to any replies,


Michael.