How do you read an unsigned char?

[pillow]

I need to read in bytes and I can't get this to work:

unsigned char ascii;

while(cin.get(ascii))
{
...
}

I tried to static_cast<char>(ascii) but that didn't work. Anyone know the problem?

UPDATE:

I am trying to read 8-bit characters.

I tried static casting because I just wanted the get() to work even though it was counter intuitive.

while(ascii = cin.get())

Causes an infinite loop, not sure how to fix.

[Bazzy]

Some compilers have the option of having the char unsigned by default.
btw, you can do this:

unsigned char ascii;

while ( ascii = cin.get() )
{
   //...
}

[jsmith]

Define "byte". Are you reading hex bytes? Characters?

Why, if your question is how to read an unsigned char, are you
attempting to static cast to (signed) char?

[Duthomhas]

Er, that loop may not terminate...

The STL prototypes on char (unfortunately), so you need to cast the appropriate way:

while (cin.get( reinterpret_cast <char&> (ascii) ))
  {
  //...
  }

Hope this helps.

[kbw]

I believe that some architectures (like M68000) don't allow you to mix pointers to signed/unsigned.