Ethernet Packet content

[kevinchkin]

Hi Guys,

I am trying to emulate the bridge, for this I need to use a ethernet packet.
In a provided template code, I saw that someone has used this definition:

struct packet { 

char sourceMACaddr[6]; //In net order 
char destiMACaddr[6];  // In net order 
short type;   //0 for ARP frame and 1 for IP frame 
short size;   // size of data in host order 
char *data;   // actual data 

}; 

Now what I don't understand is, what does he mean when he says sourceMACaddr is in net order?
Why is the use of type?
What does he mean when he says size of data in host order?

Can anyone please shed some light on these questions?

Thanks in advance

[jsmith]

Network order refers to big endian; host order refers to the endianness of the (host)
machine.

[kevinchkin]

Thanks for the reply jsmith. Can you tell me about other questions too(mentioned in original post)?

Thanks in advance

[youknowme]

Have you seen this free ebook http://beej.us/guide/bgnet/
A introduction to network coding for rookies. I downloaded it and found it is easy to read - cutting out all the crap.

[kevinchkin]

Thanks for the reply dude