struct.pack bug?

[Jansson Christer]

Hi all,

I have discovered that in my Python 2.4.1 installation (on Solaris 8), 
struct.pack handles things in a way that seems inconsistent to me.

I haven't found any comprehensible documentation over known issues with 
Python 2.4.1 so I try this...

Here's the thing:

 >>> from struct import pack
 >>> pack('B', -1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
struct.error: ubyte format requires 0<=number<=255
 >>> pack('H', -1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
struct.error: short format requires 0<=number<=USHRT_MAX
 >>> pack('L', -1)
'\xff\xff\xff\xff'
 >>>

Shouldn't pack('L', -1) raise an exception like the others, rather than 
behaving like pack('l', -1)?
Is this fixed in later versions?

(I don't have access to later versions and have failed to install any.
Python 2.5 compiles nicely but "make install" fails without leaving any 
clues about how it failed and no installation troubleshooting guides to 
be found at python.org. Python 2.4.4 doesn't even compile since it 
apparently requires a newer libstdc++ than the one on our system... see 
why I'm asking the newsgroup?)

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Christer Jansson
WiseOne AB
+46 708 21 42 84