/*! @m_page{{c,java},packing,Packing and Unpacking Data}

WiredTiger's data packing uses format strings similar to those specified in the
Python struct module:
  http://docs.python.org/library/struct

The first character of the format string can be used to indicate the byte
order, size and alignment of the packed data, according to the following
table:

<table>
@hrow{Character, Byte order, Size, Alignment}
@row{<tt>.</tt>, big-endian, packed, none}
@row{<tt>&gt;</tt>, big-endian, standard, none}
@row{<tt>&lt;</tt>, little-endian, standard, none}
@row{<tt>\@</tt>, native, native, native}
</table>

If the first character is not one of these, '.' (big-endian, packed) is
assumed: it naturally sorts in lexicographic order, and the packed format
uses variable-sized encoding of values to reduce the data size.

@notyet{little-endian format}
Only the default big-endian, packed format is currently supported.

The remaining characters in the format string specify the type of each field
to be packed into or unpacked from a byte array.  See @ref schema_column_types
for the list of supported types.

@m_if{c}
@todo Describe the variable-length integer packing in sufficient detail that it can be re-implemented in other programming languages or in network clients.

@section config_examples Code samples

The code below is taken from the complete example program @ex_ref{ex_pack.c}.  It demonstrates how to pack three integer values into a buffer and then unpack them again.

@snippet ex_pack.c packing
@m_else
In Java, data is packed and unpacked using cursor put* and get* operations,
for example:
@snippet ex_schema.c Insert and list records
@m_endif

 */