I would have if vec handled 6 bit fields, but sadly it doesn't.

Hmmm. I was just thinking of a 90-bit vec as a set. So the bits in vec(expr, offset, bits) is 1.

I've probably missed some criterion why the vec can't be interpreted as 8bit chars for output.

-QM
--
Quantum Mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of

The average line size of the old format like demonstrated by the OP's code is ~ 14 characters + newline

90 bits need 11.25 bytes per line.

Not that much of a big win.

Cheers Rolf
_{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
Wikisyntax for the Monastery FootballPerl is like chess, only without the dice}