FUNCTION BINARY, number

; This function returns the binary representation
; of byte, integer, and long integer numbers.

   ; What kind of number is this?

thisType = SIZE(number, /Type)

CASE thisType OF

   1: BEGIN ; Byte value

      bin = STRARR(8)
      FOR j=0,7 DO BEGIN
         powerOfTwo = 2L^j
         IF (LONG(number) AND powerOfTwo) EQ powerOfTwo THEN $
            bin(j) = '1' ELSE bin(j) = '0'
      ENDFOR
      ENDCASE

   2: BEGIN ; Integer value.

      bin = STRARR(16)
      FOR j=0,15 DO BEGIN
         powerOfTwo = 2L^j
         IF (LONG(number) AND powerOfTwo) EQ powerOfTwo THEN $
            bin(j) = '1' ELSE bin(j) = '0'
      ENDFOR
      ENDCASE

   3: BEGIN ; Long integer value.

      number = LONG(number)
      bin = STRARR(32)
      FOR j=0,31 DO BEGIN
         powerOfTwo = 2L^j
         IF (LONG(number) AND powerOfTwo) EQ powerOfTwo THEN $
            bin(j) = '1' ELSE bin(j) = '0'
      ENDFOR
      ENDCASE

   ELSE: ok = Dialog_Message('Only BYTE, INTEGER, and LONG values allowed.')

ENDCASE

RETURN, Reverse(bin)
END