Return type of CvMat's type attribute is 1111638021 instead of 5 or 6..pointer error?

I'm having a really strange bug, and maybe it is a pointer error, but I can't see it. I have the following code...

// file scope
static CvMat *cam1_points;
const int n_boards = 2;
const int board_n = 54;

// snip

// function scope...
void initializeAndDoStuff()
{
    cam1_points = cvCreateMat(n_boards*board_n, 2, CV_32FC1);
    printf("Type: %d\n", cam1_points->type); // should be 5.  returns crazy number in title.
};

Is something going wrong somewhere? Why am I not getting the rig开发者_如何学Cht response? Type should be returning CV_32F, which qualifies to the integer 5.

---

type is the matrix signature which stores more than the function type. You're getting the "strange" number because it's the result of the following bitwise OR operations.

CV_MAT_MAGIC_VAL|5|CV_MAT_CONT_FLAG

So, that's how you can use type to check if your matrix belongs to a particular type, or is continuous, etc.

Note that if you use the C++ version (cv::Mat) then type would return 5.