How does one safely static_cast between unsigned int and int?

Question

I have an 8-character string representing a hexadecimal number and I need to convert it to an int. This conversion has to preserve the bit pattern for

Answer 1

Here's another solution that worked for me:

if (val <= INT_MAX) {
    return static_cast(val);
}
else {
    int ret = static_cast(val & ~INT_MIN);
    return ret | INT_MIN;
}

If I mask off the high bit, I avoid overflow when casting. I can then OR it back safely.