numpy.packbits doesn't accept a bool array

Example of problem

data = numpy.array([True])
byte_values = numpy.packbits(data)

This results with an exception – TypeError: Expected an input array of integer data type. This seems to go against the documentation of the function, which says it expects a ‘binary-valued array’.

To make this work, you need to first convert the data type of the array to int, which seems redundant. eg.

byte_values = numpy.packbits(numpy.array(data, dtype=int))

A better use case of where I encountered the problem.

data = numpy.random.sample(1024)
truth_values = data >= threshold
bits = numpy.packbits(truth_values)

[alimuldal]

@LuisBL There is no need to cast the input array to the native int dtype - you can avoid generating a copy simply by viewing it as np.uint8, which also uses a single byte per element, e.g.:

px = np.packbits(x.view(np.uint8))

[jaimefrio]

That feature was added in #5319, it does work in current master, so closing this.