Converting integer to string (as in binary), and back

[DtY]

Is there a standard python method to take a string and convert it to an integer, and back. I don't mean like 123456=>"123456", but 123456=>"\x00\x01\xE2\x40", and back with a specified width (in bytes) for the output.

Thanks

[edit] Fixed typo in title
[edit 2] Fixed typo in edit notice about fixing typo >_>
[edit 3] Just remembered, I'd prefer if the output was big endian, but as long as it's system independent, I can just reverse the string if it's not.

[btiffin]

Do you mean something like

http://docs.python.org/library/struct.html

?

Cheers