Why does assertion fail here - c++

Question

Why does the assertion fail here when i create a CvMat *? It does not happen with an image i load in cv::Mat using a pointer.
struct RGB { unsigned char b, g, r; };
cv::Point p;
RGB *data;
CvMat* mat = cvCreateMat(300,300,CV_32FC1);
for( row = 0; row < mat->rows; ++row)
{
for ( col = 0; col < mat->cols; ++col)
{
p.x=row,p.y=col;
ERROR ----->>> assert((mat->step/mat->cols) == sizeof(RGB));
data = (RGB*)&mat->data;
data += p.y * mat->cols + p.x;
}
}
For this code the assertion does not fail:
IplImage * img=cvLoadImage("blah.jpg");
int row=0,col=0;
cv::Mat in(img);
cv::Mat *mat=&in;
cv::Point p;
struct RGB { unsigned char b, g, r; };
RGB *data;
for( row = 0; row < mat->rows; ++row)
{
for ( col = 0; col < mat->cols; ++col)
{
p.x=row,p.y=col;
assert((mat->step/mat->cols) == sizeof(RGB));
data = (RGB*)&mat->data;
data += p.y * mat->cols + p.x;
printf("Row=%dxCol=%d b=%u g=%u r=%u\n",row,col,data->b,data->g,data->r);
wait_for_frame(1);
}
}

Answer 1

Because sizeof(RGB) != sizeof(float), which is what you filled the matrix with here:
CvMat* mat = cvCreateMat(300,300,CV_32FC1);
CV_32FC1 means 1 component, 32-bit floating point. You probably want CV_8UC3. See here or another OpenCV reference.

Answer 2

You can skip the entire IplImage misery if you use
cv::Mat img = cv::loadImage("blah.jpg");
Also it is better to use row ptr for going through all the pixels.
It knows the jumps, so you don't have to worry!
From the refman:
If you need to process a whole row of a 2D array, the most efficient
way is to get the pointer to the row first, and then just use the
plain C operator []
Be aware that if you are loading bigger images which have "jumps" in their data, your code will not work.
In your situation
cv::Mat img = cv::loadImage("blah.jpg");
const cv::Mat& M = img;
for(int i = 0; i < rows; i++)
{
const Vec3b* Mi = M.ptr<Vec3b>(i);
for(int j = 0; j < cols; j++)
{
const Vec3b& Mij = Mi[j];
std::cout<<"Row="<<i<<"Col="<<j<<"\t";
std::cout<<"b="<<Mij[0]<<" g="<<Mij[1]<<" r="<<Mij[2]<<std::endl;
}
}
is the fastest correct way. Otherwise you could use M.at<Vec3b>(i,j).