12 Apr
2018
12 Apr
'18
1:37 p.m.
On Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 9:18 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On 04/12/2018 06:23 AM, Diane Bruce wrote:
\
I could see lots of problems doing it any other way, just from the
viewpoint of 'C'. A character on the Cyber 70/170 series is either 6
bits or 12 bits, if extensions are used. That's not to say that in a
character string, *all* characters are either 6 bits or 12 bits, but can
be a mixture, with certain 6-bit codes used as "escape" codes signaling
a 12 bit character code. Two null characters have to be placed in the
low-order 12 bits of a word to signal an end of line, so that EOL can be
anywhere from 12 to 60 bits.
And, if memory serves, the ":" was coded as a null character, causing it to
disappear from the end of a line.
-- Charles