From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 10f6aa,76b1fcc14e8dced X-Google-Attributes: gid10f6aa,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,c9c309a1859318a1 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,8b6c45fbebd7d3b7 X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public X-Google-Thread: 114917,76b1fcc14e8dced X-Google-Attributes: gid114917,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,76b1fcc14e8dced X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public From: kilgallen@eisner.decus.org (Larry Kilgallen) Subject: Re: HELP ! need to insert value in array !! Date: 1997/07/05 Message-ID: <1997Jul5.104830.1@eisner>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 254803934 X-Nntp-Posting-Host: eisner.decus.org References: <33A9C27C.22F7@post4.tele.dk> <5oci49$97g@crl.crl.com> <866920621snz@genesis.demon.co.uk> <5p0v7l$9uc@nntp.seflin.org> <33b64c2f.43589878@nntp.ix.netcom.com> <5pht85$d4o$1@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au> <33be891f.47731103@nntp.ix.netcom.com> X-Nntp-Posting-User: KILGALLEN X-Trace: 868114117/21529 Organization: LJK Software Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.lang.asm.x86,comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-07-05T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article , dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) writes: > Sure, but why do you think those instructions where there (the ones to > handle odd chunk sizes). The answer is that the motivation was precisely > to allow convenient support of the 7 bit format. The use of these > instructions for any other size was rare. What happened was that there > was a requirement for supporting the 5 char/word format in the hardware, > and the designers generalized it to any byte size (rememebr this was the > hey day of extravagant CISC design). I would be interested in anything someone have to back up this claim. I recall viewing 7 bit as just as "odd" as any other size, with 6, 9, 18 and 36 bits as being the most "natural" sizes for the machine. As I recall all the TOPS-10 (and for that matter, ITS) directory services were based on SIXBIT. If the variable byte size capability was really just an extension from an initial requirement to support 7 bits, I would like to hear the story. Larry Kilgallen