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Groups > alt.folklore.computers > #212313 > unrolled thread

DEC

Started byIron Spring Software <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com>
First post2020-07-24 09:38 -0700
Last post2020-07-30 20:27 +0000
Articles 20 on this page of 164 — 35 participants

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Contents

  DEC Iron Spring Software <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> - 2020-07-24 09:38 -0700
    Re: DEC Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2020-07-24 17:12 -0300
    Re: DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-24 17:14 -0400
      Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-24 19:43 -0700
        Re: DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-24 23:28 -0400
      Re: DEC Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 02:06 -0700
        Re: DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 05:27 -0400
          Re: DEC Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-25 10:58 +0100
            Re: 360 PCs was DEC John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-25 17:21 +0000
              Re: 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 13:54 -0400
                Re: 360 PCs was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 14:43 -0700
                  Re: 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 18:05 -0400
                    Re: 360 PCs was DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 20:27 -0400
                      Re: 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 21:08 -0400
                        Re: 360 PCs was DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 23:29 -0400
                          Re: 360 PCs was DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 23:30 -0400
                          Re: 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-26 00:06 -0400
                            Re: 360 PCs was DEC Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2020-08-05 06:06 +0000
                              Re: 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-07 10:19 -0400
                                Re: 360 PCs was DEC Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2020-08-07 20:01 +0000
                                  Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-08-07 22:45 +0000
                                    Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-08 13:35 -0400
                                      Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2020-08-09 15:33 +0000
                                        Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-09 13:16 -0400
                                          Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-09 15:00 -0400
                                            Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-09 18:35 -0400
                                              Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC maus <maus@dmaus.org> - 2020-08-10 23:10 +0000
                                          Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2020-08-09 19:18 +0000
                                            Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-09 18:40 -0400
                                          Re: wiki software, not 360 PCs was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-09 15:30 -0700
                      Re: 360 PCs was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 18:39 -0700
                        Re: 360 PCs was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 18:43 -0700
                        Re: 360 PCs was DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-07-25 23:32 -0400
                      Re: 360 PCs was DEC John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-26 21:45 +0000
                        Re: 360 PCs was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-26 18:01 -0400
                          Re: 360 PCs was DEC Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-27 06:38 +0100
                    Re: 360 PCs was DEC John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-26 01:24 +0000
                      Re: 360 PCs was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-25 18:39 -0700
                        Re: 360 PCs was DEC Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-07-26 20:18 +0000
              Re: 360 PCs was DEC Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-25 19:39 +0100
          Re: DEC Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 12:50 -0700
    Re: DEC Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-25 02:26 -0700
    Re: DEC usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2020-07-26 19:23 +0000
      Re: DEC Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-07-26 21:05 +0000
      Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-26 16:23 -0700
        Re: DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-26 21:24 -0400
          Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-27 11:42 -0700
        Re: DEC archaeology John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-27 02:41 +0000
          Re: DEC archaeology Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2020-07-27 07:37 +0100
            Re: DEC archaeology Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-07-27 07:10 +0000
              Re: DEC archaeology Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-27 09:03 +0100
                Re: DEC archaeology Michael LeVine <mlevinespmfltr@redshift.com> - 2020-07-27 02:09 -0700
                  Re: DEC archaeology Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-27 11:27 +0100
                Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-07-27 12:22 +0000
                  Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-07-27 20:51 -0400
                    Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-28 06:02 +0100
                      Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-07-28 08:29 +0000
                        Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-07-28 17:30 +0000
                          Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2020-07-28 18:18 +0000
                            Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-07-28 19:57 +0000
                              Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-28 21:32 +0100
                                Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2020-07-28 21:34 +0000
                                  Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-28 18:33 -0400
                          Re: Origin of Niven/Pournelle quips (was: DEC archaeology) Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2020-07-28 20:55 +0100
            Re: DEC archaeology John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-27 14:53 +0000
              Re: DEC archaeology drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2020-07-27 11:30 -0500
              Re: DEC archaeology scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-07-27 16:37 +0000
                Re: DEC archaeology drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2020-07-28 10:24 -0500
                  Re: DEC archaeology scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-07-28 15:59 +0000
          Re: DEC archaeology Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-27 11:42 -0700
            Re: DEC archaeology J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-27 18:47 -0400
            Re: DEC archaeology Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-27 17:43 -0700
        Re: DEC usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2020-07-28 03:21 +0000
          Re: DEC Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-07-28 17:30 +0000
          Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-28 20:27 +0000
            Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-28 18:53 -0400
              Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC Gareth Evans <headstone255@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-29 10:36 +0100
                Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC Andreas Eder <a_eder_muc@web.de> - 2020-08-02 12:55 +0200
                  Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-02 12:49 -0400
              Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-29 14:08 -0700
            Re: ou sont les ordinateurs d'antan, was DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-29 14:04 -0700
          Re: DEC Louis Krupp <lkrupp@invalid.pssw.com.invalid> - 2020-07-30 03:49 -0600
            Re: DEC scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-07-30 14:41 +0000
              Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-30 10:12 -0700
                Re: DEC scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-07-30 18:40 +0000
                  Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-07-30 12:02 -0700
                    Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-07-31 02:38 -0700
                      Re: DEC large computers John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-07-31 20:21 +0000
                        Re: DEC large computers Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-07-31 23:23 +0000
                          Re: DEC large computers J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-07-31 21:13 -0400
                            Re: DEC large computers Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-08-01 10:39 +0000
                          Re: vectors, was DEC large computers John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-08-01 02:21 +0000
                            Re: vectors, was DEC large computers Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-08-01 11:14 +0000
                        Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-07-31 20:30 -0700
                          Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-01 00:00 -0400
                            Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 02:20 -0700
                              Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-01 07:00 -0700
                                Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 08:18 -0700
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-01 11:52 -0400
                                    Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-08-02 21:58 +0000
                                      Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-02 18:50 -0400
                                        Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-08-03 18:23 +0000
                                          Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-03 13:34 -0700
                          Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-01 00:55 -0700
                            Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 02:27 -0700
                              Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-08-01 17:27 +0000
                                Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-01 12:11 -0700
                                Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-08-01 19:56 +0000
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2020-08-01 20:18 +0000
                                    Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-08-01 23:42 +0000
                                    Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 20:32 -0700
                                    Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Gerard Schildberger <gerard46@rrt.net> - 2020-08-02 12:58 -0700
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-01 16:28 -0400
                                    Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> - 2020-08-02 20:42 +0000
                                Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 20:27 -0700
                                Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-02 00:28 -0700
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Thomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de> - 2020-08-02 08:01 +0000
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-03 16:47 -0700
                                    Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-03 19:45 -0700
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2020-08-03 21:00 -0600
                                Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-08-02 22:45 +0000
                                  Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-03 07:45 -0700
                          Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 "Kerr-Mudd,John" <notsaying@127.0.0.1> - 2020-08-01 08:24 +0000
                            Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 02:30 -0700
                            Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600 robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 02:34 -0700
                        Re: DEC large computers Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-01 00:51 -0700
                          Re: DEC large computers robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-01 02:23 -0700
                      Jupiter alternatives [was Re: DEC] Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-07-31 21:16 -0400
                        Re: Jupiter alternatives [was Re: DEC] Robert Swindells <rjs@fdy2.co.uk> - 2020-08-01 01:56 +0000
                          Re: Jupiter alternatives [was Re: DEC] Adam Sampson <ats@offog.org> - 2020-08-01 15:59 +0100
                            Re: Jupiter alternatives [was Re: DEC] Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-08-01 22:09 -0400
                          Re: Jupiter alternatives [was Re: DEC] Rich Alderson <news@alderson.users.panix.com> - 2020-08-01 22:07 -0400
                      Re: DEC usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2020-08-03 00:32 +0000
                        Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-02 23:54 -0700
                          Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-03 07:45 -0700
                            Re: DEC robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-03 09:16 -0700
                              Re: DEC Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-03 10:10 -0700
                                Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-03 10:35 -0700
                            Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-03 11:28 -0700
                              Re: DEC Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-08-03 21:26 +0000
                                Re: DEC Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-08-03 16:38 -0700
                                  Re: DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-03 21:44 -0400
                                    Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-03 23:55 -0700
                                      Re: DEC Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> - 2020-08-04 08:05 -0400
                                        Re: DEC J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2020-08-04 08:59 -0400
                                          Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-04 06:29 -0700
                                            Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-04 07:48 -0700
                                            Re: DEC Niklas Karlsson <anksil@yahoo.se> - 2020-08-05 04:13 +0000
                                              Re: DEC robin.vowels@gmail.com - 2020-08-04 22:45 -0700
                                                Re: DEC JimP <chucktheouch@gmail.com> - 2020-08-05 12:33 -0500
                                                  Re: DEC "Kerr-Mudd,John" <notsaying@127.0.0.1> - 2020-08-05 19:31 +0000
                                              Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-04 22:57 -0700
                                                Re: DEC Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> - 2020-08-05 08:13 +0000
                                                  Re: DEC Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2020-08-05 10:58 -0700
                                            Re: DEC drb@ihatespam.msu.edu (Dennis Boone) - 2020-08-05 13:28 -0500
                                              Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-06 16:21 -0700
                          Re: DEC Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-08-03 18:23 +0000
                            Re: DEC Terry Kennedy <terry-groups@glaver.org> - 2020-08-03 11:31 -0700
                              Re: DEC danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> - 2020-08-03 18:38 +0000
                            Re: DEC "m. thompson" <michael.99.thompson@gmail.com> - 2020-08-04 05:38 -0700
                              Re: DEC Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2020-08-04 18:54 +0000
                    Re: DEC usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2020-08-03 00:32 +0000
                  Re: DEC Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2020-07-30 13:29 -0700
            Re: DEC usenet@only.tnx (Questor) - 2020-07-30 20:27 +0000

Page 6 of 9 — ← Prev page 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9  Next page →


#212510 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromDan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com>
Date2020-08-02 18:50 -0400
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<rg7fv7$u18$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#212506
Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> writes:

> On 2020-08-01, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> robin.vowels@gmail.com writes:
>>
>>> On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 12:00:54 AM UTC+10, Peter Flass wrote:
>>>
>>>> I don’t think I found much need to increment a word in memory. For
>>>> indexing the value would be kept in a register, or would have to be
>>>> loaded before use anyhow.
>>>
>>> There is a limited number of registers.
>>>
>>> When tallying a number of variables (including separate elements of an
>>> array), incrementing a memory word would be very handy.
>>>
>>> Even if, for normal indexing, a variable need to be loaded for that
>>> purpose, it would still be more economical to increment memory, then
>>> load it to register for indexing (2 instructions instead of 3).
>
> Still, there are tricks for conserving registers.  You can get away
> with using registers 15, 0, and 1 in a BXLE loop, for instance.
>
>> Seems to me, I've seen more than 1 page counter declared as binary.
>> Because every one knows binary arithmetic is more efficient.
>>
>> :)
>
> As opposed to the CS weenie who wrote a COBOL program full of
> subscript handling, and declared all the subscripts as COMP-3.

I was assigned to a project at an insurance company as a consultant.
The client had a large COBOL program to do some heavy statistics
calculations.  They checked the IBM documentation on coding rules.
Some of the rules:

Name all constants.
Keep all fields the same size.
Keep everything the same usage, packed.

So, they had some big numbers, so they made all fields S9(7)V9(5).
They named constants like this:

01 ONE PIC S9(7)V9(5) COMP-3 VALUE 1.

There were lots of calculations with reciprocals like this:

DIVIDE ONE BY VAR-NAME GIVING RESULT-NAME.

The programmer was pretty bright, just mislead..
I took a quick look at the generated assembler code and
just about every calculation converted packed to float and
back again.

They didn't have the floating point feature installed,
all the calculations were done in library routines.

Full test runs took days.
Even their tiny sample data test took hours.
I got rid of all the crap and submitted a test.
The operator wrote on the test results that the job didn't run.
It ran fine, it only took a few seconds.

Good times.

-- 
Dan Espen

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#212523 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromCharlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>
Date2020-08-03 18:23 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<rg9kmv01mk9@news3.newsguy.com>
In reply to#212510
On 2020-08-02, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> wrote:

> I got rid of all the crap and submitted a test.
> The operator wrote on the test results that the job didn't run.
> It ran fine, it only took a few seconds.

I did that once.  We had a program that read paper tapes, producing
a detail listing as it did so.  It also built a summary table in
memory.  After the last tape was read, the program sorted the
accumulated data - using a bubble sort, no less.  The machine
sat there for 60 seconds, the CPU grinding like mad, before it
went into the summary report.

This was a small machine with no spooling, and each detail record
was being listed on a 600-lpm printer.  I realized that this gave
me a full 100 milliseconds to process each record, whether I needed
it or not.  So I re-worked the program to build the summary table
with an insertion sort; there was no penalty in wall-clock time,
and the table always remained in sequence, so after the operator
signaled that the last tape has been read, the program instantly
went into the summary report.

Being the devious sort that I am, I gave the new version of the
program to the operator without telling him about this modification.
And predictably, I got an anguished cry that the program wasn't
sorting anymore.  "Check the report," I said.  "It's in sequence,
isn't it?"

To this day I see examples of people locked into the mindset that
if something doesn't take a long time, it can't be right.  Sometimes
they're right, but other times they're barred from realizing that
a better algorithm can work miracles.

> Good times.

Yup.

-- 
/~\  Charlie Gibbs                  |  Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ /  <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid>      |  Apple is a cult.
 X   I'm really at ac.dekanfrus     |  Linux is anarchy.
/ \  if you read it the right way.  |  Pick your poison.

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#212528 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromPeter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com>
Date2020-08-03 13:34 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<1485802200.618179259.170456.peter_flass-yahoo.com@news.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#212523
Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
> On 2020-08-02, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I got rid of all the crap and submitted a test.
>> The operator wrote on the test results that the job didn't run.
>> It ran fine, it only took a few seconds.
> 
> I did that once.  We had a program that read paper tapes, producing
> a detail listing as it did so.  It also built a summary table in
> memory.  After the last tape was read, the program sorted the
> accumulated data - using a bubble sort, no less.  The machine
> sat there for 60 seconds, the CPU grinding like mad, before it
> went into the summary report.
> 
> This was a small machine with no spooling, and each detail record
> was being listed on a 600-lpm printer.  I realized that this gave
> me a full 100 milliseconds to process each record, whether I needed
> it or not.  So I re-worked the program to build the summary table
> with an insertion sort; there was no penalty in wall-clock time,
> and the table always remained in sequence, so after the operator
> signaled that the last tape has been read, the program instantly
> went into the summary report.

Very clever.

> 
> Being the devious sort that I am, I gave the new version of the
> program to the operator without telling him about this modification.
> And predictably, I got an anguished cry that the program wasn't
> sorting anymore.  "Check the report," I said.  "It's in sequence,
> isn't it?"
> 
> To this day I see examples of people locked into the mindset that
> if something doesn't take a long time, it can't be right.  Sometimes
> they're right, but other times they're barred from realizing that
> a better algorithm can work miracles.

Not so much “doesn’t take a long time”, but “behaves differently”. You’d
get the same reaction if a job that usually took a minute suddenly took an
hour. That’s good. The operators often have no way of telling if a job ran
correctly, but they can tell if it behaved the same way it usually does.
Some jobs have something for the operator to check at the end, verify that
a check number in a console message matches the number of the last check
actually printed, for example.

-- 
Pete

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#212474 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromQuadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca>
Date2020-08-01 00:55 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<f8c5fe41-79de-4632-9776-5edf608df725o@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212471
On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com wrote:
> the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in
> 6-bits.

At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I realized that 
what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte character set?

John Savard

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#212478 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

Fromrobin.vowels@gmail.com
Date2020-08-01 02:27 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<948acf04-5d36-480f-89fa-fb03ec1e3bc5o@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212474
On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 5:55:17 PM UTC+10, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com wrote:
> > the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in
> > 6-bits.
> 
> At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I realized that 
> what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte character set?

No; characters were only 6 bits.

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#212487 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromJohn Levine <johnl@taugh.com>
Date2020-08-01 17:27 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<rg48mf$15s0$1@gal.iecc.com>
In reply to#212478
In article <948acf04-5d36-480f-89fa-fb03ec1e3bc5o@googlegroups.com>,
 <robin.vowels@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 5:55:17 PM UTC+10, Quadibloc wrote:
>> On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com wrote:
>> > the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in
>> > 6-bits.
>> 
>> At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I realized that 
>> what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte character set?
>
>No; characters were only 6 bits.

How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?



-- 
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

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#212488 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromPeter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com>
Date2020-08-01 12:11 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<641404549.618001844.129357.peter_flass-yahoo.com@news.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#212487
John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> wrote:
> In article <948acf04-5d36-480f-89fa-fb03ec1e3bc5o@googlegroups.com>,
>  <robin.vowels@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 5:55:17 PM UTC+10, Quadibloc wrote:
>>> On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>> the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in
>>>> 6-bits.
>>> 
>>> At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I realized that 
>>> what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte character set?
>> 
>> No; characters were only 6 bits.
> 
> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
> 

Very carefully ;-)

-- 
Pete

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#212489 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromBob Eager <news0073@eager.cx>
Date2020-08-01 19:56 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<holvmvFmsnaU20@mid.individual.net>
In reply to#212487
On Sat, 01 Aug 2020 17:27:43 +0000, John Levine wrote:

> In article <948acf04-5d36-480f-89fa-fb03ec1e3bc5o@googlegroups.com>,
>  <robin.vowels@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 5:55:17 PM UTC+10, Quadibloc wrote:
>>> On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>> > the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in 6-bits.
>>> 
>>> At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I
>>> realized that what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte
>>> character set?
>>
>>No; characters were only 6 bits.
> 
> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?

Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.



-- 
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

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#212490 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromJohn Levine <johnl@taugh.com>
Date2020-08-01 20:18 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<rg4inf$25gi$1@gal.iecc.com>
In reply to#212489
In article <holvmvFmsnaU20@mid.individual.net>,
Bob Eager  <news0073@eager.cx> wrote:
>>>No; characters were only 6 bits.
>> 
>> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
>
>Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.

That would get about 124, shift up and down and 62 in each case.  I gather
from other messages that :: was treated as the 65th character.

(I'm old enough to remember Baudot.)
-- 
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#212492 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromBob Eager <news0073@eager.cx>
Date2020-08-01 23:42 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<homcuiFmsnaU21@mid.individual.net>
In reply to#212490
On Sat, 01 Aug 2020 20:18:55 +0000, John Levine wrote:

> In article <holvmvFmsnaU20@mid.individual.net>,
> Bob Eager  <news0073@eager.cx> wrote:
>>>>No; characters were only 6 bits.
>>> 
>>> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
>>
>>Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.
> 
> That would get about 124, shift up and down and 62 in each case.  I
> gather from other messages that :: was treated as the 65th character.
> 
> (I'm old enough to remember Baudot.)

The 1900 had one fewer. It had a 'shift up for next character only' code.

-- 
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org

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#212496 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

Fromrobin.vowels@gmail.com
Date2020-08-01 20:32 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<8f2d89ce-2422-4c5d-9696-6079295c842do@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212490
On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 6:18:57 AM UTC+10, John Levine wrote:
> In article <h......@mid.individual.net>,
> Bob Eager  <n......@eager.cx> wrote:
> >>>No; characters were only 6 bits.
> >> 
> >> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
> >
> >Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.
> 
> That would get about 124, shift up and down and 62 in each case.  I gather
> from other messages that :: was treated as the 65th character.

There was no shift character on the CDC.

(Later there was an escape character.)

> (I'm old enough to remember Baudot.)

5-channel teleprinters are still around.

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#212503 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromGerard Schildberger <gerard46@rrt.net>
Date2020-08-02 12:58 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<e43ba3e6-bc4e-4649-ae63-c0663c9e6397o@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212490
On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 3:18:57 PM UTC-5, John Levine wrote:
> Bob Eager  wrote:
> >>>No; characters were only 6 bits.
> >> 
> >> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
> >
> >Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.
> 
> That would get about 124, shift up and down and 62 in each case.  I gather
> from other messages that :: was treated as the 65th character.
> 
 (I'm old enough to remember Baudot.)


I remember Bridget being pretty hot.   Oh wait, that was Bardot. 
... Never mind. _________________________________ Gerard Schildberger

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#212491 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromJ. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com>
Date2020-08-01 16:28 -0400
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<41kbif5r5u3v9ncdqc0s3ikro9nbbtuf3p@4ax.com>
In reply to#212489
On 1 Aug 2020 19:56:15 GMT, Bob Eager <news0073@eager.cx> wrote:

>On Sat, 01 Aug 2020 17:27:43 +0000, John Levine wrote:
>
>> In article <948acf04-5d36-480f-89fa-fb03ec1e3bc5o@googlegroups.com>,
>>  <robin.vowels@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 5:55:17 PM UTC+10, Quadibloc wrote:
>>>> On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com
>>>> wrote:
>>>> > the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in 6-bits.
>>>> 
>>>> At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I
>>>> realized that what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte
>>>> character set?
>>>
>>>No; characters were only 6 bits.
>> 
>> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
>
>Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.

Wiki has a relevant entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-bit_character_code

I was not aware that Braille was a binary encoding.

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#212504 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromDavid Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com>
Date2020-08-02 20:42 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<rg78fh$ar8$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#212491
J. Clarke <jclarke.873638@gmail.com> writes:

>>> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
>>
>>Probably a typo, but...shift characters. See the ICL 1900, for example.

>Wiki has a relevant entry:

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-bit_character_code

>I was not aware that Braille was a binary encoding.


The Tek 834 RS-232 test set also handled a format I'd not seen
before or since. ALPRS or such ~ AirLine Passenger Reservation System
I was told it dated back to when the airlines interline booking
system was created, long before other folks' computers talked
with each other.

(Can't find a 834 TFM on line or I'd look it up..)
-- 
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close..........................
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

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#212495 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

Fromrobin.vowels@gmail.com
Date2020-08-01 20:27 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<cc1e0834-15fa-40cd-9ea7-76d0f2805913o@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212487
On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 3:27:45 AM UTC+10, John Levine wrote:
> In article <9......@googlegroups.com>,
>  <r......@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 5:55:17 PM UTC+10, Quadibloc wrote:
> >> On Friday, July 31, 2020 at 9:30:33 PM UTC-6, robin...@gmail.com wrote:
> >> > the fact that CDC had 65 characters stored in
> >> > 6-bits.
> >> 
> >> At first I thought that meant they had a 390 bit word, but then I realized that 
> >> what was meant was that... they were using a double-byte character set?
> >
> >No; characters were only 6 bits.
> 
> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?

I just explained that.
The 65th character was the :: , which was interpreted as
end of line.  The pair was not printed; you got the print line
split over 2 lines.  Brilliant.

(The :: needed to be at the beginning of a word.)

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#212497 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromQuadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca>
Date2020-08-02 00:28 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<9b0e7f28-78e7-4dee-86b0-54a4d4d922cbo@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212487
On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 11:27:45 AM UTC-6, John Levine wrote:

> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?

I didn't know either, but it was explained in this thread now: the character 
sequence "::" was treated as a new line character. But there was no way to escape 
the colon to allow two consecutive colons to be printed.

John Savard

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#212498 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromThomas Koenig <tkoenig@netcologne.de>
Date2020-08-02 08:01 +0000
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<rg5rsn$eep$1@newsreader4.netcologne.de>
In reply to#212497
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> schrieb:
> On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 11:27:45 AM UTC-6, John Levine wrote:
>
>> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
>
> I didn't know either, but it was explained in this thread now: the character 
> sequence "::" was treated as a new line character. But there was no way to escape 
> the colon to allow two consecutive colons to be printed.

So, no chance of implementing any Fortran later than FORTRAN 77
on a CDC 7600, because you cannot then write

   real, dimension(10) :: a

Fair enough, I guess - that machine had been a bit out of date
by 1991, when Fortran 90 was released.

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#212533 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromQuadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca>
Date2020-08-03 16:47 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<0858870f-b2b8-40cb-9e88-1c084d5ca339o@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212497
On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 1:28:27 AM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 11:27:45 AM UTC-6, John Levine wrote:
> 
> > How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
> 
> I didn't know either, but it was explained in this thread now: the character 
> sequence "::" was treated as a new line character. But there was no way to escape 
> the colon to allow two consecutive colons to be printed.

This discussion about fitting 65 characters into six bits has given me 
inspiration!

So at the end of my page at

http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/ascint.htm

under the heading "And Now for Six Bits", I describe how one could devise a six-
bit character set which stores text very efficiently... by having it switch 
between three modes.

The first mode is a plain 63-character code, with one code reserved as an escape 
character for switching modes.

The second mode picks a different 62 characters. No digits. Only a precious few 
punctuation marks. But both the upper-case and lower-case alphabets, making it 
very efficient for text documents. In addition to also having the escape 
character for switching modes, it has a character for switching directly to (a 
modified version of) the third mode when it is desired to print a digit or some 
other punctuation mark.

The third mode provides 48 characters... _and_ control characters to shift 
between upper-case and lower-case. So one can still have lower-case but have 
more punctuation marks than in the second mode.

But there are now also twelve _prefix_ characters. So one doesn't just have 48 
characters, one has 48 characters that are one character long, 512 characters 
that are two character cells long, and 16,384 characters that are three 
character cells long.

All right, that takes care of Chinese. How about other foreign languages? Here, 
I use other mode values to switch languages so that other languages can be 
efficiently coded to use only one six-bit character per letter if possible... 
this is defintely _not_ structured like UTF-8, even if the use of prefix 
characters is somewhat reminiscent of it.

John Savard

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#212535 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromQuadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca>
Date2020-08-03 19:45 -0700
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<7aaa7c28-1b60-4a55-9239-d6f79f49a46bo@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#212533
On Monday, August 3, 2020 at 5:47:30 PM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 1:28:27 AM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
> > On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 11:27:45 AM UTC-6, John Levine wrote:
> > 
> > > How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
> > 
> > I didn't know either, but it was explained in this thread now: the character 
> > sequence "::" was treated as a new line character. But there was no way to escape 
> > the colon to allow two consecutive colons to be printed.
> 
> This discussion about fitting 65 characters into six bits has given me 
> inspiration!
> 
> So at the end of my page at
> 
> http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/ascint.htm
> 
> under the heading "And Now for Six Bits", I describe how one could devise a six-
> bit character set which stores text very efficiently... by having it switch 
> between three modes.
> 
> The first mode is a plain 63-character code, with one code reserved as an escape 
> character for switching modes.
> 
> The second mode picks a different 62 characters. No digits. Only a precious few 
> punctuation marks. But both the upper-case and lower-case alphabets, making it 
> very efficient for text documents. In addition to also having the escape 
> character for switching modes, it has a character for switching directly to (a 
> modified version of) the third mode when it is desired to print a digit or some 
> other punctuation mark.
> 
> The third mode provides 48 characters... _and_ control characters to shift 
> between upper-case and lower-case. So one can still have lower-case but have 
> more punctuation marks than in the second mode.
> 
> But there are now also twelve _prefix_ characters. So one doesn't just have 48 
> characters, one has 48 characters that are one character long, 512 characters 
> that are two character cells long, and 16,384 characters that are three 
> character cells long.
> 
> All right, that takes care of Chinese. How about other foreign languages? Here, 
> I use other mode values to switch languages so that other languages can be 
> efficiently coded to use only one six-bit character per letter if possible... 
> this is defintely _not_ structured like UTF-8, even if the use of prefix 
> characters is somewhat reminiscent of it.

There was one thing about the scheme I came up with I wasn't entirely happy with - 
some characters had to be shifted around to different positions between modes. 
By giving up some preferences for where it was most logical to put certain 
things in some of the modes, I was able to fix that flaw, and the corrected code 
is now also on this page.

John Savard

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#212536 — Re: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600

FromJoe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu>
Date2020-08-03 21:00 -0600
SubjectRe: IBM models 91, 195 & CDC 7600
Message-ID<1bzh7baze2.fsf@pfeifferfamily.net>
In reply to#212497
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> writes:

> On Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 11:27:45 AM UTC-6, John Levine wrote:
>
>> How do you store 65 characters in 6 bits?
>
> I didn't know either, but it was explained in this thread now: the character 
> sequence "::" was treated as a new line character. But there was no way to escape 
> the colon to allow two consecutive colons to be printed.

No way if the colons were the first characters in the word.  If they
were anywhere else, they were printed as two colons.

My first exposure to Lisp was Lisp 1.5, on cards, on a 6400.  The bug I
remember most clearly was it used a bunch of colons (ten maybe?) to mark
the end of a line, so every line of output had an apparently-random
number of colons at the end.

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