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From: jt@aix.aix.kingston.ibm.com (Julian Thomas)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Punched Cards
Message-ID: <2084@aix.aix.kingston.ibm.com>
Date: 5 Jun 90 12:03:52 GMT
References: <12546@netcom.UUCP> <220@taumet.COM> <12573@netcom.UUCP> <898@nlsun1.oracle.nl> <1990May29.132631.2253@pdn.paradyne.com> <1990May30.065025.25861@diku.dk> <1990Jun1.211352.4749@unhtel.uucp> <5157@stpstn.UUCP>
Distribution: comp
Organization: IBM Corporation, Kingston NY
Lines: 16

The online card readers for the 70x binary family (704-709 [tube machines!]
preceded the 7090/7094) read 72 columns a row at a time into 2 words, so
that columns 73-80 were unreadable by the machine.  (This restriction was
relaxed by the offline card-to-tape conversion units).  The program read
the 9 row first, and as the card advanced (9 edge first, of course!)
through the reading station, it read the subsequent rows.  Load decks
intended for direct input were in what was called "row binary".  For
reasons that probably made sense then (before the days of megabit rams) the
offline card->tape units insisted on reading binary cards in "column binary
format" where 3 consecutive columns went into a word once read into the
machine.

-- 
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