Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!psuvax1!husc6!encore!pinocchio.encore.com
From: jkenton@pinocchio.encore.com (Jeff Kenton)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Is handling off-alignment important?
Message-ID: <12436@encore.Encore.COM>
Date: 9 Aug 90 12:55:02 GMT
References: <40711@mips.mips.COM>
Sender: news@Encore.COM
Lines: 17

From article <40711@mips.mips.COM>, by mash@mips.COM (John Mashey):
> 
> Just out of curiosity, can anyone give some live examples where software
> takes advantage of the mode where the CPU just zeroes the low-oorder
> bits and conitnues, as in the 88K?  (or, I think(?), in the RT/PC).

The only case I've seen is a low level, PROM based, debugger on the 88k which
runs in this mode.  Presumably, this is done to save error checking or trap
handling when the user types a misaligned address.

I don't see that this gains much, and it runs the risk of masking real bugs
in the program itself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
      jeff kenton  ---	temporarily at jkenton@pinocchio.encore.com	 
		   ---  always at (617) 894-4508  ---
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -