Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!clarkson!grape.ecs.clarkson.edu!nelson From: nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d Subject: Re: Why Freemacs uses the 8th bit. Message-ID: Date: 23 Jun 91 04:27:51 GMT References: <3245@krafla.rhi.hi.is> <1991Jun15.124052.17827@cbfsb.att.com> <3257@krafla.rhi.hi.is> <3271@krafla.rhi.hi.is> <3287@krafla.rhi.hi.is> Sender: usenet@grape.ecs.clarkson.edu Reply-To: nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu (aka NELSON@CLUTX.BITNET) Organization: Clarkson University, Potsdam NY Lines: 39 In-Reply-To: einari@rhi.hi.is's message of 21 Jun 91 12:33:51 GMT In article <3287@krafla.rhi.hi.is> einari@rhi.hi.is (Einar Indridason) writes: In article nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu (aka NELSON@CLUTX.BITNET) writes: >In article <3271@krafla.rhi.hi.is> einari@rhi.hi.is (Einar Indridason) writes: > > Why is your program simpler if you use the 8th bit for yourself? (for > internal purposes?) instead of just leaving it alone? > >Freemacs needs meta characters, that fall outside the charater set. >It needs these in two places -- in the neutral string (to delimit >pending functions and arguments), and in functions (to indicate >argument place-holders). Some time ago, I rewrote the neutral string code >so that all 8 bits are usable. The code is faster but more complicated. Humm, meta characters? Can you use 16bit characters in freemacs? (then you could use the upper 9-16 bits as some sort of a meta bit?) No. Then the maximum size of text to edit is then limited to 32K (Right?) Right, ick. But what about useing some character below 0x20 as a 'lead-in' character (some kind of an escape?) and if that character is to appear, then it could be protected by duplicating that character? That makes scanning backwards tough. May I bring up a suggestion? How about getting the device-driver that frisk has uploaded to SIMTEL and use that to test freemacs? I can suply you with a sentence that gives you all icelandic characters? Perhaps frisk's ICELAND.ZIP should have an example bit of text, along with a known-good method for viewing it on the screen. Maybe he should supply a copy of the documentation written in icelandic? :) -- --russ I'm proud to be a humble Quaker. I am leaving the employ of Clarkson as of June 30. Hopefully this email address will remain. If it doesn't, use nelson@gnu.ai.mit.edu.