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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ut-ngp.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!decvax!harpo!seismo!ut-sally!ut-ngp!kjm
From: kjm@ut-ngp.UUCP (kjm)
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Re: expert-friendly: are long names a waste of time?
Message-ID: <167@ut-ngp.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 7-Dec-83 03:45:35 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-ngp.167
Posted: Wed Dec  7 03:45:35 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 9-Dec-83 05:39:02 EST
References: <232@denelcor.UUCP>
Organization: Comp. Center, Univ. of Texas at Austin
Lines: 23


  This is in regard to the Cyber console command fillout technique
quoted by denelcor!neal (immediate interactive fillout of commands
as far as possible and rejection of unidentifiable characters).

  The Cyber program which does this (Dynamic System Display) is able
to fill out commands in real time because it is resident in one of
the twenty PP's (Peripheral Processors -- sort of a programmable,
very intelligent I/O channel controller). This capability would
likely raise load averages into orbit on computers with only one
processor, because a hash table of all built-in commands and all
executable files in the search path would have have to be scanned
in processing the first character, all entries starting with that
character would have to be scanned in processing the second, and
so forth. Better yet, the technique used to handle a backspace
is to delete the last character from the input buffer and restart
the command scanner (overhead!). Finally, to do this at all, this
shell would have to run in CBREAK mode (yuck!).


        Shredder-Of-Hapless-Smurfs
        (or) Ken Montgomery
        ...!{ihnp4,ctvax,seismo}!ut-sally!ut-ngp!kjm