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Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!trantor.harris-atd.com!x102c!bbadger
From: bbadger@x102c.uucp (Badger BA 64810)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.misc,comp.lang.misc,comp.protocols.misc
Subject: Re: "big endian" and "little endian" - first usage for computer
Summary: Dump can support little-endian strings
Keywords: dump little-endian strings
Message-ID: <1433@trantor.harris-atd.com>
Date: 13 Jan 89 15:16:08 GMT
References: <170@microsoft.UUCP> <4008@hubcap.UUCP> <482@babbage.acc.virginia.edu> <5658@cbmvax.UUCP>
Sender: news@trantor.harris-atd.com
Reply-To: bbadger@x102c.UUCP (Badger BA 64810)
Organization: Harris GISD, Melbourne, FL
Lines: 27

In article <5658@cbmvax.UUCP> jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes:
>2)  Hardware people like to draw diagrams with 0 at bottom-right, software
>people, used to printers and screens that print top to bottom, left to right,
>like to put 0 at upper-left.  It also makes dumping memory with strings easier
>to read.

DEC VAX DUMP prints out in a format that makes both integers and strings 
easy to read.  Namely, it prints out each in their ``natural'' order:
Integers in little-endian (right to left), and strings from left to right.
Here's an example:

Virtual block number 1 (00000001), 512 (0200) bytes

 4E4D4C4B 4A494847 46454443 4241002F /.ABCDEFGHIJKLMN 000000
 69685420 5A595857 56555453 5251504F OPQRSTUVWXYZ Thi 000010
 74736574 20612079 6C6E6F20 73692073 s is only a test 000020
 00000000 00000000 00000000 FFFF0021 !............... 000030
 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ................ 000040
     <----- numbers go this way <---*---> strings go this way --->

People who expect the first word (000000) to appear first (at left) will be 
suprised by this, but it's perfectly consistent with the way we write 
our numbers and strings.
Bernard A. Badger Jr.	407/984-6385          |``Use the Source, Luke!''
Secure UNIX Products                          |It's not a bug; it's a feature!
Harris GISD, Melbourne, FL                    |Buddy, can you paradigm?
Internet: bbadger@cobra@trantor.harris-atd.com|Recursive:  see Recursive.