Xref: utzoo comp.arch:8031 comp.misc:4822 comp.lang.misc:2626 comp.protocols.misc:476 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.llnl.gov!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!agate!bionet!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!halley!rrt From: rrt@halley.UUCP (Robert Teisberg) Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.misc,comp.lang.misc,comp.protocols.misc Subject: Re: Unification of big and little endian architectures. Keywords: dump little-endian strings Message-ID: <430@halley.UUCP> Date: 27 Jan 89 01:44:33 GMT References: <170@microsoft.UUCP> <4008@hubcap.UUCP> <482@babbage.acc.virginia.edu> <7193@csli.STANFORD.EDU> <1371@X.UUCP> <5462@pdn.nm.paradyne.com> Reply-To: rrt@halley.UUCP (Robert Teisberg) Organization: Tandem Computers, Austin, TX Lines: 34 In article <5462@pdn.nm.paradyne.com> alan@pdn.nm.paradyne.com (0000-Alan Lovejoy) writes: >It would be better to provide load and store operations that are >specifically big or little endian: > >LLE.W -- load little endian word >SLE.W -- store little endian word ... etc. ... The Datapoint 6600 (definitely not a RISC -- think of an 8008 grown in an entirely different fashion from the one Intel chose) had something along these lines. It had a special register which it used to relocate one page of memory cells which were then accessible with an 8-bit offset. The instructions used to reference this page included: DPL double paged load DPS double pages store DPLR double paged load reversed DPSR double paged store reversed Since I was writing SNA software for this beast, I frequently wished that Datapoint's SIL had included a way to declare a field big-endian so the compiler would know it could generate these instructions directly. Ah, memories! >Alan Lovejoy; alan@pdn; 813-530-2211; ATT-Paradyne: 8550 Ulmerton, Largo, FL. >Disclaimer: I do not speak for ATT-Paradyne. They do not speak for me. >___________ This Month's Slogan: Reach out and BUY someone (tm). ___________ >Motto: If nanomachines will be able to reconstruct you, YOU AREN'T DEAD YET. -- Bob Teisberg @ Tandem Computers, Inc. | ...!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!halley!rrt 14231 Tandem Blvd. | Austin, Texas 78728 | (512) 244-8119