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From: seanf@sco.COM (Sean Fagan)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: String lengths
Message-ID: <2252@scolex.sco.COM>
Date: 10 Feb 89 07:19:16 GMT
References: <6133@columbia.edu> <5124@aldebaran.UUCP> <7@microsoft.UUCP> <762@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu> <499@maxim.ERBE.SE>
Reply-To: seanf@scolex.UUCP (Sean Fagan)
Followup-To: comp.lang.misc
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Lines: 17

In article <499@maxim.ERBE.SE> prc@maxim.ERBE.SE (Robert Claeson) writes:
>>   but, what size would you use for "length", a byte? a word? a longword?
>A 16-bit word, just to remain compatible with all the 16-bit machines
>out there.

You would limit all those who are on VAXen, 68k's, 32k's (both WE and NS),
Sparc's, 88k's, CDC Cybers (180 state), Cray's (1, 2, 3, X and Y MP), ARM's,
29k's, Elxsi's, ad naseum, just to retain backwards compatibility?

If you *must* use a <length, pointer> combination, make the <length>
attribute the same size as a normal char *.  However, I've gotten along
quite well without them, as have thousands of other people.

-- 
Sean Eric Fagan  | "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
seanf@sco.UUCP   |  the master calls a butterfly."  -- Richard Bach
(408) 458-1422   | Any opinions expressed are my own, not my employers'.