Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!unido!laura!trillian.irb!cgw
From: cgw%trillian.irb@unido.uucp (Natuerlich!)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: nullfilling
Summary: why not
Keywords: har har
Message-ID: <1173@laura.UUCP>
Date: 6 Mar 89 11:37:38 GMT
References: <8903010551.AA25974@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <526@bdt.UUCP>
Sender: root@laura.UUCP
Reply-To: cgw%trillian.irb@unido.UUCP (Natuerlich!)
Organization: Natuerlich!'s Software Vault #7 - Location UNI-DO
Lines: 42

In article <526@bdt.UUCP> david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer) writes:
>In article <8903010551.AA25974@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> U46050@UICVM.BITNET (JOHN ZAFIRIS) writes:
>>[Start deleted]
>>instructions are able to fit into that 192K or ROM).  If those last 4
>>bytes are some magic value, say 628318530 (2*pi, yes, I know, really
>>original...) then the memory clearing code is just ignored. ...
>[ Rest Deleted ] 
>Last four bytes of which part of the program just loaded?  The last bytes
>of the Text, Data, BSS, Symbols, or what?   If it's the last bytes of the
>file, these are currently undefined, and in fact they're used by MWC
>executables.  Who puts the four bytes there?  The linker?  The User?
>What's to guarantee that the magic number isn't there now in some
>executable file?
I think the chances, that the MAGIC number matches some long and 
that the program _also_ requires zeroing of the data space are pretty much
'0'.
On the other hand isn't the blitter (I don't have one) able to do zeroing
of data?  (At least it should be). 
And, aren't there some unused bytes in the .PRG header of every
executable file ? That could be a better place to add a flag.

>
>Basically I think this is old news.   Forget it.   There's a lot more
News I never heard, but then I just hopped out of the cradle...

>important things for Atari to do with the ST; like how about multichannel
>DMA and a real MMU and some hardware for that Mega Bus and an expansion
>box for it and some ATARI SUPPORTED network hooks built into the OS
>and FORWARD SLASHES and virtual file systems and ... :-)
But since they are _obviously_ not able to do (*) that, I would be grateful
for the nullfilling thing (and probably a challenging task for Atari
programmers too (***)).

	Natuerlich!

(*)   A big "har har" (**) here. (Yes I did see the ':-)' there.)
(**)  use a slightly bitter, cynical undertone
(***) har har, sorry.
 Georg Wallmann (Natuerlich!)    cgw@trillian.irb.informatik.uni-dortmund.de 
 "Lasst dicke Frauen um mich sein"         ...uunet!mcvax!unido!trillian!cgw 
 (moving in March/zieht im Maerz um)
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