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From: rat@madnix.UUCP (David Douthitt)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: File handling tips
Message-ID: <599@madnix.UUCP>
Date: 9 Apr 89 19:17:45 GMT
Reply-To: rat@madnix.UUCP (David Douthitt)
Distribution: na
Organization: ARP Software, Madison, WI
Lines: 42


I wrote:
|
| Why not put the blocks into files? I believe that the Macintosh MacForth
| does this - I know Mad Apple Forth does.
| This way, everything still looks like blocks to the user, but can either
| be a standard text file or an "all-text" file just like the blocks are.

Lee Brotzman (ZMLEB@SCFVM.BITNET) replied:
|    I don't know about MacForth, but, in my experience, block-oriented Forth
| systems that run under host operating systems usually implement blocks as
| 1024-byte fixed-length records.  There are no intervening end-of-line
| characters or other record terminators.  They are not at all like standard
| text files, as evidenced by trying to print them and getting a run-on
| mish-mash.

I think you misunderstood me.  As I see it, there are three possible formats
here:
        1. 1K Blocks, no filesystem
        2. 1K Blocks stored as 1024-byte records in a file.
        3. 1K Blocks stored as blocks of variable-length lines
           (that is, a block is made up of 16 variable-length text lines;
            does this sound like a text file?  It should...)
        4. Freeform "streaming" text file - no 1K limits.

Personally, I think both versions #2 and #3 show promise for a file-based
block system.  For Apple Prodos, it's rather simple to read 16 lines
terminated either at character 64 or at a newline.  The only problem would be
reading a text line with 64 characters and a newline character.  Of course,
that is not really a problem since Forth needs column 64 clear to keep the
end of one line from connecting to the beginning of the next.  The neat
part is it would handle formats 2 and 3 above without change.

What do you think?

      [david]

-- 
======== David Douthitt :::: Madison, WI :::: The Stainless Steel Rat ========
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