Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!necntc!ima!think!whitney From: whitney@think.COM (David Whitney) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: Possible Executioner replacement... Message-ID: <21475@think.UUCP> Date: 1 Jun 88 17:41:15 GMT References: <8805311328.aa13074@SMOKE.BRL.ARPA> <5936@uwmcsd1.UUCP> Sender: usenet@think.UUCP Reply-To: whitney@godot.think.com.UUCP (David Whitney) Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA Lines: 40 In article <5936@uwmcsd1.UUCP> neighbor@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Jeffrey Alan Ding) writes: > >What we really need is EXECUTIONER in 5-BIT packing mode, that is 32 >combinations. That can be done with just letters and numbers. Now >no mailer should choke on that. 5-BIT is better than 4-BIT but not >as good as 6-BIT. I think 5-BIT would be a good compromise. > >Maybe the original EXECUTIONER can be modified to handle the 5-BIT scheme. >It might not be too much work to get it done. > >What you think about that? Is your complaint the fact that the files won't be EXECable, or that you mistrust my 6-bit codes? I'll be using the upper and lower-case alphabet, the ten digits, and two more common chars (say, "<" and ">") which makes 64 codes. I see no trouble in this. By not making the files EXECable, I can make it easier for the user to deal with the files. Each file will have a start mark and an end mark. This way, you don't have to delete headers/trailers. EOLs don't have to exist in any particular way (they'll be ignored). Files will not be restricted to fit in the 48k address space of ProDOS 8 (no, this isn't going to be a ProDOS 16 prgm, it just deals with things in a better way). Multiple files could be sent in the same piece of mail as each file is seperated by a start/end mark. Beginning to see the advantages? For those who use a command shell (such as APW, Davex, or whatever), Binscii will be no more of a pain to use than Executioner is, as one has to run BASIC.SYSTEM in order to EXEC the file. The only thing is, one will need Binscii to un-code a file, but I see no disadvantage to that. Lots of people are going to want Binscii to post (lots want Executioner - I for some reason get requests to mail it off to people an awful lot) their files... Of course, since Executioner is free, this will have to be free. If I should even ask for 10 cents, nobody would buy it. I have no problem with this. David Whitney, MIT '90 Still learning about my Apple //GS {the known universe}!ihnp4!think!whitney and all of its secrets. Any and all whitney@think.com technical info appreciated. DISCLAIMER: If they only knew what I was doing and saying here...