Questions tagged [text]
For questions regarding text - as opposed to graphics - processing and display.
39 questions
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1
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Nitty gritty details of DEC Fortran IV FORMATs
I have specific questions about the details of Fortran applies formats when reading. (DEC Fortran IV for the PDP-10 circa 1977. I've been relying on "programmer's guides" from 1967 and ...
- 426
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0
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Where can I find an EGA demo by IBM that created a full screen animation by redefining the EGA character glyphs?
It was an IBM demo of the EGA's ability to show arbitrary text characters, like Chinese or hieroglyphics.
It was a full screen animation of a waterfall and a brook and trees with waving leaves. but it ...
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29
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3
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What is the historical origin of lone CR as a line terminator?
There are two main approaches to line terminators today:
CR+LF: Windows, also the Internet standard. Windows got it from DOS, which got it from CP/M, which got it from DEC operating systems. It goes ...
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7
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Why did older computers and OSes use UPPER case instead of lower case?
Memory constraints in ye olden days meant that text-mode display adapters had room for either upper or lower case, but not both. Why was this universally uppercase and never lowercase?
I remember ...
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10
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1
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How to decode mojibake in old Macintosh text files?
I hope this is an OK place to ask this question.
The Internet Archive has a Macintosh floppy image containing presets for an old E-mu synthesizer module. The page is here Proteus Preset Libraries
...
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16
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What were the most popular text editors for MS-DOS in the 1980s? [closed]
Since versions 1-5 of MS-DOS only came with the Edlin line-based editor, but were released on the IBM PC and compatibles, which had screen-based user I/O, my feeling is that most users wouldn't have ...
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4
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What page layout parameters imitate a line printer?
If I want to imitate the (scaled) look, albeit not the feel, of a typical line printer printout on fan-fold paper, using Letter-, Legal- or A4-sized paper, what settings should be used to reproduce ...
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8
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1
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Was ∆ used in APL as a substitute for space because ECMA-17/ISO 2047 specified △ as graphical representation for space?
Wikipedia on naming conventions in programming states (without source):
In APL dialects, the delta (Δ) is used between words, e.g. PERFΔSQUARE (…)
This is an unusual choice, but I notice that ECMA-...
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4
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Is there a common convention to describe the encoding of a legacy text file?
For the purpose of this question, a legacy textfile contains characters in the range 0x20 through 0x7e, with each line terminated by an OS-specific combination of 0x0d and/or 0x0a; it might be ...
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Which document format is this? (.MAN/.STR/.TAB/.IND)
I have these files, which were all in one .zip:
DPMANUAL.MAN
DPMANUAL.STR
DPMANUAL.IND
DPMANUAL.I01
DPMANUAL.I02
DPMANUAL.TAB
DPMANUAL.TXX
They are supposedly a manual (for DataPerfect).
The file ...
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2
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Was there ever a monospace display system (eg terminal) that used a vertical cursor?
Related to my earlier question about IBM PC cursors, I am now wondering if there has ever been a monospaced character display system (such as a terminal) that would've implemented a vertical cursor in ...
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3
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How was character data handled in Fortran IV/66?
One of the notable contributions in FORTRAN 77 was the CHARACTER data type, which made character processing quite usable.
As I understand it, FORTRAN 66 (sometimes called FORTRAN IV, but they're not ...
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2
votes
1
answer
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Were any form-based applications designed for more than 80 columns?
The traditional standard display for business computers was 80 column text (with either 24 or 25 rows).
Business software, roughly speaking, falls into two categories:
Horizontal applications like ...
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7
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1
answer
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Which versions of TECO had merged G- and Q-registers?
In this answer to 'Why were TECO variables called Q-registers?' I reference documentation indicating that the original Q-registers were separate from the same-named G-registers. (I.e., X1 would store ...
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4
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Why did fonts in Windows 1.01's Write application look so poor?
In Windows 1.01 Write, the fonts were kind of blocky:
Here's what the same text looked like in a modern word processor:
Even the terminal had smoother text than Windows 1.01:
Why did Windows 1.01 ...
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