On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 00:41:56 -0400, Gerhard Postpischil wrote:
>On 9/9/2013 10:32 PM, Paul Gilmartin wrote:
>> Merely that it was the first time I saw a computer (it was a PDP-10)
>> writing messages and column headings in mixed case. "Thermal"
>> is irrelevant; merely an exclamation of recognition of the device.
>
>That may have been your first exposure to mixed case output, but IBM
>offered an SN and TN train for the 1403. I used an IBM type III program
>named FORMAT, that provided an escape character (cent sign by default),
>to produce mixed case output. It came in very handy for writing memos
>and documentation.
>
But how much IBM software in 1978 actually exploited it? Using SDSF
as an analogue, on the TTY 33 ASR, I had been used to seeing something
like:
DISPLAY FILTER VIEW PRINT OPTIONS SEARCH HELP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SDSF DA MVS3 MVS3 PAG 0 CPU/L 3/ 3 LINE 42-76 (77)
PREFIX=* DEST=(ALL) OWNER=* SORT=JOBID/A SYSNAME=
NP JOBNAME STEPNAME PROCSTEP JOBID OWNER C POS DP REAL PAGING
SIO
SDSF SDSF SDSF STC05182 STCUSER NS F6 154 0.00
0.00
RMF RMF IEFPROC STC05183 STCUSER NS FE 1725 0.00
0.00
When we got the TI 700, suddenly I saw:
Display Filter View Print Options Search Help
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SDSF DA MVS3 MVS3 PAG 0 CPU/L 3/ 3 LINE 42-76 (77)
PREFIX=* DEST=(ALL) OWNER=* SORT=JobID/A SYSNAME=
NP JOBNAME StepName ProcStep JobID Owner C Pos DP Real Paging
SIO
SDSF SDSF SDSF STC05182 STCUSER NS F6 154 0.00
0.00
RMF RMF IEFPROC STC05183 STCUSER NS FE 1725 0.00
0.00
As I say, it was an epiphany; I realized that TOPS-10 was trying to use
literate English conventions all along; it was just the TTY that was
folding to monocase. Later, using CDC Kronos, and then IBM MVS,
I wondered, why couldn't they do likewise: let the output device fold if
it chooses to; otherwise let it display mixed case.
-- gil
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