> If an implementation "uses" 8 bits for ASCII text (as opposed to > hardware storage which is never less than 8 bits for a single C char, > AFAIK), then it is not a valid ASCII implementation, i.e. does not > interpret ASCII according to its definition. The whole point of > specifying a format as 7 bits is that the 8th bit is ignored, or > perhaps used in an implementation-defined manner, regardless of whether > the 8th bit in a char is available or not.
ASCII was designed back in the days of low reliability serial communications -- you know, back when data was sent using 7 bit data + 1 parity bits + 2 stop bits -- to increase the reliability of the communications. A "byte" was also 9 bits. 8 bits of data and a parity bit. Nowadays we use 8 bits for data with no parity, no error correction, and no timing bits. Cuz when things screw up we want them to REALLY screw up ... and remain undetectable. _______________________________________________ sqlite-users mailing list sqlite-users@mailinglists.sqlite.org http://mailinglists.sqlite.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sqlite-users
