Questions tagged [ascii]
The 7-bit ASCII character set, including control codes. DO NOT USE for binary-coded decimal; consider using [character-sets] instead for extensions of ASCII. See tag wiki.
21 questions
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Why did early ASCII have ← and ↑ but not ↓ or →?
It is widely known and reported that the 1963 definition of ASCII had ↑ and ← at positions 0x5E and 0x5F. Soon after these were changed to ^ and _ and so they remain. The first terminal I ever used ...
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4answers
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Was the purported 1968 standard for encoding ASCII on punched cards ever used?
A 1968 Communications of the ACM article describes a proposed USA standard for encoding US ASCII (with a provision to encode all 256 bytes) on punched cards, attempting to keep existing industry ...
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38votes
7answers
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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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9votes
1answer
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Why do BK computers have unusual representations of $ and ^
While programming in BASIC and FOCAL on my BK-0010-01, I wonder why both the keyboard and the character set have unusual representations of ASCII 36 and ASCII 94? ASCII 36: Standard:$ ; BK version: ¤ ...
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24votes
1answer
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Why was PETSCII based on an obsolete version of ASCII?
PETSCII (sometimes PETASCII) is the character set developed by Commodore for use in its microcomputers. The first of these, the PET, started to be developed in early 1976. Why, then, did Commodore ...
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5votes
1answer
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Why ASCII paper tape has lower bit punched from the narrow side?
ASCII was presented on paper tape where the lower 5 bits cross sprocket holes as following While FIELDATA chose the other way I found placing the higher, flag bits at the narrow side appealing, ...
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3answers
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Are the control characters any useful nowadays? [closed]
I asked this question on Super User, but the community at the site told me to redirect to this site. If this is again an off-topic question, do not blame me please! I am sorry if the control ...
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9votes
1answer
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When did tabs start defaulting to 8 columns?
The ASCII horizontal tab character defaults to 8 columns, which is unfortunate because it's too wide for indenting block structured languages (at least to most people's taste, acknowledging Linus ...
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17votes
3answers
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C64/PETSCII block graphic symbol: was there ever a logical reason for their "ASCII" codes?
You know those block graphic symbols that allows you to draw lines, corners, intersections, fine bar charts, etc. they are useful and one can do a lot of stuff, but their code arrangements always ...
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14votes
5answers
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When did IBM start to use ASCII?
I’m trying to figure out when IBM switched to ASCII and when ASCII became a worldwide standard. Moreover, did IBM make ASCII standard worldwide? What I have found: According to Wikipedia, IBM System /...
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5votes
5answers
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How does the shift key in a keyboard work?
The "shift" key on a keyboard is different from other keys as it can edit the outputs of the other keys on the keyboard. But how does it do it? I have one hypothesis on how the shift key does what it ...
1vote
2answers
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ASCII ASA X3.4-1963 and Finite State Machines?
I'm reviewing the historical original ASCII standard. There are many control characters. Does anyone know the history of them and where finite state machines that made use of them may be documented? ...
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28votes
3answers
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What was the ASCII end of medium (EM) character intended to be used for?
I can find information about how characters were used to structure transmissions in general, and I can find information about transmission characters which are still commonly used today, though ...
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33votes
2answers
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Why wasn't EBCDIC designed with contiguous alphanumeric characters?
Inspired by this question on ASCII, I have wondered similar things about EBCDIC. At work we have an EBCDIC file that gets sent to a mainframe (I presume an IBM one) and to view it on my laptop I ...
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76votes
7answers
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Why wasn't ASCII designed with a contiguous alphanumeric character order?
Anyone who has dealt with strings at a low level (e.g., writing a parser in C), knows that doing so tends to involve frequent checks of—either manually, or through isalpha(), isalnum(), etc—whether a ...
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