Integers vs. Long Integers Was: RE: [AccessD] Global Variable

John W. Colby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Thu May 19 20:36:18 CDT 2005


I said "No" because a byte is commonly known as 8 bits, although from the
links you posted and some other sites I found it appears that a byte was
variously 7, 8 and 9 bits.  It is definitely NOW commonly known as 8 bits.
Previous to the links you posted I had never seen anything other than 8 bits
known as a byte, which is why I said I knew what a byte is.  Apparently I
only knew the latest and most common (at least now) definition of byte - 8
bits.  I must admit I have been using byte to refer to 8 bits since the 70s
when I bought my first computer based on a z-80.  Before that everything was
octal.

When I said "No, it was groups of 3 bit octal numbers." the "it" I was
referring to was your "9 bit byte". 

I was attempting to point out that probably the "9 bit byte" was in fact a
"set" of 3 octal numbers, not a byte.   Apparently in that specific case,
the 9 bits was indeed considered or called a byte.

There is a lot of strange stuff out there.  I apologize for the massive
confusion and for ever doubting your 9 bit byte.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com 

Contribute your unused CPU cycles to a good cause:
http://folding.stanford.edu/

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Stuart McLachlan
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 9:12 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: RE: Integers vs. Long Integers Was: RE: [AccessD] Global Variable


On 19 May 2005 at 19:57, John W. Colby wrote:

> >You are calling your 3 bit group  a Byte
> 
> I never called "my" 3 bit group a byte.  Where did I say that?  In 
> fact it most assuredly isn't "my" three bit group.
> 

I said:
"Yep,  9 bits to a byte on quite a few early machines."
and you replied:
"No, it was groups of 3 bit octal numbers."

To me that certainly looks as though you were saying that it was a 3 bit 
byte. If not, I don't see any point in your remark and why you used the 
"No"




-- 
Stuart


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