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U.S. Patent Number: 4,956,809
Well, not funny, but you get to slap your head a few times... (courtesy
Dennis who dug this out of the Metro Library).
U.S. Patent Number: 4,956,809
Date of Patent: Sep. 11, 1990
Inventors: Johann George, Holland Landing, Canada;
Trevor J. Thompson, New Providence, N.J.;
David G conroy, Maynard, Mass.;
Frederick H. Tudor, Evanston, Ill.
Assignee: Mark Williams Company, Chicago, Ill.
Filed: Dec. 29, 1988
Related U.S. Application Data:
Continuation of Ser. No. 934,341, Nov. 24, 1986, abondoned, which
is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 391,223, Jun. 23, 1982,
abandoned.
...
Other Publications:
McGraw Hill Dictionary of Physics and Mathematics, copyright 1978,
p.124.
Portability of C Programs and the UNIX System, by S.C. Johnson and
D.M. Ritchie, "The Bell System Technical Journal", vol. 57, No. 6,
Jul.-Aug. 1978, pp. 2021-2048.
Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, p. 274.
Sun Technical Report, "The Sun Network File System: Design,
Implementation and Experience," pp. 1-16, copyright 1986 by Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
Sun Technical Report, "Open Network Computing-Technical Overview,"
pp. 1-32, copyright 1987 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
...
We claim:
1. A method for use with a portable operating system used on different
computers which use different binary structures, whereby files containing
binary data become portable, comprising the steps of:
by means of a computer, representing in a standardized order
consisting of a standard binary structure files stored on
auxiliary memory or transported on a communications means,
said standardized order being different from a natural order
used on at least one of the different computers;
converting in each of the different computers binary data read
from auxiliary data storage or communications means from the
standardized ordera to the natural order of the respective host
computer after said binary data are read from said auxiliary data
storage or communications means and before said binary data are
used by the respective host computer; and
converting in each of the different computers binary data written into
auxiliary data storage or communications means from the natural
order of the respective host computer to the standardized order
prior to said writing.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said operating system comprises a
UNIX like operating system.
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said file comprises a file system
and some or all of said binary data is converted.
4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said file comprises an object
file expressed in binary.
5. A method for use on different computers which use different binary
structures, whereby files containing binary data become portable between
the computers, comprising the steps of:
representing by means of a computer files that are stored for use by
one or more of the computers or are transported on a communications
means to one or more of the computers, in a predetermined binary
structure different than the binary structure used on at least one of
the different computers;
converting in each of the computers binary data, to be stored for use
by one or more of the computers or to be transported on said
communications means to one or more of the computers, from the binary
structure of the originating computer to the predetermined binary
structure, and
converting in each of the computers binary data obtained from said
stored files or from said communications means from said predetermined
binary structure to the binary structure used by said computer.
--
What more can be said? Oh, yes... their proposed canonical structure
(though, of course, the patent extends to any variations) is
PDP-11 byteorder.
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