RFC 338 (rfc338) - Page 2 of 6
EBCDIC/ASCII Mapping for Network RJE
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 338 EBCDIC/ASCII MAPPING FOR NETWORK RJE May 1972 special-purpose text composition programs, IBM 360 programs use only the 89 "basic" EBCDIC graphics [5] shown in RFC #183 as well as in Figure 1. An IBM 029 "EBCDIC" keypunch can create 63 graphics: the 89 basic EBCDIC graphics less the 26 lower case letters. In fact, OS/360 requires an even smaller subset of EBCDIC, 60 characters commonly called the "PL/1 character set". The PL/1 set consists of the 89 basic graphics, less the 26 lower case letters as well as the three graphics!" (cent sign, exclamation point, and quotation). C. CHARACTER MAPPING IN NETRJS We consider now the requirements of a ASCII/EBCDIC mapping for NETRJS or any rje protocol. These requirements are as follows: Efficiency: The translation should be character-to-character, so that the CPU operation "translate" can be used and character scans obviated. This is important because a significant volume of character data may be moved during rje operations. Usability: (1) All of the 89 EBCDIC graphics should be mapped into corresponding ASCII characters. (2) The mapping should be as nearly transparent as possible, i.e., whenever the same graphic appears in both sets, it should map onto itself. (3) To minimize the adaptation required of an EBCDIC-oriented programmer, the ASCII graphics should evoke the corresponding EBCDIC graphic, when they are not identical. Theses considerations led us to incorporate Winett's rules II (a) and III (b) (see page 4 of the RFC #183) into NETRJS: ASCII EBCDIC ----- ------ | | ~ \ Braden
