From:	lucvdv AT null DOT net (Luc Van der Veken)
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp,comp.os.cpm,alt.folklore.computers
Subject:	Re: EOF char. (Was C++ and RHIDE)
Date:	Mon, 06 Jul 1998 12:27:29 GMT
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rwaltman AT bellatlantic DOT net (Roberto Waltman) told us

> >Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il> wrote:
> >>On 2 Jul 1998, Gili wrote:
> >> 	Call me silly, but aren't editors suppose to stop reading in 
> >> textfiles at the EOF character? Isn't that the specification of some 
> >> standard?
> >No, it's not a standard.  It's a left-over from the ancient days of the 
> >CP/M operating system (which predates DOS).  Somebody wanted to avoid 
> >accessing the file's directory entry (to know its size) when reading it.
> 
> It was (is?) a standard in the CP/M world. CP/M keeps the file
> size as the number of 128 byte sectors that the file occupies,
> there isn't an exact byte count. The EOF character (CTRL-Z) is
> the only way a text file can be 'ended' at an arbitrary point.

(Taking the risk that I _again_ say something I have to admit of
later that it was wrong)

I think it's much older than CP/M.

What exact character would be used in the papertape days to
signal the end of a tape? Decennia ago I used them, but I don't
remember.

CTRL/Z - ETX (CTRL/C) - EOT (CTRL/D) - EM (CTRL/Y)?

Or more than one, platform-dependent?

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