Re: Another request - character streams without newline translation

[Sam S. <sd...@gn...>]

>>>> In message <14620.20321.631447.21723@ragged>
>>>> On the subject of "Re: Another request - character streams without newline translation"
>>>> Sent on Fri May 12 14:40:48 EDT 2000
>>>> Honorable Don Cohen <do...@ni...> writes:
 >> 
 >> To me this whole distinction between binary and [what's the name of
 >> the alternative?] data is not so clear cut.  You can look at it
 >> however you like.  

Here is your problem: you have binary data and you are trying to treat
it as if it were text.

All computer data is a sequence on bits (binary digits: 0/1), usually
organized in octets ("bytes", or numbers 0-255).  When this data is
intended to be directly consumed by a human being, it is usually called
text and the bytes are interpreted as characters (ASCII and friends,
when some bytes are letters and others are not used; or UNICODE, when
some pairs of bytes, i.e., groups of 16 bits, are letters in various
alphabets and other are not used); and when the data is intended to be
processed by some software before a human will look at it (such as
executable files, compressed archives, RMAIL BABYL files &c), it is
usually called binary.

The underlying structure is always 0/1, but the interpretation usually
differs.

Text data can be converted from one encoding to another, and the
delimiters, like CR and LF can be operated upon with some liberty.

Binary data is preserved as is, bit by bit and byte by byte.

You have to decide whether you really want your data in text or binary.

If you really need to keep your data intact without any processing, it
is binary.  If you want to be able to look at it for debugging or
something else, use `code-char'.

Please note that the difference between "text" and "binary" was not
invented by me specifically to annoy you.  It is not even
CLISP-specific, so you can't blame Bruno either. :-)

try adding a space next a another space in one of your *.lisp files and
then doing the same in a *.fasl file.  you will see the difference.

-- 
Sam Steingold (http://www.podval.org/~sds)
Micros**t is not the answer.  Micros**t is a question, and the answer is Linux,
(http://www.linux.org) the choice of the GNU (http://www.gnu.org) generation.
Winners never quit; quitters never win; idiots neither win nor quit.