02/03/84 unique_chars_ Entry points in unique_chars_: (List is generated by the help command) :Entry: unique_chars_: 02/03/84 unique_chars_ Function: provides a character-string representation of a bit string. If the bit string is supplied by the unique_bits_ subroutine, this character string is unique among all character strings generated in this manner in the history of this Multics installation and is therefore useful as an identifier. Syntax: declare unique_chars_ entry (bit(*)) returns (char(15)); char_string = unique_chars_ (bits); Arguments: char_string is a unique character string. (Output) bits is a bit string of up to 70 bits. (Input) See "Notes" below. Notes: If the bits argument is less than 70 bits in length, unique_chars_ pads it with zeros on the right to produce a 70-bit string. If the bits argument equals zero, unique_chars_ calls unique_bits_ to obtain a unique bit string. The first character in the character string produced is always an exclamation point to identify the string as a unique identifier. The remaining 14 characters that form the unique identifier are alphanumeric, excluding vowels. ----------------------------------------------------------- Historical Background This edition of the Multics software materials and documentation is provided and donated to Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Group BULL including BULL HN Information Systems Inc. as a contribution to computer science knowledge. This donation is made also to give evidence of the common contributions of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Laboratories, General Electric, Honeywell Information Systems Inc., Honeywell BULL Inc., Groupe BULL and BULL HN Information Systems Inc. to the development of this operating system. Multics development was initiated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Project MAC (1963-1970), renamed the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in the mid 1970s, under the leadership of Professor Fernando Jose Corbato. Users consider that Multics provided the best software architecture for managing computer hardware properly and for executing programs. Many subsequent operating systems incorporated Multics principles. Multics was distributed in 1975 to 2000 by Group Bull in Europe , and in the U.S. by Bull HN Information Systems Inc., as successor in interest by change in name only to Honeywell Bull Inc. and Honeywell Information Systems Inc. . ----------------------------------------------------------- Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute these programs and their documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,provided that the below copyright notice and historical background appear in all copies and that both the copyright notice and historical background and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the names of MIT, HIS, BULL or BULL HN not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the programs without specific prior written permission. Copyright 1972 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Honeywell Information Systems Inc. Copyright 2006 by BULL HN Information Systems Inc. Copyright 2006 by Bull SAS All Rights Reserved