From: G.Sa...@worldnet.att.net (Gordon Sande)
Subject: Re: How long can a statement be?
Date: 2000/03/08
Message-ID: <38c5a7c3.638105812@netnews.worldnet.att.net>#1/1
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On 7 Mar 2000 23:55:55 GMT, nor...@mech.eng.usyd.edu.au wrote:

>Richard Maine <ma...@altair.dfrc.nasa.gov> expounded:
>
>: In free source form, a statement can be up to 40 lines long and each
>: line can have up to 132 characters.
>
>As a matter of interest, does anyone know why the number 132 was chosen? 
>I can understand the origins of the fixed-source length of 72 characters
>(punch cards being 80 characters long, less 8 for putting those line 
>numbers in the right hand columns), but why 132 for the new source form? 
>I would have imagined that computer scientist types would have pushed for
>128 (and maybe Cray programmers 129) so why 132?

Standard line width of printers. 

133 if you count the carriage control and some printers had a manual
override so you could see your erroneous carriage control. 

Jokes about multiple trees are all too true.

You aint seen nothing until you have seen a fast printer skipping form
due to an error in carriage control. Good printers even had a fast
skip mode for forms that had only a little bit of printing on them.
Before you make too much fun of such printers take a look at a typical
paycheck.

>
>-- 
>Stuart Norris                                   nor...@mech.eng.usyd.edu.au
>Mechanical Engineering,University of Sydney,NSW 2006   wk:+(61 2) 9351-2272
>http://flo.mech.eng.usyd.edu.au/norris                 hm:+(61 2) 9326-5276