New MULTICS Network Software Features

Network Working Group                             M. A. Padlipsky
Request for Comments #411                             MIT-MULTICS
NIC 124D3                                       November 14, 1972

                 NEW MULTICS NETWORK SOFTWARE FEATURES

Two recently-installed features of the Multics  Network  software
might be of general interest to the Network community, and should
be of particular interest to those who use Multics via TIP's:

Case Mapping
---- -------

In  order  to allow Network users at upper-case-only terminals on
systems which do not  furnish  case-mapping  to  access  Multics,
typing   "MAP"   (upper-case,   followed   by   Telnet  New-line)
immediately after receipt of the Multics  load  message  actuates
Multics software which applies the following typing conventions:

1) as most Multics  input  is  lower-case,  alphabetic  input  is
    mapped  to  lower-case,  except  for  any  letter immediately
    preceded by "
2) back (left) arrow  is  treated  as  underscore,  up  arrow  as
    circumflex, apostrophe as acute (right) accent
3) escape sequences exist for the following:
    backspace = -
    grave (left) accent = '
    left brace =
    vertical line =
    right brace = )
    tilde = =
4) the sequence "\" is treated as  "
    octal  escape, it is only necessary to type     a "
    them

The case-mapping software is also actuated if "HELP" (upper-case)
is  typed  prior  to  login  in  response  to the system's "login
incorrect" message, in which case the normal  information  (which
would  appear  in response to lower-case "help" as well) on login
format will be printed out.  (Note: the escape sequences are  the
same  as  existing Multics   conventions for direct-dialled Model
33/35 TTY's.  On these particular devices, "
indicated on the key-caps: it is input as SHIFT-L.)

Allocate Handling
-------- --------

Output  to  systems  which give small allocations has long been a
problem, both to the remote user (who experienced frequent pauses
in the output at  his  terminal)  and  to  the  Multics  "Network
Daemon"  process  (which  encountered  considerable  inefficiency
because of being frequently awakened to process the  ALL  control
messages).   To alleviate this, we have introduced interrupt-time
code which processes the ALL's and  outputs  the  next  group  of
bytes  without  causing  the Network Daemon to take a wakeup.  As
attendees of the ICCC will have already observed, response is far
superior under the new scheme.  (System  Programmers  responsible
for  NCP's  might  be  interested  to  know  that some 75% of our
control-message processing deals with ALL's.)


    [ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
    [ into the online RFC archives by BBN Corp. under the   ]
    [ direction of Alex McKenzie.                      1/97 ]