Break Characters
Whenever a user types into his console, regardless of whether his program is running or not, the input character is received at the supervisor level within 200 ms. The supervisor compares the character against the break character list of that user. (In routine circumstances, and after every command, the break character list includes only the carriage return.) The input character is added to the user's input message and if it is not a break character, no further action is taken. If the character is a break character, the message is called complete and one of several actions results.
If the user input was at the command level (i.e., the user was in the dead or dormant status), he is placed in a waiting command status. If the user's program was in an input-wait status, it is returned to the working status so that it may resume by reading the input message. If the user's program was already in the working status, the message is merely considered early and is left in the buffer for subsequent reading by his program. (If early messages continue to arrive and the input buffer area becomes nearly filled, a message is typed out to the user requesting that he stop typing until his previous input is read.)
If a programmer desires to interact more frequently with input messages (including character-by-character reading), any arbitrary break character may be added to and deleted from his break character list by means of subroutine calls to the supervisor. The programmer, however, should anticipate response time delays and the extra computer time usage for each interaction.
Quit Signals and Console Input Levels
When a user issues a command, two actions are initiated. First, his console input level is logically dropped from level 0 (command level) to level 1; second, a program is started (i.e., placed in working status), either the command program or his own, which executes until it terminates and enters dead or dormant status, or until the user manually terminates the program and places it in dormant status. Clearly this manual quit feature is desirable in that it allows the user to change his mind, correct mistakes, etc. The termination is performed by the
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