eight-bit clean

1 definition found

eight-bit clean - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  eight-bit clean
  8-bit clean
  
     <software> A term which describes a system that deals
     correctly with extended character sets which (unlike ASCII)
     use all eight bits of a byte.  Many programs and
     communications systems assume that all characters have codes
     in the range 0 to 127.  This leaves the top bit of each byte
     free for use as a parity bit or some kind of flag bit.
     These assumptions break down when the program is used in some
     non-english-speaking countries with larger alphabets.
  
     If a binary file is transmitted via a communications link
     which is not eight-bit clean, it will be corrupted.  To combat
     this you can encode it with uuencode which uses only ASCII
     characters.  There are some links however which are not even
     "seven-bit clean" and cause problems even for uuencoded data.
  
     (1995-01-05)