solved (was data I/O promlink oddity)

[Jay West]

I finally got to the bottom of this this morning. There were several things 
conspiring against me. And this did raise a question too :)

Promlink 3.4 uses I/O format 10 for binary. No special formatting, just 
binary. With this, the output file was 256 bytes. On switching to promlink 
6.1, I used the same setting (10) which said "binary". Some perusing of the 
manuals and the web mentioned 10 (on 6.10) as being "Formatted Binary". 
Hummm the output file was 629 bytes with this. So per the listmember 
suggestion, I looked and there was a format (16) called "absolute binary". 
Now the dump was 512 bytes, but this is definitely closer! So....

On promlink 3.4, I don't see any setting for device word size. I assume it 
figures this out based on the family/device pinout? It dumped the 256x4bit 
MMI 6301 in a file resulting in 256 bytes, so it must take each 4 bit "word" 
and put it in an 8 bit byte. Ok fine. But then I noticed that in Promlink 
6.10, you CAN set the word size, and it was set by default at 8. I changed 
it to 4, and voila - the output file is now 256 bytes, and it binary 
compares to the 256 byte image produced on promlink 3.4 (and to binary 
images on Al's bitsavers).

So, all is well... but I'm curious. Feels like I'm missing something basic 
in my understanding. Does promlink 3.4 know the MMI6301 is 4 bits wide by 
the family/pinout device code? What would it do with devices wider than 8 
bits...say.. 12? But more importantly, I'm a little confused by setting the 
device word size on promlink 6.10. I mean, if it's a 4 bit device and I left 
it at 8 bits, when I give this file to someone else wouldn't they have a 
problem reading it unless they knew where I had left my programmer set?

Seems odd, so I figure I don't understand it. Can someone enlighten me?

Thanks!

Jay West