Computer editing and printing system

802,188. Digital electric calculating-apparatus. NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO. July 16, 1956 [July 18, 1955], No. 21901/56. Class 106 (1). [Also in Group XVI] In electrical apparatus for controlling the composition of data to be read out seriatim from a first data storage device to an output device, each item of data, e.g. decimal digit, being assigned a predetermined number of binary digit positions in the storage device, second and third storage devices store respectively binary compositions data for each item, and a marker digit shiftable to identify each successive item of data in the first device and composition data associated therewith, whereby signals are produced for actuating the output device to perform data composition operations in accordance with a desired format, the marker digit being shifted after completion of data composition operations for an item of data. As described, data from the magnetic storage drum of a digital computer is read out to an electricallyoperated typewriter. The computer is similar to that described in Specification 770,952, comprising a magnetic drum having main memory channels, and further channels arranged to form with bistable flip-flops in an arithmetic unit, one-word recirculation registers E, F, G, H (not shown). The operating sequence to carry out a computer command set up in H, is determined by a programme counter, only those operations relating to a typewriter read-out command being described in detail. Each word comprises 42 binary digits defined by binary and octal indications P 0 -P 2 and O 0 -O 13 . Fig. 10 shows an example of a read-out command which comprises command-identifying digits in O 12 , O 13 and numbers m1, m2, m3 in positions O 11 -O 8 , O 7 -O 4 and O 3 -O 0 ; m1 m2 are the main memory addresses of the first word to be read out and of an editing code word which are passed to registers E, F, respectively (see Figs. 11 and 13), and m3 defines the number of words to be read out. A word to be read out comprises a 9-digit decimal number in positions O 0 -O 11 , each decimal digit being represented by four binary digits as shown, and overflow and sign indications (" 1 " for overflow or " minus ") in positions P 0 O 12 and P 1 O 12 . These indications and decimal digits are read under control of a marker pulse in register G which is inserted in position P 0 O 12 and successively shifted four binary places to the right. For each decimal digit, a " 1 " in the corresponding position α, #, γ ot #, Fig. 4,