Offset default value

[Jonathan Sondow]

Thanks for the explanation! -Jonathan


On 12/22/06 8:23 AM N. J. A. Sloane wrote:

> Apologies - I misunderstood the question!
> 
> Yes, if all the entries are 0 or +1 or -1 then
> the second offset is 1.  The reason is that the
> second offset specifies which position in the
> sequence is used as the basis for the lexicographic sort.
> 
> This way all the 0,+-1 sequences come at the beginning
> in the lexicographic order - go to the Welcome Page,
> scroll down to "Full Database" to see this.
> 
> The historical reason is that when the sequences
> were on punched cards back in the 1960's, the
> second offset specified which column was used as the
> initial column of the sort.
> 
> Neil
>