8 Sep
2008
8 Sep
'08
5:13 p.m.
Hi, all,
I have my sbc6120 here and wanted to do a little OS/8 programming, but I
think I'm stumped for a particular bit of doco - according to the "OS/8
System Reference Manual" (DEC-8-OSRMA-A-D), the User Service Routine is
documented in the "OS/8 Software Support Manual" (DEC-8-OSSMA-A-D). I've
found many OS/8 docs on Highgate and Bitsavers (DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D, the
1974 "OS/8 Handbook", memos, etc.), but not that exact one.
The reason why it matters is that if you want to do file I/O, directory
lookups, etc., you use the USR. For stuff that doesn't depend on OS/8
filesystem operations, there's plenty of info out there for FORTRAN,
BASIC, FOCAL, assembler, etc. Imagine trying to program in UNIX without
knowing how to setup and call stdio routines. That's kinda where I'm
at. I've found one or two narrow examples where some code fragments
call the USR for a particular function, but I really just need the
Software Support Manual.
Thanks for any leads,
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 9-Sep-2008 at 00:00 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -80.5 F (-62.5 C) Windchill -112.5 F (-80.3 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 7.1 kts Grid 104 Barometer 672.9 mb (10897 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
8 Sep
8 Sep
5:58 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 Software SupportManual"?
I have my sbc6120 here and wanted to do a little OS/8
programming, but I
think I'm stumped for a particular bit of doco - according to the "OS/8
System Reference Manual" (DEC-8-OSRMA-A-D), the User Service Routine is
documented in the "OS/8 Software Support Manual" (DEC-8-OSSMA-A-D). I've
found many OS/8 docs on Highgate and Bitsavers (DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D, the
1974 "OS/8 Handbook", memos, etc.), but not that exact one.
I also have lots of OSSMB but no OSSMA.
The reason why it matters is that if you want to do
file I/O, directory
lookups, etc., you use the USR. For stuff that doesn't depend on OS/8
filesystem operations, there's plenty of info out there for FORTRAN,
BASIC, FOCAL, assembler, etc. Imagine trying to program in UNIX without
knowing how to setup and call stdio routines. That's kinda where I'm
at. I've found one or two narrow examples where some code fragments
call the USR for a particular function, but I really just need the
Software Support Manual.
OSSMB has some stuff about USR in chapter 2, and Appendix F has some
code examples of how to do the usual stuff.
Was there additional information in OSSMA?
Google found http://www.pdp8.net/document.txt, which makes a cryptic
reference to it. Maybe that means David has a copy?
Vince
6:33 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 SoftwareSupportManual"?
From: Vincent Slyngstad
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 5:59 PM
> I have my sbc6120 here and wanted to do a little
OS/8
> programming, but I think I'm stumped for a particular bit of
> doco - according to the "OS/8 System Reference Manual"
> (DEC-8-OSRMA-A-D), the User Service Routine is documented in
> the "OS/8 Software Support Manual" (DEC-8-OSSMA-A-D). I've
> found many OS/8 docs on Highgate and Bitsavers
> (DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D, the 1974 "OS/8 Handbook", memos, etc.), but
> not that exact one.
I also have lots of OSSMB but no OSSMA.
> The reason why it matters is that if you want to
do file I/O,
> directory lookups, etc., you use the USR. For stuff that
> doesn't depend on OS/8 filesystem operations, there's plenty
> of info out there for FORTRAN, BASIC, FOCAL, assembler, etc.
> Imagine trying to program in UNIX without knowing how to setup
> and call stdio routines. That's kinda where I'm at. I've
> found one or two narrow examples where some code fragments
> call the USR for a particular function, but I really just need
> the Software Support Manual.
OSSMB has some stuff about USR in chapter 2, and
Appendix F has
some code examples of how to do the usual stuff.
Was there additional information in OSSMA?
I have access to hardcopy of two editions, at the computer room.
I'll check tomorrow and let everyone know.
Rich Alderson
Server Engineer, PDPplanet Project
Vulcan, Inc.
505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98104
mailto:RichA at vulcan.com
(206) 342-2239
(206) 465-2916 cell
9 Sep
9 Sep
2:24 a.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 SoftwareSupportManual"?
On Mon, Sep 08, 2008 at 06:33:21PM -0700, Rich Alderson wrote:
Thanks, Rich. I'll be interested to hear what differences there
might be.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 9-Sep-2008 at 09:20 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -80.1 F (-62.3 C) Windchill -111.1 F (-79.5 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 6.7 kts Grid 120 Barometer 673.3 mb (10882 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
OSSMB has some
stuff about USR in chapter 2, and Appendix F has
some code examples of how to do the usual stuff.
Was there additional information in OSSMA?
I have access to hardcopy of two editions, at the computer room.
I'll check tomorrow and let everyone know.
11 Sep
11 Sep
12:07 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8SoftwareSupportManual"?
From: Ethan Dicks
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 2:24 AM
On Mon, Sep 08, 2008 at 06:33:21PM -0700, Rich Alderson wrote:
>> OSSMB has some stuff about USR in chapter 2,
and Appendix F has
>> some code examples of how to do the usual stuff.
>> Was there additional information in OSSMA?
> I have access to hardcopy of two editions, at the
computer room.
> I'll check tomorrow and let everyone know.
Thanks, Rich. I'll be interested to hear what
differences there
might be.
It took a couple of days to get down here--too many things going on
at once--but I've finally had a look. OSSMA is simply an earlier
edition of OSSMB. There don't appear to be more than cosmetic changes
to the content (line spacing was tightened up and a different face was
used for the body text).
From: Ethan Dicks
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 2:24 AM
On Mon, Sep 08, 2008 at 06:33:21PM -0700, Rich Alderson wrote:
>> OSSMB has some stuff about USR in chapter 2,
and Appendix F has
>> some code examples of how to do the usual stuff.
>> Was there additional information in OSSMA?
> I have access to hardcopy of two editions, at the
computer room.
> I'll check tomorrow and let everyone know.
Thanks, Rich. I'll be interested to hear what
differences there
might be.
It took a couple of days to get down here--too many things going on
at once--but I've finally had a look. OSSMA is simply an earlier
edition of OSSMB. There don't appear to be more than cosmetic changes
to the content (line spacing was tightened up and a different face was
used for the body text).
Rich Alderson
Server Engineer, PDPplanet Project
Vulcan, Inc.
505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98104
mailto:RichA at vulcan.com
(206) 342-2239
(206) 465-2916 cell
12:24 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8SoftwareSupportManual"?
On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 12:07:05PM -0700, Rich Alderson wrote:
It took a couple of days to get down here--too many
things going on
at once--but I've finally had a look. OSSMA is simply an earlier
edition of OSSMB. There don't appear to be more than cosmetic changes
to the content (line spacing was tightened up and a different face was
used for the body text).
Thank you for taking the time to check and thanks for the report. Based
on the thread so far, I've been reading up from OSSMB and dusting off
very old neurons that were once exposed to that content.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 11-Sep-2008 at 19:20 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -49.4 F (-45.2 C) Windchill -69.9 F (-56.6 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 4.9 kts Grid 147 Barometer 679.2 mb (10658 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
8 Sep
8 Sep
8:15 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 Software SupportManual"?
I also have lots of OSSMB but no OSSMA.
The OSSMB is the only version I've ever seen, and AFAIK it tells you all
there is to know (or rather, all that is known) about calling OS/8 "system
services", including USR.
Also, OSSMB says that it is for OS/8 version 3, so that may imply that the
OSSMA was just an older version.
There are several copies of OSSMB online - check vt100.net/manx for a
list.
Bob
P.S. What are you going to write? I've got some suggestions if you need
ideas :-)
9 Sep
9 Sep
2:23 a.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 Software SupportManual"?
On Mon, Sep 08, 2008 at 05:58:56PM -0700, Vincent Slyngstad wrote:
I also have lots of OSSMB but no OSSMA.
.
.
.
OSSMB has some stuff about USR in chapter 2, and
Appendix F has some
code examples of how to do the usual stuff.
Yes. Thanks for pointing that out. I did glance at OSSMB but since
it was listed as a "suppliment", I didn't read it in great detail,
thinking it was building on the other document.
Was there additional information in OSSMA?
I don't know, but I was hoping so.
Google found http://www.pdp8.net/document.txt, which
makes a cryptic
reference to it. Maybe that means David has a copy?
Perhaps.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 9-Sep-2008 at 09:20 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -80.1 F (-62.3 C) Windchill -111.1 F (-79.5 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 6.7 kts Grid 120 Barometer 673.3 mb (10882 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
8 Sep
8 Sep
7:09 p.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 Software Support Manual"?
On Tue, 9 Sep 2008, Ethan Dicks wrote:
I have my sbc6120 here and wanted to do a little OS/8
programming, but I
think I'm stumped for a particular bit of doco - according to the "OS/8
System Reference Manual" (DEC-8-OSRMA-A-D), the User Service Routine is
documented in the "OS/8 Software Support Manual" (DEC-8-OSSMA-A-D). I've
found many OS/8 docs on Highgate and Bitsavers (DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D, the
1974 "OS/8 Handbook", memos, etc.), but not that exact one.
I have most of it HTMLized at
http://anachronda.homeunix.com:8000/~rivie/os8/ssm/ssm.htm
I just haven't gotten around to doing Appendix F yet.
But what I've got is just what's in this PDF file:
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp8/os8/DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D_OS8_v3ssup.pdf
which, oddly enough, you seem to mention in your note.
--
roger ivie
rivie at ridgenet.net
9 Sep
9 Sep
2:29 a.m.
New subject: Does anyone have an electronic copy of the "OS/8 Software Support Manual"?
On Mon, Sep 08, 2008 at 07:09:11PM -0700, Roger Ivie wrote:
On Tue, 9 Sep 2008, Ethan Dicks wrote:
Nice. I had to grab a copy via a server back in the states since
we block port 8000, but I did get it and it looks good.
I have my sbc6120 here and wanted to do a little
OS/8 programming, but I
think I'm stumped for a particular bit of doco - according to the "OS/8
System Reference Manual" (DEC-8-OSRMA-A-D), the User Service Routine is
documented in the "OS/8 Software Support Manual" (DEC-8-OSSMA-A-D). I've
found many OS/8 docs on Highgate and Bitsavers (DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D, the
1974 "OS/8 Handbook", memos, etc.), but not that exact one.
I have most of it HTMLized at
http://anachronda.homeunix.com:8000/~rivie/os8/ssm/ssm.htm
I just haven't gotten around to doing Appendix F yet. But what I've got is just what's in this PDF
file:
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp8/os8/DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D_OS8_v3ssup.pdf
which, oddly enough, you seem to mention in your note.
Yes. I have DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D_OS8_v3ssup.pdf, and there's some great stuff
in there, but since DEC-S8-OSSMA-A-D was referenced in another document and
I can't find that, I was curious to see it.
After reading what files I do have here, I'm wondering if DEC-S8-OSSMA-A-D
is the Software Support Manual for OS/8 v2 and DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D is
essentially the same document, revised for v3. If that's the case, then
I can see why nobody has DEC-S8-OSSMA-A-D lying around. I might have
some OS/8 v2 files on a DECtape, but since I got into PDP-8s around 1981,
OS/8 v3 is all I've ever worked with besides a little dabbling back in the
day with RTS-8 - mostly just to run OS/8 as a background task.
Thanks to all for the responses. Hopefully Rich Alderson can clear up
the mystery of the difference between the two documents.
-ethan
--
Ethan Dicks, A-333-S Current South Pole Weather at 9-Sep-2008 at 09:20 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -80.1 F (-62.3 C) Windchill -111.1 F (-79.5 C)
APO AP 96598 Wind 6.7 kts Grid 120 Barometer 673.3 mb (10882 ft)
Ethan.Dicks at usap.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
5947
days inactive
5949
days old
9 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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bob＠jfcl.com -
ethan.dicks＠usap.gov -
RichA＠vulcan.com -
rivie＠ridgenet.net -
vrs＠msn.com