L <user> eg L PDS
Pass:...... [not echoed]
L
This command is used to log on to a Filestore. The purpose of logging on is to establish the default directory to be used in referencing files, and to demonstrate authority to use those files by citing the appropriate password. The user is prompted for the password (which is not echoed). If the command file LOGIN.COM exists, the commands in it are obeyed before the system accepts further commands from the terminal. If another user is already logged on at this machine, the previous user is automatically logged off.
Since this command always causes any existing user to be logged off, it can be used without any parameter simply to log the current user off.
The Transfer command is used to copy information from one or more (up to three) source streams to a destination stream. If more than one source stream is specified, the data is concatenated in the order given. The default for <in1> and <out> are the terminal.
The specified file is sent to the nominated printer (Machine Halls printer by default). Multiple files may be sent: format is <file> -<params>, <file> .. etc
Allowed printers are..
MH (Default): North Machine Hall OP : Block O/P LJ : Laser-jet (Appleton Tower only).
All print requests are routed via the VAX so if the VAX is especially busy the print operation may time out. If this happens the print request should be resubmitted.
Additional parameters:
-c : Characters per inch across the page. This may take the values
10, 12, 13 or 17 but will only be implemented for the -MH printer
-l : Lines per inch down the page. This may take the values 3,4,6 or 8
for the -MH printer only
-dp -lq: Document print or letter quality. The -MH printer can print NLQ
(Near Letter Quality) documents but does so slowly.
Defaults are -c12, -l6, -dp -mh.
1 E <old>/<new> eg E TEST1/TEST2 2 E .N/<new> eg E .N/NUPROG 3 E <old> eg E DATA 4 E <old>,<secondary>[/<new>] eg E DATA,EXTRA 5 E <old>/.N eg E PROG.LIS/.N
The Edit command is used to invoke the VECCE context editor. Detailed information about this editor is available by giving the system command HELP ECCE. Information about the alternative editor IE can be obtained from HELP IE.
1. The first form of command is used to edit an existing file to a new file. 2. The second form is used to create a file from scratch. 3. The third form is used to edit an existing file. In this case, the new file is given the same name as the old, (but the original file is not deleted until the editing has been finished successfully). 4. The fourth form is used to specify a secondary input file. 5. The last form is used to examine a file without altering it.
F <dir>:<template> eg F
F APM:
F NEW*
F APM:*.ASM
The file enquiry command F provides the facility to list the names of the files in a given directory. If a directory is not specified, in the form <dir> followed by colon, the current default directory is used. If no template is specified, the names of all the accessible files in the current directory are listed. Accessible files are those to which the enquirer has some permitted access.
The purpose of specifying a template is to select a subset of the complete list of names which have certain character sequences in common. A template consists of a sequence of characters each of which is a file-name character, or a question-mark, or an asterisk. For a file-name to match the template, the characters of the template must match those of the file-name in the order given, with the question-mark acting as a wild-card matching any single character and the asterisk as a wild-card matching any sequence of characters.
Additional parameters:
-OUTPUT=<filename> directs the output from F to the nominated file.
-FULL gives further information about the file, namely:
SOA Date Time Blocks(Extents)
S,O = access permissions for Self and Others
A = Archive/No Archive
Date, Time: When file was created or last altered.
Blocks(Extents): Size of file in 512-byte blocks
and number of extents it is spread over.
For further information about files use the
ANALYSE command. (See HELP UTILITIES)
-ALPHA presents the files in alphabetical order.
-TOTALS gives only information about the directory (i.e.
the information normally given in the first line
of an F request).
?? causes F to prompt for each parameter in turn.
D <dir> eg D LIB2 or just D
This command displays the names of the files in the specified directory and allows the user to ask for any of them to be Shown, Renamed, Deleted, or Permitted. It is self-documenting. Type ? within it for assistance.
The current default directory is used if <dir> is omitted.
SET <dir>
The SET command is used to change to another default directory, to be used in subsequent file references. If <dir> is omitted, the default reverts to that established at log-on.
QUOTE eg QUOTE
Pass: ..... [not echoed]
The QUOTE command is used to quote a password in order to demonstrate authority additional to that established at log-on, so that protected files in directories owned by someone else may be accessed.
DELETE <file>,<file>,.. eg DELETE TEST1,LIB:TEST2
The DELETE command causes the specified file(s) to be destroyed. The user must have owner-authority over the directory involved in order to delete files in it.
As a precaution against accidental deletion of source files, confirmation is requested before a file without an extension or with extensions other than .MOB or .LIS is deleted. The response should be 'yes' or 'y' if the file is to be deleted, 'no' or 'n' if not.
PURGE
The PURGE command is used to get rid of transient files which may have been created by an abandoned operation, such as a failed program. It deletes all such files in the current directory.
On the new-style filestores, PURGE works rather differently: New-style filestore files may have version numbers. PURGE selectively deletes old versions of specified files or "wild-card" lists of filenames.
Examples:
PURGE fred means "purge all files called fred in the current directory" PURGE *.mob purges all old versions of .MOB files PURGE jim:print.* purges all deleteable .MOB files in directory jim:. PURGE jim: purges everything in directory jim:
RENAME <old1>/<new1> eg RENAME CURDATA/OLDDATA
The RENAME command is used to rename one or more files. The user must have owner authority with respect to the directory containing the file in order to rename it. Other attributes of the file, like date of creation and permissions, are unaffected by renaming.
It is not possible to alter the directory part of a file-specification. The parameter <old1> may contain a directory name, as in LIB:TEST2, but <new1> may not.
PERMIT <file>/<code> eg PERMIT PROG/FF
PERMIT <dir>:/<code> eg PERMIT LIB:/FRA
The first form changes the protection of <file> to <code>. The second form changes the default protection associated with the directory <dir>; this applies to all files subsequently created in that directory.
The interpretation of <code> on the current Filestores is as follows:
The first letter denotes the permission given to anyone with owner-authority, the second letter denotes permissions given to everyone else. These letters may be:
F : Free (i.e. Read/Write/Delete)
R : Read-only
or N : no access
The third letter, if present, affects the archive flag associated with the file and may be:
A : Archive (i.e. back this file up regularly)
or V : Vulnerable (do not back this file up).
PASS
This command is used to alter the user's password to something else. First, the existing password is requested, as a safeguard, and then the new password, which is requested twice to verify correct entry (since passwords are not echoed).
This permanently changes the password to the new choice.
eg PAMSET
GroupSeparator then Keyflag:|\
The command PAMSET is used to specify user preferences for the characters used as punctuation symbols in the parameter part of a command line. Choice is provided for two cases: the group separator used to separate output file names from input file names and the flag character used to introduce a keyword parameter.
The standard system default for these is:
Group separator: oblique stroke ('/')
Keyword flag : dash ('-')
The command PAMSET prompts for two characters, which must be typed in the order indicated without intervening spaces. The space character is a valid choice for group separator, though its use imposes restrictions which do not apply to non-space choices. Space is not valid for the keyword flag.
The system defaults are restored whenever a user logs off. See also HELP PAM.
HELP <topic> eg HELP USERS or just HELP
The HELP command is used to obtain information aboy APM commands and facilities. It provides access to on-line documentation for the user to browse through.
The single word HELP by itself displays a list of topics and invites the user to select one. Typing <carriage-return> gives the user general information about the APM and its command language.
HELP followed by a topic-name like TERMINAL provides information about a particular topic.
This facility is similar to the EMAS VIEW facility, which provides access to information using a Prestel-style tree-structured approach. Information is presented on a page-by-page basis, using RETURN to move to the next page and the cursor keys to skip about.
Type ? within HELP for a summary of the operations provided. HELP HELP provides more detailed information about the HELP facility.
The command USERS provides a list of the users currently logged on to the same Filestore as the calling user.
COMPARE <file1>,<file2>/<diff> eg COMPARE TEST1,TEST2
The program COMPARE compares two files and produces a list of the lines which differ in each file. The matching is done in such a way that short insertions are recognised without generating a lot of false mismatches. The differing lines are printed out preceded by 1 or 2 to indicate which file they are from. The differing lines are followed by the first line which matches in both files; preceded by an equals.
VAX
The VAX command allows the APM user to access the ECSVAX/VMS system over the ethernet, so that the terminal can be used as a VAX terminal.
As this is a Network Terminal connection, rather than a direct one, some facilities may not work in the customary way or may require special action.
This facility should be used sparingly, because the mode of connection puts a heavier load on Vax than ordinary terminals.
Throughout the Vax session, all commands and data are being directed to the Vax system. A return is made to the APM system command level when the VAX process to which the user is connected stops (normally when the user logs off VAX).
ASS <file> <options>
The ASS command invokes the M68000 assembler to assemble the program in <file> (with assumed extension ASM). The object code (in Motorola format) goes into a file with extension MOB, the listing into a file with extension LIS. By default, production of object code is enabled, of a listing disabled.
The assembler accepts the full assembly language as defined by the manufacturer (see Motorola Manual M68000 Assembly Language).
IMP <file> <options>
This invokes the IMP compiler for the M68000. The program in <file> (no assumed extension) is compiled, with object code (in binary image form) going to a file with extension MOB. By default, production of object code is enabled, but is suppressed if the program contains compiler-detected errors. By default, production of a listing is disabled. The main options are:
-LIST Produce a listing to file with same name as source
and extension .LIS
-NODIAG Suppress line-number diagnostic
-NOCHECK Suppress run-time checks
HELP IMP gives further information.
C:CC <filename> [<pre-processor flags>]
The C:CC command calls a version of the MIT portable compiler for the C programming language.
The filename specified is compiled to produce a relocatable machine code file <basename>.REL where <basename> is formed by stripping any extension from <filename>. .REL files can be linked together using the C:LINK command.
HELP C gives further information.
CR <C-command-line>
The CR command invokes the C linking loader. The first thing on the C-command-line is taken to be the name of a C-code file (assumed extension CB) or, if it starts with '@', the name of a file (no assumed extension) containing several C-code file names. The code file(s) are linked with the run-time support library, loaded, and entered.
HELP C gives further information.
SR <SA-command-line>
The command SETUP SA sets up the definitions required by S-Algol.
The SR command then invokes the APM interpreter for the S-Algol language as described by Cole and Morrison. It takes no parameters.
The first line of input is taken to be the name of an S-code file, which is loaded and interpreted.
The command SR
SA:SC <file> invokes the S-Algol interpreter to load and interpret
the S-Algol compiler.
A strictly limited amount of support for S-Algol is offered by Fred King, who should be consulted for further information.
The basic version of the system has a single processor board utilising the Motorola 68000 microprocessor and one or more 1/2 megabyte memory boards. The processor board interfaces to a standard video terminal and to the Department's ethernet-type network. There is no permanent local storage in the basic machine, all files being held on remote file servers accessed over the network.
Optionally, a system may incorporate either of two levels of graphics capability. The lower level provides a passive frame-store memory which allows direct access from the ordinary processor to individual pixels; the second level puts the frame-store under the control of a programmable graphics processor.
The existing operating system supports a single-process environment. The full operating system will consist of a nucleus concerned with process creation and synchronisation, together with an open-ended set of modules, selectable at will according to configuration and user needs.
NB: The memory boards have similar-looking switches and should not be confused with the boot processor board. The latter can be distinguished by the ribbon cable connecting it to its neighbour. After initial loading, the system announces itself on the video screen and outputs a curly bracket, inviting the user to enter a command at the keyboard.
Usually the first command that a user will give in a session will be the L command to log on to a remote Filestore. However, it is not essential to do so in order to use the system.
The bootstrap sequence may be interrupted in order to bootstrap from alternative Filestores or files. To do this, hit any key while the first couple of lines are being printed by the bootstrap. You will then be prompted for a Filestore address, to which you reply with <space> for the normal default or the hex address of the required Filestore. You will then be prompted for a bootstrap file. Respond <space> for the standard one or with the filename of the required bootstrap file. See HELP NEW O/S for details of how to use this mechanism to bootstrap the new (multi-process) operating system.
In general, the effect of typing a command is that the command verb is used to locate a file which implements the command.
Examples of some of the simple commands which require no additional information beside the command verb itself are HELP (to elicit help information) and TOD (to find out the time of day).
Examples of more elaborate commands (discussed below) are:
COMPARE OLDFILE , NEWFILE / DUMPFILE
T TESTPROG / CURRPROG
If the word is preceded by an at-sign ('@'), a file with the name given and extension .COM is searched for and the commands in that file are obeyed;
If the word is a defined symbol (see below), it is replaced by its definition and the resulting command is interpreted;
Otherwise a file with the same name as the command verb and extension MOB is searched for, and the program in that file is executed. If a directory is included in the name (for example, APM:PROG), the search is confined to the directory indicated. Otherwise, the search is made, first, in the system directory FMAC and failing that, in the current default directory. If no such file can be found, an error report is made.
When a parameter is used to denote a data source or destination, it is termed a stream-name. A stream-name may take either of two forms: a file-name or a device-name.
When parameters are present, they are separated from the command word by at least one space. Some conventions governing the use of punctuation symbols in the rest of the command are illustrated in the following examples.
T TESTPROG / CURRPROG
Here the command word is T, indicating the Transfer operation,which copies data from any file or device to any other file or device. The source (TESTPROG) is specified first and then the destination (CURRPROG) following an oblique stroke.
COMPARE OLDFILE , NEWFILE / DUMPFILE
In this case, the command word is COMPARE, indicating file comparison. For this operation the two files to be compared (OLDFILE and NEWFILE) have to be specified as inputs; these file names are separated by a comma. Then the output file to which a list of discrepancies is to be sent (DUMPFILE) is specified after the oblique stroke.
COMPARE OLDFILE , NEWFILE
In many cases, there are default parameters for a command which are understood if the user does not supply a parameter explicitly. In the case of COMPARE, the default for output is the terminal.
IMP CURRPROG-NOASS-LIST
In this example invoking the IMP compiler, the source program is specified as the first parameter and then two options are selected: -NOASS to suppress unassigned-variable checking and -LIST to cause a listing to be produced. The options are selected by means of a keyword preceded by a dash (minus-sign).
IMP-NOASS-LIST CURRPROG
This command is identical in effect to the previous one, making the point that the placing of option specifiers is open, unlike the placing of other parameters.
(a) output stream-names are separated from input stream-names by a group-separator character selectable by the user (see the command PAMSET) -- the default is the oblique stroke ('/');
(b) within a group of either input or output stream-names the separator is a comma;
(c) keyword parameters are preceded by a keyword flag character selectable by the user (see the command PAMSET) -- the default is the dash (minus); sometimes keywords may be followed by an equals-sign and a value;
(d) the complete command is terminated by RETURN;
(e) spaces are optional before and after the punctuation symbols mentioned above, except that the keyword flag character must be followed immediately by the keyword.
The naming conventions for the current file servers are as follows. A full file-name consists of an owner-name, followed by a colon, followed by a file-identifier proper. In many cases the owner-name is implicit, so that only the file-identifier proper need be typed. The latter consists of up to 12 characters, of which the first must be a letter or a dollar-sign, and the remainder may be any combination of letters, digits and dots. A file-identifier starting with a dollar-sign denotes a temporary file, which is automatically deleted when the user logs off. Conventionally a dot is used to separate a file-name extension (like LIS or OBJ) from the file-name proper.
Object files
These are files containing directly executable programs, generated by one of the assemblers or compilers available on the system.
Command Files
A command file consists of a sequence of commands and data exactly as they would be typed at the terminal, except that each command should be introduced by a left curly bracket, to distinguish commands from data. The commands are successively executed until either the end of the file is reached {or one of the commands fails}. The command file is closed after the last (and possibly only) command in the file is executed. One command file may call another, but presently only on a chained (not nested) basis.
<newname> = <oldname>
For example:
GO = UTIL:TESTPROG1
It is possible to include preferred default options in symbol definitions for example:
OPT = PASCAL-NOCHECK-NODIAG-NOSTACK
A symbol may also be introduced to avoid having to type the at-sign to indicate a command file rather than an object file, for example:
SETALL = @SETALL
Flag character '_' suppresses translation of the command verb via the command dictionary.
Flag character '?' causes the loaded program to be entered in trace-mode for single step execution under control of the Software Front Panel.
The module is available for IMP and Pascal programs on APM and VAX/VMS.
The relevant specifications are in the file INC:UTIL.IMP (for IMP) or INC:UTIL.PAS (for Pascal).
Further information is available via HELP LIB
See also HELP PAMSET.
The general principle for text input is that keyboard input is not acted on until the RETURN key (or other terminator key) is pressed, although some highly interactive programs override this provision. All the printing characters of the ASCII character set may be entered in the normal way, but the control characters are subject to special interpretation by the system, as described below. Control characters are generated by pressing a normal key while holding down the CTRL key. For example, TAB (though usually provided as a single key) can also be generated by CTRL together with I; this is indicated below as ^I.
It is usually permitted to type ahead of input requests, and it may be convenient to do so when a lengthy operation is in progress. Information typed ahead is not echoed until the running program tries to read it. It is discarded in the event of a total failure in the execution of a previously issued command.
DEL Erase the last extant character typed on the current line.
BS or ^X Erase all characters typed on the current line.
RETURN Terminate the current line.
^S Set auto-freeze mode. When enabled, output to the terminal is
halted every time the screen becomes full and remains in this frozen
state until something is typed on the keyboard;
LF 'unfreezes' the display for one line,
RETURN or BS unfreeze the display for 1 page,
and ^Q changes the mode to 'continuous scrolling'.
^Q Quit auto-freeze mode.
^Y Abandon the current activity, and return to command level.
^Z Terminate input from the terminal, creating an 'end of file'
condition.
^P Pass the next character typed as data to the program
currently running. For example, ^P^Y allows ^Y to be input
without stopping the program.
^T Escape to trace-mode (See Software Front Panel).
The graphics demonstration programs must be run on a machine with the appropriate graphics hardware.
Many of the programs run continuously until abandoned by ^Y.
BOOT <file>
The BOOT command loads the file specified starting at location 16_1000, logs the current user off the Filestore, and jumps to the start-address specified by the pseudo-reset vector contained in the loaded file. It is used to load trial versions of new operating systems. If <file> is omitted, the effect is to inform the file server that local information relevant to file server transactions has been lost. Note that <file> must be the complete filename, including directory name and extension (if present).
TOBIN <infile>/<outfile>
The standard Motorola M68000 assembler produces a form of output which, aside from being space-inefficient, is incompatible with the ROM bootstrap loader, which only loads straight binary images. TOBIN converts from Motorola format to binary image form.
HEX! <in>/<out>
The stream (usually a file) <in> is output to <out> one byte at a time, in hexadecimal.
DISASS <codefile> / <listing>
This program takes as input a file containing binary M68000 machine-code instructions and translates these back to Motorola assembly language statements. The input file is typically a standard .MOB file produced by one of the compilers, but it does not have to be. Hence the .MOB must be specified explicitly. If no parameters are specified, the program prompts for store addresses.
A problem for the process of decoding is the presence in object files of constant data in among the instructions. Such data may correspond to valid machine instructions, and will be printed as such. Because the M68000 has a variable instruction length, it may also cause parts of following instructions to be treated wrongly.
The following options may be specified:
-FROM=..... the byte displacement at which to start (default: 0)
-TO= ..... the byte displacement at which to stop (default: infinity)
-HEX input is in hex form rather than binary
-BRIEF suppress location numbering in output
The information in this section is highly provisional and liable to change.
Once the basic system is loaded, it will load the command interpreter. If by this time any key on the keyboard has been struck, the system will ask for the name of an image file to load instead of the command interpreter. Otherwise it proceeds to load file FMAC:EXEC.MOB. Once this is loaded, it obeys command file FMAC:STARTUP.MOB, which contains symbol definitions for some of the utility commands detailed above.
Binary and Motorola format code files, once loaded, are entered by means of a JSR to the last longword of the file. The last longword is usually a jump with word displacement to the actual start of the program. The area of free store available for use by the program as stack or heap or general work space is contiguous and is delimited at the low-address end by D6-256, and at the high-address end by SP. The contents of all other registers on entry to the program are undefined. Normally (except for programs which remain resident because they have been REMEMBERed) this contiguous area of free store will be adjacent to the area into which the code was loaded.
List of Entry-points The file FMACS:SPECS.ASM contains a list of definitions for the routines which are built-in to the system in a form suitable for inclusion in an assembly language program. Most of the routines are also accessible through the high-level language run-time support packages; see the description of the individual languages.
All these routines follow the convention that parameters are passed in registers (values in D0 to D3, addresses in A0 to A3), results (if any) come back in D0 or A0. Some preserve working registers not used as parameters; others do not. Strings are held as length-prefixed sequences, and are always passed by address -- of the first (length) byte.
This debugging tool is invoked by appending the flag-character '?' to a command verb, or by pressing ^T at the keyboard. When invoked, the SFP displays (near the top of the screen) the contents of processor registers D0 to D7, A0 to A6, the current stack pointer A7, the status register and program counter SR and PC, the line number (if an IMP program compiled with the -DIAG or -TRACE qualifiers is running), and the previous PC (if known). In response to the "Now what?" prompt, single-character commands are accepted, which are not subject to normal line-editing conventions. Unknown command characters (such as H for help) cause a list of valid commands to be displayed. These are shown below.
S Execute one single instruction of the running
by setting the T bit in SR).
C Resume normal execution of the running program.
Bx Set breakpoint at x. Execute instructions until PC=x.
x is an absolute PC value and should be entered in
hexadecimal immediately after the B (no leading spaces);
the first non-hex character terminates the number,
sets the breakpoint and resumes execution of
the running program (implemented by replacing the
instructions at the target PC by a TRAP #0 instruction,
not by setting the T bit in SR).
R Reset and reload the system.
N Execute next statement or line.
Only relevant to programs compiled with the -TRACE
qualifier.
Ln Execute statements until line n is reached
(n is in decimal and should come immediately after
the L). Only relevant to programs compiled
with the TRACE qualifier
X Examine store (Spy). This issues a prompt for
TWO hex numbers (no leading spaces, separated by
one non-hex character). The first is an address,
the second a byte count (in the range 0 -- meaning
256 -- to 255).
The specified number of bytes (say k) are displayed
on the screen. Three actions are then valid:
Press RETURN: The next k bytes are displayed
Press '=': The last byte displayed is
overwritten with a hex value, typed immediately following
the '='.
Press any of the above commands (including X to
examine a different area of store).
view:apm printed on 17/02/89 at 10.03