SYSREL3D.DOC




				   OS/8 V3D
			     System Release Notes















                                  DISCLAIMER

                This document file was created by scanning  the
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                1-Nov-1996








				   OS/8 V3D
			     System Release Notes


			     Order No. AA-K421B-TA














				   ABSTRACT

	 This document describes the differences between version V3D of
	 OS/8  and  previous  versions.  The differences consist of new 
	 features for V3D and corrections to known software Problems.




     SUPERSESSION/UPDATE INFORMATION:	  This manual supersedes the V3C 
					  System Release Notes 
					  (DEC-S8-OSRNA-A-D) for V3D of 
					  OS/8.

     OPERATING SYSTEM AND VERSION:	  OS/8 V3D









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      | Distribution  Center,  Digital  Equipment Corporation, Maynard, |
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           digital equipment corporation  -  maynard, massachusetts

					     First Printing, September 1977



     The information in this document is subject to change  without  notice 
     and  should  not  be  construed  as  commitment  by  Digital Equipment 
     Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes  no  responsibility 
     for any errors which may appear in this document.

     The software described in this document is furnished under  a  license 
     and  may  be  used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such 
     license.

     Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for the use or 
     reliability  of  its  software  on  equipment  that is not supplied by 
     DIGITAL.






	     Copyright  (c)  1977 by Digital Equipment Corporation






     The postage prepaid READER'S COMMENTS form on the last page of this 
     document requests the user's critical evaluation to assist us in 
     preparing future documentation.


     The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:


	     DIGITAL		  DECsystem-10		MASSBUS
	     DEC		  DECtape		OMNIBUS
	     PDP		  DIBOL			OS/8
	     DECUS		  EDUSYSTEM		PHA
	     UNIBUS		  FLIP CHIP		RSTS
	     COMPUTER LABS	  FOCAL			RSX
	     COMTEX		  INDAC			TYPESET-8
	     DDT		  LAB-8			TYPESET-10
	     DECCOMM		  DECsystem-20		TYPESET-11
















				   CONTENTS

								      Page

     1.0        DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OS/8 V3D AND OS/8 V3C  . . . . .  1
     1.1	  New/modified Commonly Used System Programs (CUSPs)  1
     1.1.1	  RXCOPY   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.2	  DIRECT   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.3        RKLFMT   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.4        SET  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.5        PIP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.6        F4 (FORTRAN IV)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.7        RESORC   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.8        TECO   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.9        HELP   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     1.1.10       FUTIL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.2          New CCL Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.2.1	  SET  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.2.2        MEMORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.2.3        DUPLICATE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.2.4        BASIC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.2.5        New CCL Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.3          New or Modified Handlers   . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.3.1        KL8E   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.3.2        SLU2   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.3.3        SLU3   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     1.3.4        DUMP   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.3.5        LQP78  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.4          Miscellaneous Modifications  . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.4.1	  KBM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.4.2	  BATCH  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.4.3	  DATE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.4.4        New Procedure for Entering CUSPs onto SYStem         
     		  from Paper Tape Kits   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     2.0        CORRECTIONS TO KNOWN SOFTWARE PROBLEMS   . . . . . .  4
     2.1          BASIC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     2.2          FORTKAN IV   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     2.3          EDIT   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.5          PIP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.6          RALF   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.7          FORTRAN 11 Library   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.8          MONITOR  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5

  







 
 

				      ii


     1.0  DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OS/8 V3D AND OS/8 V3C
     OS/8 V3D is a maintenance release of OS/8. Differences consist of new 
     and modified Commonly Used System Programs (CUSPs), new CCL commands 
     and new or modified handlers. Also, OS/8 V3D includes corrections to 
     known software problems as described in Section 2.0.

     1.1  New/Modified Commonly Used System Programs (CUSPs)
     The new and modified CUSPs for OS/8 V3D consist of RXCOPY, TECO, HELP, 
     DIRECT, RKLFMT, SET, PIP, F4, FUTIL and RESORC.

     1.1.1  RXCOPY - This CUSP has been substantially rewritten to utilize 
     the standard command decoder interface. The format has been changed to 
     allow RXCOPY to become a standard form CCL command. For a complete 
     break down of the RXCOPY calling sequence and options, refer to OS/8
								     ____
     Handbook Update (DEC-S8-OSHBA-A-DN4).
     _______________

     1.1.2  DIRECT - The range of the date printout for this CUSP has been 
     extended and the interpretation of the date format has been changed. 
     The new date routine handles dates through 1999. However, dates 
     encoded in file directories can be valid for no more than 7 years 
     preceding the date entered into the system. Also, if no date is 
     entered into the system, DIRECT will not print the dates of fees.

     1.1.3  RKLFMT - This disk formatting CUSP is now distributed with OS/8. 
     It has been modified to support the standard ^C abort convention.

     1.1.4  SET - A new CUSP called SET has been incorporated into OS/8. 
     This CUSP is used primarily to activate/deactivate certain operational 
     features in OS/8 handlers. For example, SET can be used to establish 
     the width of line printer output. Once a capability has been activated, 
     it can be deactivated by the "No attribute" feature of SET. See OS/8
								     ____
     Handbook Update for a description of SET.
     _______________

     1.1.5  PIP - The directory listing routines have been removed from 
     this CUSP. All switches which caused directories to be printed have 
     been decommitted. If any of these switches are used, the message "USE 
     DIRECT" appears.

     1.1.6  F4 (FORTRAN IV) - FORTRAN IV no longer supports the /U option.

     1.1.7  RESORC - This CUSP has been modified so that it recognizes the 
     LQP printer.

     1.1.8  TECO - This CUSP has undergone significant changes primarily in 
     the command structure and error message areas. See OS/8 Handbook
							_____________
     Update for a complete list of all changes to TECO.
     ______

     1.1.9  HELP - Help messages are now handled differently than for OS/8 
     V3C and earlier versions. A HELP program and a single text file are 
     now used in place of numerous text files. See OS/8 Handbook Update for
						   ____________________
     more information.





				       1

     1.1.10  FUTIL - This CUSP allows examination and modification of the 
     contents of mass storage devices. Uses include patching programs that 
     contain overlays, examination and repair of OS/8 directories, bad 
     block checking and correction, decimal/octal conversion of double-
     precision numbers, outputting the Core Control Block of .SV files and 
     the Header of .LD files, and creation of special directories.

     1.2  New CCL Commands
     New CCL commands incorporated in OS/8 V3D are described in the 
     subsequent paragraphs.

     1.2.1  SET - This command invokes the SET CUSP with the input 
     parameters specified. See OS/8 Handbook Update for a complete
			       ____________________
     description of the use of SET.

     1.2.2  MEMORY - The MEMORY command replaces the CORE command.

     1.2.3  DUPLICATE - This CCL command calls RXCOPY. No default devices 
     are assumed. Standard syntax is

	   .DUPL DEV1:<DEV2:/OPTION

     1.2.4  BASIC - This CCL command is identical to issuing the command: 
     "R BASIC".

     1.2.5  New CCL Options - CCL has two new options as follows:

	   1  -N sends output to NULL

	   2  -D sends output to DUMP

     1.3  New or Modified Handlers

     1.3.1  KL8E - This handler has been modified so that it can optionally 
     pause after the output of a screenful of lines of text. This feature 
     is required for the support of high speed CRTs. The SET command can be 
     used to invoke this feature.

     1.3.2  SLU2 - This handler can be created from the standard KL8E 
     handler. To do so change the following:

	   DEVICE   SLU2
	   INDVC  = 30
	   OUTDVC = 31

     It supports Serial Port #2 on the VT-78.

     1.3.3  SLU3 - This handler is identical to SLU2 except that it 
     operates Serial Port #3 (SLU#3) on the VT-78. To change SLU2 to SLU3 
     change:

	   DEVICE   SLU3
	   INDVC  = 32
	   OUTDVC = 33



				       2

     1.3.4  DUMP - A new handler has been incorporated into OS/8 V3D. It is 
     called DUMP and can be used to obtain binary image dumps of data sent 
     from file structured devices. Use of DUMP is restricted to systems 
     having an LP08 OR LA180 line printer. Features built into DUMP allow 
     the user (via the keyboard) to specify the absolute file block number 
     of the block to be dumped. See OS/8 Handbook Update for complete
				    ____________________
     details regarding use of DUMP

     1.3.5  LQP78 - A new line printer handler has been written to support 
     this device. It is a 2-page handler with the standard interface. The 
     group name to be used when building a system is LQP.

     1.4  Miscellaneous Modifications

     1.4.1  KBM - Whenever the system is bootstrapped, the monitor checks a 
     command buffer to see if an initial command is there. If this command 
     is present, the monitor then attempts to execute the command as if it 
     had been typed on the console keyboard. This feature is useful if the 
     system requires some amount of initialization before its use. The SET 
     CUSP initializes this feature.

     1.4.2  BATCH - BATCH now includes a HUSH (/H) option that can be used 
     to inhibit printing of certain messages. This feature can be used to 
     suppress display of $JOB and $END messages on the console. See OS/8
								    ____
     Handbook Update for a description of this new BATCH option.
     _______________

     1.4.3  DATE - The DATE printout for all CUSPs has been modified such 
     that dates from 1978 to 1999 are now accommodated.

     Directory entry dates are now valid for only seven years preceding the 
     date entered at bootstrapping time. That means that if a user enters a 
     date of 1978 and then lists the directory of a tape created in or 
     before 1970, the file creation dates will be printed incorrectly. If 
     no date is entered, directory dates will not be printed. Space in 
     several CUSPs requiring the new date algorithm is very tight. Hence, 
     it is not possible to use the DIGITAL standard date format throughout 
     the system. To maintain compatibility wherever possible the format 
     DD-MMM-YY is used where the month is written out as a three character 
     string. Where this format is impossible to implement, the month is 
     printed as a decimal number. The DATE routine, which allows the date 
     to be entered into the system, has been changed so that it conforms to 
     DEC standards. The new date entry format is:

	   DD-MMM-YY

     where MMM is a three character string indicating the month. The 
     earlier version date format is illegal (e.g., 4/4/77).

     1.4.4  New Procedure for Entering CUSPs onto SYStem from Paper Tape 
     Kits -  OS/8 V3D paper tape binary kits are now punched in a different 
     format from those of previous versions. This necessitates a new load 
     procedure centering around EPIC rather than ABSLDR. Refer to OS/8
								  ____
     Handbook Update for a complete description of the new paper tape load
     _______________
     procedure.



				       3

     2.0  CORRECTIONS TO KNOWN SOFTWARE PROBLEMS
     The following sections describe OS/8 component errors that have been 
     corrected for version V3D of OS/8.

     2.1  BASIC
	   1.  Certain problems existed in the way the BASIC Run Time 
	       System (BRTS) handled string field boundaries. All BRTS 
	       string handling code has been rewritten thereby eliminating 
	       these problems.
	   2.  A problem with the GOSUB statement occurred when GOSUB fell 
	       at a core field extremity. This has been corrected.
	   3.  At times, the POS function indicated an erroneous match when 
	       a like series of characters fell at the end of different 
	       strings. This has been corrected.
	   4.  The "IF" error message handling code now checks to see 
	       whether or not OS/8 has been swapped out of core.
	   5.  BASIC now responds to too long an input line by typing ?.
	   6.  BASIC now accommodates the backspace to effect deletions 
	       (DELETE key).
	   7.  New coding incorporated to handle exponents greater than 16. 
	       Use of both logarithms and exponents in new coding speeds up 
	       calculation time.
	   8.  The format for the DAT$ function remains the same but now 
	       accommodates dates through 1999.
	   9.  The BRTS BUILD procedure has been modified to eliminate any 
	       problems in systems having an EAE.
	  10.  BASIC now prints a "CX" error message if incompatible file 
	       name extensions are used in CHAIN statements.
	  11.  The CHAIN statement now issues an OS/8 RESET when chaining. 
	       This eliminates problems occurring when handling tentative 
	       files.
	  12.  The BRTS floating point-to-ASCII conversion routine has been 
	       rewritten for greater accuracy.
	  13.  The BASIC Compiler (BCOMP), BASIC loader (BLOAD) and BRTS 
	       have all been modified to accommodate 80 character strings.
	  14.  BRTS has been modified to handle the scope (display) pause 
	       feature.

     2.2  FORTRAN IV
	   1.  FRTS now flags field overflow properly on output by printing 
	       a number of asterisks equal to the field width.
	   2.  A calculation problem existed in FRTS when a variable plus 
	       one was equated with the same variable (e.g., K=K+I). This 
	       has been fixed.
	   3.  FORTRAN IV compiler PASS2O now calculates correct indices 
	       for subscripted variables when using the compiler /Q option.
	   4.  LIBRA now prints version numbers and names the second output 
	       file correctly.
	   5.  The SINH function in FORLIB returns correct values for 
	       arguments greater than 88.029.
	   6.  The DATE routine in FORLIB has been altered to accommodate 
	       new date format through 1999.
	   7.  FRTS sometimes malfunctioned where negative numbers were 
	       output with an error of 2^-7. This has been fixed.



				       4

	   8.  RALF no longer generates faulty relocatable code under 
	       conditions where:
	       a. The ESP is longer than one block.
	       b. The list output is directed to a 2-page nonsystem handler.
	   9.  In the heading of the PASS3 listing of a FORTRAN IV source 
	       program, four characters are printed after the version 
	       number. The significance of each character is as follows:
	       a. First character is the F4 patch level.
	       b. The second character is the PASS2 patch level.
	       c. The third character is the PASS2O patch level.
	       d. The fourth character is the PASS3 patch level.
	       These characters are initially set to the letter "A" and are
	       updated whenever a patch is issued to any of the above 
	       programs.

     2.3 EDIT
	   1.  The ESC (ALTMODE key on some systems) handling code has been 
	       altered so that it now echoes $ when typed. The $ symbol is 
	       also displayed when the PRINT and LIST commands are executed. 
	       When output to a file, the ESC is output as the proper code 
	       (033).
	   2.  The DELETE (RUBOUT key on some systems) key now deletes 
	       characters from the screen provided that the scope mode bit 
	       is set.
	   3.  A TLS race condition for /=, =, and rubout commands was 
	       fixed.

     2.4 EPIC
	   1.  A problem existed with the parity bit on messages to/from 
	       the terminal. This has been corrected.
	   2.  A modification was made to make no /n default on startup.

     2.5 PIP
	   1.  This CUSP has been modified to disable all directory list 
	       coding.
	   2.  Problems with the /Y command used to transfer system heads 
	       to and from files have been remedied.

     2.6 RALF
	   1.  RALF has been modified to accommodate new date range and 
	       format.
	   2.  Fixed **10** bug.

     2.7 FORTRAN II Library
     Problems existed in calling subroutines in the FORTRAN II library due 
     to subroutine revision numbers being stored in subroutine entry 
     points. These have been fixed.

     2.8 MONITOR
	   1.  It is now legal to specify keyboard monitor commands (e.g., 
	       R, DATE, etc.) as user commands via the UA, UB, and UC 
	       commands.
	   2.  A program chaining to CCL can now pass CCL a KBM command to 
	       be executed.
	   3.  Indirect files may now appear at the beginning of a line, 
	       e.g., .@FOO.

				       5

	   4.  A bug was fixed having to do with the keyboard flag. Some-
	       times CCL would wait for the terminal keyboard flag to come 
	       up and it never would.
	   5.  The EXECUTE command now works on files with a .BI extension.
	       CCL chains to BATCH in such a case.
	   6.  CCL now prints the warning message

		    % BATCH SQUISHING SYS:!

	       if the SQUISH command is issued while BATCH is running. The 
	       SQUISH continues however.














































				       6

					       OS/8 V3D
					       System Release Notes
					       DEC-S8-OSRNA-B-D


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	   eligible to receive one under SPR service, submit your comments
	   on an SPR form.


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