DECUS Paper Tapes

From: daniel <daniel_at_internet.look.ca>
Date: Thu Oct 21 22:37:38 1999

Thank you for being so helpful. I will run the tapes and see what happens. I
trust the SA is usually 200 (except for Tic Tac Toe which I know is 400).

BTW: Does DECUS still sell this stuff?

john

-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence LeMay <lemay_at_cs.umn.edu>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, October 21, 1999 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: DECUS Paper Tapes


>> I am just starting to go through the software I got with the 8/s and I
don't
>> know what some of these older tapes did:
>>
>> 5/8-9 [(PDP 5/8) - Tape #9] - Analysis of Variance
>> 5/8-15 - A.T.E.P.O. Program
> Auto Test in Elementary Programming and Operation of a PDP-5 computer
>
> The program will type questions or instructions to be performed by
> the operator of a 4K PDP-5/8. The program will check to see if
> the operator has answered the questions correctly. If this is the
> case, it wil type the next questionor instruction.
>
>> 5/8-45 - Remote Time Shared III System
> A time-shared programming system which allows remote stations
> immediate access to the computer and a wide selection of programs.
>
>> 5/8-54 - Tic Tac Toe Learning Program (figured this one out)
> Needs FORTRAN Object Time System
>
>> 8/8s -77 - Dual Process Sys.
> The purpose of this system is to expedite the programming of
> multiprocessing problems on the PDP-8 and PDP-8/S. It maximizes
> both the input speed and the portionm of real time actualy used
> for calculations by allowing the program to run during the
> intervals between issuing I/O commands and the raising of the device
> flag to signal completion of the command. The technique also allows
> queueing of input data or commands so that the user need not wait
> while his last line is being processed, and so that each line of input
> may be processed as fast as possible regardless of its length. The
> system uses the interrupt facilities and has less than 3% overhead
> on the PDP-8/S (about 0.1% on the PDP-8).
>
> This method is especially useful for a slower machine where the
> problem may easily be calculation limited but would, without
> such a system, become I/o bound.
>
> The program may also be easily extended to handle input from an
> A/D converter. Here, the input would be buffered by groups of
> readings terminated either arbitrarily in groups of N or by
> zero crossings.
>
> This program can increase the I/O to computation efficiency of
> some programs by 100%. It can do this even for single Teletype.
> Each user will probably want to tailor the program to his individual
> needs.
>
> Storage Requirement: 600(base 8) registers for two TTY's plus
> buffer space. (Several device configurations
> are possible).
>
>>
>>
>> Some of these I can tell what they did by the name but does anyone have
any
>> information about any of them? (I haven't had time to go through all the
>> documentation yet).
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> john
>>
>>
>
>-Lawrence (just got a 1975 DECUS catalog 2 days ago) LeMay
>
Received on Thu Oct 21 1999 - 22:37:38 BST