COS-310 New

This document is an introductory manual for new users of the Digital Equipment Corporation's COS-310 Operating System, a disk-resident system primarily used for business applications such as order entry, inventory control, and accounting. Published in November 1978, it aims to quickly familiarize users with the operating procedures, the DIBOL (Digital's Business Oriented Language) programming language, logical units, and programming conventions of COS-310.

The manual outlines the functional components of COS-310:

1. The System Monitor: Manages program execution, maintains file directories, controls I/O handlers, and includes a source text editor for creating and modifying programs using line numbers.
2. DIBOL Programming Language: A high-level, business-oriented language divided into Data and Procedure Divisions, providing statements for data definition, manipulation (e.g., moving, arithmetic calculations, formatting, clearing), input/output operations (e.g., DISPLAY, XMIT, INIT, FINI, READ, WRITE, ACCEPT, FORMS), program control (e.g., IF, GO TO, CALL, RETURN, ON ERROR, CHAIN), and debugging (e.g., TRACE, NO TRACE).
3. System Utility Programs: Introduced briefly, these include SYSGEN (for OS copying and I/O handler changes), DFU (Data File Utility for logical unit assignments), PRINT (report generation), FLOW (flowcharting), PIP (file transfers), SORT (data file reordering), FILEX (file conversion), MENU (command selection), DDT (DIBOL Debugging Technique), DAFT (dump-and-fix technique), and CREF (cross-referencing).

The guide also details the concept of "logical units," which are data file storage areas on mass storage devices, referenced by logical unit numbers and managed via a logical unit table. It explains how these units are assigned through the DFU program and how DIBOL programs interact with them using the INIT statement. The document assumes basic computer literacy and serves as a supplement to the COS-310 System Reference Manual for more detailed information. It also specifies the minimum hardware requirements, including 16K bytes of memory and specific Datasystem and DECstation configurations.