PS/8 - OS/8 - OS/12 NEWSLETTER, JULY 1972

This July 1972 newsletter from the PS/8 - OS/8 - OS/12 Special Interest Group covers updates from the DECUS Spring Symposium and other developments. PS/8 sessions were well-attended, highlighting its increasing use, while the costly and incompatible COS-300 system saw less interest. Key topics include PS/8 system source file availability (unlike OS/8), considerations for enabling interrupts, and OS/8 program compatibility with the PS/8 monitor. OS/8's PIP utility gained new features for system area and tape management. DECUS acknowledged difficulties in establishing media conversion capabilities for program submissions. The debate between BASIC and FOCAL was inconclusive, though DEC showed a lean towards BASIC. The RK8e moving head disk was announced as a promising, higher-capacity, lower-cost option for OS/8.

New system software releases include SRCCOM (file comparison), BITMAP (disk usage), EPIC (binary compare/edit), and the upcoming TECO text editor (PDP-10 compatible, faster). DEC is developing OS/8 BASIC and a BATCH capability, while OMSI released an improved PS/8 FOCAL. Several new programs were submitted or are nearly ready for DECUS, such as PS/8 utility programs by Charles Moore, the powerful 8BAL macro expander, batch processing (HASP), and memory-saving integer I/O for FORTRAN (INTIOH). Programs under development include LINC-8 handlers for PS/8, an improved PDP-12 EDIT version, the LAPÓW editor adapted for PS/8 (SCOPE), a SABR disassembler, and a wildcard file transfer utility (SPIP). A "wish list" from the symposium outlined desires like DIAL/OS/8 conversion, multi-user/interrupt-driven OS/8, and enhanced PAL-8 features.

The document also details challenges of running PS/8/OS/8/OS/12 on small disks like the 32K DF32, emphasizing the need for frequent file copying. It calls for better indexing of character-oriented I/O routines and system conventions. Tadashi Takakura contributed examples and suggested building a collection of demonstration programs. Finally, a section clarifies issues when mixing FORTRAN and SABR in PS/8, specifically noting how SABR's use of the Accumulator (AC) can lead to errors in FORTRAN without explicit clearing, and outlining direct versus indirect addressing requirements for variables in mixed-mode subroutines.