PS/8 - OS/8 - OS/12 NEWSLETTER

This November 1972 newsletter provides updates for the PS/8, OS/8, and OS/12 Special Interest Group. It announces plans for a Fall DECUS meeting and details new, streamlined DECUS library submission standards designed to speed up program acceptance and quality review. OMSI has released an update for PS/8 FOCAL and is compiling a directory of PS/8 users.

A significant "CAUTION" section warns about PS/8 programs having issues on OS/8 due to assumptions about static device numbers, emphasizing the need to use documented system methods. The newsletter highlights PS/8 FORTRAN's ability to handle demanding tasks like large matrix problems and electronic network analysis within 8K memory, utilizing files and overlays.

It confirms the availability of new DEC system software, including TECO, SRCCOM, BITMAP, and EPIC. OS/8 TECO is praised as a powerful text editor with PDP-10 compatibility, while EPIC is noted for facilitating the handling of .SV files on paper tape.

The document lists numerous new programs added to DECUS (e.g., 8BAL, PS/8 FORTRAN core sort, PDP-8 simulator), programs recently submitted (e.g., DISORT for directory sorting, an updated Mag tape handler), and various programs circulating independently (e.g., SPIP/EXPIP for file transfers, EDITCH for extended editing, specialized I/O handlers, and mathematical routines).

A section on "Work Being Done" previews future developments, including SABR/FORTRAN plotting modules, an enhanced FYLHLP for mass storage access, an improved FOCL/F, a text editor, and a Foreground/Background PS/8 system. Finally, it addresses a bug in the Command Decoder related to the "*" character in "Special Mode," offering a fix through FYLHLP.