DECUS 12 BIT SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWSLETTER Number 35 - July 1979

This DECUS 12 Bit SIG Newsletter (July 1979, Number 35) provides updates, user contributions, and technical notes for PDP-8 system users. Key highlights include:

• Newsletter Information: Details for contributions, contact information for the 12 Bit SIG Coordinator (Robert Hassinger) and DECUS/Europe liaison (Lars Palmer), and an announcement of a mailing list audit.

• User Contributions & Issues:

  • News from Upper St. Clair High School about an "Electronic Gradebook" and Educomp BASIC patches.
  • Discussions on Bill Haygood's triple-density floppy ("flippy disk") and associated reliability concerns.
  • A bug report and bypass for FOTP (from OS/8 V3D) encountering "directory bad" errors.
  • A description of LSD-8, a software package for creating and managing large PDP-8 databases with subroutines like CALL SPACE, CALL PGA, and CALL XBLOK.
  • Information on 35mm, Polaroid, cine, and video camera systems developed by Cambridge University for DEC graphics displays.
  • An explanation of PDP-8E Group 3 instructions, including MODE A/B execution and undefined instructions.
  • A request for documentation on the KT8/I "Time Share" option and status of a FORTRAN IV optimizer.
  • An update on MULTOS/8 timesharing executive, with Version 2 expanding device support to 16 terminals.
  • A method for implementing "Debugging Statements" in OS/8 FORTRAN IV.
  • A patch to address BATCH failing to recognize the LA180 Decprinter.
  • An offer to sell an "excess" PDP-8/A system with 32K core memory and various I/O options.
  • A request for copies of old DEC Instruction Manuals and small DEC handbooks for an original discrete component PDP-8.
  • Further technical details from Bill Haygood on "HUGE" floppy diskette formatting, track usage, sector interleaving, and performance considerations.

• COS-310 Working Group:

  • Announcement of PATCHES PT04 and PT05 for COS-310 VERSION 8.00, and PT01 for VERSION 8.01 (which is identical to V8.00's PT05). Users are warned to exercise extreme care due to similar patch numbering across versions.
  • Call for submissions to a "Word Processing Hints Column."
  • Report on the opening of a new DEC STORE in Costa Mesa, California, focusing on Word Processing Systems.
  • Tips from the "COS-310 Hints Notebook" on inserting source files between lines in DIBOL programs, with teasers for future tips on BATCH command messages and sorting large files.
  • Inquiry about a faster "WPS to COS" file conversion utility.

• Mail Bag: Requests for assistance with graphics presentation on 200 LPM printers, a Computer Science faculty position at Southwest Missouri State University, and a DIBOL user offering Optical Mark Reading data entry programs.

• Patch Details: Specific patch code and installation instructions are provided for PT04 (correcting incorrect parsing of MENU command files) and PT05 (resolving a MENU buffer problem when too many commands are specified).