RMS-11 User’s Guide Order No. AA-D538A-TC

This document is the RMS-11 User's Guide (Order No. AA-D538A-TC) published by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in March 1979. It serves as both an instructional guide and a reference manual for Record Management Services (RMS-11) software on the PDP-11 family of computers.

The guide describes:

1. Core Concepts of Data Organization: It introduces fundamental data management concepts such as files, records, and different record formats (Fixed, Variable, Variable-with-Fixed-Control, Stream, Undefined).
2. RMS-11 Implementation: It explains how RMS-11 interfaces with hardware and operating systems, detailing its internal data structures, file organizations, record access modes, and operations.
3. File Organizations:
   • Sequential Files: Records are stored in the order they are written, primarily supporting sequential access.
   • Relative Files: Records are stored in fixed-size cells, allowing both sequential and random access by record number or Record's File Address (RFA).
   • Indexed Files: Records are organized based on one or more "keys" (Primary and Alternate Keys), enabling efficient random access (content-addressable) and fast sequential access. This organization is more complex and requires the optional RMS-11K software product.
4. Application and Task Design: It emphasizes the importance of design for maximizing speed, minimizing space requirements, and enabling shared access to files among multiple programs. This includes considerations for initial allocation, default extension quantities, contiguity, and I/O techniques (e.g., asynchronous operations, deferred write, multiple buffers).
5. Optimization Techniques: Dedicated chapters cover common optimization strategies for RMS-11 applications, including task building with RMS-11 routines (disk-resident and memory-resident overlays), virtual-to-logical block mapping, data caching, resource allocation, and disk usage.
6. RMS-11 Utilities: It details several command-line utilities designed for standard file-related jobs:
   • RMSBCK: For backing up RMS-11 files.
   • RMSCNV: For converting files between different RMS-11 organizations or record formats.
   • RMSDSP: For displaying file attributes and structural data.
   • RMSDEF: An interactive utility for defining and creating RMS-11 files with specified attributes.
   • RMSIFL: For efficiently loading and optimizing the structure of empty Indexed files.
   • RMSRST: For restoring files from backups created by RMSBCK.
7. Operating System and Language Compatibility: Appendices provide specific information on RMS-11's compatibility, restrictions, and error code mapping across various Digital operating systems (IAS, RSTS/E, RSX-11M, VAX/VMS) and programming languages (MACRO-11, BASIC-PLUS-2, DIBOL, PDP-11 COBOL, RPG II), noting that only MACRO-11 supports the full range of RMS-11 capabilities. It also includes details on magnetic tape handling.

The manual is intended for MACRO-11 or higher-level language programmers seeking to improve the performance and design of their PDP-11 applications using RMS-11.