SPEAR Manual Sep85

This document is the "TOPS-10/TOPS-20 SPEAR Manual (AA-J8338-TK)," published in September 1985, detailing Version 2.0 of the SPEAR (Standard Package for Error Analysis and Reporting) software.

SPEAR is a library of functions designed for TOPS-10 (V7.02) and TOPS-20 (V4.1, V6.1) operating systems. Its primary purpose is to help users, including field service engineers, system operators, and managers, isolate the causes of system failures—especially intermittent ones—by analyzing errors and events recorded in the system event file (ERROR.SYS).

The manual serves as a learning aid, user's guide, and reference tool, covering:

• SPEAR Functions: Detailed explanations of INSTRUCT (computer-aided instruction), RETRIEVE (converts binary event data to ASCII reports and allows event selection), KLERR (translates front-end logs for KL10 crashes), SUMMARIZE (summarizes event file contents and provides error distribution tables), and COMPUTE (calculates system availability, effectiveness, and reliability). KLSTAT mode for TOPS-20 is also described.
• System Event File: Describes the structure and content of the system event file, including entry categories (software, hardware, and performance) and its binary record format.
• Failure Analysis: Discusses characteristics of solid and intermittent failures, system-wide error detection (hardware and software), and techniques for isolating and verifying fault causes.
• Usage Information: Guidance on running SPEAR, its interactive dialogue, help features, command syntax, and a glossary of terms.