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Document:	RSX-11M/RSX-11S Release Notes
Order Number:	AA-2573]-TC
Revision:	0
Pages:	119
Original Filename:	http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/rsx11m_s/RSX11M_V4.2_Jul85/AA-2573I-TC_RSX-11M_RSX-11S_V4.2_Release_Notes_Jul85.pdf

OCR Text

RSX-11 M/RSX-11 S
Release Notes
Order No. AA-25731-TC

RSX-11 M Version 4.2
RSX-11 S Version 4.2

digital equipment corporation . maynard, massachusetts

First Printing, November
Revised, September
Revised, January
Revised, April
Revised, December
Revised, June
Revised, January
Revised,, April
Revised, July

1974
1975
1977
1977
1977
1979
1982
1983
1985

The information in this document is subject to change without notice
and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment
Corporation.
Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility
for any errors that may appear in this document.
The software described in this document is furnished under a
license
and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such
license.
No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on
equipment that is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation or its
affiliated companies.
Copyright

@ 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985
by Digital Equipment Corporation
All Rights Reserved.
Printed in U.S.A.

The postpaid READER'S COMMENTS form on the last page of this document
requests the user's critical evaluation to assist in preparing future
documentation.
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:
DIBOL
EduSystem
IAS
MAS SB US
MicroPDP-11
Micro/RSTS
Micro/RSX
PDP

DEC
DEC/CMS
DEC/MMS
DECnet
DECsystem-10
DECSYSTEM-20
DEC US
DECwriter

PDT
RSTS
RSX
UNIBUS
VAX
VMS
VT

~nmnamn

HOW TO ORDER ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION
In Continental USA and Puerto Rico call

800-258-1710

In New Hampshire, Alaska, and Hawaii call
In Canada call

603-884-6660

613-234-7726 (Ottawa-Hull)
800-267-6215 (all other Canadian)

DIRECT MAIL ORDERS (USA & PUERTO RICO)*
Digital Equipment Corporation
P.O. Box CS2008
Nashua, New Hampshire 03061

DIRECT MAIL ORDERS (CANADA)
Digital Equipment of Canada Ltd.
100 Herzberg Road
Kanata, Ontario K2K 2A6
Attn: Direct Order Desk

DIRECT MAIL ORDERS (INTERNATIONAL)
Digital Equipment Corporation
PSG Business Manager
c/o Digital's local subsidiary or
approved distributor

•Any prepaid order from Puerto Rico must be placed
with the local Digital subsidiary (809-754-7575)
Internal orders s,hould be placed through the Software Distribution Center (SOC), Digital Equipment
Corporation, Northboro, Massachusetts 01532

ZK2871

CONTENTS

Page
PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS

1.1
SUMMARY OF NEW FEATURES
• • • •
• • 1-1
1. 2
SYSTEM GENERATION
• • • • •
• 1-2
New System Generation Features
• • • •
• 1-2
1. 2 .1
Saved Answer Files • • • • • •
• 1-3
1.2.1.1
New Device Support • • • • • •
• • • • • • 1-3
1.2.1.2
Changes to SYSGEN Questions
• • • • • • • 1-4
1.2.1.3
GBLDEF Enhancement • • • • • •
• • • 1-4
1.2.1.4
1.2.1.5
System Generation on a VAX/VMS Host System • • 1-4
Changes to the Distribution Kit • • • • • • • 1-5
1.2.1.6
Products No Longer Supported by SYSGEN • • • • 1-6
1.2.1.7
1. 2. 2
System Generation Restrictions • • • • • • • • • 1-6
Minimum Requirements for System Generation and
1.2.2.1
Installation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1-6
1.2.2.2
On-Line System Generation Restriction
• 1-6
1.3
MCR • • • • • • • • • •
• • • 1-6
1. 3 .1
New MCR Features • • •
• • • •
• 1-7
New Device Support •
• • • •
• • • 1-7
1.3.1.1
1.3.1.2
New SET Keywords • •
• 1-8
1.3.1.3
Modified SET Keyword
• • • •
• • • 1-8
1.3.1.4
Modified MOUNT (MOU) Keyword •
• • • • • • 1-8
1.4
DCL • • . • • • • • •
• • • •
• • • 1-9
1. 4 .1
New DCL Features
1-9
1.4.1.1
New Device Support • •
• 1-9
1.4.1.2
New ANALYZE Commands
• • • •
1-10
1.4.1.3
New SET and SHOW HOST Commands
• • • •
1-11
1.4.1.4
New SET FILE Command • • . • • • • •
1-11
1.4.1.5
Modified INITIALIZE/BADBLOCKS Command
1-12
1.4.1.6
New Qualifiers •
• • • •
1-12
1. 4. 2
DCL Restriction
1-14
1. 5
TDX • • . • • • • •
1-14
1. 5 .1
Installing TDX • •
• • • • • • • • • 1-14
TDX Commands and MCR/Translations
1-14
1. 5. 2
Modifying the TDX Source File
1-16
1. 5. 3
1. 5. 4
Supplementary TDX Information
1-17
1.6
INDIRECT • • • • • • • • • • •
1-17
1. 6 .1
New Indirect Features
• • • •
1-18
Changes to <TITYPE> Symbol • • • •
• • • 1-18
1.6.1.1
1.6.1.2
New Delimiters for Symbols and Expressions • 1-18
New Special String Symbols
1-18
1.6.1.3
1.6.1.4
Indirect Restriction • • •
• • • • 1-18
1. 6. 2
Supplementary Indirect Information • • • • • • 1-19
1.6.2.1
Using the Indirect Command Procedure Library 1-19
Indirect Command Processor Versions
1-19
1.6.2.2
1. 7
BRO • • • • • • • • •
• •
1-21
New BRO Features • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1-21
1. 7 .1
New Device Support for BRUSYS
• • • • 1-21
1.7.1.1
Location of Files on the Distribution Kit • 1-21
1.7.1.2
1.7.1.3
Ability to Skip Over a Bootable System Image 1-21
1. 7 .2
BRO Restrictions • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1-22
1.7.2.1
Bootable System Image Tape Restrictions
1-22
1.7.2.2
BRU64K Tape Restrictions • • • • • • • • • • 1-22
Specifying /NEW VERSION and /VERIFY Together 1-22
1.7.2.3
Supplementary BRO-Information
1-22
1. 7. 3
Multivolume Disk Backup Operations • • • • • 1-22
1.7.3.1
iii

CONTENTS
1.7.3.2
Modified BRU Qualifiers
1-23
Error Message for Tape Devices •
1.7.3.3
1-23
FLX
1.8
1-24
FMT • • • • •
1.9
1-24
1.10
PIP • • • • •
1-24
QUEUE MANAGER
1.11
1-24
New Queue Manager Feature
1.11. l
1-25
Queue Manager Restriction
1.11. 2
1-25
EXECUTIVE • • • • • • • • • • • •
1-25
1.12
New Executive Features • •
• • • • • • • • 1-25
1.12.l
1.12 .1.1
New FEAT$ Directive
••••
1-25
1.12.1.2
New High-Level Language Interface
1-25
1.12. 2
Changes to Code and Data Structures for
Privileged Tasks • • • • • • •
1-26
1.12.2.1
Executive Code • • • • • •
1-26
1.12.2.2
Executive Data Structures
1-26
1.12.2.3
I/O Data Structures
• • • • • • • • • 1-27
1.13
TASK BUILDER • • . • • • • • • •
1-27
1.13.1
New Task Builder Features •
1-27
1.13.1.1
/SB Switch and /SLOW Qualifier • • •
1-27
1.13.1.2
/CL Switch and /CODE:CLI Qualifier
1-28
1.13.1.3
/FM switch and /FAST MAP Qualifier ••
1-28
1.13.1.4
Creating a Default Slow Task Builder
1-28
1.13.1.5
FCSRES and FCSFSL • • • • • •
1-29
1.13.2
Task Builder Restrictions
1-30
1.13.2.1
Map Problem for Non-PIC Shared Region
1-30
1.13.2.2
Cluster Libraries • • • • • • • • • • •
1-30
1.13.2.3
Changing Values in an Installed Common •
1-31
1.13.2.4
Using the /SS Switch with the RSXllM.STB File 1-31
1.14
SYSTEM LIBRARY ROUTINES
••••
1-31
1.14.1
New FCSRES Feature •
• ••••••••
1-31
1.14.2
FCSRES Restriction
•••••
1-31
1.15
DEVICE SUPPORT • • •
1-32
1.15.1
Processor Support
1-32
1.15.2
Controller Support
1-32
1.15.3
Driver Support • • •
1-33
1.15.4
Terminal Support •
1-33
1.15.5
Printer Support • • • •
1-33
1.15.5.1
Selecting Printer Support During System
Generation • • • • • • • • •
1-33
1.15.5.2
Modifying Printer Support
••••
1-35
1.15.6
Network Command Terminal (NCT) Support • • • • 1-35
1.15.7
DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) Support •• 1-35
1.15.8
Device Restrictions • • • • • •
• • • • • 1-36
1.15.8.1
Devices No Longer Supported
••••
1-36
1.15.8.2
RX50 Restriction • • • • • • • •
1-36
1.15.8.3
Transportability Among 22-Bit Systems
1-37
1.15.8.4
Bootstrapping a DB-, DM-, or DR-Based System 1-37
1.15.8.5
LK201 Keyboard Restriction
• • • • • 1-37
1.15.8.6
DLVJl Restriction
••••
1-37
1.15.8.7
RQDXl Restriction • • • • • • • •
1-37
1.15.8.8
TK50 Restrictions
••••
1-37
1.16
DEVICE DRIVERS • • • •
. • • • • • 1-38
1.16.1
New Device Driver Features •
• •••
1-38
1.16.1.1
Extended Support for the Full-Duplex Terminal
Driver
•••••••••••••••
1-38
1.16 .1. 2
TF.TMO Subfunction • • • • • • • • • •
1-38
1.16.1.3
Stall I/O on the RC25 Disk Subsystem •
1-38
1.16 .1. 4
RD53 Disk Drive
•
• • • • • • 1-39
1.16.1.5
DEUNA Driver • • • • • •
1-39
KDA50-Q Controller • • • • • • • • • • •
1. 16 .1. 6
1-40
RUX50 UNIBUS Interface
1.16.1.7
1-40
1.16 .1. 8
TK25 Tape Subsystem • • • •
1-40
MSDRV Device Information • •
1.16.1.9
1-40
MUDRV Device Information •
1.16 .1.10
1-40
TK50 Tape Subsystem
1.16.1.11
1-41
iv

CONTENTS
1.16.1.12
TK50 Performance Using RSX Utilities
1-42
1.16.1.13
TK50 Indicators • • • • •
1-44
1.16.2
Device Driver Restriction
1-44
1.17
USER-WRITTEN DEVICE DRIVERS
1-44
1.17.1
New Features • • • • • • •
1-45
1.17.1.1
Asynchronous Buffered I/O
1-45
1.17.1.2
Overlapped I/O Completion • • • •
1-46
1.18
I/O OPERATIONS • • • • • • . • • •
1-47
1.18.1
New I/O Operations Features • • • • •
1-47
1.18.1.1
Changes to Parameters for FDAT$A, FDOP$A, and
OPEN$X Macros
• • • • • • • • • • • • • 1-47
New Information on Block Locking • • • • • • 1-48
1.18.1.2
New Information on Directory Identification
1-48
1.18.1.3
New Buffer Flush Routine (.FLUSH)
• • • • • 1-48
1.18.1.4
Changes to the C.CMLD Command Line Descriptor
1.18.1.5
Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-49
1.18 .1. 6
Support for Using FCS to Queue Files for
Printing • • • • • • • • • • • • . . • • • • 1-49
New File Descriptor Block (FOB) Offsets
1.18.1.7
1-49
1.18.1.8
New Volume Label Format • • • • • • • • • • 1-50
1.18.1.9
New File Header Label (HDR3) Format
1-50
1.18.1.10
New Keyword Definitions for the Magnetic Tape
Control Task • • • • • • • •
1-50
1.18.1.11
New File Attribute Codes • • • .
1-51
1.18.2
I/O Operations Restrictions
1-51
1.18.2.l
Multibuffer Processing in Random Mode
1-51
1.18.2.2
Big Buffering in Random Mode • •
1-51
1.18.2.3
Block Size on Tapes Mounted /NOLABEL •
1-52
1.19
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT • • • • • • • • • •
1-52
1.19.1
New System Management Features • • • • • •
1-52
1.19.1.1
New and Modified VMR Keywords
1-52
1.19.1.2
Exercising Terminals • •
1-53
1.20
DEBUGGING • . • . • . • . •
1-53
1.21
ERROR LOGGING • • • • • • • •
1-53
1.21.1
New Error Logging Features
••••
1-53
1.21.1.1
Error Logging Control Files
• • • • 1-53
1.21.1.2
Error Logging Support for a Non-DIGITAL
Device • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • 1-54
1.21.2
Error Logging Restriction
1-54
1.22
CRASH DUMP ANALYZER
••••
1-54
1.22.1
New CDA Features • •
1-54
1.22.1.l
Assign Table ••
1-55
1.22.1.2
Data Structures
••••
1-55
1.22.1.3
Device Support. •
• • • • 1-55
1.23
MACR0-11 • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • 1-55
1.23.1
New MACR0-11 Features
••••
1-55
1.23.1.1
Corrections to the MACR0-11 Version 5.3
Assembler
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
1-55
1. 23. 2
Supplementary MACR0-11 Information • • • •
1-56
1.23.2.1
Use of Colon in .ASCII and .ASCIZ Strings
1-56
1.23.2.2
MCS Support • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
1-56
1.23.2.3
Version 5.1 RSX-Specific Changes • • • •
1-57
1.23.2.4
Corrections to the Version 5.1 Assembler
1-57
1.23.3
Version 5.0 RSX-Specific Changes • • • • •
1-58
1.23.3.1
Corrections to the Version 5.0 Assembler
1-58
CHAPTER 2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.4.1
2.4.2
2.5

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
RSX-llM SYSTEM GENERATION AND INSTALLATION GUIDE
RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR OPERATIONS MANUAL • • •
RSX-llM/M-PLUS INDIRECT COMMAND PROCESSOR MANUAL
RSX-llM/M-PLUS BATCH AND QUEUE OPERATIONS MANUAL
/[NO]TRANSFER Qualifier • • • •
DELETE Command Format Error
RSX-llM/M-PLUS UTILITIES MANUAL
•
v

•
•
•
•
•

2-1
2-1
2-2
2-2
2-2
2-2
• 2-3

CONTENTS
2.5.1
BRU
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 2-3
Wildcards in Input Specifications
2-3
2.5.1.1
Additional /VER Switch Information •
• • 2-3
2.5.1.2
Using the MANUAL Option .
• • • •
• • 2-3
2.5.1.3
Tape Write Error Message
• • • • • • • • • 2-4
2.5.1.4
Executing Command Files
• • • •
• 2-4
2.5.1.5
Changes in the CNF Table for Stand-Alone BRU • 2-4
2.5.1.6
/NOSUPERSEDE Qualifier •
• 2-5
2.5.1.7
2.5.2
DMP • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 2-5
New /LIM Switch Description • • • • •
• 2-5
2.5.2.1
Correction to /HF Description
2-5
2.5.2.2
FLX
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • 2-5
2.5.3
FMT
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • 2-6
2.5.4
LBR
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • 2-6
2.5.5
User File Attributes • • • •
• • • 2-6
2.5.5.1
Create Switch {/CR) Error • • • • • • • •
2-6
2.5.5.2
/IN Switch for Macro Libraries • •
• 2-6
2.5.5.3
PAT • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 2-7
2.5.6
PIP
• . . • . • . . . • . • •
• • 2-7
2.5.7
/DD Switch Format Error
• • • • • • 2-7
2.5.7.1
/TD Switch Format Error
• • • • • •
• 2-7
2.5.7.2
SLP
• • • •
. • • • •
. • • • • • • 2-7
2.5.8
Illegal Switch Error Message
•
• • • • 2-7
2.5.8.1
Maximum Number of Characters in File Names • • 2-8
2.5.8.2
Illegal Switch Error Message • • • •
• • • 2-8
2.5.8.3
RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX I/O OPERATIONS
2.6
REFERENCE MANUAL • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2-8
IAS/RSX-11 SYSTEM LIBRARY ROUTINES REFERENCE
2.7
MANUAL • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2-8
New Program Section Names and SYSLIB Routines
• 2-9
2.7.1
Save All Registers Routine {$SAVAL)
• • • • 2-9
2.7.2
Time Conversion Routine {$TIM) • • • • • • • • • 2-9
2.7.3
Virtual Address Units • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2-9
2.7.4
Allocate Virtual Memory Routine {$ALVRT) • • • • 2-9
2.7.5
Virtual Memory Initialization Routine {$INIVM)
2-10
2.7.6
RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX DEBUGGING REFERENCE
2.8
MANUAL • • • • • • • • • • •
2-10
RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX TASK BUILDER MANUAL 2-10
2.9
Double Brackets • • • • • • • • • •
2.9.l
2-10
2.9.2
Manual References
• • • • • • • • • •
2-10
2.9.3
Reference to "/" for the /MP switch
2-10
Incorrect Device Specification • • • •
2.9.4
2-10
Errors in Overlay Capability • • • •
2.9.5
2-11
TKB Switch Combinations of /-PI/LI • • •
2.9.6
2-11
References to the /-CO and /-LI Switches
2-11
2.9.7
2-12
Offsets
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
2.9.8
New TKB Error Message
• • • • •
2-12
2.9.9
RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX EXECUTIVE REFERENCE
2.10
MANUAL • • • • • • • • •
2-12
RSX-llM GUIDE TO WRITING AN I/O DRIVER •
2-12
2.11
2-12
Changes to System Data Structures • • • •
2.11.1
I/O Packet Description • • • • • •
2-12
2.11.2
I/O Queue Description • • • • • • • • • •
2 .11. 3
2-13
Text for Driver Initiator Section • • • •
2 .11. 4
2-13
MACR0-11 Command Line Error
2-13
2.11.5
Building user-Written Drivers • • • •
2-14
2 .11. 6
I.PRM Description • • • • • • • • • •
2-14
2.11.7
2-14
S.VCT Description • • • •
2 .11. 8
2-14
U.BUF Description • • • • • • • • • • • •
2.11.9
2-15
RSX-llM/M-PLUS ERROR LOGGING MANUAL
2.12
RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX CRASH DUMP ANALYZER
2.13
REFERENCE MANUAL • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2-16

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 3

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES

3.1
NEW FEATURES •
• • • • • • • •
• • • •
3-1
Remote Access to RSTS/E Systems
• 3-1
3 .1.1
New Utilities Features • • •
• 3-1
3.1. 2
RMSCNV • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • 3-1
3.1.2.1
RMSBCK, RMSDSP, and RMSRST •
• • • • • • • 3-2
3.1.2.2
SOFTWARE RESTRICTIONS
• • • • • • 3-2
3.2
RMS-11 Access Methods
• • • • •
• 3-3
3.2.1
RMS-11 Utilities • • • • • •
• • • •
3-3
3.2.2
CORRECTIONS TO PROBLEMS WITH THE PREVIOUS RELEASE 3-4
3.3
3.3.l
RMS-11 Access Methods
• 3-4
3.3.2
RMS-11 Utilities • • • • •
• • • • •
• 3-5
3.4
DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
• • • • •
• 3-6
3.4.1
RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 User's Guide • • •
• 3-6
3.4.2
RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 Macro Programmer's Guide • 3-7
RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 Utilities
• • • • •
• 3-7
3.4.3
3.5
FILES AND PLACEMENT ON THE DISTRIBUTION KIT • • • 3-7
RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 INSTALLATION
• 3-9
3.6
RL01/RL02 and RK06 Procedures
• 3-9
3.6.1
Startup Command Procedures • • • •
• • 3-9
3.6.2
Utility Configurations • • • • •
• • • • • 3-10
3.6.3
Utility Command and ODL Files
3-10
3.6.3.1
3.6.3.2
Rebuilding the Utilities • • • • • •
3-11
REPORTING PROBLEMS •
• • • • •
• • • • • 3-11
3.7
CHAPTER 4
4.1
4 .1.1
4 .1. 2
4 .1. 3
4 .1.4
4 .1. 5
4 .1. 6
4.2
APPENDIX A
A.l
APPENDIX B
B.l
B.2

RSX-llS NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
NEW FEATURES • • • •
• • • •
4-1
New Dev ice Support
• • • •
• • • 4-1
New RXSO (DU:) load device for OTL
• 4-2
New TK50 (MU:) Tape Subsystem
• 4-2
Changes to the Distribution Kit
4-2
DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) Support • • • 4-3
Network Command Terminal (NCT) Support
• 4-3
RESTRICTIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4-3
REPORTING PROBLEMS
HOW TO FILL OUT A SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE REPORT FORM A-1
THE DIGITAL EQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY (DECOS)
DECOS GOALS
DECOS ACTIVITIES

B-1
• B-2

INDEX

vii

PREFACE

MANUAL OBJECTIVES
The RSX-llM/RSX-llS Release Notes includes information on RSX-llM
Version 4.2, RSX-llS Version 4.2, and RMS-11 Version 2.0. This manual
is designed to provide you with information necessary to generate and
use
an RSX-llM or RSX-llS Version 4.2 system.
The following
information is discussed in this manual:
•

Descriptions of new features and changes to existing features

•

Descriptions of software restrictions
problems in previous versions

•

Supplementary information that has not been incorporated into
the manuals

•

Corrections to documentation errors

and

corrections

INTENDED AUDIENCE
The RSX-llM/RSX-llS Release Notes are intended for all
RSX-llM or RSX-llS operating systems.

users

the

STRUCTURE OF THE MANUAL
RSX-llM VERSION 4.2 RELEASE NOTES
CHAPTER 1

RSX-llM New Features and Restrictions
This
chapter
describes
the
new
features
and
restrictions for the RSX-llM Version 4.2 operating
system.
The first section lists the
major
new
features.
Subsequent
sections
are organized by
operating system components and give more information
about the new features and restrictions for Version
4.2.

CHAPTER 2

RSX-llM Documentation Corrections
This chapter describes errors and omissions in the
RSX-llM manuals and refers you to the specific sections
in the documentation to make corrections. The chapter
is organized according to the titles of manuals in the
RSX-llM documentation set.

PREFACE
CHAPTER 3

RMS-11 Version 2.0 Release Notes
This
chapter
describes
the
new
features
and
restrictions
for RMS-11 Version 2.0.
The RMS-11
version number has not changed for this release of
RSX-llM; however, new RMS-11 features are documented in
this manual.

RSX-llS VERSION 4.2 RELEASE NOTES
CHAPTER 4

RSX-llS New Features
This
chapter
describes
the
new
features
and
restrictions for the RSX-llS Version 4.2 operating
system.
Information specific to the performance of the
RSX-llS operating system is included in this chapter.

APPENDIX A

Reporting Problems
Appendix A describes the procedure for filling out
Software
Performance Reports
(SPRs)
for reporting
problems you may encounter with RSX-llM, RSX-llS, and
RMS-11 software.

APPENDIX B

DIGITAL Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS)
Appendix B is an introduction to the DIGITAL Equipment
Computer
Users
Society
(DECUS) •
The goals and
activities of DECUS and information about becoming a
DECUS member are described in Appendix B.

PREFACE
CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS MANUAL
The following conventions are observed in this manual:
Convention

Meaning

A symbol that indicates the CTRL key;
it
must be held down while another key is
pressed. For example, <CTRL/Z> means hold
down CTRL while pressing z.
In examples,
this control key sequence is shown as Aa;
for example, AZ indicates the result of
<CTRL/Z>, because that is how the system
echoes most control key combinations.

<XXX>

A 1- to 3-character key symbol.
For
example,
<RET> indicates the RETURN key,
<LF> indicates the LINE FEED key, and
<ESC> indicates the ESC key.
The circumflex character, when appearing
with another character, represents the
system response to receiving a control
character.
For example, when you type
<CTRL/Z> while running some system tasks,
the system echoes AZ.
(On some terminals,
the up-arrow (A)
character is used in
place of the circumflex.)

The MCR prompting character that appears
whenever control is returned to the user
task terminal and the system is ready to
accept input.

"print" and "type"

As these words are used in the text,
system prints and the user types.

red ink

Color of ink used to show all user-entered
commands in examples.

the

RSX-11M Release Notes
Version 4.2

CHAPTER 1

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS

This chapter describes the new features,
restrictions, and other
supplementary information pertaining to the RSX-llM Version 4.2
operating system. The first section presents a brief summary of new
features for Version 4.2.
Subsequent sections are organized by
operating system components.
Information under each system component
is divided into three categories:
•

NEW FEATURES

- Describes new features and enhancements to
existing features for Version 4.2

•

RESTRICTIONS

- Describes restrictions to software performance
and corrections to problems in previous versions

•

SUPPLEMENTARY - Describes software changes that were documented
INFORMATION
in the previous release notes, and other
information that has not been incorporated
into the RSX-llM manuals

If you do not find one or more of these headings under a system
component, you may assume that there is no information on that topic
for Version 4.2.

1.1

SUMMARY OF NEW FEATURES

The following list summarizes the new features and changes to
for Version 4.2.
•

New device support:
Jll-series processors
TK50 cartridge tape drive (MU:)
DEUNA driver
KDA50-Q controller
RQDX2 controller
RQDX3 controller
LAlOO letterprinter

1-1

RSX-llM

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
LA210 letterprinter
PC380 (as a VT102/VT125 in emulation mode)
LN03 laser printer
LQP02 letter quality printer
LQP03 letter quality printer
DTCOl DECtalk
VT200-series terminals
RUX50 UNIBUS interface for the
drive

5-1/4

inch

RX50

diskette

RD53 71Mb disk drive
DHUll UNIBUS multiplexer
DHVll Q-BUS multiplexer
DZQll Q-BUS multiplexer
(See sections 1.15 and 1.16 for more information about
device support.)

1.2

new

•

New Network Command Terminal

(NCT) support

•

New DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) support

•

Stall I/O for the RC25 disk subsystem

•

SYSGEN enhancements

•

New and modified MCR commands and keywords

•

New and modified DCL commands and qualifiers

•

The User Environment Test
distributed with RSX-llM

•

IPll and IPVll Process Control subsystems support -- no longer
in the RSX-llM distribution kit (now available as a separate
layered product)

Package

(UETP)

longer

SYSTEM GENERATION

This section describes new features and restrictions
performing an RSX-llM Version 4.2 system generation.

1.2.1

that

apply

been

added

New System Generation Features

The following new system
RSX-llM Version 4.2:
•

Saved answer files

•

New device support

generation

1-2

features

have

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

Changes to SYSGEN questions

•

GBLDEF enhancement

•

System generation on a VAX/VMS host system

•

Changes to the distribution kit

•

Products no longer supported by SYSGEN

1.2.1.1

Saved Answer Files

A Version 4.1 saved answer
generating a Version 4.2
compatible.

file
(SYSSAVED.CMD)
can be used when
system.
These files are still upward
NOTE

If you are using the Version 4.1 Saved answer files
and you want to use the IPll layered product, you will
need to modify the previous IPll symbols to conform
with the new symbols.

1.2.1.2

New Device Support

You can select the following new devices during system generation:
Processors: RSX-llM supports the Jll-series processors, which consist
of the LSI-11/73, MicroPDP-11/73, MicroPDP-11/83, and PDP-11/84.
(Note that, due to hardware restrictions, RSX-llM may not work
properly with most configurations built around the LSI-11/73 processor
module.)
The MicroPDP-11/23 processor is also supported on RSX-llM Version 4.2.
Printers:
printers.

RSX-llM supports the LN03, LQP02, LQP03,

LA210

Terminals:

RSX-llM supports the VT200-series terminals.

and

LAlOO

Terminal Driver:
RSX-llM supports additional terminal characteristics
if you select support for the full-duplex terminal driver in the
Terminal Driver Options section of Phase I of SYSGEN. The additional
terminal characteristics include parity generation and checking,
advanced video and editing options, ANSI-standard and DIGITAL-specific
escape sequences, ReGIS graphics, and block-mode transmission.
Asynchronous Terminal Interfaces: RSX-llM supports the YV device for
the DHVll and DHUll multiplexers. The DHVll is a Q-BUS multiplexer
that handles eight lines at speeds up to 19.2K baud with full modem
control. The DHUll is the UNIBUS equivalent of the DHVll.
It handles
up to 16 lines with full modem control.
You must select the
full-duplex terminal driver during system generation, if you want
support for the DHVll or DHUll. Also, RSX-llM supports the YZ device
for the DZQll Q-BUS multiplexer.
Network Communications Driver: RSX-llM supports the DEUNA driver
the XE UNIBUS Ethernet communications device.

1-3

for

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
DU:

Devices:

RSX-llM supports the RD53 fixed disk,.

MU:
MU:

Devices: RSX-llM supports the TK50 magnetic tape cartridge.
devices are also supported as memory crash dump devices.

The

Controllers: RSX-llM supports the RUX50 UNIBUS controller for
the
RX50 diskette drive, the KDA50-Q controller for RA60 and RA80/RA81
disks, and the TQK50 Q-BUS controllers for the TK50 cartridge tape.

1.2.1.3

Changes to SYSGEN Questions

Several questions have been modified or added to the SYSGEN
The changes are described as follows:

dialogue.

In the Setup sections of Phases I and II, if you are using an RLOl or
RL02 distribution kit and doing a PREPGEN, SYSGEN asks where you want
the assembly and task-build files to be located. You can select the
default user device or the null device;
this saves space on the
distribution disks.
If you have an RLOl or RL02 distribution kit and you are chaining from
Phase I to Phase II, in the SETUP section of Phase I SYSGEN asks you
to specify the device on which the PRVBLD disk will be mounted.
If
you are not chaining from Phase I to Phase II, SYSGEN asks you to
specify the device in the Setup section of Phase II.
In the Executive Options section of Phase I, if you select support for
DECnet-llM, SYSGEN asks if you want to include Network Command
Terminal (NCT) support. NCT support enhances the full-duplex terminal
driver by adding support for modem hangup and for out-of-band
character ASTs, switch characters, and extended I/O.
In the Executive
mentions RMS-11.
FCS.

Options section, SYSGEN question #3 no longer
This is because the feature applies to both RMS and

In the System Options section of Phase I, SYSGEN asks if you want to
include support for the IPll Industrial Control Subsystem. The IPll
is a combined software and hardware subsystem that controls and
monitors industrial processes.
If you do select support for the IPll,
SYSGEN then asks if you also want IPll power-fail support.
In the Peripheral Options section of Phase I,
the prompt for DU:
devices has been changed.
Instead of specifying a drive, you specify
the interrupt vector address, the CSR address, and the number of disk
drives for each DU controller.

1.2.1.4

GBLDEF Enhancement

When you choose user-written driver support, SYSGEN includes, by
default, the statement GBLDEF=$USRTB: 0 in the task-build command file
for the Executive.

1.2.1.5

System Generation on a VAX/VMS Host System

You can perform an RSX-llM system generation on a VAX/VMS host
running VAX-11 RSX software.

1-4

system

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.2.1.6

Changes to the Distribution Kit

The distribution kits that contain the files for
system image have undergone several changes.

generating

the

new

For stand-alone system generations, the default CSR address that the
Stand-Alone Configuration and Disk Sizing Program (CNF) expects for
MT:-type devices has been changed. Also, default values have been
added for MU:
devices.
The RLOl and RL02 distribution kits have been changed. The RLOl kit
consists of seven disks rather than six. A new backup set, called
PRVBLD, is stored on the additional disk. The EXCPRV backup set has
been divided into two sets, EXCPRV and PRVBLD.
EXCPRV contains the
files for assembling the Executive, device drivers, and some MCR
modules during Phase I of SYSGEN.
PRVBLD contains the files for
building the Executive, device drivers,
libraries, and privileged
tasks during Phase II of SYSGEN.
The RL02 distribution kit contains five disks because the PRVBLD and
RLUTIL backup sets are on the disk labeled PRVBLD, and the MCRSRC and
HLPDCL backup sets are on the disk labeled MCRSRC.
A new distribution kit is available with this version of the operating
system.
The new kit consists of two TK50 magnetic tape cartridges
that are driven by a TKSO streaming tape drive.
The first tape
contains the new system files; the second tape contains BRUSYS, which
is an RSX-llS system dedicated to stand-alone copying of
the
distribution kit.
References in the previous release to an RC25 Disk Kit and an
RC25-specific Big Disk Magnetic Tape Kit were errors. Support for
system generations targeted to RC25 system disks is provided in the
magnetic tape distribution kit.
References in the previous release to an RP07 Big Disk Magnetic Tape
Kit were errors. There is no support for system generation targeted
to the RPO?.
The procedure for copying the baseline system from the distribution
kits to a disk has been simplified. The baseline system includes an
Indirect command procedure called TAPEKIT.CMD, which guides you
through the copying process.
RSX-llM Version 4.2 is distributed on the following media:

• Seven RLOl cartridge disks
• Five RL02 cartridge disks

• Two RK06 cartridge disks
• One RK07 cartridge disk
• Two TK50 magnetic tape cartridges
• Two magnetic tapes, 9-track, 800 bpi, 2400-foot

• One magnetic tape, 9-track, 1600 bpi, 2400-foot

1-5

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
NOTE
RSX-llM Version 4.2 is the last release that will
include an RK06 disk distribution or allow you to
generate an
RK06-based
system
from
the
tape
distribution.
However,
until the next release,
updates will continue to be distributed on RK06 disks.

1.2.1.7

Products No Longer Supported by SYSGEN

SYSGEN no
products:

longer

supports

the

following

hardware

software

and

•

The User Environment Test Package (UETP)

•

The IPll Industrial Control Subsystem software is no longer
automatically supported.
It is now a layered product with its
own installation process.
You can select support for it in
the. System Options section of Phase I of SYSGEN.

1.2.2

System Generation Restrictions

The following restrictions apply to performing an RSX-llM Version
system generation:

1.2.2.1

4.2

Minimum Requirements for System Generation and Installation

The host machine for a
minimum requirements:

system

generation

must

meet

the

following

•

Have at least 128Kb of memory for distributions other than the
TK50

•

Have at least 248Kb of memory for using the BRUSYS system

•

Be mapped and have a null device (NL:)

1.2.2.2

On-Line System Generation Restriction

.When performing a Version 4.2 on-line system generation, SYSGEN will
always install the Task Builder supplied on the distribution kit.
The
Task Builder is installed under the task name ( ••• TKL).
NOTE
You must be a privileged user to
system generation.

1.3

perform

on-line

MCR

This section describes new Monitor Console Routine (MCR) features and
restrictions for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR
Operations Manual for more information.

1-6

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.3.1

New MCR Features

New MCR device support, as well as new and modified keywords have been
added for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
The new MCR features for Version 4.2
are listed as follows:
•

New device support

•

New SET keywords

•

Modified SET keyword

Modified MOUNT (MOU) keywords

1.3.1.1

New Device Support

The MCR command
devices:
e

RA60

RASO

RA81

RC25

RX50

RD51

RD52

RD53

TK50

ALLOCATE

/TYPE

supports

the

following

additional

The MCR command SET /TERM supports the following additional devices:
e

DTCOl

•

LASO

LA210

LN03

LQP02, LQP03

•

PC3xx (Professional-series)

•

VT2xx (VT200-series)

1-7

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.3.1.2

New SET Keywords

The SET command has the following new keywords:
SET
/[NO]ANSI
/[NO]AVO
/[NO]BLKMOD
/[NO]DEC
/[NO]EDIT
/HOST
/[NO]HSYNC
/INQUIRE
/[NO]PARITY
/[NO]PASTHRU
/[NO]PRINTER PORT
/[NO] REGIS /[NO]SOFT
/[NO]TTSYNC
NOTE
The SET /HOST command executes only on systems that
have selected Network Command Terminal (NCT) support
during system generation, and have installed DECnet
software (a separate layered product).

1.3.1.3

Modified SET Keyword

The SET command also has the following modified keyword:
SET/BUF

1.3.1.4

Sets the default buffer size of a specified
device.
The minimum default buffer size for
devices other than terminals is
14(decimal)
characters.
Formerly,
the minimum size was one
character.
The minimum buffer size for terminals
is 16(decimal) characters.

Modified MOUNT (MOU) Keyword

The MOUNT (MOU) command has the following modified keywords:
MOU
/FPRO

Specifies default file protection codes for files
created on Files-11 magnetic tapes or disks.
Formerly, this keyword applied only to disks.

/PRO

Specifies the default volume protection
for
Files-11
magnetic
tape
or
disk
volumes.
Formerly, this keyword applied only to Files-11
disk volumes.

1-8

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1. 4

DCL

This section describes new DIGITAL Command Language (DCL) features and
restrictions for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
See the RSX-llM Command
Language Manual for detailed descriptions of new features.

1.4.1

New DCL Features

New DCL device support, new and modified commands,
qualifiers have been added to RSX-llM Version
features for Version 4.2 are listed as follows:

and new command
4.2. The new DCL

• New device support

• New ANALYZE commands
• New SET and SHOW HOST commands
• New SET FILE command

• Modified INITIALIZE/BADBLOCKS command
• New command qualifiers
1.4.1.1

New Device Support

The DCL commands SET
additional devices:

and

SHOW

TERMINAL

support

• DTCOl
• LASO
• LA210
• LN03

• LQP02
• LQP03
• PRO series
•

(Professional-series)

VT200 series (VT200-series)

Additional devices supported by DCL include:
•

The RD52 and RD53 disk devices

•

The TK25 and TKSO magnetic tape devices

1-9

the

following

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS

1.4.1.2

New ANALYZE Commands

You use the DCL command ANALYZE to collect information about hardware
on your system.
The ANALYZE/MEDIA command determines whether bad
blocks exist on a disk volume, and records their location. Bad block
information recorded by the ANALYZE/MEDIA command can then be used by
the BACKUP and INITIALIZE commands. The format and valid qualifiers
are as follows:
ANALYZE/MEDIA [/qualifier[s]] ddnn:
/ALLOCATE= label
/BAD BLOCKS
/BADBLOCKS/NOEXERCISE
/EXERCISE[=(n,m)]
/OVERRIDE
/RETRY
/SHOW
Other ANALYZE DCL commands include the ANALYZE/CRASH DUMP command
the ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG command.
-

and

The ANALYZE/CRASH DUMP command helps determine the cause of system
crashes by formatting and listing a memory dump created by the
Executive Crash Dump module. The format and valid qualifiers are as
follows:
ANALYZE/CRASH_DUMP/outputqualifier[s]

infile[/qualifier[s]]

Outputqualifiers:
/LIST=lfil[/listqualifier[s]]
/ERRORLIMITS=n
/PAGECOUNT=n
/PAGELENGTH=n
/[NO]PRINTER
/BINARY=bfil[/MEMORYSIZE=n]
/SYMBOLS=sfi 1
Infile[/qualifier[s]]:
/ACTIVE=(actlist)
/ALL
/BLOCK=n
/DATASTRUCTURES=(datalist)
/CLOCKQUEUE
/DENSITY=n
/DEVICES
/DUMP
/HEADERS
/KERNEL
/PARTITION
/POOL
/[NO]SYSTEM
/TASKS= (taslist)

1-10

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
The ANALYZE/ERROR LOG command analyzes and formats
information about
errors and events, which occur on system hardware.
It also generates
reports that Field Service can use to repair your hardware.
The
format and valid qualifiers are as follows:
ANALYZE/ERROR LOG[/qualifier[s]] datafile
/BRIEF
/COMMAND:n
/DEVICES [: ( ddnn: [ ,ddnn: , ••. ] ) or ALL]
/ENTRY
/FULL
/INCLUDE
/NOD ETA IL
/OUTPUT [:outfil]
/PREVIOUS DAYS=n
/REGISTERS
/SERIAL NUMBER:snum
/SINCE:(dd-mmm-yy[mm:ss])
/THROUGH: (dd-mmm-yy[mm:ss])
/TODAY
/VOLUME LABEL:label
/[NO]WIDE
/YESTERDAY

1.4.1.3

New SET and SHOW HOST Commands

After you log on to a system, you can use the DCL command SET HOST to
connect your terminal to a different system. Both your current system
and the remote system must run DECnet software.
In addition, you need
to have an account on the remote system. Otherwise, you will not be
able to log on to the remote system after you enter the SET HOST
command. The format is as follows:
SET HOST nodename
The SHOW HOST command displays the name of the processor to which your
terminal currently is connected. The display also shows you the name
and version number of the operating system running on the processor.
The SHOW HOST command is most useful after you have connected your
terminal to a remote system with the SET HOST command. However, SHOW
HOST works whether or not your system runs DECnet software.
Without
DECnet on your system, this command simply displays information about
your local operating system. The format is as follows:
SHOW HOST

1.4.1.4

New SET FILE Command

The command SET FILE establishes certain file attributes.
You can
change an end-of-file marker, have an entry in one directory point to
a file in another directory, remove an entry from a directory,
or
truncate files to their actual length. The format is as follows:
SET FILE [/qualifier [s]] filespec [s] [/qualifier]
/ENTER:synonymfilespec
/NOWARNINGS
/REMOVE
/REWIND
/TRUNCATE

1-11

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
File qualifier:
/ENDOFFILE: (BLOCK:n,BYTE:n)

1.4.1.5

Modified INITIALIZE/BADBLOCKS Command

The DCL command INITIALIZE/BADBLOCKS has been modified so that it is
consistent with the MCR command INI/BAD. The changes are as follows:
•

The command INIT/BAD:OVERRIDE is now equivalent to the MCR
command INI /BAD=[OVR].
Previously, it translated to the MCR
command INI /BAD=[NOAUTO].

The INIT/BAD:NOAUTOMATIC command has been added to DCL.
equivalent to the MCR command INI /BAD=[NOAUTO].
DCL Command

MCR Translation

INIT/BAD:OVERRIDE
INIT/BAD:NOAUTOMATIC

1.4.1.6

It is

INI /BAD=[OVR]
INI /BAD=[NOAUTO]

New Qualifiers

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following new DCL command qualifiers:
APPEND[/qualifier[s]]
/NOWARNINGS
/REWIND
/SHARED
COPY[/qualifier[s]]
/ALLOCATION: n [.]
/NOWARNINGS
/OVERLAY
/PRESERVE DATE
/REWIND /SHARED
CREATE/DIRECTORY[/qualifier[s]]
/OWNER _UIC: [uio]
DELETE[/qualifier[s]]
/NOWARNINGS
DIRECTORY[/qualifier[s]]
/REWIND
/NOWARN INGS
DISMOUNT[/qualifier[s]]
/TERMINAL: t tqn:
INITIALIZE[/qualifier[s]]
/BADBLOCKS:arg
NOAUTOMATIC
(AUTOMATIC,MANUAL)
(OVERRIDE,MANUAL)
/DENSITY:arg
HIGH
LOW
/LABEL:VOLUME ACCESSIBILITY:"c"
/PROFESSIONAL1-12

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
INITIALIZE/UPDATE[/qualifier(s]]
/LABEL:newvolumelabel
INSTALL[/qualifier[s]]
/[NO]INTERPRETER
LINK[/qualifier[s]]
I [NO] PRINT
MOUNT[/qualifier[s]]
/PROCESSOR:arg
UNIQUE
/OVERRIDE:arg
IDENTIFICATION
PRINT[/qualifier[s]]
/AFTER:TOMORROW
PURGE[/qualifier[s]]
/NOWARNINGS
RENAME[/qualifier[s]]
/NOWARNINGS
SET SYSTEM[/qualifier[s]]
/NETWORK UIC: [g,n]
/POOL/LIMITS=(arg[,arg, ••• ])
HIGH=n
LOW=n
MINIMUMSIZE=n
TASKPRIORITY=n
SET TERMINAL[/qualifier[s]]
/INQUIRE
/DTCOl
/LASO
/LA210
/LN03
/LQP02
/LQP03
/PRO SERIES
/VT200 SERIES
/[NO]ADVANCED VIDEO
/[NO]ANSI CRT/ [NO] BLOCKMODE
/[NO]EDIT MODE
/[NO]HOSTSYNC
/PRINTER PORT
/[NO]REGIS
/[NO]SOFT CHARACTERS
/[NO]TTSYNC
/[NO]PARITY:arg
ODD
EVEN
SHOW SYSTEM[/qualifier[s]]
/NETWORK UIC
/POOL_LIMITS
SHOW TASKS[/qualifier[s]]
/DEVICE:ddnn:

1-13

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.4.2

DCL Restriction

The ANSI Standard recommends unloading the ANSI magnetic tape as the
default action for dismounting a tape.
Depending on which model
magnetic tape drive is in use, this will either take the drive off
line or actually unload the tape.
The DCL qualifier /[NO]UNLOAD and the MCR switch /LOCK=[NO]UNLOAD
specify an action other than the default action be taken.
When a volume switch is requested, you may, by using the MAG utility,
cause error codes to be returned to the program that is reading or
writing.
(Previously, it was necessary either to mount a magnetic
tape or to abort the program.) The MAG utility also allows a magnetic
tape to be initialized if a new tape is needed for output and no
previously initialized tape is available.

1.5

TDX

This section includes information about using the catch all task
on RSX-llM Version 4.2. The TDX facility has two purposes:

1.5.1

•

It enables you to run uninstalled tasks.

•

It allows you to abbreviate command names.

(TDX)

Installing TDX

Any task installed with the task name ••• CA.
is treated as a
catch-all task.
If MCR receives an unrecognized command, it searches
for a task with that name and passes the command line to this task.
To use TDX as the catch-all task for your system, install it as
follows:
>INS $TDX/TASK= ••• CA.

1.5.2

TDX Commands and MCR Translations

When installed, TDX checks the specified command against its list of
commands.
If the commands match, TDX translates the command specified
into a valid MCR command. These commands and their MCR translations
are as follows:
Command

Translation

Function

ATS

ACT /ALL

Displays the names of all
active tasks in the system

ATS ttnn:

ACT /TERM=ttnn:

Displays the names of
active
tasks
of
specified terminal

CHO

SET /UIC

Displays the current default
UIC for terminal TI:

1-14

all
the

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS

Command

Translation

Function

CHD g m

SET /UIC=[g,m]

Changes the default
the UFD specified

CLR

CRE file

UFD

Clears
the
issuing
terminal's screen and sets
cursor to 0,0. Returns exit
status of EX$SUC if terminal
is CRT and EX$WAR if it is
not
PIP f ile=TI:

Creates a new file
invoking an editor

CVT val

without

Evaluates
an
arithmetic
expression,
converts that
expression into
different
formats,
and displays all
the
formats
on
your
terminal. CVT accepts input
in octal (nnn or nn,nn)
or
decimal
(nnn.
or nn.,nn.)
words or bytes, hexadecimal
numbers
($nnnn), Radix-50
(%ccc) or ASCII ('c or "cc)
characters,
or arithmetic
expressions using
+,-,/,*
and < >

DEL file (s)

PIP file (s) /DE

Deletes
file (s)

DIR [file(s)]

PIP [file(s)]/LI

Displays a directory listing
at the terminal

DLG

DEV /LOG

Displays information about
all logged-in terminals on
the system

DLN

NCP SHOW KNOWN NODES

Displays
nodes

FRE

PIP /FR

Displays the amount of space
available
on
SY:,
the
largest contiguous space on
SY:,
the number of file
headers available and the
number of file headers used

FRE ddu:

PIP ddu:/FR

Displays
the
information as FRE
specified device

same
for a

PUR file (s)

PIP file(s)/PU

Deletes all but the
version of a file

latest

1-15

the

all

specified

known

DECnet

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
Command

Translation

Function

SHQ

QUE/LI

Displays information
all entries in all
queues

about
print

SYS

SET /SYSUIC

Displays the current

system

uic

TDX

Displays the current version
of TDX

TYP file(s)

1.5.3

PIP TI:=file(s)

Prints
files
terminal

your

Modifying the TDX Source File

You may want to add other commands to TDX by modifying the source file
in
[24,lO]TDX.MAC.
The routines for the commands are at the end of
the source file and serve as examples for user-tailored routines.
To
reassemble the source file after making additions, use the TDXASM.CMD
file located in [24,20]. To rebuild TDX, follow the procedure in the
Phase III section of the RSX-llM System Generation and Installation
Guide. TDX comes preassembled ([l,24]TDX.OBJ) if you do not wish to
make any changes.
The following table shows the location of files on multivolume kits:
Distribution

TDX.MAC

TDX.OBJ,TDXBLD.BLD

RL01/RL02
RK06
(all other)

HLPDCL
CLISRC
RSXM38

EXCPRV
RSXM38
RSXM38

If the command you enter does not match any of TDX's commands, TDX
attempts to issue one of the following two MCR command options.
In
the examples that follow, xxx represents the first three characters of
your command.
The option that TDX uses depends on whether the logical devices ZZl:
or ZZ2: exist on your system. You can assign one of these devices in
your LOGIN.CMD file.
Note that the presence of the ZZl:
assignment
masks the presence of the ZZ2: assignment.
If no assignment is made,
TDX will not exercise either option.
1.

MCR> RUN $xxx/TASK=xxxTNN/CMD="params ••• "
This option installs, runs, and removes a task.
"Params ••• "
represents the command line that you enter. Your command
line cannot exceed 39 characters because TDX adds other
characters to this line.
If you want this option, place the
following command line in your LOGIN.CMD file:
ASN SY:=ZZl:

1-16

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
2.

MCR>
MCR>
MCR>
MCR>

@SY: [loginuic]xxx.CMD or
@LB: [libuic]xxx.CMD or
@SY: [loginuic]CATCHALL.CMD or
@LB: [libuic]CATCHALL.CMD

For this option, TDX searches for one of the @[ ••• ]xxx.CMD
indirect command files, in the order indicated. As soon as
TDX locates one of these files, the search stops.
You can
design the indirect command file to perform a variety of
functions, such as installing tasks,
providing HELP,
or
issuing error messages.
To use this option, place the following command line in
LOGIN.CMD file:

your

ASN SY:=ZZ2:
RSX-llM Version 4.2 contains a sample indirect command
[24,24]CATCHALL.CMD.
The ZZn option may be controlled for all users
following command line in the system startup file:

file,

placing

the

ASN SY:=ZZn:/GBL
where n equals 1 or 2, depending upon which ZZn option you prefer.
If your command does not match a TDX command or if TDX
the necessary task, TDX issues the following message:

cannot

locate

MCR -- Task not in system

1.5.4

Supplementary TDX Information

You may want to install some tasks permanently rather than invoke TDX
to install them as you need them.
It is advisable to permanently
install the following:
•

Tasks requiring a larger increment than the default
(see the
INSTALL command in the RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR Operations Manual)

•

Tasks that are used frequently

In the following instances, TDX may affect the
command file when nbninstalled tasks are invoked:

1.6

execution

the

•

If the command line's length exceeds 39 characters.

•

If TDX has no means of returning the exit status of called
tasks to Indirect.
This problem occurs in systems without
parent/offspring tasking.
In this case,
Indirect proceeds
immediately to the next command line without waiting for the
called task to finish.
This has the same effect as preceding
the command line with the Indirect .XQT directive.

INDIRECT

This section describes new features, a restriction, and supplementary
information
for
using
the Indirect Command Processor Library
(Indirect). For more information, see the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Indirect
Command Processor Manual.

1-17

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.6.1

New Indirect Features

The new features and changes to Indirect for RSX-llM Version
listed as follows:

4.2

are

types

and

Also, the <TITYPE> symbol is now evaluated whenever the symbol
referenced by the user, not just when Indirect is initialized.

•

Changes to <TITYPE> symbol

•

New delimiters for symbols and expressions

•

New special string symbols

1.6.1.1

Changes to <TITYPE> Symbol

The <TITYPE> symbol supports two new terminal types.
their corresponding octal codes are:
PC3xx (Professional-series)
VT2xx (VT200-series)

1.6.1.2

The

35
36

New Delimiters for Symbols and Expressions

Pound sign (#) characters as well as quotation mark (") characters can
be used as delimiters for string symbols and expressions.

1.6.1.3

New Special String Symbols

The following special string symbols are new for RSX-llM Version 4.2:
null
with

string
([])
for
directory
RSX-llM-PLUS and Micro/RSX in

Contains
a
compatibility
no-named mode

<SYTYP>

Contains a string describing
example, "RSX-llM")

<VERSN>

Contains the current
example, "4.2")

1.6.1.4

system's

the

system

version

type

(for

number

(for

Indirect Restriction

The @/LB:module command line does not function on RSX-llM Version 4.2
when it is issued from a CL! prompt or from within a command file.
No
problem occurs when it is issued from within a library.
If the module name referenced is greater than six characters, Indirect
truncates the name to six characters. When a file name is truncated,
Indirect returns the following error message:
AT.

-- File not found

1-18

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
Indirect assumes that the module name you want to reference is only
six characters long, because the module names are truncated to six
characters by the Librarian utility when the files are included in the
command library. This Indirect behavior will remain a restriction for
RSX-llM Version 4.2.
To avoid this problem, always specify a module name of six characters
or less when issuing the @/LB:module command line.
Also, do not use
the @/LB:module command line unless you plan to include command files
in a command library.

1.6.2

Supplementary Indirect Information

This section describes how to use the Indirect Command Processor.
Also described are the three versions of Indirect that are currently
supported on RSX-llM Version 4.2.

1.6.2.1

Using the Indirect Command Procedure Library

To use the Indirect command procedure library,
INDSYS.CLB
(as
documented in the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Indirect Command Processor Manual),
you must copy it from the MCR source volume directory of the
distribution kit to the system volume.
On single-disk distribution kits
example), copy the file as follows:

(RP04/RP05/RP06

RM03,

for

> PIP LB: [l,2]=LB: (12,lO]INDSYS.CLB
On multidisk distribution kits (RL01/RL02, for example), mount the MCR
source volume (MCRSRC) and copy the file as follows:

> PIP LB: [l,2]=dd: (12,lO]INDSYS.CLB
The dd characters represent the drive on which the MCR
has been mounted.

source

volume

For the RK06 kit, the file is located on CLISRC; and for the RL01/RL02
kit, the file is located on MCRSRC.

1.6.2.2

Indirect Command Processor Versions

RSX-llM Version 4.2 supports
Indirect Command Processor:
•

the

following

three

versions

the

ICP contains the same functional parameters as the IND task
released in Version 4.1.
This version requires a 12Kb
partition size and must be used when you are doing a Version
4.2 system generation.
ICP is the standard version of
Indirect created during the Phase II privileged task build.
There is no FCSRES version of this task.

1-19

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

ICQ is more heavily overlaid in order to fit in an 8Kb
partition.
This version supports the minimum of functional
parameters necessary to execute a command file that does not
exceed the following:
One concurrently open data file
One parallel .XQT directive
Two direct-access labels
One GOSUB nesting level
Two-level depth of open command files
108(decimal)-byte command file input buffer
ICQ is designed for systems that lack sufficient memory space
to support a 12Kb task.
ICQ's execution time is slower than
ICP's, and its symbol table space and functional parameters
are insufficient to complete a system generation.
ICQ is
built during system generation only if the target system
contains less than 24Kb of memory.
Due to task size constraints on ICQ, enhancements
and
corrections made to Indirect for Version 4.2 do not apply to
the ICQ version.
ICQ has the same features that it had in
Version 4.1 with the exception of the new <DIRECT> symbol.
The <DIRECT> symbol is set to the null directory string
([])
for compatibility with RSX-llM-PLUS and Micro/RSX systems.

•

ICQRES is the resident FCS (FCSRES) version of ICQ.
is also
highly overlaid and is slower than ICP.
It has the same
functional parameters as ICP with approximately the same
symbol table space. The task resides in an 8Kb partition and
has the following parameters:
Four concurrently open data files
Sixteen parallel .XQT directives
Sixteen direct-access labels
Eight .GOSUB nesting levels
Four-level depth of open command files
132(decimal)-byte command file input buffer
This version is designed for systems that lack sufficient
memory space to support a 12Kb task, but still attempt to
retain the full capabilities of the ICP task.
It does not
contain enough symbol table space to complete a full system
generation procedure, and it must be built as a privileged
task with FCSRES support using the SYSGEN Phase III procedure.
Due to task size constraints on ICQRES, enhancements and
corrections made to Indirect for Version 4.2 do not apply to
the ICQRES version.
Except for a new symbol, <DIRECT>, no new
features have been added to ICQRES since Version 4.1. The
<DIRECT> symbol is set to the null directory string
([])
for
compatibility with RSX-llM-PLUS and Micro/RSX systems.

1-20

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.7

BRU

This section describes new features and restrictions for the Backup
and Restore Utility (BRU) for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
Also included is
supplementary information on how to do multivolume backup operations.
This information has not been incorporated into the RSX-llM/M-PLUS
Utilities Manual.

New BRU Features

1.7.1

New BRU features for RSX-llM Version 4.2 are listed as follows:
•

New device support for BRUSYS

•

Location of BRU files on the distribution kit

•

Ability to skip over a bootable system image

1.7.1.1

New Device Support for BRUSYS

BRUSYS supports the following new device:

Mnemonic

Type

MU:

TKSO (Cartridge Tape Drive)

1.7.1.2

Location of Files on the Distribution Kit

On RSX-llM, you can find BRU64K.SYS, BRU64K.STB, BRUSYS.SYS,
BRUSYS.STB in UFO [1,51] on the following disk volumes:
•

Tape kit

RK06/RK07 kits - RSXM38

RLOl kit

- RLUTIL

RL02 kit

- PRVBLD

1.7.1.3

and

- RSXM38

Ability to Skip Over a Bootable System Image

BRU has a new feature that detects and skips over a bootable system
image when appending to or restoring from a magnetic tape.
This
feature allows you to load a BRU backup set onto a magnetic tape
volume that contains a bootable system image at the beginning. There
is no longer a need for a separate magnetic tape containing the
bootable system image.
When using this new feature,
there will b~
rewinding the tape and skipping over the
otherwise, this feature is transparent.

1-21

a short delay while
bootable system image;

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.7.2

BRU Restrictions

The following BRU restrictions apply to RSX-llM Version 4.2:
•

Bootable system image magnetic tape restrictions

•

BRU64K tape restrictions

Specifying /NEW_VERSION and /VERIFY together

1.7.2.1

Bootable System Image Tape Restrictions

When placing the first backup set on a magnetic tape that contains a
bootable system image, you must specify the /REW/APPEND qualifiers.
You cannot leave the tape positioned at the end of the bootable system
image and use the /APPEND qualifier.
The /TAPE LABEL qualifier is ignored during a restore operation,
there is a bootable system image at the beginning of the tape.

1.7.2.2

BRU64K Tape Restrictions

On a BRU64K stand-alone system, you should not run BRU and BAD
simultaneously.
Because BRU and BAD use common buffer space, running
both tasks at the same time can yield unpredictable results.
NOTE
MU:

1.7.2.3

device support is NOT included on BRU64K.

Specifying /NEW_VERSION and /VERIFY Together

If you specify the /NEW VERSION and /VERIFY qualifiers together, you
will receive a "conflicting qualifiers" error message. BRU cannot
verify a restore operation when the /NEW VERSION qualifier is used.
The version numbers of the files on the output device may not
correspond to the version numbers of the files on the input device.

1.7.3

Supplementary BRU Information

The following information from the previous release notes, still
applies to BRU for RSX-llM Version 4.2. This information has not been
incorporated into the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual.

1.7.3.1

Multivolume Disk Backup Operations

BRO supports multivolume disk backup operations.
You can copy a
single disk onto several smaller disks. When you do this, however,
the smaller disks are in BRO format, not Files-11. Therefore, before
you can read what is on the smaller disk, you must restore it with
BRO. This process is similar to magnetic tape backup and restore
operations.

1-22

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
To back up and restore a single disk to multiple disks,
following BRU command line:

you

use

the

BRU /IMAGE:SAVE
:RESTORE
This command line specifies that you want to perform a multiple
disk-to-disk backup or restore operation.
If you are performing a
backup operation, you must specify the SAVE option on the command
line.
If you are performing a restore operation, you must specify the
RESTORE option on the command line.

1.7.3.2

Modified BRU Qualifiers

The function of the following BRU qualifiers were
addition of multivolume disk backup capability.

modified

with

the

/APPEND

Directs BRU to append a backup set from the
input disk volume to the last backup set on
the output tape, or on the output disk if you
are using the /IMAGE qualifier.

/BACKUP_SET:name

Specifies the name of the backup set to be
placed on tape or disk.
For a mounted input
or output disk during an image backup or
restore operation, you can specify the full
backup set file name with the /BACKUP_SET
qualifier.

/DIRECTORY

Lists at your terminal the backup set names or
files on the specified magnetic tape or disk
volume.

/INITIALIZE

Specifies that you want to initialize
tape-to-disk
output
disk
during
a
disk-to-disk operation.

/INVOLUME

Specifies the volume label of the input disk.

/MOUNTED

Allows you to back up files from a
is mounted as a Files-11 volume.

/NEW_VERSION

Resolves file specification conflicts that
occur
during
either
backup
or restore
operations to a mounted disk.

/SUPERSEDE

Specifies that when file specifications on the
mounted output volume are identical to those
on the input volume, the file on the output
volume is deleted and replaced with the file
from the input volume.

1.7.3.3

disk

the
or

that

Error Message for Tape Devices

If you use the /MOUNTED qualifier when the input device is a magnetic
tape, BRU issues a syntax error message. The purpose of this error
message is to emphasize that tapes cannot be mounted as Files-11
volumes.
Previously, BRU ignored this qualifier if you issued it for
a tape input device.

1-23

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.8

FLX

This section describes a correction to a previous File Transfer
Program (FLX)
utility restriction.
Also included is a list of FLX
devices that do not support DOS-11 format. This information has not
been incorporated into the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual.
The behavior of FLX in handling an error during a copy operation to an
RT-11 device has changed.
Previously, FLX allowed a partial file to
be created on the output device when insufficient space existed on
this device for the complete file on the output disk. Then, if a file
existed on the output disk with the same name as the newly created
partial file,
FLX deleted the pre-existing file and substituted the
partial file.
Replacing an existing file with a partial file resulted
in a loss of information.
Now, if an error occurs during the copy operation, the partial file is
not substituted for an existing file on the output disk. The partial
file no longer is closed as a permanent entry, and the definition and
contents of the existing file remain intact.
The following FLX devices do not support DOS-11 format:

1.9

RC25

RA60

RA81

RD51

RX50

FMT

The following devices are not supported by the Disk
(FMT) for RSX-llM Version 4.2.

1.10

RD51

RX50

RA60

RA81

RC25

Volume

Formatter

PIP

See Chapter 2, Corrections to the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual, for
documentation corrections that apply to the Peripheral Interchange
Program (PIP).

1.11

QUEUE MANAGER

This section describes a new feature and a restriction that
the RSX-llM Version 4.2 Queue Manager.

1-24

apply

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.11.1

New Queue Manager Feature

The MCR /NM switch suppresses messages from the Queue Manager
(QMG)
such as "Queue already exists." The equivalent DCL qualifier is
/NOWARNINGS.
Once a queue has been established, it will remain until eliminated, in
spite of system crashes.
In case a queue has been inadvertently
eliminated, however, you should try to reestablish the standard print
queues each time the system is bootstrapped.
Issuing a QUE LPO:/CR
command, though, yields the "Queue already exists" message from the
QMG if the LPO queue has not been eliminated, as is generally the
case.
The /NM switch is used in the prototype STARTUP.CMD supplied on the
distribution kit.
It reduces the "clutter" that is printed on the
console terminal when STARTUP.CMD is invoked.

1.11.2

Queue Manager Restriction

The following restriction applies to setting up and running the queue
manager.
If you want to spool to the null device (NL:), you must
specify the /SHAREABLE
(/SHR)
qualifier when you initialize the
processor.

1. 12

EXECUTIVE

This section describes new features and restrictions that apply to the
RSX-llM Version 4.2 Executive. See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX
Executive Reference Manual for more information.

1.12.1

New Executive Features

The RSX-llM Version 4.2 Executive includes a new directive and a new
high-level language interface described in the following sections.

1.12.1.1

New FEAT$ Directive

The Executive supports the
(FEAT$) directive.

new

Test

for

Specified

System

Feature

N-OTE
The RRST$ and TFEA$ directives are for RSX-llM-PLUS
systems
only.
These directives are incorrectly
documented as RSX-llM directives in the RSX-llM/M-PLUS
and Micro/RSX Executive Reference Manual.

1.12.1.2

New High-Level Language Interface

All of the directives that can be called from a high-level language
can be used from FORTRAN and from other high-level languages. Some of
these other languages are BASIC-PLUS-2, Pasca.l,
DIBOL-83,
and
COBOL-81.

1-25

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.12.2

Changes to Code and Data Structures for Privileged Tasks

The changes to code and data structures in this section
for Version 4.2.
They are included because they
documented in the appropriate RSX-llM manuals.

are not new
have not been

NOTE
Nonprivileged tasks should not be affected by
these changes.

1.12.2.1

any

Executive Code

Many Executive routines have been moved into the Executive commons (if
you selected Executive common support).
Therefore, it may not be
possible for privileged code to reference these routines as they may
have done in a previous RSX release. To determine if an Executive
entry point is in an Executive common, consult RSXllM.MAP. The entry
point is in a common if its address falls between 120000 and 140000.
If the entry points are inaccessible to the task because they reside
in the Executive commons, a procedure for accessing that routine is
available. You must write a transfer routine that will permanently
reside in the mapped Executive address space. See module DRSUB for
examples of transfer routines.
Note that transfer routines are
already provided for the most commonly called subroutines moved into
the commons.
Their existence is transparent to any task referencing
them.
The RSXMC.MAC symbol P$$D70, which indicated cache memory on a
processor, has been changed to C$$CHE.

1.12.2.2

22-bit

Executive Data Structures

To enhance asynchronous buffered I/O, the bit T2.TIO, which allowed
for only one buffered I/O per task, has been changed to the byte
T.TIO. This byte enables a task to queue many buffered I/O requests
simultaneously.
The word at offset O.STAT+2 of the Offspring Control Block is used to
contain a secondary exit status, the TKTN abort code, which is filled
in whenever the offspring task exits. Previously, only the word at
O.STAT was used.
Note that more words in the exit status region of
the OCB may be used in the future and, therefore, should be considered
as reserved for future expansion.
The addition of alternate CLI support has changed the way that CLis
are associated with individual users.
On systems that include
alternate CLI support, the word previously at offset U.CLI
in the
terminal UCB,
(DV.TTY is set) has been redefined. On these systems,
it is referred to as U.MUP since it currently contains a bit mask for
various multiuser features.
Bits 1
4 in this word are used to
identify the CLI associated with that terminal.
The bits form an
offset into a table located at $CPTBL in the Executive module SYSCM.
This module contains a pointer to the CPB (CLI Parser Block)
for the
CLI.
Since only 4 bits are used to form this offset, the system is
limited to 16 CLis. The bit used for the NOBROADCAST feature is also
in this word, which is why this feature is available only on systems
supporting alternate CLis.

1-26

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.12.2.3

I/O Data Structures

The bit DV.MXD in offset U.CWl of the UCB
(previously for mixed
MASSBUS)
has been changed to DV.MSD. This bit is set for all mass
storage devices, and must be turned on for all user-written drivers
that want to support error logging.
In addition, error logging
devices must have four words preceding each UCB (negative offsets).
The bit DV.SWL in offset U.CWl of the UCB (previously unused)
is
used to maintain the software write-lock status of the device.

now

Prior to Version 4.0, two words were added to the end of each DHll UCB
to contain the vector and CSR of an associated DMllBB.
In Version
4.0, these two words were eliminated. The information is contained in
fork block offsets in the SCB.

1.13

TASK BUILDER

This section describes new Task
Builder
(TKB)
features
and
restrictions for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
Information in this section has
not been incorporated into the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Task
Builder Manual.

1.13.1

New Task Builder Features

The new TKB features for RSX-llM Version 4.2 are listed as follows:

• /SB switch and /SLOW qualifier
• /CL switch and /CODE:CLI qualifier
• /FM switch and /FAST_MAP qualifier

• Creating a default Slow Task Builder
• FCSRES and FCSFSL
1.13.1.l

/SB Switch and /SLOW Qualifier

The Slow Task Builder and the Task Builder are included together in
one task image in the distribution kit. Use the /SB switch to select
the slow Task Builder.
Use the following command line format for the MCR /SB switch:
TKB>file.tsk/SB,,=file.obj
Use the following command line format for the DCL /SLOW qualifier:

$ LINK/TAS/SLOW/MAP/SYM INPUTFILE
The default for MCR is /-SB, or not /SLOW for DCL.

1-27

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.13.1.2

/CL Switch and /CODE:CLI Qualifier

The /CL switch (MCR) or /CODE:CLI qualifier
(DCL)
indicates to
Task Builder that the task is a Command Line Interpreter (CLI).
this switch when you build the DCL task or any other CLI task.

the
Use

NOTE
The Fast Task Builder (FTB) does not support
switch or the /CODE:CLI qualifier.

the

/CL

Use the following command line format for the MCR /CL switch:
TKB>file.tsk/CL,,=file.obj
Use the following command line format for the DCL /CODE:CLI qualifier:
$ LINK/TAS/CODE:CLI/MAP/SYM INPUTFILE

The default for MCR is /-CL, or not /CODE:CLI for DCL.

1.13.1.3

/FM switch and /FAST_MAP Qualifier

The MCR /FM switch or DCL /FAST MAP qualifier informs the Task Builder
that space must be allocated in memory between the task and the
external header for use by the Fast Mapping feature. The /FM switch
corresponds to the INSTALL processor switch /FMAP=YES.
NOTE
The /FM switch and the /FAST MAP qualifier can only be
executed on an RSX-llM-PLUS system.
Therefore, you
can only use the Fast Mapping feature if you are
transporting tasks between RSX-llM and RSX-llM-PLUS
systems. Also, the Fast Task Builder (FTB)
does not
support the /FM switch or the /FAST_MAP qualifier.
Use the following command line format for the MCR /FM switch:
TKB>file.tsk/FM,,=file.obj
Use the following command
qualifier:

line

format

for

the

DCL

/CODE:FAST_MAP

$ LINK/TAS/CODE:FAST_MAP/MAP/SYM INPUTFILE

The default for MCR is /-FM, or not /CODE:FAST_MAP for DCL.

1.13.1.4

Creating a Default Slow Task Builder

To create a default slow task builder for RSX-llM Version 4.2, you
must copy the MAKESTK.CMD file to the LB: [1,2] directory. MAKESTK.CMD
is located in the [1,20] directory on the following disk volume:
- RSXM38

•

Tape kit

RK06/RK07 kits - RSXM38

1-28

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
e

RLOl kit

- RLUTIL

RL02 kit

- PRVBLD

The MAKESTK.CMD file is a command procedure that creates a version of
STK (slow task builder) in LB:<LIBUIC>. The command procedure accepts
a parameter that determines whether the FCSRES library is used.
You
can either supply no parameter, or RES.
If you supply no parameter, MAKESTK.CMD copies the TKB.TSK file
latest version of the Task Builder on your system) into STK.TSK.
Task Builder contains the FCS routines that TKB may use.

(the
This

If you supply RES, MAKESTK.CMD copies the TKBRES.TSK file (the latest
version of the Task Builder on your system) into STKRES.TSK. This
Task Builder uses the FCS resident library to resolve the symbols in
the FCS routines that TKB may use.
In addition, MAKESTK.CMD puts the requested version of the Task
Builder in LB:<LIBUIC>.
Then, by using a ZAP command, MAKESTK.CMD
changes the TKB default from task build to slow task build.
During system generation, a command procedure called STKBLD.BLD may be
executed.
It creates the Task Builder .CMD and .ODL files.
The
distributed Task Builder on the system uses these files to build one
of the following files with the slow builder (/SB) as the default:
e

STK.TSK

•

STKRES.TSK

1.13.1.5

FCSRES and FCSFSL

FCSFSL is not included on the RSX-llM Version 4.2 distribution kit.
The
following information applies to RSX-llM only if you are
transporting tasks between RSX-llM and RSX-llM-PLUS systems.
FCSRES and FCSFSL are merged into a single vectored-entry memory image
that can be used in either user-mode libraries. This reduces both
disk and memory space requirements.
The
[l,l]FCSRES.TSK image file
installs under the library name FCSRES and is used to satisfy your
library requests.
Existing tasks that reference FCSRES are unaffected by this change and
need not be rebuilt except to use new features. To use the.new
library, you must rebuild existing tasks that reference FCSFSL,
whether they reference FCSFSL directly or reference a library (such as
F77RES) that has been built to reference FCSFSL.
The FCS resident library image
( [l,l]FCSRES.TSK) has been built
containing the supervisor mode library completion routine. However,
because the user mode FCSRES library is a memory-resident overlaid
library, it must be distinguished from the supervisor mode library
(because the completion routine cannot be overlaid). Thus, the files
for FCSFSL must be used to build tasks using supervisor mode (the .TSK
file is needed for information contained in the label block; the .STB
file is needed for symbol values and overlay structure).

1-29

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
To supply the two different descriptions, but use the same library
image, the Task Builder has been changed ·to force references to FCSFSL
to become references to FCSRES in the resulting executable task image.
In other words, the build command for RSX-llM remains the same as it
has been (LIBR=FCSRES), and files remain in
(1,1]
(Although the
FCSFSL.TSK file size is considerably reduced).
NOTE
Like the Task Builder, the Fast
changes
references
to FCSFSL
resulting executable task image.

1.13.2

Task Builder also
to FCSRES in the

Task Builder Restrictions

The following TKB restrictions apply to RSX-llM Version 4.2:
•

Map problem for non-PIC shared region

•

Cluster libraries

•

Changing values in an installed common

Using the /SS switch with the RSXllM.STB file

1.13.2.1

Map Problem for Non-PIC Shared Region

A non-PIC shared region's base address is displayed in the map as
zero.
The base address is not zero, but has a true base address.
This problem is a map-generation problem of the Task Builder.

1.13.2.2

Cluster Libraries

When the primary library (the first library specified in the CLSTR
option}
is overlaid with a null root, the overlay run-time system
cannot distinguish between the first library and the rest of the
libraries in the cluster. Therefore, it uses the first library called
by the task as the default library
(the library that is usually
mapped).
If the first library called by the task is not the first cluster
library,
no errors will result, but you may notice a severe
performance degradation due to excessive mapping and unmapping of
libraries. The first library called by the task should be the primary
library specified in the CLSTR option.
NOTE
Clustering read-only and read-write libraries
supported on RSX-llM Version 4.2.

1-30

not

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.13.2.3

Changing Values in an Installed Common

Changes made in the common are made only in the memory image of the
common.
If the common is subsequently removed, re-installing the
common presents a fresh image in memory and the previously changed
values are no longer present.

1.13.2.4

Using the /SS Switch with the RSXllM.STB File

When using the RSXllM.STB file as an input file to TKB, the /SS switch
should always be appended to the file specification. This is because
the .STB file contains so many symbols that, potentially, TKB could
exhaust its virtual memory tables.
You must include the required library modules on the command line
before specifying the Executive symbol definition file RSXllM.STB.

1.14

SYSTEM LIBRARY ROUTINES

This section describes a new FCSRES feature and a restriction for
RSX-llM Version 4.2. This information has not been incorporated into
the IAS/RSX-11 System Library Routines Reference Manual.

1.14.1

New FCSRES Feature

A new feature has been added to the directory parsing code in FCSRES.
This enhancement makes it possible to maintain the transportability of
FCSRES linked tasks between RSX-llM and RSX-llM-PLUS. You can obtain
the directory string used in the parse. An extension has been created
for the FDB, which has the following format:
.Byte
.Byte
.Byte
.Byte
.word

Extension length
Reserved
Length of buffer for directory string
Length of directory string (filled in by .PRSDI)
Address of directory string buffer

The extension block and directory string buffer are allocated in your
address space.
First, you enter the address,
the length of the
buffer, and the length of the extension, into the proper words in the
extension block.
Then you insert the address of the extension block
at the offset F.EXT in the FDB.
When the directory parsing code
detects that F.EXT has a value, it uses the value as an address and
moves the directory string into the buffer.
It also puts the length
of the actual directory string into the byte in the extension. This
directory will always be filled in, except when the directory is
obtained from the default name block. This is because the default
name block does not contain the directory string.
In this case,
the
directory length will be set to zero.

1.14.2

FCSRES Restriction

Because the FCSRES enhancement adds approximately 60 decimal bytes to
the size of the directory parsing code, the code is included ONLY in
FCSRES. The system library routines do not include this change.
If
you want to use this feature· in your task, you must reference the
modules PARDIL and PRSDIL instead of PARDI and PARSDI in your TKB .ODL
file.

1-31

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
NOTE
The FOB size has not increased to add this offset, but
F.EXT occupies a previously unused location. Any code
that used the offset F.SPDV will not work with this
new enhancement.

1.15

DEVICE SUPPORT

This section describes new device support, device restrictions
other device-related information for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
•

Processor support

•

Controller support

•

Driver support

•

Terminal support

•

Printer support

•

Network Command Terminal

•

Digital Storage Architecture (DSA) Support

1.15.1

and

(NCT) Support

Processor Support

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following new processor support:
•

Jll-series
consists of the LSI-11/73, MicroPDP-11/73,
MicroPDP-11/83, and PDP-11/84
(Note that, due to hardware
restrictions, RSX-llM may not work properly
with
most
configurations built around the LSI-11/73 processor module.)

•

MicroPDP-11/23 processor

1.15.2

Controller Support

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following new controller support:
controller;

•

RQDX2 Controller
quad height
supports the RDxx disk drives

Q-BUS

disk

•

RQDX3 Controller
dual height
supports the RDxx disk drives

Q-BUS

controller

•

KDASO-Q Q-BUS disk controller -- supports RA-type
Q-BUS version of the UDASO controller

See Section 1.16 of this manual for more information.

1-32

module;

disks;

the

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.15.3

Driver Support

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following new driver support:
•

TK50 Cartridge Tape Subsystem -- an integrated subsystem that
consists of a controller for the Q-BUS and a TK50 streaming
tape drive

DEUNA Driver
controller

•

RUX50 UNIBUS interface -- for the
drive

•

RD53 Disk Drive -- 71Mb 5 1/4-inch fixed disk drive

for

the

UNIBUS
5

Ethernet

communications

1/4-inch

RX50

diskette

See the Device Drivers section of this manual for more information.

1.15.4

Terminal Support

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following new terminal support:
•

PC380 -- a Jll-based Professional-series computer supported as
a VT102 or VT125 in emulation mode

•

VT200-series -- can be specified as an MCR SET TERMINAL option

1.15.5

Printer Support

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following new printer support:
laser printer
• LN03
resolution,.lm-1
can

inch
per
300 dots x 300 dots
be used as a shared resource for
microsystems users and as a remote printer for local area
networks
prints 32 characters per
interchangeable daisywheel

•

LQP02 letter quality printer
second
(cps),
with over 100
printing elements

•

LQP03 letter quality printer -- designed for use with all
DIGITAL
microsystems, expanded character set, prints in
portrait or landscape mode

•

LAlOO letterprinter -- prints 240 cps in dot-matrix
cps in letter-quality mode

•

LA210 letterprinter -- a microprocessor-driven, medium-speed,
printer similar to the LAlOO but also IaM compatibility

1.15.5.1

mode;

Selecting Printer Support During System Generation

You can select support for a specific printer while performing a
system generation. This support is a task-build option for the Queue
Manager (QMG) and the Line Printer Processor (LPP). The printer you
select becomes the default.

1-33

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
In order to use a printer, you set the printer type when you
initialize the print processor by specifying a form type in the
command line. The valid form types are as follows:
Form types

Printer type

124.

LN03

12S.

LASO

126.

LAlOO

127.

LNOl

For example, if you have an LN03 printer connected to terminal line
TT6:, you use the following command to initialize the print processor:
(MCR)

QUE TT6:/SP/FO:l24./FL:l/LOWER

(DCL)

INITIALIZE/PROCESSOR TT6:/FORMS:l24./FLAG:l/LOWER

To print a file, select your desired printer mode by including one
the following form types in the command line:
Form types

Printer mode

132-column, draft quality; also
landscape mode for LN01/LN03.

80-column, letter quality; also
portrait mode for LN01/1N03.

132-column, letter quality; also
landscape mode for LN01/LN03.

80-column, draft quality; also
portrait mode for LN01/LN03.

For example, to print the 132-column draft quality TEST.LST file (that
is, a normal listing file) and the 80-column letter quality TEST.TXT
file on an LASO, use the following commands:
(MCR)

PR! /F0:3.=TEST.LST
PR! /F0:4.=TEST.TXT

(DCL)

PRINT/FORM:3 TEST.LST
PRINT/FORM:4 TEST.TXT
NOTE

These commands assume that you have assigned the
default print queue, PRINT, to the processor handling
the LASO.

1-34

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.15.5.2

Modifying Printer Support

The printer options are controlled by task-build parameters
in the
build files
for
the Queue Manager and the Line Printer Processor.
These
build
files
are,
respectively,
[l,20]QMGBLD.BLD
and
[l,20]LPPBLD.BLD on the distribution kits.
You can modify these prior
to building the Queue Manager and the line printer processor during
system generation.
You can modify these files in the following ways:
You can change the form types that are used to represent
• printer
types.
To do so, modify the GBLDEF options that
define the symbols Q$LSPS and Q$HSPS.
The comments
in the
build files explain the values of the symbols.
The normal
defaults are 124.
through 127.
•

You can change the form types that are used to represent
document types.
To do so, modify the GBLDEF options that
define the symbols Q$LSPF and Q$HSPF.
The comments
in the
build files explain the value of the symbols.
The normal
defaults are 3.
through 6.
If you modify the range of form
types,
you must change the GBLPAT options that define the
forms to include offsets appropriate for the new form types.
(See
the
comments
in the command
file
regarding
form
definition.)

•

You can remove the support for these printers altogether.
This may be necessary if you do not have any of these printers
and if you use form types in the range 3.
through 6.
or 124.
through 127.
In order to remove the support, set the values
of Q$LSPS and Q$LSPF to 1 and the values of Q$HSPF and Q$HSPS
to O.
You may also wish to remove the four GBLPAT definitions
for the form types 3.
through 6.

1.15.6

Network Command Terminal (NCT) Support

Network Command Terminal
(NCT)
must be selected during
system
generation if you want to execute the SET /HOST command to gain access
to another RSX host system.
NCT defines logical layers and peer protocols that provide physical
and logical terminals in a distributed environment.
These services
are layered on top of DECnet to present a
fully transparent remote
command terminal facility across heterogeneous DIGITAL operating
systems.
NCT implementation is limited to providing support for
an
RSX system to serve as either a host or server system to an RSX or
VAX/VMS system.
Many of the NCT features,
such as turning on/off
terminal features,
are also available to RSX systems without DECnet
software.
NCT requires that input flow control be present.
New MCR, DCL,
and
VMR commands and qualifiers have been added to RSX-llM Version 4.2 to
make input flow control a settable terminal characteristic.

1.15.7

DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) Support

DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) is necessary to support the MU:
tape devices such as the TK50 tape cartridge. DSA replaces the
previous support for DU: disk devices such as the RD52 disk device.
DSA breaks the host level
into two independent layers:
the class

1-35

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
layer and the port layer. The class layer handles a class of devices,
like tapes or disks.
The port layer is responsible for the actual
transmission of packets between the host and controller.

1.15.8

Device Restrictions

The following device restrictions apply to RSX-llM Version 4.2:
•

Devices no longer supported

•

RX50 restriction

•

Transportability among 22-bit systems

•

Bootstrapping a DB-, DM-, or DR-Based system

•

LK201 keyboard restriction

•

DLVJl restriction

•

RQDXl restriction

•

TK50 restriction

1.15.8.1

Devices No Longer Supported

Version 4.2 of RSX-llM and RSX-llS does NOT contain the IPll driver
software.
This software has been unbundled from the operating system
and is available only as a separate layered product.
Unbundling the
IPll driver software will allow DIGITAL to provide IPll customers with
new releases of the driver software in a more timely and effective
manner.
With the introduction of this new IPll driver layered product, DIGITAL
will be providing services for this product separately from the RSX
operating systems. Software Product Services contract customers are
entitled to:
•

Software Licenses and distribution kits for
for a nominal charge.

the

•

Support for the IPll driver, at no
current term of their RSX contract.

extra

charge,

for

Software

Product

Services

For more information, please contact your
representative.

IPll

Driver
the

Other products no longer supported on RSX-llM Version 4.2 include:
•

The TCll - TU56 dual-drive DECtape cartridge tape subsystem

•

The DJll terminal interface

•

The User Environment Test Package (UETP)

1.15.8.2

RXSO Restriction

The RX50 does not have a Bad
area.

Block

1-36

Replacement

Control

Task

(RCT)

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.15.8.3

Transportability Among 22-Bit Systems

RSX-llM supports transportability among all 22-bit systems.
These
systems can differ as to whether the Executive handles NPR transfers
by performing memory management functions, or the hardware has its own
capabilities for 22-bit physical memory addressing.
To make these systems transportable, you must boot your target system
on the processor selected during system generation and then save it.
The saved system will then be hardware-bootable and transportable
among the different 22-bit systems.

1.15.8.4

Bootstrapping a DB-,

OM~,

or DR-Based System

The MCR command BOOT can loop indefinitely when it boots a system from
an RP04,
RP05,
RP06,
RK06, RK07, RM03, RM05 or RM80. This problem
occurs if the bootstrap driver encounters an ECC correctable error
when reading the system image.
The bootstrap driver is not large
enough to include ECC logic.
Therefore,
it retries the
read
operation, but never succeeds.
To recover from this error, use PIP to copy the system image to
another area on the disk and retry the boot operation. Alternatively,
you can copy the entire image to another disk and boot from that one.

1.15.8.5

LK201 Keyboard Restriction

Some non-English LK201 keyboards do not have a backslash character.
To
generate the CTERM enter-control-mode sequence on an LK201
keyboard, press the CTRL key, then the numeral 4 and <RET>, instead of
pressing the CTRL key, a backslash (\) and <RET>.
The LK201
keyboard
generates
the
ASCII
control
033(octal)-037(octal) with the keys CTRL/3 through CTRL/7.

1.15.8.6

characters

DLVJl Restriction

Due to hardware restrictions, errors may be experienced when the DLVJl
is configured with an RQDXl or additional DLVJl modules.

1.15.8.7

RQDXl Restriction

Only one RQDXl is supported per system.

1.15.8.8

TKSO Restrictions

If the TK50 is used with utilities other than BRU, or is used with the
verify pass of BRU, degraded performance and/or capacity of the TK50
should be expected.
The
TKSO
is
only
supported
on
the
MicroPDP-11/23/73/83.
See the Device Drivers section for more
information.

1-37

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.16

DEVICE DRIVERS

This section describes new device drivers, restrictions, and changes
to existing device driver support for RSX-llM Version 4.2. See the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS I/O Drivers Reference Manual for more information.

1.16.1

New Device Driver Features

The new device driver features are listed as follows:
•

Extended support for the full-duplex terminal driver

•

TF.TMO subfunction

•

Stall I/0 on the RC25 disk subsystem

•

RD53 disk drive

• DEUNA driver
• KDASO-Q controller
• RUX SO UNIBUS interface
• TK25 tape subsystem
• MSDRV device information
• MUD RV device information
•

TKSO tape subsystem

•

TKSO performance using RSX utilities

•

TKSO indicators

1.16.1.l

Extended Support for the Full-Duplex Terminal Driver

A new I/O function IO.EIO, which contains new subfunctions, has been
added to the full-duplex terminal driver.
The description of the
IO.EIO function
includes the changes required
for
using
the
full-duplex terminal driver as a Network Command Terminal (NCT).

1.16.1.2

TF.TMO Subfunction

The TF.TMO subfunction with the tmo parameter has been modified.
If 0
is specified,
the read times out immediately after reading any data
that may be in the typeahead buffer.
In other words, if you enter a
O,
no time is allowed for you to enter characters, and all characters
are read from the typeahead buffer.

1.16.1.3

Stall 1/0 on the RC25 Disk Subsystem

Stall I/O support has been added for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
The RC25
disk subsystem consists of two disks, one fixed and one removable,
that share one drive spindle. The two RC25 disk units revolve on the

1-38

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
same spindle and share the same head mechanics;
therefore, you must
spin down both units of the subsystem in order to spin down one unit.
The device driver (DUDRV) allows you to spin down the subsystem and
still retain context on the fixed-media unit, provided it is mounted
as a Files-11 or foreign volume.
It does this by postponing input and
output to the fixed-media unit until the subsystem is spun up again.
This is called stalled I/O.
I/O is stalled to the fixed disk of the RC25 subsystem. The removable
disk will lose context if the drive is spun down.
Note that since
context may be lost on the removable disk if the subsystem is spun
down, all spin down requests are ignored for the fixed unit of the
RC25. For the removable disk unit, you must be privileged in order to
s~in down the device while dismounting it.
When the driver receives an I/O request that it cannot process because
the drive is spun down,
it issues the following message to the
console:
<ddnn:> - I/O stalled
When the driver is spun up again and I/O flow to the device
resumed, the driver issues the following message to the console:

<ddnn:> - I/O resumed
The Files-11 Ancillary Control Processor (Files-11 ACP or FllACP) may
delay response time when I/O is stalled to the RC25. To avoid this
delay, always install a unique ACP for the RC25 fixed-media units.
See the MOU command in the RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR Operations Manual or the
MOUNT command in the RSX-llM Command --ranguage Manual for more
information.
System users may find it difficult to distinguish between system
crashes and system delays due to stalled I/O.
Therefore, it is
recommended that, before you spin down an RC25 subsystem, you inform
all system users of your intentions.
For more information, see the
Manual.

1.16.1.4

RSX-llM/M-PLUS

I/0

Drivers

Reference

RD53 Disk Drive

The RD53 disk drive is a 5 1/4-inch fixed disk with 2.3 times the
capacity and 33 percent faster average access times than the RD52.
The RD53 requires the RQDX2 or RQDX3 controller and a minimum of 128Kb
of memory.

1.16.1.5

DEUNA Driver

For systems without DECnet, the RSX QIO DEUNA driver was designed to
allow messages to be sent by using the DEUNA device. The DEUNA driver
provides direct control over a line, allowing you to send data over a
line to another system. To use the DEUNA driver, you issue the QIO$
macro to the XE: device. DEUNA driver is compatible with DECnet's
Direct Line Access interface (DLX), which permits easy migration to a
DECnet system.

1-39

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.16.1.6

KDASO-Q Controller

Support for the KDASO-Q controller has been added to RSX-llM Version
4.2. This controller is the Q-BUS version of the UDASO controller.

1.16.1.7

RUXSO UNIBUS Interface

The RUXSO UNIBUS interface has been added to support
RXSO diskette.

1.16.1.8

the

1/4-inch

TK25 Tape Subsystem

The TK25 tape drive is supported on RSX-llM Version 4.2.
The TK25
(MS:) consists of a TKQ25 controller for the Q-BUS, and a TK25
streaming tape drive. The TK25 uses a DC600A 1/4-inch cartridge, and
stores data on serial data tracks in a serial serpentine recording
method. The TK25 has storage capacity of 60Mb for 8Kb data records.
Data recording is an 8000 bpi, modified GCR (group cyclical recording)
method.

1.16.1.9

MSDRV Device Information

Please note the following information specific to the MSDRV devices:
•

Read errors for the MSDRV devices are retried by rereading the
erroneous block a predetermined number of times. For MS:
devices except for TK25, on every eighth reread the block has
passed by the tape cleaner blade. If the error persists after
a predetermined number of retries, IE.VER is returned.

•

If a file with an odd block size is written to a tape mounted
with the /NOLABEL qualifier or switch, an additional byte is
added to make the block size even.

•

Completion of IO.RWD for MSDRV devices means that
to BOT has been completed.

1.16.1.10

the

rewind

MUDRV Device Information

Please note the following information specific to MUDRV devices:
•

MU: devices do not issue select errors.
If the drive is
taken off line, the condition is treated as "tape position
lost." The cartridge must be unloaded and loaded in order to
access the tape again. This action will result in the tape
unit rewinding to BOT.
No recovery by the application is
possible in such an event.
If the tape was mounted as an ANSI
tape, the tape context maintained by MTAACP is invalid.
The
tape must be dismounted and remounted in order to reinitialize
the data structures used by MTAACP.
If the tape was being
accessed in write mode,
then the file being written is
incomplete and the tape may no longer be in valid ANSI format.

•

Completion of IO.RWD for MUDRV devices means that
has been initiated.

1-40

the

rewind

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

Data Security Erase (IO.DSE) is valid only for the TK50 drive,
and it takes approximately 35 minutes to complete. Once the
operation is initiated, it is under the complete control of
the TK50 controller. The IO.DSE command cannot be aborted by
the host software; the controller ensures that the operation
runs to completion.

1.16.1.11

TKSO Tape Subsystem

RSX-llM Version 4.2 supports the new TK50 tape drive. The TK50
(MU:)
is an integrated subsystem that consists of a controller for the Q-BUS
and a TK50 streaming tape drive.
The controller handles all error
recovery and correction, and internally buffers multiple outstanding
commands. The TK50 driver (MUDRV) reads and writes data on a 1/2-inch
tape cartridge that is recorded at 6667 bpi on serial data tracks in a
serial serpentine recording (modified frequency modulation)
method.
The tape speed is 75 inches per second in streaming mode.
The TK50 is a streaming tape subsystem. As with all streaming tape
subsystems,
if I/O commands are not issued to the tape unit quickly
enough, the tape unit drops out of streaming mode and into start/stop
mode. While in start/stop mode, each I/0 command issued incurs a time
penalty (about one second for the TK50).
Because the tape unit expects the next I/O command to be ready for
processing when the current command finishes, it keeps the tape moving
in the forward direction.
It is this processing that allows the tape
to stream; that is, to maintain constant forward motion. However, if
the next I/O command is not ready,
the tape unit moves past the
position on the tape where the I/O operation was to be performed. As
a result, the tape has to be repositioned; that is, backed up to the
correct position on the tape.
It is this reposition operation that takes approximately one second to
complete
before the next I/O command can be processed.
This
reposition time \can severely impact the performance of tape utilities
if they are unable to issue commands to the controller fast enough.
In order to alleviate the performance impact of the reposition time, a
padding feature is available in the TK50 firmware.
This allows the
controller to issue up to a preset number of padding blocks during
output to the tape. Before each pad block is written, the controller
checks to see if the next host I/O is ready for processing.
If it is,
then no more pad blocks are written and the host's I/0 request is
performed.
If the next host command is not ready,
the controller
writes out another pad block.
It continues to do this until either a host I/O command is ready for
processing or the number of consecutive pad blocks written reaches a
controller specified maximum.
In the latter case, the tape unit will
drop out of streaming mode and into start/stop mode. When the next
write command is issued, the controller will reposition back over the
pad blocks that it wrote before actually doing the write operation:
Because of this, tape capacity is not lost if the application cannot
keep the unit in streaming mode.
If the application does keep the
unit partially in streaming mode, then some tape capacity will be lost
due to the pad blocks. On input from the TK50, the controller does
not return any of these pad blocks to the application program.
Because of this, padding is transparent to the user's application.

1-41

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
The following section describes performance and capacity impact when
using RSX utilities with the TKSO.
The performance indicated is to be
used only as a guideline. The timings given will vary depending on
system load,
the type of disk used in disk/tape applications, and
errors encountered on the tape.

1.16.1.12

TKSO Performance Using RSX Utilities

This section describes anticipated timings for various RSX utilities.
These are only guidelines;
the actual times will vary depending on
system load, disk usage, and tape ECC errors encountered.
MOU

When mounting a TKSO tape, either foreign or as an
ANSI tape,
the time taken is dependent upon the
position of the tape when the MOUNT command is
issued.
If the tape is at or near the beginning of a
track, the expected time for the mount operation is
approximately 20 seconds.
During this time the
controller performs calibration functions on the
tape.
If the tape is near the end of a track, the
time to mount the tape can increase to as much as two
minutes.
This time is taken up by the actual rewind
of the tape (approximately 1.6 minutes)
followed by
the calibration functions by the controller.
When a cartridge is inserted,
it will be at the
beginning of tape so the expected time, on the
average, for the mount operation will be about 20
seconds.
If the tape is left positioned near the end
of a track by an abnormal event
(for example, the
system crashes during a tape operation), then this
time can approach two minutes.
However, this is a
very rare instance.

DMO

When dismounting a tape, a REWIND
command
is
generally issued to the tape unit as part of the
dismount function.
Depending on where the tape is
positioned,
this may take between one second (the
tape is at the beginning of a track) and 1.6 minutes
(the tape is at the end of a track).

BRU

This utility will generally keep the
TKSO
streaming mode.
The exceptions to this are:

•

During the initial set-up phase -- that is, when
writing out the directory information to the tape
-- BRU will not be able to issue I/O commands to
the TKSO quickly enough.
As a result, the TKSO
will run in start/stop mode during this phase of
BRU's
operation.
The
time taken for this
operation is
dependent
on
the
number
of
directories contained on the input disk. This
process can take from one to ten minutes, based on
the number of directories written.

•

BRU generally will not stream if there is a load
on the system at the time BRU is run. This load
will slow BRU down sufficiently so that it will
not be able to issue commands to the TKSO drive
fast enough to keep it streaming.

1-42

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

Any use of the disk from which BRU is backing up
or restoring will generally cause BRU to run the
TK50 in the start/stop mode.
The extra disk head
movements
will add sufficient time to BRU's
processing time so that it will not be able to
issue I/Os to the TK50 controller fast enough to
keep it in streaming mode.

•

BRU will not stream during its /VERIFY pass.

•

BRU will not stream while it is sorting retrieval
pointers.
The number of such sort operations is
dependent on the degree of disk fragmentation that
exists on the input disk.

Once BRU begins copying data blocks out to the TK50,
it will keep the TK50 unit in streaming mode provided
that none of the five conditions above occur.
A test
case using a slow disk and 40MB of data was run.
The
save operation for this took 13 minutes, with the
directory writes taking three minutes of this time.
Estimating from the amount of tape used
in this
operation, and assuming that there is sufficient
information on the disk to backup, BRU would have
utilized approximately 83% of the total capacity
(94MB) of the tape.
Such a
capacity rating would
allow the backing up of a 75MB disk (0.83 x 94MB =
78MB).
In this test case, no verify operation was
performed.
However,
the
verify
operation is
estimated to take approximately one hour for
this
example.
BRUSYS

This utility exhibits the capacity and performance
characteristics mentioned above for on-line BRU.

FLX

This utility will not keep the TK50 streaming.
FLX's
internal design does no~ permit the issuing of I/O
commands to the TK50 at the rate required in order to
keep the tape streaming. Because it does not stream,
the padding blocks added by the controller will be
over-written during the reposition operation.
Tape
capacity will not be diminished.
A test case using
180 blocks contained in nine files was run.
FLX
copied the files in 1.8 minutes.

PIP

This utility will not keep the TK50 streaming.
Its
internal design does not permit the issuing of I/O
commands to the TK50 at the rate required in order to
keep the tape streaming. Because it does not stream,
the padding blocks added by the controller will be
over-written during the reposition operation.
Tape
capacity will not be diminished.
A test case was run
using 180 blocks contained in nine files.
PIP, using
the TK50 as an ANSI tape, copied the information in
10.5 minutes.
This time differs significantly from
the FLX test case due to the overhead involved in
ANSI tape processing. The default block size on ANSI
tape was used for the test case.

1-43

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
An optimization that can be performed to increase
throughput to an ANSI tape on the TK50 drive.
This
optimization does not result in streaming;
it does
result in fewer I/Os to the tape unit and therefore
fewer repositions. The size of the block written to
ANSI tape can be increased by using the /BS switch in
PIP. A value up to 8192.
bytes can be specified
(the
default
is 512.
bytes).
PIP should be
installed with an increment if this value is used.
If it is not, PIP may issue "Not enough buffer space"
error messages during certain copy operations to· the
tape.

1.16.1.13

TK50 Indicators

Because the actual TK50 tape recording surface is hidden from view, it
is often difficult to determine what the tape unit is actually doing.
Two lights on the front of the TK50 tape unit provide some information
as to what is happening.
•

The green indicator serves a dual role. When the light is on
consistently,
it indicates that the tape cartridge can be
safely removed from the unit.
If this indicator is blinking
or off,
it is not safe to remove the cartridge. A blinking
pattern indicates that the tape is in motion, either in a
forward or reverse direction~

•

The red indicator serves a multiple role.
If the indicator is
on consistently, a tape cartridge is loaded into the drive.
Should the indicator blink slowly (for example, on for one
second and then off for one second) , this indicates that the
tape is in use and is currently rewinding.
If the indicator
blinks more rapidly, it indicates a drive error has occurred.
This latter condition can be cleared by depressing the
LOAD/UNLOAD switch twice in succession.
Please note that this
will cause loss of tape context.

1.16.2

Device Driver Restriction

The following device driver restriction
4.2:

applies

RSX-llM

Version

The IO.EIO function will not work if your terminal has been set as
remote terminal (RT:) to another system. That is, after entering

>SET HOST xxxxx
and logging into an RT:, the RT: driver will reject a QIO issuing
extended I/O request from the RT:.

1.17

USER-WRITTEN DEVICE DRIVERS

This section describes new features and technical changes affecting
user-written device drivers for RSX-llM Version 4.2.
Information on
user-written device drivers is documented in the RSX-llM Guide to
Writing an I/O Driver.

1-44

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
The information is included here because it has not been incorporated
into the manual.
See Chapter 2 for information on corrections to
documentation for the RSX-llM Guide to Writing an I/O Driver Manual.

1.17.1

New Features

The new features for user-written device drivers for
4.2 are listed as follows:
•

Asynchronous buffered I/O

•

Overlapped I/0 Completion

1.17.1.1

RSX-llM

Version

Asynchronous Buffered 1/0

Data for input and output requests are usually transferred directly to
and from task memory.
To allow for the successful transfer of data,
the task cannot be checkpointed until the transfer is completed.
For
most high-speed devices,
the transfer occurs quickly so that a task
does not occupy memory for too long. For slow-speed devices, however,
some mechanism must be available to avoid binding memory to a task
while the task is performing I/O operations.
Using the routines $TSTBF, $INIBF, and $QUEBF in the Executive module
IOSUB, a driver can execute an I/O request for a slow-speed device and
allow the task to be checkpointed while the request is in progress.
To perform the I/O request, the driver buffers the data in memory
allocated to the driver while the task is checkpointed and the I/O
request is in progress.
To test whether a task is in a proper state to initiate I/O buffering,
the driver calls the $TSTBF routine and passes it the address of the
I/O packet. By extracting the address of the task control block (TCB)
from the I/O packet, $TSTBF can examine various task attributes.
For
example, if the task is checkpointable, buffered I/O can be performed.
$TSTBF returns to the driver and indicates whether buffered I/O can be
performed.
If buffered I/O can be performed, the driver performs two operations.
First,
it establishes the buffering conditions.
For an output
request, it copies the task buffers to dynamically allocated pool
space.
For an input request, it allocates sufficient pool sgace to
receive incoming data.
Secondly, the driver calls the $INIBF routine to initiate the I/O
buffering.
The $INIBF routine decrements the task I/O count,
increments the task's buffered I/O count in T.TIO, and then releases
the task for checkpointing and shuffling.
If the task is currently
blocked, the task state is transformed into a stop state until the
task is unblocked, buffered I/O is completed, or both. Checkpointing
the task is subject to the normal requirements of an active or stopped
state as described in the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Executive
Reference Manual.
After the driver transfers the data, it calls the $QUEBF routine to
queue the buffered I/O for completion.
$QUEBF sets up a KERNEL
asynchronous system trap (KERNEL AST) for the buffered I/O request
and, if necessary, unstops the task. When the task is active again, a

1-45

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
routine in the Executive module SYSXT detects the outstanding AST and
processes it.
If the request is for input, the routine copies the
buffered data to task memory.
This mechanism occurs transparently to the task.
The routine then
$IOFIN completes
calls the driver to deallocate the buffer from pool.
the processing.
These routines are not always present in RSX-llM.
If you selected the
full-duplex terminal driver or networking support during system
generation, they are included. To include them in systems without
these options, add the symbol A$$BIO=O to RSXMC.MAC during Phase I of
system generation.

1.17.1.2

Overlapped I/O Completion

In general, overlapped I/O completion support causes the execution of
the Executive's I/0 completion code for each I/O request to be
postponed until the next request has been initiated. If I/O requests
are in the driver's queue,
this action causes the Executive to
complete the I/O processing while the physical device services the
next request.
A minor side effect of this feature is that multiple
I/O requests to the same device may complete in an order other than
the issued order.
When a driver requests the Executive to complete the I/O,
the
Executive checks the queue for requests to the driver.
If the queue
is not empty, the Executive defers I/O completion by placing the
current completion at the end of the fork list. Control returns to
the driver, which assumes that the Executive has completed· I/O
processing.
The driver can then initiate the next I/O operation.
After the driver has initiated an I/O operation on the device,
the
driver returns to the Executive and fork processing begins. Thus, the
I/O completion for the previous I/O can be processed to the end. When
a hardware I/0 operation completes, the driver receives an interrupt
and then "forks", which always causes the I/O completion to occur
after the previously queued completion.
The exception to sequential completion occurs when an I/O operation
does not require a hardware operation.
In this case, the driver
processes the I/O and then calls the Executive's I/O completion
routine.
If there is an additional I/0 waiting in the queue, this
completion also goes at the end of the fork list, and sequential
processing is maintained.
Non-sequential completion occurs when the
very last request in the queue is a non-hardware oriented I/O.
In
this case, that I/O completes prior to any others waiting for
completion. There are many cases of non-hardware oriented I/O, such
as inquiries into device state, or attach and detach requests.
This feature speeds up I/O operation in the case of actual hardware
operations because the new hardware I/O is initiated and the transfer
may occur parallel to the final completion of the previous operation.
The I/O processing speeds up by the amount of time necessary to
process the remaining instructions in the Executive I/0 finish
routine.
There is one case where overlapped I/O completion does not occur.
It
does not occur when the last I/O request queued to the controller does
not require a device interrupt to complete.

1-46

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.18

I/O OPERATIONS

This section describes new features and changes to I/O operations
RSX-llM Version 4.2.
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RS/
Operations Reference Manual for more information.

1.18.1

for
I/0

New I/O Operations Features

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes the following changes
I/O operations:
for

the

FDAT$A,

and

additions

FDOP$A,

and

•

Changes to parameters
macros

•

New information on block locking

•

New information on directory identification

•

A new file control routine, Buffer Flush (.FLUSH)

•

Changes to the C.CMLD command line descriptor
CS! control block

offset

OPEN$X

the

• Support for using FCS to queue files for printing
• New File Descriptor Block (FDB) off sets
• New volume label format
• New file header label (HDR3) format
• New keyword definitions for the magnetic tape control task
• New file attribute codes
1.18.1.1

Changes to Parameters for FDAT$A, FDOP$A, and OPEN$X Macros

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes changes to parameters for
macro calls:

the

following

•

The FDAT$A macro has been changed.
The FD.PRN parameter
indicates that the record is preceded by a word containing
carriage-control information; this value is the print file
format attribute.
Files that have this attribute set must
also be sequenced files, that is, files that have the bit
R.SEQ set in byte F.RTYP in the FOB.

•

The FDOP$A macro has been changed so that the FA.SHR parameter
indicates that the file is to be opened for shared access.
Shared access is also a precondition for block locking.

•

The OPEN$X macro has been changed so that the FD.PRN parameter
requests
the
record be preceded by a word containing
carriage-control information. Files with this attribute must
also be sequenced files, that is, files with the bit R.SEQ set
in the byte F.RTYP in the FDB.

1-47

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

1.18.1.2

The FD.RAN parameter requests that random access mode (GET$ or
PUT$ record I/O) process the file.
The file is opened and the
first record is pointed to.
If this parameter is not
specified, sequential access mode results by default.

New Information on Block Locking

Block locking selectively controls access to blocks within a file
while that file is being read from or written to by one or more users.
Block locking can be used from FCS or RMS-11,
or by issuing QIO$
macros.
You can enable block locking only when the file is opened. Once block
locking is enabled, you can establish "locks," which are structures
allocated from system dynamic storage that control access to specific
blocks in the file.
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX I/0
Operations Reference Manual for more information.

1.18.1.3

New Information on Directory Identification

The Master File Directory (MFD) contains a list of all the User File
Directories
(UFOs)
on the volume.
Each UFO contains a list of that
user's files.
UFOs are identified by User Identification Codes
(UICs).
The MCR command, UFO, and the DCL command, CREATE/DIRECTORY,
create the User File Directory.
The N.DID in the filename block contains the following information:
word

Meaning

File ID

File Sequence Number

Reserved

The .PARSE routine moves these three words from the Master File
Directory (MFD) to the filename block in the N.DID field.
The file ID
is associated with the header (in the index file)
for a User File
Directory (UFO).
The .FIND routine uses the file ID to locate and search a UFO and fill
in the N.FID field in the filename block.
The N.FID has the same
format as the N.DID field, except that it is associated with the
header for a user data file.
The file sequence number is incremented
each time a file header is reused for a new file.

1.18.1.4

New Buffer Flush Routine (.FLUSH)

The buffer flush routine (.FLUSH) writes the block buffer to the file
being written in record mode.
Also, the .FLUSH routine writes file
attributes
(including F.EFBK and F.HIBK,
the
end-of-file
and
high-allocation block numbers) each time the routine is called.

1-48

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS

Closing the file guarantees that the block buffer is flushed and that
the file attributes are written back to the file header.
However,
closing and opening a file frequently to write to the block buffer
results in high system overhead and many disk accesses that hoard
system resources.
For more information, see the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and
Micro/RSX I/O Operations Reference Manual.

1.18.1.5

Changes to the C.CMLD Command Line Descriptor Offset

The C.CMLD command line descriptor offset in the CS! control block
is
a
2-word field that is initialized with the length (in bytes) and the
address, respectively, of the compressed command line.
In other
words, the values returned to these cells constitute the output of CSI
after scanning a
file specifier and removing all nonsignificant
characters from the string (that is, nulls, unquoted blanks and tabs,
and RUBOUTs) •

1.18.1.6

Support for Using FCS to Queue Files for Printing

FCS provides facilities at both the macro and subroutine level to
queue files for subsequent printing. Therefore, your task can queue a
print job.
There are several ways for your task to spool output for
printing.
You cannot control the printing from your task as you can
with the PRINT command.
However, you can alter the attributes of the
print job once the job appears in the queue by using the DCL command
SET QUEUE.
A task issues the PRINT$ macro call to queue a file for printing on a
specified device.
The specified device must be a unit record,
carriage-controlled device such as a line printer or terminal.
The
file
is placed
in the default queue PRINT.
If the device is not
specified, LP:
is used.
The file to be spooled must be open when the PRINT$ macro
PRINT$ closes the file.

issued.

The PRINT$ macro call has the following format:
PRINT$ fdb,err,,dev,unit,pri,forms,copies,presrv
The fdb parameter
is the address of the associated FDB.
This
parameter need not be present if the address of the associated FDB is
already in RO.

1.18.1.7

New File Descriptor Block

(FOB) Offsets

New File Descriptor Block (FDB) offsets have been added for
RSX-llM
Version 4.2.
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX I/O Operations
Reference Manual for more information.

1-49

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.18.1.8

New Volume Label Format

The new description of the accessibility byte in position
volume label reads as follows:

the

The accessibility byte (in position 11) can be any ANSI "a" character.
You can specify the
A space indicates no accessibility restriction.
"a" character with the /VOLUME ACCESSABILITY:"c" qualifier in the DCL
INITIALIZE commands. Any ANSI "a" character is allowed. The default
character is a space. The Label Standard Version byte in position 80
contains a 3.

1.18.1.9

New File Header Label (HDR3) Format

The new description of the system-dependent field
positions 5 through 68 (64 bytes} reads as follows:

character

File attributes are specified at creation time.
Each of the 32 bytes
of user file attributes is expanded into two hexadecimal characters.
The first seven words of this area are a direct image of the first
seven words of the FOB when the file is opened.
These are the same words in the file attribute section of the File
Descriptor Block given in Appendix A. The other nine words are not
used by FCS though they are used by RMS. See the RSX-llM/llM-PLUS and
Micro/RSX I/O Operations Reference Manual for more information.

1.18.1.10

New Keyword Definitions for the Magnetic Tape Control Task

There are new keyword definitions for the magnetic tape control
The new keyword definitions are as follows:

task.

/BS
Specifies the number of bytes or the number of characters
(bytes} per block on a mounted tape.
You can specify the number of characters in either
decimal or octal.
The default is octal. To specify a
decimal number, terminate it with a period.
This block
size becomes the default for the tape. FCS uses this
value on output when there is no HDR2 label present on an
ANSI magnetic tape, and when no other value was specified
when the file was created. FCS reads the file attributes
to obtain the block size when opening an existing file on
ANSI magnetic tape.
The value specified for block size must be greater than
14 (decimal} bytes. There is no maximum block size. FCS
pads a block on ANSI magnetic tape to an even length to
permit PUT$ operations with odd fixed-length records.
/CC
Specifies the type of carriage control.
/CC=NONE.

1-50

The

default

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
/INITIALIZE="volume id"
Specifies the volume label to which the tape will be
initialized.
This keyword allows you to create a new
volume to satisfy a request from the ACP for a new output
volume for an ANSI
tape.
The format of the volume
identifier is identical to the format of the volume
identifier specified for the MOUNT command.

1.18.1.11

New File Attribute Codes

MTAACP supports new file attribute codes
(creation,
revision,
expiration,
and backup dates).
These new codes read and write the
date in the file header using a 64-bit date format.
MTAACP performs a
computation to convert the date between ASCII and 64-bit binary form.

1.18.2

I/O Operations Restrictions

The following I/O operations restrictions
4.2:

apply

RSX-llM

Version

•

Multibuffer processing in random mode is not very efficient

•

Big Buffering in random
buffer

•

Block size on tapes mounted /NOLABEL will be even and one more
than the value specified

1.18.2.1

mode

requires

user

task

record

Multibuffer Processing in Random Mode

Multiple buffering can improve performance for I/0-bound tasks under
certain circumstances. However, multibuffer processing in random mode
is not very efficient. When using multibuffering in random mode,
a
user task record buffer is always required.
If one is not supplied,
the task's low memory may be overwritten and the task may abort.

1.18.2.2

Big Buffering in Random Mode

When using big buffering in random mode, a user task record buffer is
always required.
If one is not supplied, the task's low memory may be
overwritten and the task may abort.
Using big buffering with random
GET$ and PUT$ can cause loss of data from the end of a file.
In this
case, a directory of the file indicates that it has more blocks in use
than it has allocated. To prevent data from being lost, perform the
following steps:
1.

Pre-allocate
unnecessary

enough

space

Issue a .FLUSH after the highest numbered record
by a PUT$

After a PUT$, arrange not to issue any GET$ that could
the file to extend

1-51

make

writing

extension
is

written
cause

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.18.2.3

Block Size on Tapes Mounted /NOLABEL

Under certain conditions, if a file is written to a tape,
its block
size will be even and one more than the value specified in the MOUNT
command. This occurs in the following circumstances:
•

If the tape is mounted /NOLABEL

•

If the MOUNT command specifies an odd record size

•

If the MOUNT command specifies an odd block si.ze

FCS adds the padding character, an octal 136 circumflex
(A),
to
odd-sized byte blocks due to a hardware restriction; some tape drives
will not allow an odd number of bytes to be transferred to or from
tape.
Therefore, blocks of data are padded with the circumflex
character so that even blocks of data can be written to tape on any
tape drive.

1.19

SYSTEM MANAGEMENT

This section includes
Version 4.2.

1.19.1

new

system

management

features

for

RSX-llM

New System Management Features

New and modified keywords have been added to Virtual Monitor Console
Routine
(VMR)
for RSX-llM Version 4.2. Also included is support for
exercising terminals with IOX.

1.19.1.1

New and Modified VMR Keywords

The new and modified keywords for VMR are listed as follows:
New keywords:
SET [/keyword]
/[NO]AVO
/[NO]BLKMOD
/[NO]DEC
/[NO]EDIT
/[NO]HSYNC
/[NO]PARITY
/[NO]PASTHRU
/[NO]PRINTER PORT
/[NO]REGIS /[NO]SOFT[=ttnn:]
/[NO]TTSYNC

1-52

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
Modified Keywords:
INSTALL [/keyword]
/CLI
/XHR
SET [/keyword]
~~

/POOLSIZE
/[NO]REMOTE
/SPEED
/TERM
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS
about VMR keywords.

1.19.1.2

~ystem

Management Guide

for

information

Exercising Terminals

Exercising terminals has been added to the I/O Exerciser
(IOX)
for
RSX-llM Version 4.2.
A terminal is exercised by using the LOOPBACK
parameter to the SELECT command.
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS System
Management Guide for more information about this new feature.

1.20

DEBUGGING

RSX-llM Version 4.2 includes an enhancement that improves system
debugging.
The RSX-llM Executive contains code that detects certain
types of internal system corruption.
If XDT is included in the
system,
the Executive attempts to enter XDT as soon as the system
corruption is detected.

1.21

ERROR LOGGING

This section describes new error logging features and restrictions for
RSX-llM Version 4.2. This information has not been incorporated into
the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Error Logging Manual.

1.21.1

New Error Logging Features

The changes to error logging for RSX-llM Version
follows:

4.2

•

Error logging control files

•

Error logging support for a non-DIGITAL device

1.21.1.1

are

listed

information

for

Error Logging Control Files

The error logging control files have device-specific
the following devices:
e

RD51

RX50

TK50
1-53

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.21.1.2

Error Logging Support for a Non-DIGITAL Device

You no longer need to add a record to the DEVICE INFO table in the
DEVSMl module for the error logging system to recognize a user-written
device level module.
Please add the following information, which describes how to use the
new error logging feature,
to Section 4.5.3 of your RSX-llM/M-PLUS
Error Logging Manual.
After you write the device level module(s) for your
the module with the DSP2Pl.SYM file.

devices,

Next, insert your module(s) in ERRLOG.ULB. Note that the
user-written module must be in the following form:

compile

name

not

use

the

common,

the

ExxUSR
The letters xx stand for the device mnemonic.
Do
DIGITAL-supplied device mnemonic as your device mnemonic.
Specify your module name in the MODULE statement as:
MODULE ExxUSR
If there is a NOTES module, the notes
following form:

module

name

must

NxxUSR

1.21.2

Error Logging Restriction

By moving the error logging routines into the
following restriction is introduced:

Executive

If a driver of an error logging device calls the $CRPKT routine to
create an error logging packet,
the data address for the data
subpacket must not be an address within the driver. Specifically, the
address must not be mapped by APR 5, because that APR is used to map
the common. Any user-written driver that performs such a function
must allocate a piece of pool, fill in the appropriate information,
and pass the pool address to the create packet routine.

1.22

CRASH DUMP ANALYZER

This section describes new features and changes to existing
for the RSX-llM Version 4.2 Crash Dump Analyzer (CDA).
information, see the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Crash Dump
Reference Manual.

1.22.1

features
For more
Analyzer

New CDA Features

The following changes have been made to the Crash
Version 4.2:
•

Assign Table

•

Data structures

•

Device support
1-54

Dump

Analyzer

for

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
1.22.1.1

Assign Table

The system Assign Table, which is one of the report listings that CDA
outputs, has been changed. The table lists logical assignments in two
categories: system logical assignments and user logical assignments.
The entry in the table for each assignment includes its size in blocks
and its status
(privileged or nonprivileged, and
whether
the
translation of the assignment is final).

1.22.1.2

Data Structures

Some of the system data structures have changed for Version 4.2.
Refer
to
the data structures included in Appendix B of the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Crash Dump Analyzer Reference Manual for
more information-:-

1.22.1.3

Device Support

You may specify any of the following new devices
device for your system:
Device Type

Mnemonic

RA60 removable disk

DU:

RC25 removable disk

DU:

RX50 flexible diskette

DU:

TU80 magnetic tape

MS:

TK25 magnetic tape

MS:

TK50 magnetic tape

MU:

1.23

the

crash

dump

MACR0-11

This section describes new features, restrictions,
information for MACR0-11.

1.23.1

and

supplementary

New MACR0-11 Features

The following corrections to the MACR0-11 Version 5.3 assembler are
included in this section because they have not been documented in the
PDP-11 MACR0-11 Language Reference Manual:

1.23.1.1
•

Corrections to the MACR0-11 Version 5.3 Assembler
Previous versions of MACR0-11 would hang in an infinite loop
if they encountered a record with an invalid record size.
That problem has been fixed.

1-55

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

MACR0-11 did not mark symbolic expressions as complex when
they contained a symbol from a relocatable program section
(psect) and a symbol from an absolute program section.
This
resulted in incorrect linker output if the base of the
absolute psect was not zero. Those symbolic expressions are
now correctly marked as complex.

•

MACR0-11 did not mark symbolic expressions as complex when
they contained symbols from different absolute psects. That
resulted in incorrect linker output if the base of either
psect was not zero.
Those symbolic expressions are now
correctly marked as complex.

•

When MACR0-11 directly assigned the current location counter
symbol "." to a global symbol in an absolute psect, MACR0-11
incorrectly bound the global symbol to the .ABS. psect.
MACR0-11 now correctly binds the global symbol to the absolute
psect in which the assignment occurred.

•

If MACR0-11 encountered a label containing invalid characters,
MACR0-11 would hang in an infinite loop if there existed a
macro with the same name as the valid part of the label name.
MACR0-11 now correctly returns an error.

1.23.2

Supplementary MACR0-11 Information

This section contains information from previous MACR0-11 Release Notes
that still applies to MACR0-11 for RSX-llM Version 4.2. The following
information is included in this section:
•

Use of colon in .ASCII and .ASCIZ strings

•

MCS support

•

Version 5.1 RSX-specific changes

•

Corrections to the Version 5.1 assembler

•

Version 5.0 RSX-specific changes

•

Corrections to the Version 5.0 assembler

1.23.2.1

Use of Colon in .ASCII and .ASCIZ Strings

MACR0-11 does not allow the colon (:) character as a delimiter for
.ASCII or .ASCIZ strings.
This is documented in Chapter 6 of the
PDP-11 MACR0-11 Language Reference Manual.

1.23.2.2

MCS Support

MACR0-11 Version 5.2 provided support for
the
eight-bit
DEC
Multinational Character Set (MCS). A chart showing the MCS is located
in Appendix A of the PDP-11 MACR0-11 Language Reference Manual.

1-56

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
The following directives support the MCS.
For specific support
information, consult the description of each directive in the PDP-11
MACR0-11 Language Reference Manual.
MACRO

SECTION

.ASCII
directive
.ASCIZ
directive
.ERROR
directive
.IF
directive
.IF DIF
.IF ION
.IFF
directive
.IFF DIF
• !FF IDN
.IRP
directive
directive
• IRPC
.NCHR
directive
.PRINT
directive
.REM
directive
.SBTTL
directive
.TITLE
directive

6.3.4
6.3.5
7.5
6.9.1
6.9.2
7.6.1
7.6.2
7.4.2
7.5
6.1. 6
6.1. 3
6.1. 2

More information on the eight-bit DEC Multinational Character Set is
located in the following sections of the PDP-11 MACR0-11 Language
Reference Manual::
Section 2.2.4
Section 6.3.3
Section 7.3
Section 7.3.6

1.23.2.3

Comment field
ASCII conversion characters
Arguments in macro definitions and macro calls
Keyword arguments

Version 5.1 RSX-Specific Changes

Tasks running on previous versions of MACR0-11 would exit with SUCCESS
exit status, even though errors were reported.
That problem has been
fixed.
If MACR0-11 detected an I/O error while reading a command file,
Now, MACR0-11 reports the
MACR0-11 would produce an odd-address trap.
error message "MAC -- Command I/O error."

1.23.2.4

Corrections to the Version 5.1 Assembler

The following corrections apply to the Version 5.1 Assembler:
•

MACR0-11 Version 5.1 processed some index deferred arguments
as floating point numbers by default. MACR0-11 now processes
all index deferred arguments as octal by default.

•

MACR0-11 did not
mark
internal
displaced
statements as relocatable with an apostrophe
assembly listing. They are now marked coirectly.

1-57

relocatable
(')
in the

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

1.23.3

MACR0-11 set bit 3, an unused bit,
in all .PSECT object
records.
MACR0-11 no longer sets bit 3. That change makes
object files created with the new version of
MACR0-11
different from object files created with previous versions of
MACR0-11.
As a result,
they will have
different
PAT
checksums, and a binary comparison of the files will show
differences.
However, the resulting task or .SAV image files
will be the same.

Version 5.0 RSX-Specific Changes

The cross-reference options, SEC
Version 5.0.

and

ERR,

were

added

MACR0-11

NOTE
The RSX-11 CREF program
(CRF) has been updated to
include
support
for
these
two
new
macro
cross-reference options.
Only the new RSX-11 CRF
version
(Version 2) distributed with RSX-llM Version
4.1 and RSX-llM-PLUS Version 2.1 should be used with
this version of MACR0-11.
The default for the command line option /[-]SP has been modified from
/SP to /-SP.
The new default may be modified by the system manager
using the TKB GBLPAT option described in the MACR0-11/RSX task build
command file.

1.23.3.l

Corrections to the Version 5.0 Assembler

The following corrections apply to the Version 5.0 Assembler:
•

The macro CALLR addr (Call-Return) , has been added to the
permanent symbol table (PST). This macro is equivalent to the
mnemonic JMP addr.
The CALLR addr macro was added to
complement the CALL addr macro, which is equivalent to the
mnemonic JSR PC addr.

•

The previous version of MACR0-11 used a range of 64$ to 127$
for automatic local symbol generation. MACR0-11 now uses a
range of 30000$ to 65535$ when generating local symbols.

•

Most assembler-generated listing text is now in upper/lower
case.
This change was made to increase the readability of
MACR0-11 code. Lines of code that include the .SBTTL or the
.TITLE directive are not converted to uppercase.

•

Lines of code that include the .SBTTL directive are listed in
the table of contents of an assembly listing, even if an
.NLIST statement is in effect at the time the .SBTTL lines are
encountered.
You may specify the .NLIST ~irective with the
TOC argument to prevent the table of contents from being
printed.

•

The symbol table is printed at the end of an assembly, even if
the .NLIST directive is in effect. You may specify the .NLIST
directive with the SYM argument to prevent the symbol table
from being printed.

•

All page headers include the day of the week.

1-58

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS ,

•

The assembler statistics information that appears at the end
of the assembly listing file has been updated to include the
following additional information:
Total number of virtual work file reads
Total number of virtual work file writes
Maximum amount of virtual memory used

(in words and pages)

Size of physical memory free space (in words and pages}
Operating system and
running under

environment

that

the

assembler

Total elapsed assembly time
MACR0-11 command line
•

The PSECT synopsis that is printed in the listing file,
the symbol table, includes the psect attributes.

after

•

The maximum number of relocatable terms
in
a
complex
expression has been changed.
The maximum size of an .OBJ
record that MACR0-11 can
produce
was
increased
from
42(decimal) bytes to 128{decimal) bytes.
Do not compare .OBJ files that have been created b~ different
versions
of MACR0-11,
when verifying whether your code
generation is correct.
Changes that have been made for
this
version of MACR0-11 (mentioned above) will invalidate a direct
comparison of assembler .OBJ output. Verify code generation
by linking or taskbuilding the .OBJ files involved and then
comparing the .SAV or the .TSK image files.
NOTE
Because the .OBJ files produced by this new
version of MACR0-11 are different, users of
the PAT
(Object Module Patch Utility)
are
warned that checksums must be recomputed on
any object patches assembled with this new
version of MACR0-11.

•

The default for the LC argument has been changed
LC to .ENABL LC.

•

The following .ENABL/.DSABL options have been added:
.ENABL LCM/.DSABL LCM
.ENABL MCL/.DSABL MCL

1-59

from

.DSABL

RSX-llM NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

The following directives have been added to MACR0-11 •
• CROSS
• INCLUDE
.LIBRARY
.MDELETE
.NOCROSS
.REM
.WEAK

1-60

CHAPTER 2
RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS

This chapter describes errors and omissions in the RSX-llM manuals and
refers you to the appropriate sections of the manuals in the
documentation set to make corrections.
The chapter is organized
according to the titles of manuals in the RSX-llM documentation set.

2.1

RSX-llM SYSTEM GENERATION AND INSTALLATION GUIDE

The following new documentation sections have been added to Chapter
of the RSX-llM System Generation and Installation Guide:

•

The installation procedures for applying software updates

•

The instructions for performing an RSX-llM system generation
on a VAX/VMS host system running in VAX-11 RSX compatibility
mode

Also, please note that the reference to RMS in Question 3 of the
Executive Options section of SYSGEN Phase I has been removed.
The
Files-11 ACP (FCP) supports file sharing and placement control, so
SYSGEN asks this question if your system includes the FCP, regardless
of whether your system also includes RMS.

2.2

RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR OPERATIONS MANUAL
I

The description of the /BAD=[option]
keyword of the MCR command
INI[TVOLUME]
is partially incorrect.
Please add the following
information to the section describing the IN! /BAD command:
To prevent bad blocks from being allocated to files in a volum.e, first
run the Bad Block Locator Utility (BAD). BAD tests volumes for the
number and location of bad blocks.
(Refer to the RSX-llM/M-PLUS
Utilities Manual for a description of the BAD utility). Then when you
initialize a volume with the !NI command, IN! creates a file named
BADBLK.SYS and uses the data generated by BAD to allocate bad blocks
to the BADBLK.SYS file.
In this way, known bad blocks are not
allocated to any other file.
The way in which IN! creates BADBLK.SYS depends upon the input it
receives from the BAD utility.
In turn, the data generated by BAD
differs according to the type of device it is
testing.
On
non-last-track devices, BAD records the addresses of bad blocks on the
last good block of the device. This list of bad block addresses is

2-1

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
called the Bad Block Descriptor File. INI then uses the Bad Block
Descriptor File to create BADBLK.SYS. However, on last-track devices,
the last track can contain a Manufacturer's Detected Bad Sector File
(MDBSF), and a Software Detected Bad Sector File (SDBSF). BAD writes
a record of bad blocks to the SDBSF.
INI then creates BADBLK.SYS by
combining the input from the MDBSF and the SDBSF.
If you want BAD to treat a last-track device as a non-last-track
device, specify the OVERRIDE switch in the BAD command line.
In
response to the /OVERRIDE switch, BAD writes a Bad Block Descriptor
File on the last good block before the last track. Then, when you
initialize the volume, you must also specify the /BAD keyword with the
[OVR]
option
(INI /BAD=[OVR])
so that INI can locate the Bad Block
Descriptor File and use it to create BADBLK.SYS.
If you do not specify the /BAD keyword with the INI command, the
default
action
of the command is /BAD=[AUTO].
That is,
INI
automatically performs bad block processing. The other options of the
/BAD keyword allow you to modify the default action of the command.
Refer to the RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR Operations Manual for a complete
description of the INI /BAD keyword and its options.

2.3

RSX-llM/M-PLUS INDIRECT COMMAND PROCESSOR MANUAL

The RSX-llM/M-PLUS Indirect Command Processor Manual is new for
RSX-llM
Version
4.2.
Please make the following documentation
corrections to the manual in the designated sections:
In Section 2.4.1.2, the special symbol <SYSTEM> will have a value of 5
if Indirect is running on a VMS host under VAX-11 RSX.
In Section 2.6.22, for the .ONERR directive, the first item in the
list of error conditions is not a valid condition. The item should
read:
"Task not installed in system (.XQT, .WAIT)"

2.4

RSX-llM/M-PLUS BATCH AND QUEUE OPERATIONS MANUAL

The RSX-llM/M-PLUS Batch and Queue Operations Manual is not undergoing
rev1s1on
for
RSX-llM --Version
4.2.
This
section describes
documentation changes that have not been incorporated into the manual.

2.4.1

/[NO]TRANSFER Qualifier

In Section 2.2, page 2-6, in the description of the PRINT command
qualifier /[NO]TRANSFER, please note that when a file is copied from a
private device and then printed, the copy is deleted.
The original
file, however, is not deleted from the private device.

2.4.2

DELETE Command Format Error

In Section 2.3, page 2-10, the format for the DCL
incorrect.
The correct format should read:

command

DCL>DELETE/JOB queuename jobname[/FILE_POSITION:n]

2-2

DELETE

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.5

RSX-llM/M-PLUS UTILITIES MANUAL

The RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual is not undergoing revision for the
Version 4.2 release.
This section describes documentation changes
that have not been incorporated into the manual.

2.5.1

BRO

The following documentation changes and corrections should be added to
the manual in the designated sections for the Backup and Restore
Utility (BRO):

2.5.1.1

Wildcards in Input Specifications

In Section 7.2.2.1, page 7-8, the documentation states that BRU treats
all omitted file specification elements as if they were wildcards.
This is incorrect. BRO does not treat omitted file names or file
types as wildcards.
This behavior is consistent with other RSX
utilities. BRO differs from other utilities in that:
•

If the version number is omitted, it will be treated as a
wildcard. For example, NAME.EXT is equivalent to NAME.EXT;*.

•

If only the UFO is specified, the entire
will be treated as a wildcard.
For
equivalent to [UFO]*.*;*.

2.5.1.2

file specification
example,
[UFD]
is

Additional /VER Switch Information

The /VERIFY switch description has been revised.
following information to page 7-19 of Section 7.4.

Please

add

the

The /VERIFY switch verifies that the output volume was written
correctly.
It does this by comparing the input volume to the output
volume and reporting any differences.
During a backup operation, each tape or disk is verified before
starting the next volume in the backup set.
During a restore
operation, however, the entire backup set is restored before beginning
the verify operation.

2.5.1.3

Using the MANUAL Option

In Section 7.6.3, page 7-25, please replace the
with the following information:

last

two

paragraphs

To get a list of the LBNs you have typed so far, type a slash
press the RETURN key.
When you have finished entering bad blocks,
BRU will then allocate the bad blocks
BADBLK.SYS and continue processing.

2-3

type
that

(/)

two slashes
(//).
you have entered to

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.5.1.4

Tape Write Error Message

In Section 7.10, page 7-54, the "User Action"
message:

incorrect

for

the

"BRO -- *WARNING* -- TAPE WRITE ERROR."
The correct·user action should read:
User Action: Replace the tape that the error occurred on with
another tape.
BRU will rewrite this replacement tape from the
same point that the previous "bad" tape began. This "bad" tape
is NOT a part of the backup set and, consequently, should not be
used in later verify or restore operations.
If the error recurs on the replacement tape, the problem might be
the tape drive.
If the problem is the tape drive, clean the
heads on the tape drive or terminate BRU and start over on
another drive.

2.5.1.5

Executing Command Files

You can execute a command file from BRU. To do so, type an
(@) followed by the file specification for the command file.
not stated anywhere in the documentation.)

2.5.1.6

at sign
(This is

Changes in the CNF Table for Stand-Alone BRU

CSR and vector information has changed for device types MM, MS, MT,
and DU.
The following table should replace the table in Section 7.5
of the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual.
Device

CSR

Vector CSR Status

DB
DK
DL
OM
DP
DR
DU
MM FOR=O
MS
MT

176700
177404
174400
177440
176714
176300
172150
172440
172522
160000

254
220
160
210
300
150
154
330
224
320

Present
Present
Not Present
Present
Present
Present
Not Present
Present
Not Present
Not Present

NOTE
For BRUSYS, the CNF table
device information:
MU

also

174500

lists
260

2-4

the

following
Present

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.5.1.7

/NOSUPERSEDE Qualifier

In Section 7.4, page 7-19, please add the following information:
When an output file and an input file
have
identical
file
specifications
but
different version numbers,
the /NOSUPERSEDE
qualifier causes the input file to be copied without deleting the
output file.

2.5.2

DMP

The following documentation changes should
be
added
to
RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual for the File Dump Utility (DMP).

2.5.2.1

New /LIM Switch Description

In Table 11-1, page 11-6, the following new switch should be added
the table:
Switch

Specifies the range of bytes n through m of
each record or block to be dumped.
/OCT is
still the default if no format switches are
specified.

Correction to /HF Description

In Section 11.4, page 11-6,
example with the following:

replace

the

last

sentence

before

Other blocks are output as a data dump in the format selected
and /BY, in octal words by default.

2.5.3

Description

/LIM:n:m

2.5.2.2

the

the
/AS

FLX

The following documentation change
should
be
added
to
the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual for the File Transfer Program (FLX):
In Table 4-1,
page 4-5,
the table entitled "FLX Transfer Mode
Switches" should include the following additional information about
the use of octal and decimal numbers with the switches listed:
The following switches accept octal numbers by default:
/FA:n

/FB:n

/IM:n

/BL:n

fBS:n

/NU:n

/ZE:n

If you want to assign decimal numbers to these switches, you must
follow the value of n with a period (.). For example, to assign the
decimal value 18 to the /IM:n switch, you type the following:
/IM:l8.
The /DNS:n switch accepts decimal numbers by default. Therefore, you
do not need to follow the value of the /DNS:n switch with a period (.)
if the value is decimal.

2-5

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.5.4

FMT

In Section 5.4, page 5-9, of the RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual,
please add OL:
to the list of devices supported by the /WLT and /VE
switches.

2.5.5

LBR

The following documentation changes should
be
added
to
RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual for the Librarian Utility (LBR):

2.5.5.1

the

User File Attributes

In Figure 10-7, page 10-7, bytes 40(octal) to the end of the header
are referred to as "user file attributes".
(The documentation does
not state what these attributes are or what their relationship is with
the FOB of the original file from which the module was created.)
Please insert the following paragraph:
The FOB of the original file from which the module was created has
five sections of
information,
the first of which is the "user file
attributes." These attributes are:

• Record type
• Record attribute
• Record size
• Highest virtual block
• End-of-file block number

• Optional information
When you create a file and insert it into a universal library,
LBR
copies the input file attributes to the module header. You can modify
some of these attributes by using the modify header switch (/MH).
For more information, please see Sections 10.5.9 and 10.5.11 of the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual, and pages 1-10 and Appendix A of the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX I/O Operations Reference Manual.

2.5.5.2

Create Switch (/CR) Error

In Section 10.5.2, page 10-12, the /CR switch format
is incorrectly
documented.
The equal sign (=) should be replaced ~ith a colon (:).
The correct format should read as follows:
outfile/CR:size:ept:mnt:libtype:infiletype

2.5.5.3

/IN Switch for Macro Libraries

In Section 10.5.8, page 10-19, delete the following sentence, which is
no longer true:
LBR only recognizes upper-case characters in macro directives.

2-6

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.5.6

PAT

In Section 14.2.4, page 14-7, the following new error
be added to the section entitled "PAT MESSAGES":

message

should

UNABLE TO OPEN FILE filename
Explanation: There is insufficient work space
File Storage Region (FSR) of the PAT utility.
User Action:

2.5.7

the

internal

Install or run the PAT utility with an increment.

PIP

The following documentation errors should be corrected in
the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS Utilities Manual under the designated chapter sections.

2.5.7.1

/DD Switch Format Error

In Section 3.2.2.4, page 3-17, the /DD switch format is incorrectly
documented in the three examples. There should be an ampersand (&)
before /LI when used with /DD. The correct examples are as follows:
Examples
1.

PIP>/DD:Ol-JUN-85:01-JUL-85&/LI

PIP>/DD:*:l-JUN-85&/LI

PIP>/DD:l-JUN-85:*&/LI

2.5.7.2

/TD Switch Format Error

In Section 3.2.2.25, page 3-40, the /TD switch format is incorrectly
documented.
There should be an ampersand (&) before /LI when used
with /TD. The correct format is as follows:
PIP>/TD&/LI

2.5.8

SLP

The following documentation errors and omissions should be corrected
in the Utilities manual under the designated chapter sections.

2.5.8.1

Illegal Switch Error Message

In Section 13.5.2, page 13-20, the error message
correct error message should read:
SLP -- *FATAL*-ILLEGAL SWITCH OR FILESPEC
SHIRLEY.MAC;2/CF

2-7

incorrect.

The

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.5.8.2

Maximum Number of Characters in File Names

In Section 13.5.2, page 13-21, under the error message
SLP -- *FATAL*-ILLEGAL FILE NAME
the explanation indicates that file names can be a maximum of
30(octal) characters long. This is incorrect. SLP file names can be
a maximum of 19(decimal) characters long.

2.5.8.3

Illegal Switch Error Message

In Section 13.5.2, page 13-22, the "Illegal Switch" error
incorrect. It should read as follows:

message

SLP -- *FATAL*-ILLEGAL SWITCH OR FILESPEC
command line segment
Explanation: One of the following
error message:

conditions

•

The switch was not a legal SLP switch.

•

A legal switch was used in an illegal manner.

•

A file specification could not be parsed.

User Action: Reenter the command line,
switch or correct file specification.

2.6

results

specifying

this

the

legal

RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX I/0 OPERATIONS REFERENCE MANUAL

The following new information has been added to the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and
Micro/RSX I/O Operations Reference Manual for RSX-llM Version 4.2:

2.7

•

Appendix C contains a summary
directives in alphabetical order

the

I/0-related

•

Appendix I includes a new QIOMAC.MAC module description

system

IAS/RSX-11 SYSTEM LIBRARY ROUTINES REFERENCE MANUAL

The IAS/RSX-11 System Library Routines Reference Manual is not
undergoing revision for the Version 4.2 release.
This section
describes documentation changes that have not been incorporated into
the manual.

2-8

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.7.1

New Program Section Names and SYSLIB Routines

The following program section names and SYSLIB routines should be
of the IAS/RSX-11 System Library
added to Table 1-1
(page 1-3)
Routines Reference Manual:
SYSLIB Routines
Program
Section
Name
PUR$D

PUR$I

2.7.2

Module
Name

Routine
Name (s)

CAT5B
(data)

$CAT5B

EDT MG
(data)

$EDTMG

CAT5B
(instruction)

$CAT5B

EDT MG
(instruction)

$EDTMG

Save All Registers Routine ($SAVAL)

In Section 2.1, page 2-3, the box at the top
enclose the "Return Address to $SAVAL" line.

2.7.3

the

page

Time Conversion Routine ($TIM)

In Section 6.2.2, page 6-4,
the information under
changed. The correct information is as follows:

NOTE

should

For HH, the $TIM routine always returns two characters for all
specified.

2.7.4

should

values

Virtual Address Units

In Section 8.5.2, page 8-24, Convert Virtual to Real Address Routi~e
($CVRL), please add the following information to the first paragraph.
Virtual address units are words,
bytes.

2.7.5

and

dynamic

memory

addresses

are

Allocate Virtual Memory Routine ($ALVRT)

In Section 8.4, page 8-16, the words "virtual address" should
"disk address", in the seventh bulleted list item.

2-9

replace

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.7.6

Virtual Memory Initialization Routine ($INIVM)

In Section 8.2, page 8-6, add the following global
to the second bulleted list:
$WRKPT

2.8

symbol

definition

The address of the FDB must be stored in the
word $WRKPT before calling $INIVM.

RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX DEBUGGING REFERENCE MANUAL

RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Debugging Reference Manual is the new
title for the----roanual previously titled IAS/RSX-11 ODT Reference
Manual.
The RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Debugging Reference Manual combines
the IAS/RSX-11 OD~Reference Manual and information about XDT.
Information specific to IAS has been deleted.

2.9

RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX TASK BUILDER MANUAL

The RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Task Builder Manual has not been
revised
for
the----Version 4.2----release.
This section describes
documentation changes that have not been incorporated into the manual.

2.9.1

Double Brackets

The occurrence of double brackets in the manual
is a typographical
error.
These double brackets occur in Chapters 1, 5, 6, and 8. The
brackets currently appear, as follows:
TKB>DB2: [ [300, 53]] =DBl: [ [5, 7] ]OBJECT.OBJ
The correct format is:
TKB>DB2: [300,53]=DB1: [5,7]0BJECT.OBJ

2.9.2

Manual References

References to the Executive Reference Manual are to the RSX-llM/M-PLUS
and Micro/RSX Executive Reference Manual. These references occur in
Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, and Appendix H.

2.9.3

Reference to "/" for the /MP switch

In Section 1.3.1, page 1-9, the reference to the "/" character is
incorrect.
You should refer to the discussion of the /MP switch in
Chapter 10 instead.

2.9.4

Incorrect Device Specification

In Section 5.2.3.5, the specification LB; is incorrect.
replaced with LB:.

2-10

It should

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.9.5

Errors in Overlay Capability

In Section 3.6.1, Creating a
.ROOT Statement by Using a Virtual
Address Space Allocation Diagram, there are errors in steps 10 through
14. The steps should be as follows:
10.

Step 3A: Write .ROOT CNTRL-(AO-(Al,A2-(A21,A22)) ,BO-(Bl

11.

Step 3B: Write .ROOT CNTRL-(A0-(Al,A2-(A21,A22)) ,BO-(Bl,B2

12.

Step 3C: Write .ROOT CNTRL-(A0-(Al,A2-(A21,A22)) ,BO-(Bl,B2)

13.

Step 3B: Write .ROOT CNTRL-(A0-(Al,A2-(A21,A22)) ,BO-(Bl,B2) ,C

14.

Step 3C: Write .ROOT CNTRL-(A0-(Al,A2-(A21,A22)),B0-(Bl,B2),C)

In Section 3.6.2, Creating a
.FCTR Statement by Using a Virtual
Address Space Allocation Diagram, a factual error occurs in the .ROOT
statement. The statement should read as follows:
.ROOT CNTRL-(A0-(Al,A2-(A21,A22)) ,BO-(Bl,B2) ,C)
The root statement with AFCTR included (the last
Section 3.6.2) should read as follows:

.ROOT

statement

.ROOT CNTRL-(AFCTR,BO-(Bl,B2) ,C)
In Section 3.6.3, Creating an ODL Statement for a Co-Tree by Using a
Virtual Address Space Diagram, contains two .ROOT statements. The
first, without the co-tree, should read as follows:
.ROOT CNTRL-(AFCTR,BO-(Bl,B2),C)
The second .ROOT statement in Section 3.6.3 should be read as follows:
.ROOT CNTRL-(AFCTR,BO-(Bl,B2) ,C) ,CNTRL2-(CNTRLX,CNTRLY)

2.9.6

TKB Switch Combinations of /-PI/LI

An error in the manual incorrectly documents the effect of using the
/LI switch in the Task Builder.
If you use this switch when building
a library, the region psect name for the library is the same as that
of the library root.
The name of the library is not .ABS as
documented.

2.9.7

References to the /-CO and /-LI Switches

In Section 5.1.1, pages 5-4 and 5-5, references are made to the /-CO
and /-LI switches. These are implied defaults for not using the /CO
and /LI switches, and they are not actual switch designations.

2-11

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.9.8

Offsets

In Appendix B, Figure B-5, the
added:

following

offset

changes

should

•

772 contains the Label Block Revision Number

•

774 contains the Second Task Flag Word

•

776 contains a zero (always) for VAX-11 RSX compatability (the
last word in Label Block 0)

2.9.9

New TKB Error Message

The Task Builder has the following new error message:
Cluster library element element-name is not resident overlaid.
The listed cluster element has been built without memory-resident
overlays.
This kind of element cannot be used as a cluster library
element. Cluster libraries 2 through 6 must be memory-resident and
overlaid.

2.10

RSX-llM/M-PLUS AND MICRO/RSX EXECUTIVE REFERENCE MANUAL

The RRST$ and TFEA$ directives are incorrectly documented in the
RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Executive Reference Manual for RSX-llM
Version 4.2. These two directives apply to RSX-llM-PLUS systems only.

2.11

RSX-llM GUIDE TO WRITING AN I/0 DRIVER

This section describes documentation changes to the RSX-llM Guide to
Writing an I/O Driver manual and directs you to the appropriate places
in the manuar-to make corrections.

2.11.1

Changes to System Data Structures

The system data structures
(control blocks)
are changing for the
RSX-llM Version 4.2 release. Changes to system data structures are
normally documented in the RSX-llM Guide to Writing an I/O Driver.
This manual, however,
is not being revised for ~he Version 4.2
release.
The current information on control blocks
has
been
incorporated in the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Crash Dump Analyzer
Reference Manual.

2.11.2

I/O Packet Description

In Section 2.3.4, page 2-8, please remove
second line from the bottom of the page.

2-12

the

DPB

acronym

the

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.11.3

I/O Queue Description

In Section 2.3.5, page 2-9, please remove the DPB acronym
second line of the paragraph entitled, The I/O Queue.

2.11.4

the

Text for Driver Initiator Section

Please add the following text to the end of Section 2.4.2, entitled
Post-Driver Initiation Services, which starts on Page 2-11 and ends
after the list on page 2-12:
When the Executive enters the driver at any of the four
entry points contained in the driver dispatch table, it
accesses D.DSP,
locates the appropriate address in the
table, and calls the driver at that address. A zero table
address indicates that the
(loadable) driver is not in
memory.
For
a loadable driver,
this field must be
initialized to zero. If the driver does not process a given
function, this address points to a return instruction within
the driver's code.
You must provide a driver dispatch table in the driver
source.
The label on this table is of the form $xxTBL; it
must be a global label.
The designation xx is
the
2-character generic device name for the device. Thus,
$TTTBL is the global label on the driver dispatch table for
the generic device name TT.
This table is an ordered,
4-word table containing the following entry points:
•

I/O initiator

•

Cancel I/O

•

Device timeout

•

Power failure

When a driver is entered at one of these entry points, entry
conditions are as follows:
At initiator:
If UC.QUE=l
R5
UCB address
R4
SCB address
Rl
address of the I/O packet
If UC.QUE=O
R5 = UCB address

2.11.5

MACR0-11 Command Line Error

In Section 3.2.1, page 3-9, the command line at the bottom of the
page is incorrect.
The correct command line should read as follows:
MAC>xxTAB,xxTAB=LB: [l,l]EXEMC/ML,LB: [11,lO]RSXMC,xxTAB

2-13

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.11.6

Building User-Written Drivers

In Section 3.3, page 3-14, there is a section from SYSGEN Phase
II
regarding the building of user-written device drivers.
Currently, the manual reads as follows:

>;
>;
>;
>;

If you are not including a resident data base,
add the. line
GBLDEF=$USRTB:O
to the file instead.

The correct version should read as follows:

>;
>;
>;
>;

2.11.7

Also, delete the line
GBLDEF=$USRTB:O
If you are not including a resident data base,
this line should be left in the file.

I.PRM Description

In section 4.1.1.1, at the bottom of page
following lines to the I.PRM description:

4-5,

please

add

the

It is generally not recommended that drivers alter or use
the I/O packet beyond the device dependent parameters.
Should you find it necessary to use the area beyond the
device
dependent parameters, please clear them before
calling $!ODON.
When the last word of the device-dependent parameters is
nonzero,
the value can have one of several special meanings
to the Executive. For example, if the value is nonzero and
could be an Executive address, the Executive assumes that
the value is a block locking word. Therefore, if the driver
uses the word, it should restore its contents before calling
$!ODON.

2.11.8

S.VCT Description

In Section 4.1.4.1, page 4-21, please add the following paragraph
to the S.VCT description:
If $xxINT is defined, only the vector pointed to by S.VCT is
initialized.
If $xxINP and $xxOUT are defined, the vector
pointed to by S.VCT is initialized to point to $xxINP.
The
following vector
{address + 4) is initialized to point to
$xxOUT.

2.11.9

U.BUF Description

In Section 4.1.4.1, page 4-32, please change the
address
description in U.BUF, which describes the address of NPR device
drivers. Add the following sentence to the paragraph at the top
of Page 4-32:
For a 22-bit machine without UMRs
(PDP-11/23+),
high-order 6 bits of the address are placed in U.BUF+l.

2-14

the

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.12

RSX-llM/M-PLUS ERROR LOGGING MANUAL

The RSX-llM/M-PLUS Error Logging Manual is not
undergoing
revision for the Version 4.2 release. Please note the following
documentation change, which has not been incorporated into the
manual.
Appendix C includes an example of the format of an error log
packet in memory,
as described in the system macro $EPKDF.MAC.
Please replace the information under "Type and Subtype Codes for
Fields E$HTYC and E$HTYS" with the following information:

Type and Subtype codes for fields E$HTYC and E$HTYS
Symbols with names E$Cxxx are type codes for field E$HTYC.
Symbols with names E$Sxxx are subtype codes for field E$HTYS.
E$CCMD
E$SSTA
E$SSWI
E$SAPP
E$SBAC
E$SSHO
E$SCHL

='BI
='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'
= 'B'

3
4
5

='B'

E$CERR
E$SDVH
E$SDVS
E$STMO
E$SUNS
E$STMS

='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'

2
1
2
3
4
5

Device Errors
Device Hard Error
Device Soft Error
Device Interrupt Timeout (HARD)
Device Unsolicited Interrupt
Device Interrupt Timeout (SOFT)

E$CDVI
E$SDVI

='B'
='B'

3
1

Device Information
Device Information Message

E$CDCI
E$SMOU
E$SDMO
E$SRES
E$SRCT

='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'

4
1
2
3
4

Device Control Information
Device Mount
Device Dismount
Device Count Reset
Block Replacement

E$CMEM
E$SMEM

='BI
='B'

Memory Detected Errors
Memory Error

E$CSYS
E$SPWR

='B'
='B'

E$CCTL
E$STIM
E$SCRS
E$SLOA
E$SUNL
E$SHRC
E$SMES

='B'
='B'
='BI
='B'
='B'
='B'
='B'

E$CCPU
E$SINT

='B'
='BI

E$CSDE
E$SABO

='B'
='BI

1
1
2

7
1

2
3
4
5
6

Error Log Control
Error Log Status Change
Switch Logging Files
Append File
Declare Backup File
Show
Change Limits

System Control Information
Power Recovery
Control Information
Time Change
System Crash
Device Driver Load
Device Driver Unload
Reconfiguration Status Change
Message
CPU Detected Errors
Unexpected Interrupt
Software Detected Events
Task Abort

2-15

RSX-llM DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS
2.13

RSX-llM/M-PLUS
MANUAL

AND

MICRO/RSX

CRASH

DUMP

ANALYZER

REFERENCE

Chapter 2 of the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Crash Dump Analyzer
Reference Manual includes a description of ~new DCL command
ANALYZE/CRASH DUMP.
If your terminal supports the DIGITAL Command
Language
(DCL)
command
line
interpreter,
you
can use the
ANALYZE/CRASH DUMP command to run CDA.
Command qualifiers let you
choose which- report listings you want CDA to generate. You can also
use qualifiers to specify the format of the CDA report listings.

2-16

CHAPTER 3
RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES

This chapter describes new RMS-11 features
and restrictions for
Also included are corrections and additions to
RSX-llM Version 4.2.
RMS-11 documentation.
RMS-11 Version 2.0 has not changed version numbers for this release of
RSX-llM.
Information in this chapter has not been incorporated into
the RMS-11 manuals.

3.1

NEW FEATURES

RMS-11 has improved remote access to RSTS/E systems.
New features
have also been added to several RMS-11 utilities for RSX-llM Version
4.2.

3.1.1

Remote Access to RSTS/E Systems

RMSDAP supports remote access to indexed files on RSTS/E systems.
See
Appendix B of
the RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 User's Guide for more
information on remote access.

3.1.2

New Utilities Features

This section describes the new enhancements to
utilities:

RMSCNV

RMSBCK

RMSDSP

RMSRST

3.1.2.1

the

following

RMS-11

RMSCNV

The RMSCNV utility supports a new /ER switch.
The purpose of this
switch
is
to allow RMSCNV to continue processing a
file after
encountering an exception record.
The new switch uses the following
format:
/ER: filename

3-1

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
If no /ER switch is used, RMSCNV will terminate after encountering the
first exception record.
It will issue an error message indicating the
type of exception record.
If the /ER:filename switch is used, RMSCNV will continue processing
the file.
If exception records are encountered, the exception records
will be placed in the specified file.

3.1.2.2

RMSBCK, RMSDSP, and RMSRST

The RMSBCK, RMSDSP, and RMSRST utilities include enhancements to
i-ncrease performance and decrease task size. These utilities now
process file specifications that include the wildcard characters
asterisk
(*)
and percent sign (%). These wildcard characters can be
used in any position within the directory, file name, file type, and
file version number fields.
The following new switches have been
added to these utilities:
RMSBCK New Switches

Function

/NOQU

Disables query mode

/NV

Creates a new version of the output file

/CD:date:A

Interprets the creation date as after (:A) the
specified date,
in normal creation/revision
date format

/CD:date:B

Interprets the creation date as before
( :B)
the
specified
date,
in
normal
creation/revision date format

/RD:date:A

Interprets the revision date as after (:A) the
specified date,
in normal creation/revision
date format

/RD:date:B

Interprets the revision date as before
(:B)
the specified date in normal creation/revision
date format

RMSDSP New Switches
/BR

Briefly displays attributes

/SU

Supersedes existing output file

RMSRST New Switches

3.2

/NOCV

Disables version radix conversion

/NV

Creates new version of output file

SOFTWARE RESTRICTIONS

This section describes software restrictions as well as other known
problems that apply to RMS-11 Version 2.0.
Suggested measures for
preventing or correcting problems are also included.

3-2

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
3.2.1

RMS-11 Access Methods
•

RMS-11 allows the creation of an indexed file with a maximum
record size that exceeds its bucket size.
However, the file
is not usable.
You should, therefore, avoid creating an
unusable file.

•

Locate mode does not work when accessing a sequential fixed
file
if the target record ends on the block boundary. This
problem impairs performance. To avoid it, do not use a fixed
record size that allows records to fit perfectly in a block.

•

Default Extension Quantity (DEQ) does not work correctly for
sequential files.
When RMS-11 extends a file, it uses the
Multiblock Count (MBC)
size instead of the pack default.
Until this problem is fixed you should specify an explicit DEQ
value instead of 0.
Consult your programming
language
documentation for implementation details.

3.2.2

RMS-11 Utilities

The following restrictions apply to RMS-11 utilities for Version 2.0.
RMS DES
•

Using default areas - when the record size is greater than
1024 bytes, RMSDES selects area bucket sizes that are not
large enough.
In this case, the file is successfully created,
but is unusable.
To work around this problem, override the
bucket size with the correct value before creating the file.

•

Using default areas
when there is a larger number of
duplicates than can fit in a bucket (see Chapter 6 of the
RSX-llM/M~PLUS RMS-11 User's Guide
for calculation), RMSDES
sets up larger than necessary area allocations. These can be
overridden by RMSDES SET commands, or the number of duplicates
can be reduced and RMSDES will allocate more conservatively.

•

Selecting a packed decimal key field RMSDES never prompts
for the length of this field. A subsequent Create operation
returns an error "Invalid Key Field Specified for File."
Therefore, you must explicitly set the segment length, if you
select a packed decimal key.

•

RMSDES uses the system device as the default device on a GET
file DAT command.
This default may be inconvenient if your
login device is not the system device, or if you have set your
default device to other than the system device by issuing the
DCL SET DEF or MCR ASN commands. To work around this, you
should supply the device name in the file specification.

RMS I FL
•

RMSIFL aborts with a memory management violation when more
than one file is processed in the same RMSIFL session and the
/DE switch is used. A temporary means of working around this
problem is to invoke RMSIFL for each file.

•

RMSIFL uses a sort algorithm that, when called upon to sort
on a key, does not preserve the FIFO ordering of duplicates.

3-3

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
For alternate keys,
it is necessary to work around this
problem by using RMSCNV.
If the only concern is ordering of
duplicates in the primary key, then as long as your input file
is an indexed file or a file sorted on primary key, you can
use RMSIFL /NOSO.
RMSCNV and RMSIFL
•

3.3

RMSCNV and RMSIFL ignore user provided
area
extension
quantities when loading a file.
The values that they use are
large enough to reduce the number of file extensions in most
cases.

CORRECTIONS TO PROBLEMS WITH THE PREVIOUS RELEASE

This section describes corrections to software
the previous release of RMS-11 Version 2.0.

3.3.1

problems

relating

RMS-11 Access Methods

The following corrections apply to RMS-11 access methods:
•

Records loaded into an indexed file by descending key value
were not all found when either random access or sequential
access was used.
This problem has been corrected.

•

The first word of a block in a file was sometimes corrupted
with a -1 when an $UPDATE operation was performed on a
sequential file.
This occurred when a $FIND or an $UPDATE
operation followed a $GET operation on the last record in a
block, if that record ended at the end-of-file or within one
byte of end-of-file.
The -1 appeared in the first word of the
block. This problem has been corrected.

•

In some cases there were problems with Update operations to an
indexed variable file containing alternate keys when record
sizes were increased during $UPDATE operations.
In cases
where the new record no longer fit in the old bucket, the
record was written to a new bucket with an incorrect RRV
pointer.
Later attempts to get that record by using the
alternate key would return the ER$RRV condition.
If you have
experienced this problem, reload your indexed files with
RMSIFL in order to fix the alternate key tree(s).

•

A problem with the single-precision multiply routine in the
access methods has been corrected. When calculations were
performed that would produce a value larger than 131073, an
incorrect value resulted. This value transferred the bits in
the high word of the two-word value to the low word.
For
example,
in a relative file with 3 block buckets, an attempt
to insert relative record 43692 by issuing a $PUT operation,
resulted in writing the record to block 3 rather than block
131076. This problem affected random $PUT and $GET operations
in relative files and fixed sequential files.
For relative
files, the multiplication of the relative record number by the
bucket size in blocks would be invalid.
For sequential fixed
files, the multiplication of the relative record number by the
record size in bytes would be invalid.
This problem has been
corrected. You should reload your files if your applications
were affected by this problem.

3-4

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
RMS-11 Utilities

3.3.2

The following corrections apply to RMS-11 utilities:

RMSCNV
problem with the /EO switch in RMSCNV has been fixed.
This
• Aswitch
enables the conversion of the ASCII CTRL-Z EOF
terminator to a null, and pads the rest
nulls.
This problem has been corrected.

the

file

with

RMS I FL
•

Using the /DE switch allows the five RMSIFL sort files
to be
redirected to alternate devices rather than the device used in
the input file specification. This switch failed
in several
ways.
RMSIFL reported either "Failure to Create IFLA.TMP
(ER$CRE)" or "Extraneous Data in File Specification
(ER$XTR)"
In some cases,
it sent data output to the console device.
This problem has been corrected.

•

Using RMSIFL with an indirect command file
(IFL @file.cmd)
would return the message "?Output file must be empty" on any
commands following the first command.
This would abort a
batch submission. This problem has been corrected.

•

The RMSIFL utility was not functioning properly when it
attempted to process a file with the /ER:filename switch.
This problem has been corrected.

•

RMSIFL was failing to display the correct exception record
type
in the exception record file if the exception record was
detected on the alternate key.
This problem has
been
corrected.

•

RMSIFL was returning an
incorrect output record count and
exception record count after processing a file.
Any exception
detected in the alternate key caused these counts to be
displayed as "????".
This problem has been corrected.

•

RMSIFL displayed an incorrect primary key value when exception
records were detected on the primary key.
Exceptions on
alternate keys, however, worked fine.
The problem only
occurred when no /ER switch was specified.
This problem has
been corrected.

•

There is a new form of IFLNON.CMD and IFLNRN.CMD that includes
the PAR statement.
This form of command file does not need to
be modified when RMSIFL is rebuilt to incorporate new modules.
This corrects the previous problem of needing to modify
command files.
See the RSX-llM/M-PLUS and Micro/RSX Task
Builder Manual for
further
information----On ta1lor1ng --uie
command file to reduce the size of RMSIFL.

•

RMSIFL did not correctly handle PACKED DECIMAL alternate keys.
It rejected these as exception records during the alternate
key loading phase.
This problem has been corrected.

3-5

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
•

RMSIFL did not return correct exit status when it encountered
a corrupted index. This caused batch jobs to run incorrectly.
This problem has been corrected.

•

RMSIFL that is built to use supervisor mode RMSRES was
aborting with a memory protection violation in certain cases.
This problem has been corrected.

RMSRST

3.4

•

The /SE switch is used to selectively restore files from a
container.
RMSRST did not always find the files specified
because of an incorrect order-based algorithm.
This problem
has been corrected.

•

When an explicit file specification was given with the /SE
switch,
RMSRST found the file but continued "searching"
through the tape. This problem has been corrected.

•

The use of a wildcard directory in the output specification
would not restore the file(s) to the original owner account.
This problem has been corrected.

DOCUMENTATION CORRECTIONS

The RMS-11 Version 2.0 manuals are not being revised for this release.
This section describes documentation errors and directs you to the
appropriate sections in the manuals to make corrections.
New
information to be added to the manuals is also included in this
section.

3.4.1

RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 User's Guide

In Section 2.2.3.3, please
discussion of deadlock:

add

the

following

information

the

An application
should
use
multistream
rather
than
multi-channel access to write to the same indexed file.
When RMS-11 updates an RRV in a bucket that is currently
locked,
it must wait for that lock to be released. Control
will not be returned to the program until this release
occurs.
Deadlock will occur when the lock is held on
another channel within the same program; however, RMS-11 can
update an RRV in a bucket that is locked on another stream
within the same program.
See your programming language
documentation
for
details
on
the implementation of
multistreaming.
In Section 6.2.4, the discussion of writing a record, please
following note:

add

In the event that the record includes a partial alternate
key but is not large enough to include space for the full
alternate key field, RMS-11 will act as follows:
RMS-11 will treat the alternate key as if it were not
present in the record, making no entry in the alternate key
index structure.

3-6

the

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
In Section 6.3, the discussion of contiguity and areas, please add the
following information:
You will obtain a small benefit by setting areas to
contiguous on a noncontiguous multi-area file, however,
there is no means for RMS-11 to determine if those areas
remain contiguous.
Consequently, RMSDSP and RMSDES will
display them as noncontiguous. As long as the areas are
preallocated,
they will behave like contiguous areas; as
soon as they need to be extended, they will not behave like
contiguous areas.
In Section 8.1.2.1, the discussion of task building against the RMS-11
resident library,
incorrect syntax is documented for the cluster
option in the Task Builder command file.
The correct syntax is as
follows:
CLSTR = RMSRES,DAPRES:RO
In Appendix B, the discussion of remote file and record access using
DECnet,
the documentation states that the RSTS/E FAL does not support
remote record access to indexed files.
This is no longer true.

3.4.2

RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 Macro Programmer's Guide

In Section 2.3,
the argument for
incorrect.
The correct argument
Section 2.3.4.

P$BUF is "bufcount".
This is
is "iopoolsize", as discussed in

In Section 5.19, the last paragraph incorrectly describes the
the FID field in the NAM block.
It should read as follows:

use

"If this value is non-zero ••• "
In Appendix A, page A-8, please add the following sentence:
An attempt to insert a record that is too small to contain
primary key field may also cause the error ER$KEY.

3.4.3

whole

modify

the

RSX-llM/M-PLUS RMS-11 Utilities

In the Section 3.3.2 discussion of exception
exception record codes to read as follows:

002:

records,

Record contains a duplicate key where not allowed

This change indicates a duplicate in either the primary
key fields when no-duplicates was specified.

3.5

the

alternate

FILES AND PLACEMENT ON THE DISTRIBUTION KIT

The following table describes the contents of the RMS-11
distribution kit.
File Name

Destination

RMSMAC.MLB

LB: [ 1, l]

RMSLIB.OLB

LB: [ 1, 1]

Version

2.0

Comments
Can be deleted if you are not using
MACR0-11 RMS-11 programs.
Object library for RMS-11 local
access.
3-7

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
File Name

Destination

RMSDAP.OLB

LB: [ 1, 1]

RMSBCK. TSK

LB: [1,54]

RMSRST.TSK

LB: [l,54]

RMSDEF.TSK

LB: [l,54]

RMSDSP.TSK

LB: [1,54]

RMSCNV.TSK

LB: [l,54]

RMSDES.TSK

LB: [1,54]

RMSIFL.TSK

LB: [1,54]

RMSDES.IDX
RMSll.ODL
RORMSl.MAC
RMSllS.ODL
RMS12S.ODL
RMSllX. ODL
RMS12X.ODL
RMSRLX.ODL
DAPllX.ODL
DAPRLX.ODL
RMSRES.TSK

LB: [ 1, 2]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 1]

RMSRES.STB
RMSRES.MAP
RMSRESSUB.TSK
RMSRESSUB.MAP
DAPRES.TSK

LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 34]
LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 34]
LB: [ 1, 1]

DAPRES.STB
DAPRES.MAP
RMSRES.CMD
RMSRES.ODL
DAPRES.CMD
DAPRES.ODL
BCKNON.CMD
BCKNON.ODL
BCKNRN.CMD
BCKNRN.ODL
CNVNON.CMD
CNVNON.ODL
CNVNRN.CMD
CNVNRN.ODL
CNVNOO.CMD
CNVNOO.ODL
CNVNRR.CMD
CNVNRR.ODL

LB: [ 1, 1]
LB: [ 1, 34]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [l,24]

'DEFNON .CMD
DEFNON.ODL
DEFNRN.CMD
DEFNRN.ODL
DESNON.CMD
DESNON.ODL
DESNRN.CMD
DESNRN.ODL

LB: [l,24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [1,24]

Comments
Object library for RMS-11 remote
access.
Can be deleted if you do not need
remote access.
RMSBCK utility; does not use
RMSRES.
RMSRST utility; does not use
RMSRES.
RMSDEF utility; does not use
RMSRES.
RMSDSP utility; does not use
RMSRES.
RMSCNV utility; does not use
RMSRES.
RMSDES utility; does not use
RMSRES.
RMSIFL utility; does not use
RMSRES.
Indexed help file used by RMSDES.
Prototype ODL file.
For use with the prototype ODL.
ODL file for sequential.
ODL file for sequential.
Standard indexed file ODL.
Indexed file ODL.
ODL for use with RMSRES.
ODL for use with overlaid RMSDAP.
ODL for use with DAPRES.
TSK image for linking against
RMSRES.
STB file for RMSRES.
Map file for RMSRES.
Subset library.
Map file for subset library.
Task image for RMSDAP resident
library.
STB file for DAPRES.
For rebuilding RMSRES.
For rebuilding DAPRES.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSBCK.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSBCK.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSCNV.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSCNV.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSCNV with RMSDAP.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSCNV with
RMSDAP.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSDEF.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSDEF.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSDES.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSDES.

3-8

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
File Name

Destination

Comments

RMSDES.ODL
DSPNON.CMD
DSPNON.ODL
DSPNRN.CMD
DSPNRN.ODL
IFLNON.CMD
IFLNON.ODL
IFLNRN.CMD
IFLNRN.ODL
RSTNON.CMD
RSTNON.ODL
RSTNRN.CMD
RSTNRN.ODL
RMSUTL.OLB
RMSODL.ODL
GSA.MAC

LB: [l,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [l, 24]
LB: [ 1, 2 4]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [l,24]
LB: [l, 24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [ 1, 2 4]
LB: [ 1, 24]
LB: [1,24]
LB: [ 200, 1]

For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSDSP.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSDSP.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSIFL.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSIFL.
For rebuilding the overlaid
version of RMSRST.
For rebuilding the resident
library version of RMSRST.
For rebuilding several utilities.

PARSE.MAC
SEARCH.MAC
RENAME.MAC
ERASE.MAC
PARSE.TSK
SEARCH.TSK
RENAME.TSK
ERASE.TSK

LB: [ 200,1]
LB: [ 200, 1]
LB: [200,1]
LB: [ 200, 1]
LB: [ 200,1]
LB: [ 200, 1]
LB: [200,1]
LB: [ 200, 1]

Demonstration program included
as an illustration of how to extend
an RMS-11 task in the event
of pool exhaustion.
Demonstration programs for the
new directory and wildcarding
facilities.

NOTE
All RMSDAP files can be deleted if you are
RMS-11 to access files on remote nodes.

3.6

not

using

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 INSTALLATION

On most RSX-llM systems, all RMS-11 files are automatically on your
system after system generation.
However,
for systems that were
generated using distribution kits on RL01/RL02 or RK06 disks or the
magnetic tape versions of these kits,
the RMS-11 files must be
transferred after system generation.
If your system was not generated
using one of these kits, you may want to skip this section, and go to
the section entitled,_ Startup Command Procedures.

3.6.1

RL01/RL02 and RK06 Procedures

To transfer RMS-11 files to RL01/RL02 and RK06 disks, you must execute
the command procedure
[l,2]RMSINSTAL.CMD.
This procedure is fully
documented in the RSX-llM System Generation and Installation Guide.

3.6.2

Startup Command Procedures

If all the RMS-11 files have been transferred to your system, all you
need to do is install the resident libraries and RMS-11 utilities at
system startup.
To aid you in the installation process,
the file
LB: [l,2]STARTUP.CMD contains sample comments that can be edited to
become system startup commands.

3-9

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES

You must allocate a partition for each resident library you specify by
using the SET command(s).
You must allocate a partition called
RMSRES, and install in that partition either the full-function
resident library
(RMSRES) or the subset library (RMSRESSUB.TSK).
If
you always plan to use the same library (no alternating between the
full-function and the subset library), and you want to save disk
space, you can delete the task image that you are not using.
If you delete the full-function RMSRES.TSK and you plan to use only
RMSRESSUB.TSK,
then rename RMSRESSUB.TSK to RMSRES.TSK.
Renaming
these files will ensure that your programs and RMS-11 utilities will
always link against the task named RMSRES.
NOTE
If you use the subset library and you rebuild the
RMS-11 utilities in their resident library form,
utility functions
for
indexed
files
will
be
invalidated.
You can include the SET commands in your startup command file, or you
may want to include the RMSRES and DAPRES partitions permanently in
your system by doing as follows:
•

Use the SET commands to include the necessary partitions

•

Use the INSTALL commands to install the tasks in
system

•

Use the SAVE command to save RMSRES and DAPRES into the system
image

See your RSX-llM/M-PLUS MCR Operations
about these commands.

3.6.3

Manual

for

the

running

information

Utility Configurations

The RMS-11 utilities that are provided on
built to use disk-overlaid RMS-11.

3.6.3.1

the

distribution

kit

are

Utility Command and ODL Files

For each utility, a command and ODL file is provided that can be used
to build the utility using disk-overlaid RMS-11. The names of the
files are the following:
For
For
For
For
For
For
For

RMSBCK:
RMSRST:
RMSCNV:
RMSDSP:
RMSDES:
RMSDEF:
RMSIFL:

BCKNON.CMD,BCKNON.ODL,RMSODL.ODL
RSTNON.CMD,RSTNON.ODL,RMSODL.ODL
CNVNON.CMD,CNVNON.ODL
DSPNON.CMD,DSPNON.ODL,RMSODL.ODL
DESNON.CMD,DESNON.ODL,RMSDES.ODL
DEFNON.CMD,DEFNON.ODL,RMSODL.ODL
IFLNON.CMD,IFLNON.ODL

For RMSCNV, two additional configurations are available, if you want
to use RMSCNV to access files on remote nodes.
To build RMSCNV using
the clustered RMS-11 and RMSDAP resident libraries, use the following
files:
For RMSCNV:

CNVNRR.CMD,CNVNRR.ODL

3-10

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
To build RMSCNV
following files:
For RMSCNV:

using

disk-overlaid

RMS-11

and

RMSDAP,

use

the

CNVNOO.CMD,CNVNOO.ODL

For each utility, a command and ODL file are provided that can be used
to build the utility with the resident library RMSRES.
The names of
the files are as follows:
For
For
For
For
For
For
For

3.6.3.2

RMSBCK:
RMSRST:
RMSCNV:
RMSDSP:
RMSDES:
RMSDEF:
RMSIFL:

BCKNRN.CMD,BCKNRN.ODL
RSTNRN.CMD,RSTNRN.ODL
CNVNRN.CMD,CNVNRN.ODL
DSPNRN.CMD,DSPNRN.ODL
DESNRN.CMD,DESNRN.ODL
DEFNRN.CMD,DEFNRN.ODL
IFLNRN.CMD,IFLNRN.ODL

Rebuilding the Utilities

To rebuild the utilities, follow these steps:
1.

Set your default account to (1,24] on the system disk.

Use TKB to build the utility or utilities.

The utilities and the corresponding map files will be built in the
current account.
You may then want to put the utility in the system
account ((1,54]).
Each command file for a particular utility creates a utility of the
correct name.
For example,
CNVNRN.CMD and CNVNON.CMD both produce
task images called RMSCNV.TSK.
One is built to use the resident
library and one is built with disk-overlaid RMS-11.

3.7

REPORTING PROBLEMS

Software Performance Reports (SPRs) allow you to report any software
problems directly to DIGITAL.
The appendix of this manual includes
the general procedures for filling out Software Performance Reports.
The following additional information should be submitted with SPRs for
RMS-11 software:
1.

Include the version number and patch level of the RMS-11 that
you are using.

Indicate whether you are using a
programming language to
process the file(s)
and, if so, include the version number
and patch level of the language.

Include a Postmortem Dump and a map of the task involved,
if
RMS-11 aborts
(or
if some other task crashes and RMS-11
appears to be the cause).

3-11

RMS-11 VERSION 2.0 RELEASE NOTES
4.

Include copy(s) of the file(s)

Include copies of the files that can cause the error, if the
errors are reproducible.
If the problem is not reproducible,
include a copy of the corrupt file if possible.

Include a description of the command line(s)
or interactive
session that led to the error (for RMS-11 utilities).

Include a listing of the actual error, if possible.

3-12

involved, in RMSBCK format.

RSX-11 S Release Notes
Version 4.2

CHAPTER 4
RSX-llS NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS

RSX-llS Version 4.2 software is an update of the memory-resident
RSX-llS operating system. This chapter documents the new features and
restrictions that are specific to RSX-llS Version 4.2.

4.1

NEW FEATURES

RSX-llS Version 4.2 supports all of the new devices and most of the
software enhancements that RSX-llM Version 4.2 supports.
(There are
differences in the support for NCT and RX50.)
The following list
summarizes the new features and changes to RSX-llS for Version 4.2.

4.1.1

•

New RX50 (DU:) load device for OTL

•

New TK50 (MU:) cartridge tape subsystem

•

Changes to the distribution kit

•

DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) support

•

Network Command Terminal

(NCT) support

New Device Support

The following new devices are supported on RSX-llS Version 4.2:

• Jll-series processors
• TK50 cartridge tape drive (MU:)
• DEUNA driver
• KDA50-Q controller
• RQDX2 controller
• RQDX3 controller
• LAlOO letterprinter
• LA210 letterprinter
• PC380 (as a VT102/VT125 in emulation mode)

• LN03 laser printer
4-1

RSX-llS NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
•

LQP02 letter quality printer

•

LQP03 letter quality printer

DTCOl DECtalk

•

VT200-series terminals

•

RUX50 UNIBUS interface for the 5-1/4 inch RX50 diskette drive

•

RD53 71Mb disk drive

DHUll UNIBUS multiplexer

•

DHVll Q-BUS multiplexer

•

DZQll Q-BUS multiplexer

See Sections 1.15 and 1.16 for more information on new device support.

4.1.2

New RXSO (DU:) load device for OTL

The RSX-llS On-Line Task Loader (OTL) performs the same functions as
the MCR commands INSTALL and FIX on RSX-llM.
The RXSO diskette (DU:)
is a new load device supported on the OTL for RSX-llS Version 4.2.
OTL requires that the RXSO diskette to be written in RT-11 format.

4.1.3

New TKSO (MU:) Tape Subsystem

RSX-llS supports the new TKSO tape drive.
The TKSO
(MU!)
is an
integrated subsystem that consists of a controller for the Q-BUS and a
TKSO streaming tape drive.
The controller handles all error recovery
and correction, and internally buffers multiple outstanding commands.
The TK50 tape drive (MU:) reads and writes data on a 1/2-inch tape
cartridge that is recorded at 6667 bpi on serial data tracks in a
serial serpentine recording (modified frequency modulation)
method.
The tape speed is 75 inches per second in streaming mode. See Chapter
1, the Device Drivers section, for more information.

4.1. 4

Changes to the Distribution Kit

RSX-llS Version 4.2 is distributed on the following media:

• One RK06 cartridge disk

• One RK07 cartridge disk
• Two RLOl cartridge disks

• One RL02 cartridge disk
• One magnetic tape, 9-track, 800 bpi 2400-foot
• One magnetic tape, 9-track, 1600 bpi, 2400-foot
• One TKSO tape cartridge
I

4-2

RSX-llS NEW FEATURES AND RESTRICTIONS
4.1.5

DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) Support

DIGITAL Storage Architecture (DSA) is necessary to support the MU:
tape devices such as the TK50 tape cartridge. DSA replaces the
previous support for DU:
disk devi9es such as the RD52 disk device.
DSA breaks the host level
into two independent layers:
the class
layer and the port layer.
The class layer handles a class of-devices,
like tapes or disks.
The port layer is responsible for the actual
transmission of packets between the host and controller.

4.1.6

Network Command Terminal (NCT) Support

Network Command Terminal
(NCT)
can be selected
during
system
generation to execute the command RUN SETHST for accessing remote RSX
host systems.
Note that both your current system and the remote
system must run DECnet software in order to use this feature.
NCT defines logical layers and peer protocols
that provide physical
and logical terminals in a distributed environment. These services
are layered on top of DECnet to present a
fully transparent remote
command terminal facility across heterogeneous DIGITAL operating
systems.
NCT implementation is limited to providing support for
an
RSX system to serve as either a host or server system to an RSX or
VAX/VMS system.

4.2

RESTRICTIONS

The following restrictions apply to RSX-llS Version 4.2:
•

!Pll and IPVll Process Control Subsystem software is no longer
included
in the RSX-llS distribution kit. This support is
available as a separate layered software product

as a memory-resident system, does not
provide
• RSX-llS,
any magnetic tape, disk,
directory or file support for
terminal, or print device.
•

RSX-llS does not support the loading of tasks
fixed disk device.

4-3

from

any

MSCP

APPENDIX A

REPORTING PROBLEMS

RSX-llM/RSX-llS provides special features for handling questions or
problems you might encounter while using your system.
Software
Performance Reports (SPRs) allow you to report problems directly to
DIGITAL. This appendix provides information on filling out SPRs.

A.l

HOW TO FILL OUT A SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE REPORT FORM

When you fill out an SPR form, describe only one problem per form,
simplify record keeping and facilitate a more rapid response.

An SPR can be used to report the following:
•

Software errors

•

Documentation errors when the documentation comment
(included at the end of each manual) is not appropriate

•

Inquiries

•

Suggestions

•

Follow-up on a previous SPR

form

An SPR cannot be used to report the following:
•

Software license and price policies

•

Obvious hardware problems

•

Logistical or clerical problems with kits or with The Software
Dispatch,
such as blank media,
or failure to receive The
Software Dispatch

•

Problems with user-written software

There are three categories of reports that you can send:
•

Problem/error
This type of report should have a priority
(Answer is generated.)

A-1

one

five.

REPORTING PROBLEMS
•

Suggested enhancement
This type of report contains suggestions or queries that are
brought to the development group's attention and has a
priority of five.
(No answer is generated.)

•

Other
This type of report contains queries and suggestions that
priority five.
(Answer may be generated.)

are

The priority numbers are as follows:
1.

Most production work cannot be run:
a.

Major system functions are unusable

System does not boot

Necessary peripherals cannot be used

Some production work cannot be iun:
a.

Certain functions are unusable

System performance has declined

Installation has insufficient excess capacity

All production work can be run with some user impact:
a.

Significant manual intervention is required

System performance
excess capacity

installation

has

All production work can be run with no significant impact
user:

a.
5.

declined

but

Problem can be patched

No system modifications
production:
a.

has

are

This category includes
errors in documentation

needed

suggestions,

return

normal

consultations,

Because problems are often difficult to reproduce with a different
system configuration, please define as precisely as possible the state
of the system when the problem occurred.
Illustrate a general problem
with specific examples. When you refer to a manual, specify the full
title and section, table, or page number.
Please supply the following
information
(in
where applicable) when you report a problem:

machine-readable

form

Crash - A copy of the Executive task-build map, output from
the console terminal,
the SYSGEN saved answer file, the
Executive STB file, and the crash dump.
If the crash is
reproducible,
please
accurately
describe the details,
supplying hard copy or user source code when necessary.

Drivers - Controller/device information, software options,
error log output, copy of device registers, and a sample
program.

A-2

REPORTING PROBLEMS
3.

Utilities - A copy of your terminal output,
commands,
before and after effects, and
information.

showing setup
relevant file

Task Builder - A copy of your terminal output command files,
the task map, and a dump of the first few blocks of the task
image.

File system - Corrupted Volume: Output from Verify utility
and dump of the volume.
- Improper results: Error code,
file header dump, sample program.

Error Log Report generator (RPT) - A copy of the report file
generated by RPT, either on a hard copy listing file or on
machine-readable media.

If a failure occurs when you are running privileged, add-on software
(for example,
DECnet), try to reproduce the failure without the
additional software.
Indicate on the SPR the behavior of the system
with and without the add-on software.
The SPR process takes time.
Therefore,
if you have a critical
problem, contact the local DIGITAL office.
In the meantime, read The
Software Dispatch for news on RSX-llM, which includes changes and
problems other people have found and solved.

A-3

APPENDIX B
THE DIGITAL EQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY (DECUS)

DECUS, the DIGITAL Equipment Computer Users Society, is one of the
largest and most active user groups in the computer industry.
It is a
not-for-profit association, supported and administered by DIGITAL, but
actively controlled by members.
DECUS headquarters, located in
Marlborough, Massachusetts, administers all international policies and
activities.
Members include individuals who have purchased, leased,
ordered, or used a DIGITAL computer, or anyone who has an interest in
DECOS. Membership is free and voluntary.

B~l

DECUS GOALS

The primary goals of DECOS are as follow:
•

To advance the art of computation through mutual education and
exchange of ideas and information

•

To establish standards and provide channels to facilitate
exchange of computer programs

•

To provide feedback to DIGITAL regarding hardware and software
customer needs

the

advance the
DIGITAL
computers,
effective
use
of
• To
peripherals, and software by promoting the interchange of
information
To further these goals, DECOS serves its members by holding symposia;
maintaining a program library; publishing an association newsletter,
technical newsletters, and books; and supporting a number of Special
Interest Groups (SIGs}.

B-1

THE DIGITAL EQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY (DECUS)
B.2

DECUS ACTIVITIES

Local, regional, and national DECUS organizations give members the
opportunity to meet other DIGITAL customers and employees in an
informal setting. From the monthly local meetings to the national
symposia, members can discuss their ideas,
learn what others are
doing, and give DIGITAL valuable feedback for
future
product
development.
Often, the national meetings in the various countries also provide the
stage for major new product announcements as well as a showplace for
interesting developments in both hardware and software technology. At
any meeting, members might describe ideas and programs they have
implemented, or fine-tuning that has been achieved for a particular
application.
Members
present
papers,
participate
in
panel
discussions,
lead workshops,
and conduct demonstrations for the
benefit of other members.
Many of the technical papers and presentations from each symposium are
published as a book, the DECUS Proceedings. Copies of the DECUS
Proceedings are supplied to symposTa attendees and can be purchased by
DECUS members.
DECUS also publishes newsletters focusing on special
interests and a society newsletter.
DECUS has a Program Library, which contains over 1,700 software
packages that are written and submitted by users. A wide range of
software is offered,
including
languages,
editors,
numerical
functions,
utilities, display routines, games, and other types of
application software. Library catalogs are available that contain
program descriptions and ordering information.
The programs are
available for a nominal service charge that covers the cost of
reproduction and media.
Many DECUS members derive additional benefits from joining a DECUS
Special Interest Group {SIG). SIGs often meet as subsets of regional
and national meetings.' They may also meet on their own, to discuss
their special field, such as operating systems, languages, processors,
and applications.
There are at least 25 SIGs in the United States
alone.
Many of the SIGs print newsletters and disseminate valuable
technical information to members.
To obtain a membership form for DECUS, contact
representative or the nearest DECUS chapter office.

B-2

DIGITAL

sales

INDEX

ANALYZE/CRASH DUMP command, 1-10
ANALYZE/ERROR-LOG command, 1-11
ANALYZE/MEDIA-command, 1-10
Asynchronous buffered I/O, 1-45
to 1-46
Backup and Restore Utility
See BRO
Batch and Queue Operations, 2-2
documentation changes, 2-2
BRO, 1-21, 1-42
See also BRU64K
See also BRUSYS
distribution kit, 1-21
documentation changes, 2-3 to
2-5
error message, 1-23
multivolume disk backup, 1-22
qualifiers, 1-23
restrictions, 1-22
stand-alone, 2-4
BRU64K, 1-21
restrictions, 1-22
BRUSYS, 1-5, 1-21, 1-43, 2-4
CDA, 1-54
assign table, 1-55
data structures, 1-55
device support, 1-55
documentation changes, 2-16
Controllers
See Device support
Crash Dump Analyzer
See CDA
DCL, 1-9
ANALYZE/CRASH DUMP command,
1-10
ANALYZE/ERROR LOG command, 1-11
ANALYZE/MEDIA-command, 1-10
device support, 1-9
INITIALIZE/BADBLOCKS command,
1-12
qualifiers, 1-10 to 1-13
restriction, 1-14
SET FILE command, 1-11
SET HOST command, 1-11
SHOW HOST command, 1-11
Debugging, 1-53
documentation changes, 2-10

DECnet software, 1-4, 1-8, 1-11,
1-35, 1-39
DEC US
activities, B-2
goals, B-1
membership, B-2
proceedings, B-2
special interest groups, B-2
DEUNA driver, 1-33, 1-19
Device drivers, 1-33, 1-38
DEUNA driver, 1-3, 1-33, 1-39
DUDRV, 1-39
full-duplex terminal, 1-38
MSDRV, 1-40
MUDRV, 1-40 to 1-41
RD53 disk drive, 1-33, 1-39
restriction, 1-44
TK25 tape subsystem, 1-40
TK50, 1-41
TK50 tape subsystem, 1-33
user-written, 1-44 to 1-46
Device restrictions, 1-36 to 1-37
DLVJl, 1-37
LK201 keyboard, 1-37
RQDXl, 1-37
RX50, 1-36
TK50, 1-36
Device support, 1-1, 1-32
See also Device drivers
See also Printer support
DHUll UNIBUS multiplexer, 1-2
DHVll Q-BUS multiplexer, 1-2
DTCOl DECtalk, 1-2
DU: device, 1-4, 1-35, 1-55,
4-1
DZQll Q-BUS multiplexer, 1-2
Jll-series processors, 1-3,
1-32
LSI-11/73, 1-32
MicroPDP-11/73, 1-32
MicroPDP-11/83, 1-32
PDP-11/84, 1-32
KDA50-Q controller, 1-32, 1-40
MicroPDP-11/23 processor, 1-3
MS: device, 1-40, 1-55
MU: device, 1-4, 1-5, 1-21,
1-22, 1-35, 1-40 to 1-41,
1-55, 4-2
PC380 terminal, 1-33
RQDX2 controller, 1-32
RQDX3 controller, 1-32

Index-1

INDEX
Device support (Cont.)
RUX50 UNIBUS interface, 1-33,
1-40
VT200-series terminals, 1-33
Devices no longer supported
IPll and IPVll software, 4-3
DIGITAL Command Language
See DCL
DIGITAL Equipment Computer Users
Society
See DECUS
DIGITAL Storage Architecture
See DSA
Disk Volume Formatter
See FMT
Distribution kit, 1-5
DMP
documentation changes, 2-5
Drivers
See Device drivers
DSA, 1-35, 4-3
Error logging, 1-53
control files, 1-53
device support, 1-54
documentation changes, 2-15
$EPKDF.MAC, 2-15
restriction, 1-54
type and subtype codes, 2-15
Executive, 1-25
code, 1-26
data structures, 1-26 to 1-27
documentation changes, 2-12
FEAT$ directive, 1-25
high-level language interface,
1-25
Exercising Terminals
See IOX
Fast Task Builder
See TKB
FCSRES, 1-31
See also TKB
restriction, 1-31
File attribute codes, 1-51
File Transfer Program
See FLX
FLX, 1-24, 1-43
device support, 1-24
documentation changes, 2-5
FMT, 1-24
device support, 1-24
documentation changes, 2-6
Full-duplex terminal, 1-38
IO.EIO function, 1-38

I/O operations, 1-47
block locking, 1-48
Buffer Flush Routine, 1-48
directory identification, 1-48
documentation changes, 2-8
FA.SHR parameter, 1-47
FCS, 1-49
FD.PRN parameter, 1-47
FD.RAN parameter, 1-48
label format, 1-50
offsets, 1-49
restrictions, 1-51
big buffering, 1-51
block size, 1-52
multibuffer processing, 1-51
I/O operations/label format, 1-50
Indirect, 1-17
command procedure library, 1-19
delimiters, 1-18
DIRECT symbol, 1-18
documentation changes, 2-2
ICP version, 1-19
ICQ version, 1-20
ICQRES version, 1-20
restriction, 1-18
SYTYP symbol, 1-18
TITYPE symbol, 1-18
VERSN symbol, 1-18
Indirect Command Processor
See Indirect
INITIALIZE/BADBLOCKS command,
1-12
IOX, 1-53
IPll software
layered product, 1-36, 4-3
LAlOO letterprinter, 1-33
LA210 letterprinter, 1-33
LBR
documentation changes, 2-6
LN03 printer, 1-33
LQP02 printer, 1-33
LQP03 printer, 1-33
MACR0-11, 1-55
MCS support, 1-56
using a colon (:), 1-56
version 5.0, 1-58 to 1-60
version 5.1, 1-57 to 1-58
version 5.3, 1-55 to 1-56
Magnetic tape control task, 1-50
keywords, 1-50
MCR, 1-6
BOOT command, 1-37
device support, 1-7

Index-2

INDEX
MCR (Cont.)
documentation changes, 2-1 to
2-2
FIX command, 4-2
INI /BAD command, 1-12
INSTALL command, 4-2
MOUNT keywords, 1-7
SET keywords, 1-7, 1-8
Memory-resident system, 4-3
Monitor Console Routine
See MCR
MOUNT command, 1-42
NCT, 1-35
RSX-llS, 4-3
Network Command Terminal
See NCT
On-Line Task Loader
See OTL
OTL, 4-2
RX50 load device, 4-2
Overlapped I/O completion, 1-46
PAT
documentation changes, 2-7
PIP, 1-43
documentation changes, 2-7
Printer support, 1-33
form types, 1-34
LAlOO, 1-33
LA210, 1-33
LN03, 1-33
LQP02, 1-33
LQP03, 1-33
modifying, 1-35
selecting, 1-33
Processors
See Device support
Products no longer supported
DJll terminal interface, 1-36
TCll - TU56 tape subsystem,
1-36
Queue Manager, 1-24
/NM switch, 1-25
restriction, 1-25
RC25 disk subsystem, 1-38
stalling 1/0, 1-38
RD53 disk drive, 1-33, 1-39
Record Management Services
See RMS-11
Reporting problems, A-1
filling out SPRs, A-1 to A-3

Reporting problems (Cont.)
RMS-11, 3-11
REWIND command, 1-42
RMS-11
access methods, 3-3, 3-4
documentation changes, 3-6 to
3-7, 3-7
error messages, 3-4, 3-5, 3-7
files in the distribution kit,
3-7
installation, 3-9
new features, summary, 3-1
operations, 3-4
remote access
to RSTS/E, 3-1
reporting problems, 3-11
See also Reporting problems
startup command procedure, 3-9
utilities
command and ODL files, 3-10
rebuilding, 3-11
RMSBCK, 3-2
RMSCNV, 3-1, 3-4, 3-5
RMSDES, 3-3
RMSDSP, 3-2
RMSIFL, 3-3, 3-5
RMSRST, 3-2, 3-6
RMSBCK, 3-2
switches, 3-2
RMSCNV, 3-1, 3-4, 3-5
RMSDES, 3-3, 3-7
RMSDSP, 3-2, 3-7
switches~ 3-2
RMSIFL, 3-3, 3-5
RMSRST, 3-2, 3-6
switches, 3-2
RSX-llS
device support, 4-1
distribution kit, 4-2
new features, summary, 4-1
restrictions, 4-3
RUN SETHST command, 4-3
RX50 load device for OTL, 4-2
RUX50 UNIBUS interface, 1-33
RX50 diskette, 4-2
Saved answer file, 1-3
SET FILE command, 1-11
SET HOST command, 1-11
SHOW HOST command, 1-11
Slow Task Builder
See TKB
SLP
documentation changes, 2-7 to
2-8

lndex-3

INDEX
Software performance reports
See Reporting problems
SPR
See Reporting problems
SYSGEN, 1-6
See also System generation
changes to questions, 1-4
GBLDEF enhancement, 1-4
SYSLIB
See System library routines,
1-31
System generation, 1-2
device support, 1-3
distribution kit, 1-5
documentation changes, 2-1
on a VAX/VMS system, 1-4
on-line, 1-6
restrictions, 1-6
stand-alone, 1-5
System library routines, 1-31
documentation changes, 2-8 to
2-10
FCSRES, 1-31
System management, 1-52
IOX, 1-53
VMR, 1-52

TK50 tape subsystem (Cont.)
mounting the tape, 1-42
performance using RSX utilities,
1-42
BRU, 1-42
BRUSYS, 1-43
FLX, 1-43
PIP, 1-43
tape indicators, 1-44
TKB, 1-27
and FCSFSL, 1-29
and FCSRES, 1-29
/CL switch, 1-28
/CODE:CLI qualifier, 1-28
documentation changes, 2-10 to
2-12
error message, 2-12
Fast Task Builder, 1-28
/FAST MAP qualifier, 1-28
/FM switch, 1-28
offsets, 2-12
restrictions, 1-30
/SB switch, 1-27
/SLOW qualifier, 1-27
Slow Task Builder, 1-27, 1-28
/SS switch, 1-31

Task Builder
See TKB
TDX, 1-14
commands, 1-14
installing, 1-14
permanently, 1-17
modifying source file, 1-16
TF.TMO subfunction, 1-38
TK25 tape subsystem, 1-40
TK50
tape cartridge, 1-5
tape drive, 1-5
TK50 tape subsystem, 1-33, 1-37,
1-41 to 1-44, 4-2
dismounting the tape, 1-42

User Environment Test Package
(UETP) , 1-36
User-written device drivers, 1-44
to 1-46
documentation changes, 2-12 to
2-14
Virtual Monitor Console Routine
See VMR
VMR, 1-52 to 1-53
keywords, 1-52 to 1-53
Writing an I/O driver, 1-44 to
1-46
documentation changes, 2-12 to
2-14

Index-4

RSX-llM/RSX-118
Release Notes
AA-25731-TC
READER'S COMMENTS
NOTE: This form is for document comments only. DIGITAL will use comments submitted on this form at the
company's discretion. If you require a written reply and are eligible to receive one under Software
Performance Report (SPR) service, submit your comments on an SPR form.

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