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XX-08395-C4

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Document:	TSX-Plus 6.0 Corrections
Order Number:	XX-08395-C4
Revision:	0
Pages:	6
Original Filename:	http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/tsxPlus/manuals_6.0/TSX-Plus_6.0_Corrections.pdf

OCR Text

The following corrections are included in TSX-Plus version 6.0:
1.

When a .CLOSE is performed to an I/O channel that is opened to a CL device,
or a SET CL LINE=~ command or EHT is executed, a check is made to see if
any output is currently pending in the output ring buffer for the CL unit.
If there is pending output, the job is suspended until the output is
completed or until a maximum of 20 seconds of time have elapsed. This
prevents truncation of CL output issued just prior to disconnecting the CL
unit from a line.

TSX-plus \vould lose the first character typed after initiating a logon
after the terminal had been turned off or a break character was transmitted
to the system. This problem only occurred on lines which were not
generated with autobaud speed setting.

A job would lose the memory mapping to PLAS regions when a shared run-time
system was disassociated from the job.

TSX-Plus would generate XON/XOFF flow control characters on lines connected
to DHV11 multiplexers even if the line was in use as a CL line with the
BININ/BINOUT flags set.

The .CSIGEN EMT has been corrected. Previously, if the command line \-Jas
provided by the program (rather than being prompted for by . CSIGEN), and an
error was detected such as a specified device or file not existing, the
.CSIGEN &"'1T purged all channels before returning the error code. Now the
.CSIGEN does not purge the channels, so you can tell which file was in
error by checking the channel status. This change makes the TSX-Plus
.CSIGEN processing comply with that done by RT-ll.

The SET LOG CLEAN co~nand now correctly resets the highest-block-written
information for the log file.

The keyboard monitor information message "Device is still mounted by other
users" was displayed inappropriately when dismounting a logical disk.

The highest-block-written value for a file was incorrectly set if an
invalid block nQ~ber was specified with a ~~ite operation and the word
count was zero. A write with a word count of zero now performs no
operation.

The open of the spool file used to fail during TSX-Plus startup if the
RT-l1 device handler was not loaded. Now the initialization code fetches
the handler before trying to open the spool file.

10.

Register a eRa) was destroyed if a BPT instruction was used in a program to
cause the TSX-Plus debugger to be started. This problem only occurred when
the BPT instruction was executed before the debugger had been initialized
(i.e., it didn't occur when BPI was executed as a result of having set
breakpoints I;vith the debugger).

11.

A system crash could occur if data caching was enabled for a device at the
time that an I/O request for the device was waiting for a free UNIBUS map
register. This problem could only occur on UNIBUS systems with more than
256 Kb of memory.

12.

A .CHAIN EMT used to call the handler abort entry points, it no longer
does.

13.

A problem in TSAUTH has been corrected which prevented the KILL command
from removing all selected accounts when a wildcard was specified.

14.

The. SPCPS EHT did not work.

15.

A user defined command of the form:
XXX:==R DIR DK:\R DIR DK:
used to only execute DIR one time (the second part of the command was
ignored).

16.

The EMT to send a message to another line did not correctly truncate the
message if it was too long.

17.

A system hang could occur if a terminal read timeout occurred at the same
time that a character was received from the terminal.

18.

The .CSISPC EMT to parse a file specification allowed two dots in the file
name.

19.

ceL version 3.00L corrects two problems. The /DELETE and /REMOVE library
command switches now generate an output file (with the same name as the
input file) when only one file is specified on the command line. Several
command switches (/LIST, /MAP, /PRINT, etc.) no longer interfere with the
positioning of other switches (/BEGIN, /PASS, etc.) in the expanded command
line.

20.

SYSMON changes.

20.1 SYSMON was altered to display all three digits of the job priority in the
job execution status display. The PRIV flag \vas removed from the terminal
status display, in accordance ~rrth the new privilege structure.
20.2 The SET SL SUBSTITUTE option was added to the terminal display screen.
20.3 A zero length message no longer causes a trap in the message display
screen.
20.4 The message display screen now requires either OPER or SYSPRV privilege to
run (in addition to ME~ll1AP). You may install SYSMON with OPER or SYSPRV in
addition to HEHMAP to bypass this restriction if desired.
20.5 The CL line display has been modified to display up to 16 lines, CLO - CL7
and C10 - C17.
20.6 The third terminal status line is now correctly cleared in the terminal
status display.
21.

A correction was made to prevent a log file from continuing to write onto
the device when a USR error occurred during closing of the log file.

22.

Read and write operations with word counts of 0 (zero) are now ignored
(treated as NaP's) rather than returning error codes.

23.

The DL and DM handlers contain corrections for bad block replacement
operations.

PRO /TSX-PLUSTM
PRO/TSX-Plus is a multi-user, multi-tasking, real-time operating
jstem for Digital Equipment Corporation Professional 300 series
-computers with up to 4Mb main memory.
PRO/TSX-Plus is fully compatible with TSX-Plus, S&H's multiuser, multi-tasking, real-time operating system for Digital's PDP-11
minicomputers. TSX-Plus is currently in use at over 4000 sites
worldwide.
PRO/TSX-Plus provides the functionality of the Digital RT-11
operating system to multiple users on a time-sharing basis. With
well over 80,000 licensees world-wide, RT-11 is Digital's most
widely used operating system. Although RT-11· and PRO/TSXPlus include many sophisticated features, they retain the emphasis on ease of use and human engineering pioneered by RT-11.
Thus RT-11 and PRO/TSX-Plus are well suited for the novice as
well as the experienced user.

supports most system service calls (EMT's) provided by the
RT-11 XM monitor. (The RT-11 multi-terminal EMT's and the
BATCH utility are not supported.) Devices supported by RT-11
are also supported by PRO/TSX-Plus.

Productivity
PRO/TSX-Plus allows the same machine to simultaneously support production use, program development and real-time control. Through the virtual line and detached job features, individual users have concurrent control over multiple jobs.
PRO/TSX-Plus allows dynamic redefinition of time-sharing lines
for use as serial 1/0 devices. For example, the communication
port may be used at times as a "dial-in" time-sharing line, and
at other times may be taken over for use as a dial-out" communication line to a remote computer. The printer port may be
used either as a time-sharing line or to drive a printer or other
output device.
II

PRO/TSX-Plus provides 3 time-sharing lines

High-Speed Execution

PRO/TSX-Plus allows use of the console terminal and two auxiliary terminals connected through the printer and communication ports as time-sharing lines. The CL facility permits redefinition of the printer port or communications port for spooled
printing, communications, or other 1/0 functions as defined by
the user, thus providing maximal flexibility in use of system
resources.
PRO/TSX-Plus includes: three time-sharing lines; three virtual
lines; two detached lines; three extra CL units (one spooled);
generalized data cache; 64Kb virtual job regions; virtual array
and virtual overlay support (PLAS); shared file record locking;
message channels; user defined commands; logical subset disks;
~jngle line editor; and the SYSMON utility.

PRO/TSX-Plus addresses all installed memory on the Professional 300 series, up to 4Mb. Up to 64Kb is available to each
job, and it is possible for jobs using virtual overlays or virtual
arrays to utilize all the physical memory not reserved for the operating system. For the PRO 350, up to 8 jobs may be in memory
at the same time, allowing rapid switching between executing
jobs.
PRO/TSX-Plus caches recently used directory entries to eliminate directory searches for frequently accessed files. PRO/TSXPlus also provides general purpose data caching for all mounted
devic-es. Caches are used to keep copies of recently or frequently
used disk information in memory. Then, when jobs need to read
the cached data, the operating system automatically supplies it
from the cache, eliminating unnecessary disk access, and thus
speeding program execution.

RT-11 Compatibility
Most programs that run with RT-11 will run with PROITSX-Plus
without modification. PRO/TSX-Plus interfaces with standard
RT-11 device handlers (XM version) and supports RT-11 utility
programs. PRO/TSX-Plus keyboard commands include those
provided by RT-11, vvith significant extensions. PRO/TSX-P!us

--- -

Highly Productive Development
Compiling and linking programs under PRO/TSX-Plus can take
a fraction of the time required under other mUlti-user operating

...

.....
,IF _
T~

l_
Ilt

systems. As an exam pie of the performance attainabie under
PRO/TSX-Plus, the following tabie contains performance figures
for COBOL-Plus. The first compile rate and link time shown were
measured with a 300 block data cache installed, the second
measurements, shown in parenthesis, were made without data
cache.
COBOL-Plus
Hardware
CPU
Disk
11/44
RM02
11/73
RL02
PR0350
RD51

Compile Rate
lines/minute
3117
(2487)
1793
(1470)
1225
(490)

Link Time
sec/1000 lines
4 ( 4)
4 ( 4)
8 (12)

Editors supported by PRO/TSX-Plus include KED, K52, TECO
and others. Languages available for use with PRO/TSX-Plus
include MACRO-11, C, PRO/COBOL-Plus™, FORTRAN,
FORTRAN-77, Pascal-2, DBL and BASIC.
The program debugging facility allows a programmer to examine and modify the program and to set breakpoints. The debugger does not have to be linked with the program being
debugged, and does not reduce the program's memory space.

Efficiency
Through the Adaptive Scheduling AlgorithmTM, PRO/TSXPlus overlaps terminal interaction time, I/O wait time and CPU
compute time for all jobs. The result is a tremendous increase
in the productivity of the computer. Compute-bound jobs can
soak up idle time while many users perform file editing, program
development or data entry. Jobs are classified for execution as
high, interactive or low priority tasks. Within the interactive group,
job scheduling is optimized for terminal operations.

Real-time Concurrent with Time-sharing
PRO/TSX-Plus provides facilities for real-time jobs which may
control their memory mapping, I/O page access, execution priority, and swapping. Real-time jobs may run concurrently with
other time-sharing jobs, or disable time-sharing.

Many Compatible Software Products
S&H's Compatible Software Products list currently includes
over 50 sources of vertical applications, 10 word-processing
packages, 5 electronic mail packages, 9 networking and/or file
transfer packages, 6 spreadsheet and financial modeling packages, graphics packages, 2 statistical analysis systems, 5 COBOL
and/or DIBOL program and report generators, 6 editors, 4
sources of cross assembiers, 11 database management systems,
and 37 sources of utilities, device handlers and miscellaneous
packages; over 190 packages in all.
Digital's PDP-11 Software Source Book lists over 425 applications and 300 systems software products available under
RT-11. Many of those products are compatible with
PRO/TSX-Plus.

Simplicity and Rexibility
In order to time-share with PRO/TSX-Plus, the user boots to
RT-11 FB and then types the command R TSX. In about 15
seconds, PRO/TSX-Plus completely replaces the RT-11 monitor
and assumes control of the computer system.
PRO/TSX-Pius prov;des a dyn2nic system :Jerform2nce display utility 8rei orhe- tools to 8ie.;yze a'1d
sys:eri
oerfo!"mance,

Security

The optional logon facility requires users to enter a user nam '
or project/programmer number and password before they can
access the system. Users may be locked to specific programs
and limited to specific physical and/or logical disks (8 logical disks
per account). System usage statistics are maintained for each
account.

Convenience
PRO/TSX-Plus provides user defined commands, user-written
command interfaces, an extended command file facility with up
to 6 parameters, autobaud dial-in communications, support for
RT-11 's IND, a transparent print spooler, logical disk subsetting
(up to 8 logical disks for each user), shared file record locking
and inter-program messages.

PRO/TSX-Plus Technical Details

The Adaptive Scheduling AlgorithmTM
Jobs are scheduled in three priority categories: high, interactive, and low. The range of each category is: low, 0 to 19; interactive, 20 to 79; high, 80 to 127. Each job's priority number in
the 0 to 127 range may be selected either with a keyboard command or a system service call.
Jobs in the high priority range execute strictly according to
priority. That is, if there are two high priority jobs, the one with A
the higher priority will execute whenever it is active. The IoWl.
one will only execute when the higher priority job is not execut
ble, Le. suspended or in a wait state. Interactive jobs will only
be executed when no high priority jobs need service. Jobs in
the low priority range are also executed strictly according to priority. They execute only when no jobs of any higher priority need
service.
Interactive jobs are scheduled according to a more flexible
algorithm based on their activity. Within the interactive priority
group, jobs are scheduled mainly according to their use and only
secondarily according to their priority number. Some events
which influence interactive job scheduling are: terminal input; I/O
completion; terminal output; and duration of execution.
The Adaptive Scheduling AlgorithmTM, unique to PRO/TSXPlus and TSX-Plus results in excellent system response to terminal operators while maintaining the flexibility to handle critical realtime jobs and fill system idle time with low priority tasks. Tools
are provided to assist the system manager in optimizing
PRO/TSX-Plus for the individual installation.

Command Rles
Up to 6 parameters can be passed to a command file from
a command line. These parameters may be substituted into the
command file at arbitrary points. It is possible with PRO/TSXPlus command files to have all program terminal input come from
the command file, including input accepted by use of the .nYl N
EMT. Command files that have names which do not conflict with
standard system commands may be placed on the system
device and executed as system keyboard commands.

Communications Device Handler (CL]

A general purpose, three-line, full-duplex, serial device han-~
dler (CL) is included, This handler permits attachment of serial
printers, plotters, and other communications devices to the system tf..,roug h the pr>lter and COn1rr'unication !r:teri'aces, One of

PRO /TSX-PLUSTM
~hese units is spooled. Additionally, individual communications

Jnits may dynamically take over inactive time-sharing lines for
temporary use as I/O devices, and the time-sharing lines may
be later restored.

Data and Directory Caching
Directory entries for files on mounted devices are maintained
in a memory cache. When the cache is full, the least recently
used entries are replaced as new directory entries are needed.
This eliminates possible lengthy directory searches for recently
or frequently accessed files.
General purpose data caching maintains whole blocks in memory using a least-recently-used algorithm like that for directory
caching. Data caching eliminates disk I/O for read operations

when the desired block is in the cache. PRO/TSX-Plus reserves
150 Kb of memory for caching data from mounted devices.
As an example of the data cache's effectiveness, COBOL-Plus
will compile 1225 lines per minute on a PRO 350 with PRO/TSXPlus and a 300 block data cache. Without the data cache, the
compilation rate is 490 lines per minute.
Because PRO/TSX-Plus directory and data caches are "writetnrnllnn"
ri::lt::l intAnrit\l
ic:: m::lint::linpri
;:;:J ••
, .........................
'''J ._
...................... '" • __ in thp p\/pnt flf h~rrl\Al~rp
'-'4.,.....,
...

.....

'''_~.

\,.

...., '" _ .

I ..

11'-""1"-" ....

failure.

Detached Jobs
Detached jobs operate like a "batch" facility and may either
be initiated automatically upon PRO/TSX-Plus start-up or by the
DETACH keyboard command. Once started, detached jobs are
not associated with any terminal. All terminal input for a detached
job must come from a command file and terminal output is dis~arded or may be sent to a log file. Communication with other
lobs can be accomplished bv use of the inter-iob messaae communication facility. .
.
~

Dynamic System Display Utility
SYSMON helps the system manager optimize system resource
use and monitor system performance. It provides dynamic screen

Memory-management Implementation
PRO/TSX-Plus utilizes the memory management facilities of
the Professional 300 series computer to access up to 4Mb of
memory. The memory management facility protects the system
by preventing user jobs from halting the machine or storing outside their program regions. Up to 64Kb of memory is directly
available to each job. A "MEMORY" command can be used
to control the memory space allocated to a job. Through the use
of virtual overlays and/or FORTRAN virtual arrays, jobs may use
all of free memory up to 300 Kb. Up to 8 jobs may be resident
in memory at the same time.
When there are more jobs active on the system than total memory space, PRO/TSX-Plus uses a priority and time-slice scheduling system to determine which jobs to keep in memory and which
to swap out to disk file. Jobs are never s'Napped unnecessarily.

Printer Spooling
VVhen the spooled communication unit is attached to the printer
port, it supports automatic spooling. The spooler supports forms,
including form requests, alignment, and locking. All files needing th,e currently mounted form may be printed before form
changes, or forms may be mounted in the order of requests in
the output queue. The most recent portion of the current file may
also be reprinted in case of paper jams, and individual entries
in the spooler queue may be deleted.

Program Debugging
A program may be debugged by simply starting it with the
RUN/DEBUG command. The debuaaer is implemented as a
system overlay, so that the program need not be modified, the
debuQQer need not be linked with the proQram, and it does not
conflicf with the job's memory space. The program may be
executed and modified and break points may be set. Program
execution may be dynamically interrupted from the keyboard as
if a break point had been hit. Instructions may be decoded and
displayed as their symbolic assembler mnemonics.

displays of CPU and !/O resource utilization, including bar graphs
of system and user execution time, and information on cache
usage, and message channel, job and terminal status.

Inter-Program Messages
Running programs can send messages to each other. Messages are queued through one or more named "message channels". Receiving programs can test for the presence of messages
on a named channel and can suspend their execution until a
message arrives.

Logon Access Control
Users may be required to "log on" with either a user name
or project/programmer number and password before being
qranted system access The Iooon fadlitv also kOO06 track of svstem usage statistics including -the number of logons, total connect time and total CPU usage of each account.
Using the logon system, users may have access restricted to
certain devices, logical subset disks, or specific files. In addition,
individual terminals or users may be "locked" to a particular program so that program is automatically executed at logon and
the user is "Ioooed off" on exit or abort from that oroaram. Comnand files may~also be specified for execution when~ever a user
~··Iogs off.
Start-up and log-off command files cannot be aborted by the
user. They are used to restrict device and file access, grant certain types of privilege, and restrict maximum job priority.

Real-time Program Support
Real-time programs can be run concurrently 'vvith normal timesharing operations. Real-time programs may also change their
virtual memory mapping, access the I/O page, convert virtual
to physical addresses, influence job scheduling and execution
priority, lock themselves in memory, and specify devices to be
reset on program termination.

Shared Files and Record Locking
File access for several cooperating programs that wish to share
a common file can be coordinated. A program may request
exclusive access to one or more blocks within a file. If the blocks
are not locked bv another oroqram the 8(',('ESS is permitted.
Otherwise, at the' program's option, an error code is returned
or the program is suspended until the desired blocks are
available.

Virtual Lines
Virtual lines allow each time-shari no user to control several
simultaneously running programs from a single terminal. This is
done by allowing the user to logically disconnect the terminal
from the primary time-sharing iine and reconnect it to a different
virtual line. A virtual line may be used just like an additional terminal. When a program that is not currently connected to a time-

sharing line writes output to the terminal, the output is stored in
a buffer area; when the buffer is filled, the program is suspended
until the user reattaches to the program and accepts the queued
output. Switching to a virtual line is accomplished by typing
control-W followed by a digit that selects the line to which the
user wishes to attach.

Hardware/software Required
CPU: Professional 300 Series
Minimum memory for time-sharing: 512 Kb
Minimum disk storage for time-sharing: 5 Mb Hard Disk
Operating system: RT-11 Version 5.01

Who is S&H?
S&H Computer Systems, Inc. was established in 1975 with
the goal of providing efficient systems level software that would
take full advantage of the Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-II
computer systems. The introduction of TSX in that year revolutionized the use of small PDP-II systems by time sharing the
RT-11 operating system.
Today, over 5,000 PDP-II sites in the USA and 25 countries
benefit from s&H's dedication to high performance: RTSORT (R),
a fast and flexible disk sort; COBOL-Plus (R), a mainframe and
micro Cobol compatible ANSI-74 Cobol; and TSX-Plus (R), a
general purpose, multi-tasking, multi-user operating system supporting up to 4Mb of memory on the PDP-II. In 1984, S&H
introduced two products designed for use with the Digital's
Professional 300 series: PRO/TSX-Plus. PRO/COBOL-Plus. and
PRO/RTSORT.

This brochure contains the latest information available at the
time of its publication. To insure you have current information
regarding the features in these products and their level of - - implementation, please contact S&H Computer Systems, Inc.,
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.
S&H Computer Systems, Inc. reserves the right to modify or
revise the content of this document. No contractual obligation
is expressed or implied by S&H Computer Systems, Inc. regarding the products, their features and/or the scope, level or timing
of their implementation.
© Copyright 1983, 1984 S&H Computer Systems, Inc. Nashville, Tennessee,
U.SA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
RT-11, PDP-11, Professional 300 series and PRO 350 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
~--,
PascaI-2 is a trademark of Oregon Software.
DBL is a trademark of Digital Information Systems Corporation.

s&h computer systems, inc.
1027 17th ave. south • nashville, tn 37212 • USA • [615J 327-3670 • telex 786577 SAND H UD