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DEC-08-XPDBE-B-D

May 1975

3 pages

Original

0.2MB

Document:	04.11.01 7506 OS8 Fortran
Order Number:	DEC-08-XPDBE-B-D
Revision:
Pages:	3
Original Filename:	http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/spd/04.11.01_7506_OS8_Fortran.pdf

OCR Text

momoomo

Software Product Description
PRODUCT NAME:

CLASSIC OS/8 FORTRAN IV

SPD 4.11.1

DESCRIPTION:
The CLASSIC (CLASSroom Interactive Computer) system is one of
Digital Equipment Corporation's educational computer systems.
It was designed for use in instructional applications in all
levels of education for problem solving and computational tasks.
Compact, powerful, and easy to use and operate, the CLASSIC
system is ideal for use by computer knowledgeable and inexperienced users alike.
The CLASSIC system software, CLASSIC OS/8 FORTRAN IV, is a
pure subset of the standard OS/8 operating system. The
subset has been defined for ease of use in any educational
environment. Yet the power of the CLASSIC system is not
limited by this software system design. This software contains
a prebuilt system moritor which contains only the device handlers needed by the standard CLASSIC hardware package. CLASSIC
OS/8 FORTRA!t IV is contained on a single flexible disk.
The CLASSIC OS/8 FORTRAN IV system includes the following
programs:
Concise Command Language (CeL) - Provides the user with an
extensive set of terminal commands including COPY, ,DATE,
DIRECT, LIST, DELETF, ED!'!', RENAl~F., SQtJISR, TYPE, and ZERO.
PIP (Peripheral Interchange Program) is a versatile file
manipulation routine. PIP may be used to copy the CLASSIC
system disk onto a blank disk.
FOTP (File Oriented Transfer Program) allows the user to
transfer files and/or groups of files between two devices.
FDIT is used to create or modify source and data files for use
iSTnput to the FORTRAN IV language compiler. EDIT contains
powerful text manipulation co~mands for quicy. and ensy
interactive editing.
FORTRAN IV is a widely-accepted programming language made up of
formatted statements that are very similar to the language of
conventional algebra and higher mathematics. Thc'FOFTRAN IV
language is an extended version of ANSI FORTRAN Standard
JUNE 1975

D.EC-O 8 -XPDBE-B-D

CLASSIC FORTRAN IV

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X3.9-1966.

All the standard FORTRAN language features except double precision arithmetic are supported by CLASSIC FORTRAN IV. It
provides an easy-to-use, versatile system that finds wide
application whenever fast, powerful mathematical capabilities
are required.
FORTRAN IV permits generalized array subscripting and one- to
seven-dimensional arrays. This makes bulk data easier to store
and access than in any other PDP-8 language. FORTRAbT IV also
offers direct access I/O. With this additional feature, the
user may directly reference any record in a data file. In
the traditional· scientific area, direct access I/O provides the
capability for virtual arrays; in the commercial area, it
greatly simplifies and speeds up access to data bases.
Mixed mode arithmetic is implemented under FORTRAbl IV, along
octal constants, logical IF statements, and general arithmetic
expressions in IF statements. In addition, FORTRAN IV provides
for initial values in specification statements and a full set
of Boolean operators.
Text manipulation is greatly facilitated by Hollerith field
specifications for text, as well as literals and constants.
DATA statements, BLOCK DATA, and common and EQUIVAL~tCE are
fully supported. There is also provision for arithmetic
function definition. All features are optimized with respect
to execution timing.
CLASSIC FORTRAN IV has an extensive library of mathematical
functions for calculating logarithms, absolute values, and
trigonometric functions. Other functions facilitate the
manipulation of character strings.
Overlays are another key design feature of FORTRAN IV, which
provides a tree-structured dynamic overlay mechanism that
automatically loads overlays on call, without the need for call
overlay, call link or call chain statements. As many as seven'
independent overlay levels may be defined with up to 16 overlays
in each level. Overlays allow programs larger than the main
memory size to be run on CLASSIC.
Error diagnostics are an important aspect of the FORTRAN
language. Like any other good FORTRAN compiler, FORTRAN IV
detects, flags, and explains many format errors, giving clear
English comments. However, beyond that, os/a FORTRAN IV
provides complete error traceback, showing the entire flow of
program control that terminated in the erroneous statement.
The high speed and full language capability of FORTRAN IV are
ideally suited to an educational environment, in which students
are expected to perform computational tasks on large amounts of
data, as well as learn the FORTRAN language. The large set of

CLASSIC FORTRAN IV

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diagnostics makes it easy for a student to locate and correct his
errors.
MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIRED:
CLASSIC system
OPTIONAL HARDWARE SUPPORTED:
None
PREREQUISITE SOFTWARE:
None
OPTIONAL SOFTWARE SUPPORTED:
None
TRAINING CREDITS:
None
SUPPORT CATEGORY:
C, ,all services for a fee.
UPDATE POLICY:
Any future updates will be available at the prevailing handling
and service charges.
ORDERING INFORMATION:
This software is furnished under a license for use on'a single
CPU and can be copied and modified (with inclusion of DIGITAL's
copyright notice) only for use on such CPU, except as may otherwise be provided in writing by DIGITAL.
CLASSIC OS/8 FORTRAN IV software is a CLASSIC option and may be
purchased only by lic~nsed CLASSIC 05/8 BASIC users.
QFE08-CY

Single-use license, binaries on Floppy Disk and documentation

04.11.1