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DEC-8E-UTDEA

December 1972

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IDENTIFICATION
PRODUCT CODE:

DEC-8E-UTDEA-A-D

PRODUCT NAME:

TD8E DECtape Copy
User’s Manual

DATE CREATED:

May 1972

YI”P.INTAINER:

Development

T D 8 E DECtape Copy

User s blanual

SOFTWARE SUPPORT CATEGORY
The s o f t w a r e d e s c r i b e d i n
t h i s document i s s u p p o r t e d

by D i g i t a l Equipment Corpo r a t i o n under Category I ,
as d e f i n e d on page iii of
t h i s document.

F o r a d d i t i o n a l c o p i e s , o r d e r No. DEC-8E-UTDEA-A-D
from S o f t w a r e
D i s t r i b u t i o n C e n t e r , D i g i t a l Equipment C o r p o r a t i o n , Maynard,
Massachusetts 01754

DEC-8E-UTDEA-A-D
First Printing m y i 1972

1972 by Digital Equipment Corporation

The material in this document is for information purposes and is subject to change without
notice.

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts:

CDP
Computer Lab
Comtex
DEC
DECtape
Dibol

Digital
DNC
Flip Chip
IDAC
Indac
KA10

LAB-8/e
OMNIBUS
OS/8
PDP

RAD- 8
RSTS
RSX

PHA
PS/8

SABR
Typeset 8
Unibus

Quickpoint

RTM

SOFTWARE

SUPPORT

CATEGORIES

Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) makes available four categories of software. These
categories reflect the types of support a customer may expect from DEC for a specified software
product. DEC reserves the right to change the category of a software product at any time.
The four categories are as follows:

CATEGORY
Software

Products

Supported

Charge

This classification includes current versions of monitors, programming languages, and
support programs provided by DEC. DEC w i l l provide installation (when applicable), advisory,
and remedial support at no charge. These services are limited to original purchasers of DEC
computer systems who have the requisite DEC equipment and software products.
A t the option of DEC, a software product may be recategorized from Category I to
Category II for a particular customer i f the software product has been modified by the customer
or a third party.

Software

Products

CATEGORY II
t h a t Receive Support

for

Fee

This category includes prior versions of Category I programs and a l l other programs available from DEC for which support i s given. Programming assistance (additional support), as
available, w i l l be provided on these DEC programs and non-DEC programs when used in conjunction with these DEC programs and equipment supplied by DEC.

CATEGORY
Ill
Pre-Release
Software

DEC may elect to release certain software products to customers i n order to facilitate
final testing and/or customer familiarization. In this event, DEC w i l l limit the use of such
pre-release software to internal, non-competitive applications. Category I I I software i s only
supported by DEC where this support i s consistent with evaluation of the software product.
While DEC w i l l be grateful for the reporting of any criticism and suggestions pertaining to a
pre-release, there exists no commitment to respond t o these reports.

CATEGORY
Non-Supported

IV
Software

This category includes a l l programs for which no support i s given

iii

CONTENTS

vii

ABSTRACT

1.0

EQUIPMENT

1.1

Memory R e q u i r e m e n t s

1
1

2.0

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

2.1

2.2

Dialog

3.0

ERROR MESSAGES

4.0

DETAILS OF OPERATION

ABSTRACT

The TD8E DECtape Copy program i s u s e d t o copy any
p r o p e r l y f o r m a t t e d DECtape, u s i n g a PDP-8/E o r PDP-8/M
w i t h TD8E c o n t r o l and d u a l TU56 t a p e d r i v e s . An
i n t e g r a l number of b l o c k s may b e c o p i e d from any p o s i t i o n on t h e i n p u t t a p e t o any p o s i t i o n on t h e o u t p u t
t a p e , o r t h e e n t i r e t a p e may b e c o p i e d .

vii

TDeE DECTAPE COPY

1.0

EQUIPMENT

T D b E Copy requires a FDP-8/E or PDP-8/M with 4K of read/write
memory, a terminal, a TD8E control, and at least one dual TU56
tape drive. The program will a l s o support up to 32K of memory
and up to 4 dual TU50 drives. The DECtapes to be used should
have been formatted by any of Cigital Equipment Corporation's
standard DECtape formatters.

1.1

llemory Requirements

TD8E: Copy occupies locations 0-2577 of field 0. The remainder
of field 0 is used for buffer space. Additional fields may a l s o
be used for buffer space, increasing the speed at which a taFe
may be copied. Locations 7600-7777 of each field are reserved.
The starting address is 00200.
2.0

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

2.1

TD8E Copy may be loaded with the Binary Loader (DEC-08-LBAA) or
with the Self-starting Binary Loader (DEC-8E-XBINA). The
loading procedures for these loaders are in Introduction to
Programming 1972, chapter 5. The binary tape is supplied with a
starting address at the end, so that it will be started
automatically if it is loaded with the Self-starting Binary
Loader. The terminal control must be set to LINE before loading.
If the tape is loaded with the Binary Loader, it must be started
with the programmer's console according to the following procedure:
1.
2.
3.

Set the terminal control to LINE.
Set the switch register to 0200.
Press EXTD ADDR LOAD and ADDR LOAD.
Press CLEAR and then CONT.

The f o l l o w i n g p r o c e d u r e w i l l l o a d and s a v e TD8E Copy u s i n g O S / 8 .

The

p r o c e d u r e assumes t h a t t h e TD8E Copy b i n a r y i s on p a p e r t a p e and w i l l
be s a v e d on t h e s y s t e m d e v i c e .

. R ABSLDR
*PTR: $ I .

($ means ALTMODE1
( t y p e any c h a r a c t e r t o c o n t i n u e
transfer)

.SAVE SYS TDCOPY 8-2577;~282J2.0=3gBl

The program may t h e n b e c a l l e d and u s e d w i t h :
. R TDCOPY

2.2

Dialog

TD8E Copy i s c o n t r o l l e d t h r o u g h a d i a l o g on t h e t e r m i n a l .

The

r e s p o n s e s t o t h e q u e s t i o n s a r e i n t h e form of o c t a l numbers f o l l o w e d
by a c a r r i a g e r e t u r n .

Where more t h a n one answer i s r e q u i r e d t o a

q u e s t i o n , t h e a n s w e r s a r e s e p a r a t e d by s e m i c o l o n s .

Alphabetic o r

o t h e r i l l e g a l c h a r a c t e r s w i l l cause an e r r o r message t o b e g e n e r a t e d
and t h e q u e s t i o n t o be r e p e a t e d .

I f t o o many d i g i t s a r e t y p e d f o r t h e

r e s p o n s e e x p e c t e d , o n l y t h e l a s t o n e s t y p e d w i l l be u s e d .
If t h e
r e s p o n s e w a s t o b e e i t h e r 0 o r 1 (YES o r N O ) , a non-zero f i n a l d i g i t

w i l l be assumed t o b e 1.
B e f o r e a n s w e r i n g t h e d i a l o g ' s q u e s t i o n s , t h e u s e r must e n s u r e t h a t a l l
t h e DECtapes i n v o l v e d a r e mounted on t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e d r i v e s .
d r i v e s must b e s e t t o REMOTE.

A l l the

The i n p u t d r i v e may b e s e t t o WRITE

LOCK o r WRITE ENABLE; a l l o u t p u t d r i v e s must b e s e t t o WRITE ENABLE.
N o two d r i v e s may have t h e same u n i t number.

When t h e r o u t i n e i s f i r s t l o a d e d and s t a r t e d , t h e d i a l o g b e g i n s :
TD8E COPY

HIGHEST FIELD AVAILABLE:
The u s e r r e s p o n d s w i t h t h e number o f t h e h i g h e s t f i e l d he w i s h e s u s e d
f o r buffer space.

T h i s r e s p o n s e may a l l o w d a t a t o b e p r e s e r v e d i n

any h i g h e r f i e l d o r may make f u l l u s e o f t h e memorv a v a i l a b l e .

This

q u e s t i o n i s a s k e d o n l y o n c e , i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e p r o g r a s h a s been
loaded.

To change t h e r e s p o n s e , t h e program m u s t b e r e l o a d e d .

I f 4Y

o f memory i s t o b e u s e d , t h e r e s p o n s e i s 0 ; i f 8 K , t h e r e s p o n s e i s 1,
and so f o r t h .
F o r e a c h s e t o f c o p i e s , t h e d i a l o g i s as f o l l o w s (.the u s e r ' s r e s p o n s e
i s underlined;

( C R ) means c a r r i a g e r e t u r n ) :

Dialog
TD8E COPY
FROM UN1T:g

Comments

(CR)

U s e r may s p e c i f y one u n i t number.

TO UNITS :1;2 ;3 ; 4; 5 ; 6 ;7 ( C R )

user may s p e c i f y up t o 7 u n i t
numbers, s e p a r a t e d by s e m i c o l o n s .

FIRST INPUT B L 0 C K : l P P

User may s u p p l y any l e g a l DECtape
b l o c k number.

(CR)

F I R S T OUTPUT BLOCK: 2aa (CR)

U s e r may s u p p l y any l e g a l DECtape
b l o c k number.

NUMBER O F BLOCKS TO COPY:5g

(CR)
U s e r may s u p p l y a p p r o p r i a t e number

of blocks.
VERIFY OUTPUT (YES=l,NO=g) :1 ( C R )

p29l 1 2 - B I T WORDS PER BLOCK

Determined by program from t a p e
on i n p u t u n i t .

The b l o c k l e n g t h o f a l l t h e s p e c i f i e d t a p e s i s checked.

I f any a r e

found t o be d i f f e r e n t from t h e i n p u t t a v e , t h e ILLEGAL FORMAT UNIT n
e r r o r message i s g e n e r a t e d .
When a l l s p e c i f i e d c o p i e s h a v e been f i n i s h e d , t h e t a p e s a r e rewound and
t h e dialog continues :
DONE
REPEAT ( Y E S = l , N O - g )

I f t h e r e a r e more t a p e s t o b e c o p i e d w i t h t h e same s e t o f s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , t h e y s h o u l d be p l a c e d on t h e d r i v e s b e f o r e t y p i n g 1 t o r e p e a t
t h e previous operation.
desired,

I f a d i f f e r e n t s e t of s p e c i f i c a t i o n s i s

la s h o u l d b e t y p e d t o r e s t a r t t h e d i a l o g .

O c c a s i o n a l l y a TD8E d r i v e w i l l n o t s t o p f a s t enough a f t e r t h e t a p e s
h a v e been rewound and t h e e n d o f t h e t a p e w i l l s p i n o f f t h e r e e l .

t h i s s h o u l d h a p p e n , t h e d r i v e may b e s t o p p e d manually by s e t t i n g i t t o

OFF

and s t o p p i n g t h e reel by hand.

This w i l l not a f f e c t the v a l i d i t y
3

of t h e copy.

I f t h e d i a l o g does n o t c o n t i n u e p r o p e r l y a f t e r one o r

more t a p e s have spun o f f , t h e program may b e r e s t a r t e d a s i f i t had
been l o a d e d w i t h t h e B i n a r y Loader (see Loading, ' S e c t i o n 2 . 1 ) .
I n r e s p o n s e t o any q u e s t i o n i n t h e d i a l o g , t h e u s e r may t y p e e i t h e r
CTRL/S

t o r e s t a r t t h e d i a l o g a t REPEAT ( Y E S = l , N O = g )

t o 76pg of f i e l d

o r CTRL/C t o e x i t

E i t h e r CTRL/S o r CTRL/C may a l s o be t y p e d d u r i n g

DECtape m o t i o n ; i t w i l l be acknowledged when p o s s i b l e , u s u a l l y a f t e r
a s m a l l amount o f f u r t h e r motion.

I f CTRL/S i s t y p e d d u r i n g t h e d i a l o g

t h e r e s p o n s e t o t h e REPEAT q u e s t i o n s h o u l d b e NO;

t h i s o p t i o n i s mainly

f o r cases where a c o m p l e t e s e t o f s p e c i f i c a t i o n s i s a l r e a d y a v a i l a b l e .
(CTRL/

c h a r a c t e r s a r e t y p e d by h o l d i n g t h e CONTROL key down w h i l e

typing the character.

The p r o c e d u r e i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t u s e d w i t h

t h e SHIFT key on a t y p e w r i t e r .

CTRL/

c h a r a c t e r s a r e n o t echoed

(printed) . I
A s p e c i a l c a s e of t h e d i a l o g a l l o w s t h e e n t i r e i n p u t t a p e t o be copied

o n t o t h e o u t p u t t a p e w i t h a minimum of e f f o r t .

This c a s e e l i m i n a t e s

t h e n e e d t o s p e c i f y t h e s t a r t i n g b l o c k numbers and number of b l o c k s t o
copy.

I n t h i s case, t h e answer t o FIRST I N P U T BLOCK:

carriage return.

i s only a

The s h o r t e n e d d i a l o g w i l l be as f o l l o w s :

TD8E COPY
FROM U N 1 T : g

(CR)
TO UNITS:1:2:3:4:5:6:7
(.C R .)
,
. , . . .
F I R S T I N P U T BLOCK: ( C R )
V E R I F Y OUTPUT ( Y E S = l , N O = g ) : 1 ( C R )
8281 1 2 - B I T WORDS PER BLOCK

The p r e c e d i n g sample d i a l o g w i l l c a u s e t h e e n t i r e t a p e on u n i t JI t o
be c o p i e d o n t o t h e o t h e r 7 t a p e s and v e r i f i e d .

3.0

ERROR MESSAGES

ILLEGAL RESPONSE

The u s e r ' s r e s p o n s e t o t h e d i a l o g w a s n o t
c o r r e c t ; f o r e x a m p l e , an a l p h a b e t i c c h a r a c t e r
w a s t y p e d o r c a r r i a g e r e t u r n was t y p e d b e f o r e
an o c t a l number w a s g i v e n where o n e was required.
The q u e s t i o n w i l l b e r e s t a t e d and
any p r e v i o u s answer i g n o r e d . N o t h i n g s h o u l d
be typed u n t i l t h e t e r m i n a l has stopped
printing.

SELECT ERROR UNIT n During a t t e m p t e d d a t a t r a n s f e r , u n i t n w a s
n o t found. The program w a i t s f o r t h e u s e r t o
c o r r e c t t h e cause of t h e error. The u s e r
s h o u l d check t o see t h a t :
4

i f u n i t n i s an o u t p u t d r i v e , i t
i s s e t t o WRITE ENABLE.
2.
u n i t n i s s e t t o REMOTE.
3.
t h e r e i s o n l y one u n i t n.
4.
a l l u n i t s a r e s e t t o numbers
a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e i r TD8E
i n t e r n a l wiring.
When t h e c a u s e o f t h e e r r o r h a s been c o r r e c t e d ,
t h e u s e r may t y p e CTRL/R t o resume t r a n s f e r
o r he may t y p e CTRL/S t o r e s t a r t t h e d i a l o a .
TAPE ERROR BLOCK

x UNIT n
During a t t e m p t e d t r a n s f e r , a p a r i t y e r r o r o r
timing e r r o r w a s detected, o r too g r e a t a
b l o c k number was r e q u e s t e d n e a r b l o c k x on
t h e t a p e on u n i t n .
The t a p e s a r e rewound
and t h e d i a l o g i s a u t o m a t i c a l l y r e s t a r t e d a t
DONE, REPEAT (YES=l,NO=g).

V E R I F Y ERROR BLOCK x U N I T n

The d a t a on t h e i n p u t t a p e d o e s n o t match t h e
d a t a which w a s w r i t t e n on b l o c k x of t h e
o u t p u t t a p e on u n i t n.
The u s e r may t y p e
CTRL/R t o i g n o r e t h e e r r o r and c o n t i n u e w i t h
t h e t r a n s f e r , CTRL/T
t o t r y the l a s t transf e r a g a i n and c o n t i n u e i f t h e e r r o r d o e s n o t
r e c u r , o r CTRL/S t o r e s t a r t t h e d i a l o g .
ILLEGAL FORMAT UNIT n

4.0

E i t h e r t h e number of words per b l o c k on u n i t n
d o e s n o t a g r e e w i t h t h e number o f words p e r
b l o c k on t h e i n p u t u n i t o r , when t h e number
of b l o c k s on t h e t a p e was c a l c u l a t e d from t h e
b l o c k l e n g t h of t h e i n p u t t a p e , t h e l e n a t h was
found t o b e i l l e g a l .
The number o f b l o c k s i s
o n l y c a l c u l a t e d i f t h e whole t a p e copy o p t i o n
i s r e q u e s t e d . I n e i t h e r c a s e , when t h e e r r o r
h a s b e e n c o r r e c t e d , t h e u s e r may t y p e CTRL/R
t o check t h e f o r m a t s o f a l l t a p e s a g a i n and
c o n t i n u e , o r CTRL/S t o r e s t a r t t h e d i a l o g .

DETAILS OF OPERATION

A f t e r t h e a n s w e r s t o t h e d i a l o g h a v e been s t o r e d , t h e f o l l o w i n g
p r o c e d u r e i s used:

The number o f words p e r b l o c k i s d e t e r m i n e d from t h e i n p u t
t a p e . A l l o u t p u t t a p e s a r e checked t o see i f t h e y have
t h e same f o r m a t as t h e i n p u t t a p e .
I f t h e shortened
d i a l o g o p t i o n w a s u s e d , t h e number of b l o c k s on t h e t a p e
i s determined u s i n g t h e formula:

# o f b l o c k s = (636,16O/(words p e r b l o c k
or
# of b l o c k s = (212,080/ (words p e r b l o c k
2.

+ 17)) + 2

+ 15)) + 2 (decimal)

The r e s p o n s e t o t h e VERIFY q u e s t i o n i s checked.

The c o p y i n g

loop is s e t up t o verify o r n o t , as was r e q u e s t e d .
5

(octal)

The l o o p i s e n t e r e d which c o p i e s t h e i n p u t t a p e , u s i n g t h e
same s e t o f s p e c i f i c a t i o n s f o r e a c h o u t p u t t a p e .

The b u f f e r s a r e f i l l e d from t h e input: t a p e .

A l l output t a p e s are w r i t t e n with t h e contents of t h e

buffers

I f v e r i f i c a t i o n w a s requested, a separate set of b u f f e r s
i s f i l l e d from t h e o u t p u t t a p e and t h e two s e t s of
b u f f e r s a r e compared.
I f t h e r e a r e any d i s c r e p a n c i e s
a VERIFY ERROR h a s o c c u r r e d .

I f more blocks remain t o b e c o p i e d , t h e l o o p i s e n t e r e d
again.

When a l l t h e s p e c i f i e d b l o c k s have been c o p i e d o n t o t h e
o u t p u t t a p e s , a l l t h e t a p e s a r e rewound.

The REPEAT o p t i o n i s o f f e r e d .

The number o f f i e l d s t o b e u s e d f o r b u f f e r s p a c e i s d e t e r m i n e d
immediately a f t e r l o a d i n g .

A s soon a s t h e q u e s t i o n h a s been a n s w e r e d ,

i t i s removed from t h e program.
I f t h e o u t p u t t a p e i s t o be v e r i f i e d , e a c h a v a i l a b l e f i e l d , i n c l u d i n g
t h a t p a r t o f f i e l d 0 r L o t o c c u p i e d by t h e program,

is divided i n h a l f .

The l o w e r h a l f i s u s e d a s t h e i n p u t and o u t p u t b u f f e r ; t h e u p p e r h a l f

i s u s e d f o r v e r i f i c a t i o n . The o u t p u t t a p e i s r e a d back i n t o t h e u p p e r
h a l f and t h e two h a l v e s a r e compared. I f t h e y a r e n o t i d e n t i c a l , a
V E R I F Y ERROR h a s o c c u r r e d .

HOW TO OBTAIN SOFTWARE INFORMATION
Announcements for new and revised software, as w e l l as programming notes,
software problems, and documentation corrections are published b y Software
Information Service in the following newsletters.
D i g i t a l Software News for the PDP-8 & PDP-12
Digital Software News for the PDP-II
Digital Software News for the PDP-9/15 Family
These newsletters contain information applicable to software available from
Digital's Program Library, Articles i n Digital Software News update the
cumulative Software Performance Summary which i s contained in each basic
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Software News i s sent to the appropriate software contact a t your installation,
please check w i t h the Software Specialist or Sales Engineer a t your nearest
D i g i t a l office.
Questions or problems concerning Digital's Software should be reported to
the Software Specialist. In cases where no Software Specialist i s available,
please send a Software Performance Report form w i t h details of the problem to:
Software Information Service
Digita I Equipment Corporation
146 M a i n Street, Bldg. 3-5
Maynard, Massachusetts 01754
These forms which are provided i n the software k i t should be f u l l y f i l l e d out
and accompanied b y teletype output as well as listings or tapes of the user
program to facilitate a complete investigation. An answer w i l l be sent to the
individual and appropriate topics of general interest w i l l be printed i n the
newsletter.
Orders for new and revised software and manuals, additional Software Performance Report forms, and software price lists should be directed to the
nearest D i g i t a l Field office or representative. U.S.A. customers may order
directly from the Program Library in Maynard. When ordering, include the
code number and a brief description of the software requested.
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