TOPS-10

Last updated
TOPS-10
Developer Digital Equipment Corporation
Written in MACRO-10, BLISS
Working stateDiscontinued
Initial release1970;53 years ago (1970)
Latest release 7.04 [1] / July 1988;35 years ago (1988-07)
Available in English
Platforms PDP-10
Default
user interface 		Command-line interface
License Proprietary
Free for personal use

TOPS-10 System (Timesharing / Total Operating System-10) is a discontinued operating system from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) for the PDP-10 (or DECsystem-10) mainframe computer family. Launched in 1967, TOPS-10 evolved from the earlier "Monitor" software for the PDP-6 and PDP-10 computers; this was renamed to TOPS-10 in 1970.

Contents

Overview

TOPS-10 supported shared memory and allowed the development of one of the first true multiplayer computer games. The game, called DECWAR, [2] was a text-oriented Star Trek -type game. Users at terminals typed in commands and fought each other in real time. TOPS-10 was also the home of the original Multi User Dungeon, MUD, the forerunner to today's MMORPGs.

Another groundbreaking application was called FORUM. This application was perhaps the first so-called CB Simulator that allowed users to converse with one another in what is now known as a chat room. This application showed the potential of multi-user communication and led to the development of CompuServe's chat application.

TOPS-10 had a very robust application programming interface (API) that used a mechanism called a UUO or Unimplemented User Operation. UUOs implemented operating system calls in a way that made them look like machine instructions. The Monitor Call API was very much ahead of its time, like most of the operating system, and made system programming on DECsystem-10s simple and powerful.

The TOPS-10 scheduler supported prioritized run queues, and appended a process onto a queue depending on its priority. The system also included User file and Device independence.

Commands

The following list of commands are supported by TOPS-10. [3]

  • ASSIGN
  • ATTACH
  • BACKSPACE
  • BACKUP
  • CCONTINUE
  • COMPILE
  • CONTINUE
  • COPY
  • CORE
  • CPUNCH
  • CREATE
  • CREDIR
  • CREF
  • CSTART
  • D(eposit)
  • DAYTIME
  • DCORE
  • DDT
  • DEASSIGN
  • DEBUG
  • DELETE
  • DETACH
  • DIRECTORY
  • DISABLE
  • DISMOUNT
  • DSK
  • DUMP
  • E(xamine)
  • EDIT
  • ENABLE
  • EOF
  • EXECUTE
  • FILCOM
  • FILE
  • FINISH
  • FUDGE
  • GET
  • GLOB
  • HALT
  • HELP
  • INITIA
  • JCONTINUE
  • KJOB
  • LABEL
  • LIST
  • LOAD
  • LOCATE
  • LOGIN
  • MAKE
  • MERGE
  • MIC
  • MOUNT
  • NETWORK
  • NODE
  • NSAVE
  • NSSAVE
  • OPSER
  • PJOB
  • PLEASE
  • PLOT
  • PRESERVE
  • PRINT
  • PROTECT
  • PUNCH
  • QUEUE
  • QUOLST
  • R
  • REASSIGN
  • REATTACH
  • REENTER
  • RENAME
  • RESOURCES
  • REWIND
  • RUN
  • SAVE
  • SSAVE
  • SCHED
  • SEND
  • SET
  • SKIP
  • START
  • SUBMIT
  • SYSTAT
  • TECO
  • TIME
  • TPUNCH
  • TYPE
  • UNLOAD
  • USESTAT
  • VERSION
  • WHERE
  • ZERO

History

Release history

The PDP-6 Monitor software was first released in 1964. Support for the PDP-10's KA10 processor was added to the Monitor in release 2.18 in 1967. The TOPS-10 name was first used in 1970 for release 5.01. Release 6.01 (May 1974) was the first TOPS-10 to implement virtual memory (demand paging), enabling programs larger than physical memory to be run. From release 7.00 onwards, symmetrical multiprocessing was available (as opposed to the master/slave arrangement used before). The final release of TOPS-10 was 7.04 [1] in 1988.

TOPS-10 today

Hobbyists are now entitled to set up and use TOPS-10 under a Hobbyist's License. [4]

The easiest way for the hobbyist to run TOPS-10 is to acquire a suitable emulator [5] [6] and an operating system image. [7] TOPS-10 may also be generated from archived original distribution "tapes". [8] [9]

Paul Allen maintained several publicly accessible historic computer systems, including a DECsystem-2065 running TOPS-10. [10]

Software

Implemented programming languages

The TOPS-10 assembler, MACRO-10, was bundled with the TOPS-10 distribution.

The following programming languages were implemented on TOPS-10 as layered products:

The following programming languages were implemented on TOPS-10 as contributions from DECUS members:

Implemented user utilities

The following major user utilities were implemented on TOPS-10:

Notable games implemented on TOPS-10

Legacy

MS-DOS was heavily influenced by TOPS-10. Identical elements include three characters long file extensions, several standard extensions (e.g., EXE, TXT), the asterisk (*) as a wildcard, the usage of the slash (/) as a switch separator and more. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">APL (programming language)</span> Functional programming language for arrays

APL is a programming language developed in the 1960s by Kenneth E. Iverson. Its central datatype is the multidimensional array. It uses a large range of special graphic symbols to represent most functions and operators, leading to very concise code. It has been an important influence on the development of concept modeling, spreadsheets, functional programming, and computer math packages. It has also inspired several other programming languages.

In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language into another language. The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that translate source code from a high-level programming language to a low-level programming language to create an executable program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PDP-10</span> 36-bit computer by Digital (1966–1983)

Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, especially as the TOPS-10 operating system became widely used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DECSYSTEM-20</span> Type of mainframe computer

The DECSYSTEM-20 was a family of 36-bit Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 mainframe computers running the TOPS-20 operating system and was introduced in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Programmed Data Processor</span> Name used for several lines of minicomputers

Programmed Data Processor (PDP), referred to by some customers, media and authors as "Programmable Data Processor," is a term used by the Digital Equipment Corporation from 1957 to 1990 for several lines of minicomputers.

PL/I is a procedural, imperative computer programming language initially developed by IBM. The PL/1 ANSI standard, X3.53-1976, was published in 1976. It is designed for scientific, engineering, business and system programming. It has been in continuous use by academic, commercial and industrial organizations since it was introduced in the 1960s.

Maclisp is a programming language, a dialect of the language Lisp. It originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Project MAC in the late 1960s and was based on Lisp 1.5. Richard Greenblatt was the main developer of the original codebase for the PDP-6; Jon L. White was responsible for its later maintenance and development. The name Maclisp began being used in the early 1970s to distinguish it from other forks of PDP-6 Lisp, notably BBN Lisp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TOPS-20</span>

The TOPS-20 operating system by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is a proprietary OS used on some of DEC's 36-bit mainframe computers. The Hardware Reference Manual was described as for "DECsystem-10/DECSYSTEM-20 Processor".

OS/8 is the primary operating system used on the Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP-8 minicomputer.

BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C became popular and common, and BLISS faded into obscurity. When C was in its infancy, a few projects within Bell Labs debated the merits of BLISS vs. C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Moore (computer scientist)</span> American computer scientist, 1939–2019

Roger D. Moore was the 1973 recipient of the Grace Murray Hopper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). It was given "for their work in the design and implementation of APL\360, setting new standards in simplicity, efficiency, reliability and response time for interactive systems."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of programming languages</span> Aspect of history

The history of programming languages spans from documentation of early mechanical computers to modern tools for software development. Early programming languages were highly specialized, relying on mathematical notation and similarly obscure syntax. Throughout the 20th century, research in compiler theory led to the creation of high-level programming languages, which use a more accessible syntax to communicate instructions.

WATFIV, or WATerloo FORTRAN IV, developed at the University of Waterloo, Canada is an implementation of the Fortran computer programming language. It is the successor of WATFOR.

ALGOL 68C is an imperative computer programming language, a dialect of ALGOL 68, that was developed by Stephen R. Bourne and Michael Guy to program the Cambridge Algebra System (CAMAL). The initial compiler was written in the Princeton Syntax Compiler that was implemented by J. H. Mathewman at Cambridge.

MONECS was a computer operating system with BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal interpreters, plus machine language facility. Specifically designed for computer science education in Australian secondary schools and at the university undergraduate level. Alternative designations were DEAMON or SCUBA systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of compiler construction</span>

In computing, a compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language or computer language, into another computer language. The most common reason for transforming source code is to create an executable program.

MACRO-10 is an assembly language with extensive macro facilities for DEC's PDP-10-based Mainframe computer systems, the DECsystem-10 and the DECSYSTEM-20. MACRO-10 is implemented as a two-pass assembler.

Commercial Operating System (COS) is a discontinued family of operating systems from Digital Equipment Corporation.

References

  1. 1 2 "TOPS-10 Release History" . Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "The Decwar Page".
  3. ↑ TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. August 1980. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  4. ↑ "Home hobbyist license for Digital's 36b software". inwap.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "Computer Simulation and History". simh.trailing-edge.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "KLH10 PDP-10 Emulator". klh10.trailing-edge.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "TOPS-10 pre-built image". www.steubentech.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "PDP-10 software archive". pdp-10.trailing-edge.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Notes on DEC PDP-10 Emulation". asun.net. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "CLASSIC COMPUTING". paulallen.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Algol Programmer's Guide (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. April 1977. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  12. ↑ APL-SF Language Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. August 1979. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  13. ↑ BASIC Conversational Language Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. March 1974. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  14. ↑ BLISS-10 Programmer′s Reference Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. February 1974. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  15. ↑ BLISS Language Guide (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. April 1983. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  16. ↑ TOPS-10/TOPS-20 COBOL-68 Language Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. August 1981. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  17. ↑ TOPS-10/TOPS-20 COBOL-74 Language Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. October 1985. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  18. ↑ TOPS-10/TOPS-20 FORTRAN Language Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. May 1985. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Why Does Windows Really Use Backslash as Path Separator?". Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  20. ↑ TOPS-20 was a name, not a direct followup to TOPS-10. TOPS-20 is, however, related to TENEX, which stands for TEN EXteneded
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.