UNIVAC EXEC II

Last updated
EXEC II
Developer Computer Sciences Corporation
Working state Discontinued
Platforms UNIVAC 1107
Default user interface Batch processing
License Proprietary

EXEC II is a discontinued operating system developed for the UNIVAC 1107 by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) while under contract to UNIVAC to develop the machine's COBOL compiler. They developed EXEC II because Univac's EXEC I operating system development was late. Because of this the COBOL compiler was actually designed to run under EXEC II, not EXEC I as specified in the original contract.

Operating system collection of software that manages computer hardware resources

An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs.

Computer Sciences Corporation company

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was an American multinational corporation that provided information technology (IT) services and professional services. On April 3, 2017, it merged with the Enterprise Services line of business of HP Enterprise to create DXC Technology.

UNIVAC is a line of electronic digital stored-program computers starting with the products of the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation. Later the name was applied to a division of the Remington Rand company and successor organizations.

Contents

EXEC II is a batch processing operating system that supports a single job stream with concurrent spooling. [1]

Computerized batch processing, since the 1964 introduction of the IBM System/360, has primarily referred to the scripted running of one or more programs, as directed by Job Control Language, with no human interaction other than, if JCL-requested, the mounting of one or more pre-determined input and/or output computer tapes.

In a non-interactive computer system, particularly IBM mainframes, a job stream, jobstream, or simply job is the sequence of job control language statements (JCL) and data that comprise a single "unit of work for an operating system". The term job traditionally means a one-off piece of work, and is contrasted with a batch, but non-interactive computation has come to be called "batch processing", and thus a unit of batch processing is often called a job, or by the oxymoronic term batch job; see job for details. Performing a job consists of executing one or more programs. Each program execution, called a job step, jobstep, or step, is usually related in some way to the others in the job. Steps in a job are executed sequentially, possibly depending on the results of previous steps, particularly in batch processing.

Spooling

In computing, spooling is a specialized form of multi-programming for the purpose of copying data between different devices. In contemporary systems it is usually used for mediating between a computer application and a slow peripheral, such as a printer. Spooling allows programs to "hand off" work to be done by the peripheral and then proceed to other tasks, or do not begin until input has been transcribed. A dedicated program, the spooler, maintains an orderly sequence of jobs for the peripheral and feeds it data at its own rate. Conversely, for slow input peripherals, such as a card reader, a spooler can maintain a sequence of computational jobs waiting for data, starting each job when all of the relevant input is available; see batch processing. The spool itself refers to the sequence of jobs, or the storage area where they are held. In many cases the spooler is able to drive devices at their full rated speed with minimal impact on other processing.

See also

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Exec or EXEC may refer to:

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References

  1. Gray, George (March 1993). "EXEC II". Unisys History Newsletter. 1 (3). Archived from the original on August 9, 2017.