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TOPS-10

{{short description|Operating system for DEC PDP-10}}

{{Infobox OS

| name = TOPS-10

| logo =

| screenshot =

| caption =

| developer = Digital Equipment Corporation

| source_model =

| kernel_type =

| supported_platforms = PDP-10

| ui = Command-line interface

| released = {{Start date and age|1970}}

| latest_release_version = 7.04{{cite web|title=TOPS-10 Release History|url=http://www.ultimate.com/phil/pdp10/tops-10|access-date=10 January 2014}}

| latest_release_date = {{Start date and age|1988|07}}

| marketing_target =

| programmed_in = MACRO-10, BLISS

| prog_language = APL, ALGOL, BASIC, BLISS, COBOL, Fortran, MACRO-10

| language = English

| updatemodel =

| package_manager =

| working_state = Discontinued

| license = Proprietary
Free for personal use

| website =

}}

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.

Overview

TOPS-10 supported shared memory and allowed the development of one of the first true multiplayer computer games. The game, called DECWAR,{{cite web |url=http://hsnewman.freeshell.org/decwar.htm| title=The Decwar Page}} 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.{{Cite book |title=TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual |date=August 1980 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://scandocs.trailing-edge.com/tops10-aa-0916d-tb.pdf |access-date=2019-02-17}}

{{div col|colwidth=9em}}

  • 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

{{div col end}}

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 in 1988.

= TOPS-10 today =

Hobbyists are now entitled to set up and use TOPS-10 under a Hobbyist's License.{{cite web|url=http://www.inwap.com/pdp10/96license.txt|title=Home hobbyist license for Digital's 36b software|website=inwap.com|access-date=19 April 2018}}

The easiest way for the hobbyist to run TOPS-10 is to acquire a suitable emulator{{cite web|url=http://simh.trailing-edge.com/|title=Computer Simulation and History|website=simh.trailing-edge.com|access-date=19 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://klh10.trailing-edge.com/|title=KLH10 PDP-10 Emulator|website=klh10.trailing-edge.com|access-date=19 April 2018}} and an operating system image.{{cite web|url=http://www.steubentech.com/~talon/pdp10/|title=TOPS-10 pre-built image|website=www.steubentech.com|access-date=19 April 2018}} TOPS-10 may also be generated from archived original distribution "tapes".{{cite web|url=http://pdp-10.trailing-edge.com/|title=PDP-10 software archive|website=pdp-10.trailing-edge.com|access-date=19 April 2018}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.asun.net/pdp10/|title=Notes on DEC PDP-10 Emulation|website=asun.net|access-date=19 April 2018}}

Paul Allen maintained several publicly accessible historic computer systems, including a DECsystem-2065 running TOPS-10.{{cite web|url=http://www.paulallen.com/Template.aspx?contentId=19|title=CLASSIC COMPUTING|website=paulallen.com|access-date=19 April 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417080148/http://www.paulallen.com/Template.aspx?contentId=19|archive-date=17 April 2007}}

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:

  • ALGOL, as ALGOL-10 v10B,{{Cite book |title=Algol Programmer's Guide |date=April 1977 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10_softwareNotebooks/vol06/AA-0196C-TK_ALGOL_Programmers_Guide_Apr77.pdf |access-date=September 6, 2018}} a compiler used for general computing
  • APL, as APL-SF V2,{{Cite book |title=APL-SF Language Manual |date=August 1979 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10_softwareNotebooks/vol06/AA-H200A-TK_APLSF_Language_Manual_Aug79.pdf |access-date=September 6, 2018}} an interpreter used for mathematical modelling
  • BASIC, as BASIC-10 v17F,{{Cite book |title=BASIC Conversational Language Manual |date=March 1974 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10_softwareNotebooks/vol06/DEC-10-LBLMA-A-D_BASIC_Conversational_Language_Manual_Mar74.pdf |access-date=September 6, 2018}} an interpreter used for general computing
  • BLISS, as BLISS-10{{Cite book |title=BLISS-10 Programmer′s Reference Manual |date=February 1974 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10/DEC-10-LBRMA-A-D_BLISS-10_Programmers_Manual_Ver_4_Feb74.pdf |access-date=2019-02-17}} and BLISS-36,{{Cite book |title=BLISS Language Guide |date=April 1983 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10_softwareNotebooks/vol07/AA_H275C-TK_BLISS_Language_Guide_Apr83.pdf |access-date=September 6, 2018}} compilers used for systems programming
  • COBOL, as COBOL-68{{Cite book |title=TOPS-10/TOPS-20 COBOL-68 Language Manual |date=August 1981|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10_softwareNotebooks/vol09/AA-5057B-TK_COBOL-68_Language_Manual_Aug81.pdf|access-date=September 6, 2018}} and COBOL-74,{{Cite book |title=TOPS-10/TOPS-20 COBOL-74 Language Manual |date=October 1985|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS10_softwareNotebooks/vol10/AA-5059B-TK_COBOL-74_Language_Manual_Oct85.pdf|access-date=September 6, 2018}} compilers used for business computing
  • Fortran, as FORTRAN-10 v11,{{Cite book |title=TOPS-10/TOPS-20 FORTRAN Language Manual |date=May 1985|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/fortran/AA-N383B-TK_FORTRAN_Language_Manual_Ver_10_May85.pdf|access-date=September 6, 2018}} a compiler used for numerical computing

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

  • FOCAL, as FOCAL-10
  • Forth, a threaded interpreted language
  • IMP72
  • Lisp, an interpreter used for AI programming
  • Pascal, a compiler used for computing education
  • PILOT
  • SAM76
  • Simula, a compiler used for modeling
  • SNOBOL, an interpreter used for string processing
  • BCPL, a compiler implemented by Essex University

= 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 ({{char|*}}) as a wildcard, the usage of the slash ({{char|/}}) as a switch separator and more.{{cite web|title=Why Does Windows Really Use Backslash as Path Separator?|url=http://www.os2museum.com/wp/why-does-windows-really-use-backslash-as-path-separator|access-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526021758/http://www.os2museum.com/wp/why-does-windows-really-use-backslash-as-path-separator/|archive-date=26 May 2019}}

See also

  • PDP-10
  • TOPS-20TOPS-20 was a name, not a direct followup to TOPS-10. TOPS-20 is, however, related to TENEX, which stands for TEN EXteneded
  • WAITS

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Digital Equipment Corporation}}

{{Time-sharing operating systems}}

Category:DEC operating systems

Category:Time-sharing operating systems

Category:1964 software