Trailing-Edge
-
PDP-10 Archives
-
red405a2
-
unsupported/change.hlp
There are 5 other files named change.hlp in the archive. Click here to see a list.
CHANGE
CHARACTER SET CONVERTER
By:
David Richard Kiarsis
Date: june 30,1973
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 0
Command syntax
INTRODUCTION
CHANGE is a program to aid in the conversion of
character sets foreign to the DECsystem-10. It is capable
of using any i/o device on the DECsystem-10, but is mainly
designed for user with magnetic tapes and disks. CHANGE
will perform blocking, duplication, character set
conversion, unblocking, and reading and writing of tape
labels.
1.1 COMMMAND SYNTAX
CHANGE uses the traditional DECsystem-10 command string
format. It will accept one input file specification and one
output file specification separated by a back arrow (_) or
equal sign (=), Example:
output-file_input-file
output-file=input-file
Each output or input file specification consists of a
device, file name, extension, and project-programmer number.
The device is terminated by a colon (:), the file name by a
period (.), and the project-programmer number is enclosed in
square brakets ([]). Example:
device:filename.extension[p,pn]
or
DSKA:DATA.FIL[123,10]
The complete file specification is optional and will take on
default values if any part of it is omitted. For example,
the device will default to generic disk (dsk:), the input
file name to INPUT, the output file name to OUTPUT, the
extensions to DAT, and the project-programmer numbers to the
current disk area.
1.1.2 SWITCH SPECIFICATIONS
In addition to the file specification each input or
output file specification includes switches. Switches are
descriptive in nature, and allow CHANGE to determine more
about the files being handled. A switch begins with a slash
and terminates on the next slash, if the switch takes no
argument, or on a colon if the switch takes an argument.
Note: the return and altmode also terminated switches as
well as the input line. Example:
/SWITCH
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 1
Command syntax
or
/SWITCH:ARG
If a switch takes an argument the argument follows the colon
as in the second example above. In all cases switches may
be abbreviated to the number of characters that will allow
that switch to be unique.
1.1.3 SWITCHES
The following is a list of switches that CHANGE will
accept. In the following descriptions "x" represents a
decimal number, and "arg" represents a key word that may be
abbreviated.
/BUFFERS:x
Designates that CHANGE should set up x buffers for the
device. This switch is used to speed up the i/o process at
the expense of core. The size of a buffer is calculated by
the following formula:
BUFSIZ = (RECORD SIZE*BLOCKING FACTOR)/BYTES PER WORD+1
/ADVANCE:x
Designates that CHANGE should advance x EOF marks
before processing a file. This switch has meaning only for
magnetic tapes and is ignored for all other devices. Note
that if a magnetic tape has labels, there may be several EOF
marks per file, depending on the label type.
/BACKSPACE:x
This switch is the opposite of the advance switch. It
tells CHANGE to backspace the magnetic tape x EOF marks and
then forward space one EOF mark if the tape is not at load
point. This switch is only used with magnetic tapes and is
ignored for other devices. CHANGE resolves BACKSPACE and
ADVANCE for the same device by subtracting the BACKSPACE
counter from the ADVANCE counter; if the result is positive
CHANGE moves the tape forward, if negative, CHANGE moves
that tape backwards.
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 2
Command syntax
/BLOCK:x /BLKSIZE:x
This switch tells CHANGE that there are x logical
records in a logical block. For variable ebcdic, this is
the maximum number of records in the block. Note IBM's
blocking factor is the total number of characters in the
block.
/RECORD:x /RECSIZE:x
This switch tells CHANGE that there are x characters in
a logical record.
/DENSITY:arg
This switch is use to set the density on magnetic tapes
and is ignored for other devices. The argument is one of
the following: 200, 556, 800.
/RETAIN
This switch saves the current command string for later
editing. See the RETAIN command for a complete description
of the RETAIN function.
/RUN
For this switch CHANGE performs a RETAIN command and
then executes the current command string. See the RUN
command for a complete description.
/HELP:arg
CHANGE prints a list of its commands and switches with
a short explanation of their function. If the argument is
present, CHANGE will attempt to print the help file for that
program.
/LABEL:arg
The LABEL switch informs CHANGE that a magnetic tape
has labels or that labels should be written. In any case
the argument specifies the type of label as follows:
NONE The magnetic tape has no labels.
MINE The magnetic tape has special
DECsystem-10 labels.
DIGITAL The magnetic tape has DECsystem-10
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 3
Command syntax
COBOL labels.
BURROUGHS The magnetic tape has standard
BURROUGHS labels.
IBM The magnetic tape has IBM 360
labels.
GE635 The magnetic tape has GENERAL
ELECTRIC 635 labels.
Labels are written in the character set specified except for
IBM and GE635 labels. IBM labels are written in BCD for
7-track drives and EBCDIC for 9-track drices. GE635 labels
are always written in GEBCD.
/MODE:arg
SPECIFIES THE CHARACTER SET MODE FOR THE FILE AS
FOLLOWS:
ASCII File character set is 7-bit ascii.
HPASCII File character set is 8-bit ascii.
GEASCII File character set is 9-bit ascii.
IMAGE File is read and written as 36-bit
words.
SIXBIT File character set is sixbit with
control words.
FIXSIX File character set is sixbit with no
control words.
BCL File character set is bcl.
BCD File character set is bcd.
GEBCD File character set is GENERAL ELECTRIC
bcd.
HONBCD File character set is HONEYWELL bcd.
EBCDIC File character set is ebcdic.
VEBCDIC File character set is variable ebcdic.
The end of the input record is determined by the mode of the
input file as described below:
ASCII Terminated by a carriage-return
character or record count.
SIXBIT Determined by the header word in front
each record.
FIXSIX Always copies the number of bytes
specified by the record size.
BCL Always copies the number of bytes
specified by the record size.
BCD Always copies the number of bytes
specified by the record size.
EBCDIC [fixed] Always copies the number of
bytes specified by the record size.
EBCDIC [variable] Determined by the header
word in front of each record.
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 4
Command syntax
/PARITY:arg
Sets the parity of a magnetic tape file, ignored for
other devices. The argument is either ODD or EVEN. The
default parity is ODD.
/PASSWORD:arg
Sets the password for GE635 labels to the argument.
The argument can be up to tweleve characters. This argument
is never checked it is only written in the output label as
specified.
/REEL:arg
Sets the reel serial number in labels that have this
feature. Note for some labels the reel serial number is
retained when writing over a label. For instance, for
BURROUGHS labels the output tape is read to retrieve the
serial number and then a new label is written with this
number. To override this feature the REEL switch is given
and the output tape is not read first (i.e. the output
label is purged).
/INDUSTRY:arg *
This switch initailizes the magnetic tape for industry
compatible mode. Usually set for EBCDIC and HPASCII modes.
In this mode 32-bit words are read or written. The 32-bit
word is broken down into four eight bit bytes and written in
four frames on the tape. The low-order 4-bits are not used.
Note this mode is only used for 9-track drives and will
cause unexpected results on 7-track drives.
/SCAN *
On labeled tapes, this switch forces CHANGE to skip
down the tape, in a forward direction, until the input file
name is found or an end of tape condition is detected. This
switch is used only for labeled magnetic tapes.
/ERROR *
Specifies that CHANGE should abort the current job on
either an input or output parity error.
/SPAN *
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 5
Command syntax
Specifies that records are allowed to cross logical
block boundaries. The normal case is that a record always
will terminate on a logical block boundary even if a partial
word will be wasted.
/REWIND:arg *
Specifies that the magnetic tape should be rewound.
This switch is only used for magnetic tapes and is ignored
for other devices. The arguments are as follows:
BEFORE Rewind before the operation.
AFTER Rewind after the operation.
ALWAYS Rewind always [default].
OMIT Rewind neither before or after.
/UNLOAD *
Specifies that the magnetic tape should be unloaded
after the operation is completed.
/TELL *
Specifies that CHANGE, during a wild card search,
should type out the file names as they are found [default].
/LIST *
Tells CHANGE to perform a list of the devices's
directory. This switch is valid for disk, DECtape, and
magnetic tapes. Note this switch will alter a retained
command and will transfer no data.
/HEADER *
Specifies that headers should be printed if the output
device is a line printer [default].
/CRLF *
Specifies that carriage-return line-feed sequences are
included in ASCII, HPASCII, and GEASCII files.
Switches flagged with an asterisk (*) can be turned off
or have the opposite effect noted, by concatenating NO with
the switch. Example:
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 6
Command syntax
NOLIST
NOCRLF
1.1.4 EXTENDED COMMANDS
DATA
The DATA command specifies a file name that CHANGE
should use to find the conversion tables that it needs.
Note this command is ignored if a RETAIN command is in
effect. Example of use:
DATA=dev:filename.ext[p,pn]
The data command has only been tested with disk as the
device.
MAKE
The MAKE command directs CHANGE to call on the program
called TABLE to create the conversion table file. To do
this CHANGE will issue a run uuo on TABLE at its CCL entry
point. Upon receiving this type of entry TABLE will create
the file "DSK:CHANGE.DAT" in the user's disk area. TABLE
will then rerun CHANGE giving it a CCL entry. note when
this command is given any retained command will be lost.
This command assumes that TABLE is either in SYS or in the
user's disk area.
EXIT
The EXIT command informs CHANGE that the user wants to
return to monitor level. CHANGE upon receiving this command
will reset all I/O and return to the monitor.
BYE
The BYE command is similar to the EXIT command except
that CHANGE will logout the user off the system instead of
returning the user to monitor level. This command is
equivalent to typing the following:
EXIT typed to CHANGE
KJOB/F typed to the monitor
HELP
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 7
Command syntax
The function of this command is similar to the HELP
switch. This command will type out CHANGE's help message to
the user. It does not take arguments as does the HELP
switch.
2.1 SPECIAL COMMAND MODES
RETAIN
This command is used to save subsequent commands typed
to CHANGE. In this mode the commands are not immediately
executed. Instead, CHANGE saves the command line and allows
the user to edit it. To edit the current command string,
once RETAIN has been typed, the user need only retype the
part of the command he wishes to change. Items that follow
the back arrow or equal sign will be edited to the input
side of the command while things that precede the back arrow
or equal sign will be edited to the output side of the
command.
ERASE
Once a command is retained the user may delete it from
memory by typing ERASE. CHANGE will erase the current
command and return to its immediate mode of interpretation;
that is CHANGE will now execute commands as they are typed.
PRINT
The print command is used to examine a retained
commmand. As the user is editing the current command it is
useful to print it out to see if the edits are correct. To
do so the user types PRINT and CHANGE will display the
current command string
RUN
To have CHANGE perform a retained command the user
types RUN. CHANGE will then execute the current command as
if the user had typed it directly to CHANGE. If the user
finds that the command is incorrect he may stop CHANGE by
typing a control/c. CHANGE will return to command level to
accept another command. Note a retained command is never
forgotten until the user types ERASE.
DIALOG
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 8
Command syntax
The DIALOG command allows the user to carry on a dialog
with CHANGE. CHANGE will ask the user questions about the
input file specification and the output file specification.
When CHANGE feels that it has enough information it will
execute the command it has compiled. Note the command is
not retained in this mode and any command that was retained
is erased. The DIALOG mode may also be entered by typing
only an altmode to CHANGE.
3.1 TAPE FORMATS
There are great number of different tape formats,
however, there are some rules to use when handling tapes
from certain vendors. IBM tapes, that are recorded on
9-track drives, usually use EBCDIC as the chracter set.
9-track IBM EBCDIC tapes always use industry compatible
mode. That is, they always write 32-bit words on the tape
in four frames. Another tape format that uses industry
compatable mode is HPASCII. In addition, data written in
this mode usually does not have return-line-feed sequences
in the text. In other character sets, trial and error must
be used to determine whether the tape is written in industry
compatable mode.
Although some computers have the capability to write
words shorter than 36-bits (or 32-bits in industry mode),
the DECsystem-10 can only read and write 36-bit words. This
creates a problem for tapes written on the DECsystem-10 and
read on another vendors machine. Note that the reverse is
not true. CHANGE is written to handle short words if the
record size and block factor are accurate. Note this can be
determined by a trial and error procedure. If records seem
to be cut short try a larger record size, or if records seem
to be completely missed try a bigger blocking factor. In
any case, tapes written with CHANGE on the DECsystem-10, and
read on another computer may find extra characters in the
record. There is no way around this, unless the program
that reads the tape on the other computer is smart enough to
handle this condition.
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 9
Command syntax
4.1 TAPE DATA STRUCTURES
Definition of terms:
LOGICAL RECORD
The smallest unit of data that can be processed by
CHANGE. In CHANGE this is also called a record.
PHYSICAL RECORD
The smallest unit of data that can be processed by the
hardware (e.g. 128 words for disk, 80 columns for the
card-reader, the data between record gaps for magnetic
tape).
BUFFER
An area of core memory into which the monitor reads, or
from which the monitor writes, a physical record.
BLOCKING FACTOR
The number in the "/BLOCK:x" switch. If there is no
blocking switch the blocking factor is said to be zero.
LOGICAL BLOCK
Those buffers required to contain a number of
contiguous records, that number being the blocking factor.
A logical block may extend over many buffers, but always
uses an integral number of buffers; any unused portion of
the last buffer is wasted. If the smallest record of a file
is much smaller than the largest record, there could be
several wasted buffers, since the number of buffers required
is always determined by the size of the largest record
multiplied by the number of logical records contained in the
logical block.
FILE
An ordered collection of contiguous logical records;
the largest unit of data that can be processed by CHANGE.
A file is considered blocked if the blocking factor is
non-zero; it is considered unblocked if the blocking factor
is zero or if the SPAN switch is specified.
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 10
Command syntax
DATA STRUCTURE
ASCII GEASCII HPASCII
An ascii record is a set of contiguous characters
terminated by a return-line-feed sequence. Word boundaries
have no significance, and the last character of the record
is immediately followed by the first character of the next
record. The amount of buffer space required is the number
of characters in the record plus two (cr-lf). A record
terminates with the first EOL character or a satisfied
character count. If the record count was satisfied before
the EOL character was detected, the next record starts with
the next character. If the EOL character comes before the
record count is satisfied then the record terminates with no
space fill. Ascii null charcaters are always discarded.
HONBCD BCL BCD GEBCD FIXSIX EBCDIC
These modes are a contiguous set of characters that
terminate only on a record count. They are similar to ascii
in that they are independent of word boudaries (e.g. when a
record ends the next starts in the next character position).
If a record ends before the count has expired the record is
space filled to the character count. In no case will the
size of the record written be unequal to the record size.
The buffer space required is the number of characters in the
record.
SIXBIT
A sixbit record is a set of contiguous words. The
first word has, in the right half, the number of characters
in the record. The last word may be padded to ensure that
the record boundary coincides with a word boundary. The
amount of buffer space required is the number of characters
in the record plus six characters for the character count in
the first word plus the number of padding characters.
EBCDIC [VARIABLE]
An ebcdic record is a contiguous set of characters.
The first word of a logical block contains a block control
word in the first two bytes, and spaces in the next two
bytes. This block control word contains the number of bytes
in the block. The first word of each record is the record
control word. The record count is stored in the first two
bytes and spaces in the second two. The record then
follows. Unlike sixbit, the ebcdic block and record control
words include the size of the control words. The buffer
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 11
Command syntax
space require is the number of characters in the record plus
four for the record control word, and plus four for the
block control word.
LABELS
Only magnetic tapes have labels written out with the
data. A mag-tape file may have 2 or more labels. If the
labeled file is a multi-reel-file, it has 2 labels for each
reel. A labeled file contained entirely on one reel has
only two labels. The beginning file label occupies the
first block on the tape, and is followed by an EOF mark.
(if DIGITAL labels are used this tape mark is omitted.) The
data follows this tape mark and is terminated with another
EOF mark. The ending file label occupies the last block of
the file and is followed by another EOF mark.
5.1 CONVERSION TABLES
CHANGE does not keep all of its conversion tables in
core. It reads a data file, after the user has specified
the input and output character set, to retrieve its
conversion tables. CHANGE will try to open a file called
"SYS:CHANGE.DAT" and if that fails it will try
"DSK:CHANGE.DAT". If both of these attempts fail CHANGE
will type out an error message an do no more. The user can
alternatly tell CHANGE the name of the data file to use. To
do this the user must first erase any retained command
through the use of the "ERASE" command. Then he may use the
"DATA" command to specify the file where CHANGE is to find
the conversion tables. Note the format of the conversion
tables is defined in CHANGE at assembly time and is not
taken from the data file.
The conversion tables are really two tables in one.
That is, each table has one table in the left half of the
word and one in the right half. The left half table is the
table that converts to ascii, while the right half table
converts to the output character set. Note this means that
CHANGE internally converts all character sets to ascii.
Because CHANGE does this, chracter sets with more than 128
characters (such as EBCDIC) cannot be fully handled, and
some characters may be translated incorrectly. The manner
that CHANGE accesses these tables is as follows. First
CHANGE reads from the input file and extracts a byte of the
proper size. It then takes this byte and indexes by it into
the input conversion table. From the left half of the input
conversion table CHANGE extracts an ascii character
equivalent to the input character. Then with the ascii
character CHANGE indexes into the output conversion table
and extracts a character from the right half table. This
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 12
Command syntax
character is then the converted character and is passed to
the output file. Note if a character can not be translated
CHANGE places a back slash (\) in that position of the
record.
There is a program called TABLE which generates the
conversion file for CHANGE. TABLE contains all of the
conversion tables which are mapped in CHANGE with IOWD
pointers. Thus to modify a table, the user need only to
modify the program TABLE. To do this, TABLE must be edited,
reassemlbed, and then run again.
6.1 TABLE PROGRAM
TABLE is a simple minded program that is used only to
generate files for CHANGE. When it is run TABLE will type
out "File: ". If the user responds with a return TABLE
will try to create a file called "SYS:CHANGE.DAT".
Alternatly the user may specify a file name and a ppn and
TABLE WILL CREATE THE FILE IN THE DISK AREA SPECIFIED.
TABLE has only one switch, and it is used to run CHANGE
when the data file has been created. The switch is "/R" and
must follow the data file's name.
7.1 EXAMPLES
The following are examples of commands to CHANGE:
A user has a magnetic-tape that was written on an IBM
360 system. He knows that the tape is a 9-track tape
written in IBM fixed ebcdic and wants to convert it to
sixbit for a COBOL program he is working on. In addition,
the user knows that the input tape is blocked 1 and has 80
character records. He wants the output to be blocked 20 and
have 120 character records. To solve this problem the user
types the following command to CHANGE:
RETAIN
DATA/MODE:SIXBIT/REC:120/BLK:20
_MTA0:IN/MODE:EDCDIC/REC:80/BLK:1/INDUTRY
PRINT
RUN
In the above example only user input was shown. He first
retained the following commands and then typed in his
command string. Once having typed in the command string the
user had CHANGE type it back to him. Having decided all was
o.k. the user had CHANGE do the command by typing "RUN" to
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 13
Command syntax
CHANGE. The complete output may look as follows:
.R CHANGE
CHANGE here at 12:21 02/02/73
> RETAIN
READY.
> DATA/MODE:SIXBIT/REC:120/BLK:20
READY.
> _MTA0:IN/MODE:EBCDIC/REC:80/BLK:1/INDUSTRY
READY.
> PRINT
OUT= DSK:DATA/BLOCK:20/RECORD:120/MODE:SIXBIT
IN= MTA0:IN/BLOCK:1/RECORD:80/MODE:EBCDIC/INDUST
READY.
> RUN
CHANGE 12:25 02/02/73
12.021 secs. 1234 i/o units.
17777 octal locations used.
400 rec. 400 blk. read.
400 rec. 20 blk. written.
READY.
>
Another user has a sixbit file that his COBOL program
just generated. He wants to convert it to ascii so that he
may edited it. To do this he types the following command to
CHANGE:
ABC/MODE:ASCII/RECORD:80_DATA/MODE:SIXBIT
Note in this example the input record size did not need to
be specified because CHANGE will determine it from the data.
In general if the device has a fixed buffer size and the
character set has control words or other control features
than the record size may be omitted.
CHANGE -- Character set converter Page 14
Index
INDEX
COMMAND SYNTAX . . . . . . . . 0
CONVERSION TABLES . . . . . . 11
EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . 12
EXTENDED COMMANDS . . . . . . 6
SPECIAL COMMAND MODES . . . . 7
SWITCH SPECIFICATIONS . . . . 0
SWITCHES . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TABLE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . 12
TAPE DATA STRUCTURES . . . . . 9
TAPE FORMATS . . . . . . . . . 8