AN EXPERIMENT IN AUTOMATED OS/8 PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION AND REVIEW DOUGLAS E. WREGE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND TOM W. MCINTYRE WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT THIS WORKSHOP DISCUSSION IS TO BE CENTERED AROUND THE DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATIONS OF ESTABLISHING OS/8 SIG SUPPORTED PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION AND REVIEW CENTERS THROUGHOUT THE U.S.. THE INTENTION IS TO SUPPLY SOME MEASURE OF REVIEW OF OS/8 USER WRITTEN PROGRAMS SO THAT USERS WILL BE BETTER INFORMED OF SUPERIOR CONTRIBUTIONS AND KEPT UP TO DATE WITH REGARD TO CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS. IN ADDITION A PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL AUTOMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WILL BE DEMONSTRATED FOR THE PROLIFERATION OF OS/8 PROGRAM CONTRIBUTIONS. IT IS OUR HOPE THAT AN ACTIVE USER GROUP CAN BE ESTABLISHED TO IMPROVE ON THIS SYSTEM AND THAT MANY INSTALLATIONS THROUGOUT THE COUNTRY WILL THEREFORE FIND IT CONVENIENT TO PARTICIPATE MORE ACTIVIELY IN THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER IS TO DESCRIBE THE PRELIMINARY SOFTWARE DEVELOPED FOR THE DISTRIBUTION PORTION OF THIS EXPERIMENT. GENERAL DESCRIPTION TWO OS/8 SYSTEM UTILITY PROGRAMS WERE WRITTEN TO HELP SOLVE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH MAINTAINING LIBRARIES OF USER WRITTEN SOFTWARE. BEFORE DESCRIBING THE OPERATION OF THESE PROGRAMS, THESE DIFFICULTIES SHOULD BE INDICATED. PROGRAM FILENAMES THIS PROBLEM ARRISES FROM THE LARGE NUMBERS OF POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTORS. ONE FINDS THAT MANY SOFTWARE CONTRIBUTIONS USE THE SAME OR SIMILAR FILENAMES FOR THEIR WORK (E.G. PIPX, XPIP, FOCALX, FOCALS, ETC). THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME MANNER IN WHICH TO FILE THESE PROGRAMS UNDER AN INDEXING SYSTEM. A REASONABLE CHOISE IS TO USE SOMETHING LIKE THE DECUS LIBRARY NUMBER. ASSUMING THIS IS DONE, WE ARE LED TO THE NEXT PROBLEM: THE DOCUMENTATION PROBLEM ONCE THE FILENAME OF A CONTRIBUTION HAS BEEN CHANGED, THE DOCUMENTATION NO LONGER REFERRS PROPERLY TO THE FILE. THIS IS ESPECIALLY A PROBLEM WHERE MULTIPLE FILES IN A SINGLE CONTRIBUTION ARE INVOLVED, WHICH IN TURN REINTRODUCES THE FILENAME PROBLEM. WHAT IS NEEDED IS A WAY TO CONSOLIDATE MANY FILES INTO A SINGLE LIBRARY FILE WITH SOME METHOD TO EXTRACT THE ORIGNIAL NAMES. A SECOND AREA OF DIFFICULTY IS INVOLVED WITH THE DOCUMENTATION AREA, NAMELY THE PRODUCTION OF HARD COPY OUTPUT. BY FAR THE MOST REASONABLE WAY OF PRODUCING DOCUMENTATION IS TO DISTRIBUTE IT IN MACHINE READABLE FORM. THE ADVANTAGES OF MACHINE READABLE DOCUMENTATION IS THAT MULTIPLE COPIES MAY BE PRINTED WHENEVER THE SUBSCRIBER WHICHES, AND MORE IMPORTANT, DOCUMENTATION MAY BE MORE EASILY UPDATED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUT MODIFICATIONS OF THE ORIGINAL SOFTWARE. FLEXIBLE OUTPUT MEDIA THE MOST DIFFICULT STUMBLING BLOCK IN AUTOMATED LIBRARY DISTRIBUTION IS THE NON-UNIVERSALITY OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA IN THE OS/8 WORLD. ALMOST EVERYONE HAS PAPER TAPE CAPABILITIES, HOWEVER, PAPER TAPE IS A VERY MESSY MEDIA FOR THOSE INSTALATIONS WITH ALMOST ANY OTHER REMOVABLE MASS STORAGE MEDIA. IN FACT, MOST AUTHORS OF SOFTWARE WOULD RATHER NOT MAKE SOFTWARE AVAILABLE TO THERE COLLEGUES IF PAPER TAPE COMMUNICATION IS REQUIRED. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE WHERE A SOFTWARE SYSTEM COMPOSED OF MANY SEPARATE PARTS (OR FILES) ARE CONSERNED. A REASONABLE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM REQUIRES DEVICE INDEPENDENCE WHICH EXTENDS ITSELF TO INDEPENDENCE FROM WHETHER THE COMMUTICATIONS MEDIA IS EVEN FILE STRUCTURED OR NOT. LIBRARY CREATION - OS/8 DUMP TO SOLVE THE LIBRARY CREATION AND FILEING PROBLEM A PROGRAM CALLED "DUMP" WAS WRITTEN. THIS PROGRAM WILL CREATE A SINGLE FILE WHICH CONTAINS MULTIPLE FILES, AND A -1- TABLE OF CONTENTS OF WHAT IS CONTAINED THEREIN. THIS "DUMP" FILE MAY HAVE A FILENAME CONSISTENT WITH THE FILEING SYSTEM, E.G. DECUS NUMBER. ALTHOUGH DUMP REQUIRES THAT INPUT FILES MAKING UP THIS DUMP FILE COME FROM FILE STRUCTURED DEVICES, IT WILL DUMP THE FILE ONTO ANY OS/8 OUTPUT DEVICE INCLUDING PAPER TAPE. THE CONTENTS OF THIS DUMP FILE MAY BE ANY OS/8 FILE, INCLUDING CORE IMAGE FILES. TO RUN THE PROGRAM TYPE .R DUMP *ODEV:ONAME.EX