19-Jul-01 ;SMJ
-= TOPS-20 Starter Guide for UNIX users =-
Its important to know these basics before continuing:
^S = CTRL-S pause ouput
^Q = CTRL-Q unpause output
^O = CTRL-O ignore output
^U = CTRL-U clear input
^C = CTRL-C quits a job
^F = CTRL-F completion (try <ESC> too)
^T = CTRL-T Job Status
^\ = CTRL-\ When running 'LOGOUT' use this to close TELNET
This document is written assuming that the reader has a basic
understanding of the UNIX system. However, it is not really
necessary to have any system background when learning TOPS-20.
This is also not meant as an all in one document either.
TOPS-20 is a multiuser operating system designed specifically
for the 36bit DEC PDP-10 (DECSYSTEM-20) mainframe computer.
The USER level is called EXEC (similar to the UNIX 'sh').
Above that is ENABLE, but we will just talk about the USER
level in this document.
EXEC is interactive, in fact, tcsh is based off of
an earlier EXEC in TENEX/The TOPS-10 operating system,
(hence, tcsh is called TENEX C Shell). However, tcsh is
broken in the most important ways:
EXEC has command completion via <ESC> or ^F
EXEC has command recognition (use ? to have EXEC tell you
mapped completions)
CMD JSYS, the interactive bit of the MONITOR ('kernel')
supports real job control. You can DETACH and ATTACH to
any JOB or TTY you choose. Also, you can PUSH and POP
between EXEC levels.
Typically, when TOPS-20 is spewing output to your screen it
will send an XOFF to your TTY (pause) when you are ready
to continue type ^Q. If you don't care about the output
and want your job to continue without your interaction,
just hit ^O. You can also ^C or ^Z to quit or exit a
program or job.
TOPS-20 supports a hiearchical filesystem. PS: (primary
storage) is the system's main device (similar to / or root).
Directory paths are seperated by '.' .. for instance, say
your LOGIN was 'SMJ'. Your home directory would be:
PS:<SMJ> (/smj)
Say there was a subdirectory within your home directory
called LISP:
PS:<SMJ.LISP> (/smj/lisp)
TOPS-20's file system supports file versioning and
supporting two level file deletion. Something
that UNIX seriously lacks. Files are made up of
three components:
FILENAME.EXTENTION.VERSION
The Wildcard * can be used for instance:
@directory PS:<SMJ>*.*.*
Would list ALL files in that directory, if you only gave
a *.*, then the current generation of ALL files would be
listed.
QUICK AND DIRTY COMPARISONS:
UNIX TOPS-20
-----------------------------------------
talk TALK
mesg n REFUSE LINKS
mesg y RECEIVE LINKS
ls DIRECTORY
ls -la VDIRECTORY
cat TYPE
rm DELETE (EXPUNGE)
mkdir BUILD
rmdir BUILD
who SYSTAT
ps SYSTAT
passwd SET DIRECTORY PASSWORD
chmod SET DIRECTORY PROTECTION
SET FILE PROTECTION
man HELP
.profile LOGIN.CMD
.plan FINGER.PLAN
send SEND
mail (sending) SEND
mail (reading) MM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
0. How do I connect and LOGIN?
TELNET to twenex.org
@LOGIN USERNAME PASSWORD ;your password won't echo.
1. How do I set my password after logging in?
@SET DIRECTORY PASSWORD <LOGIN> ;where LOGIN is your LOGIN.
2. Does it have to be UPPERCASE?
no. TOPS-20 assumes you are using a printing TTY when you
connect via the DZ11 terminal server. To set up your
terminal options, use the 'TERMINAL' command. Typically
you will put these TERMINAL commands in your 'LOGIN.CMD'
@TERMINAL NO RAISE ;this will set lowercase
@TERMINAL ? ;this will give you a list of TTY options
3. How do I get more HELP?
Read this file again. Type @? and @HELP ?
4. What editors are available for TOPS-20
Lots! Currently we have SED, EDIT10 and TV (video TECO).
I will add EMACS, TECO and vi when I can.
5. How do I access EXEC command history or edit previous commands?
EXEC command history/editing must be setup by issuing the following
SET commands:
SET HISTORY 100
;then set your favorite editor
SET COMMAND-EDITOR EDIT EMACS
SET COMMAND-EDITOR ENTER CONTROL "P"
You can put these SET commands in your LOGIN.CMD and in most
cases (on TWENEX.ORG) this is included in your default LOGIN.CMD
To access your command history, press ^P (CTRL P), you can then
use EMACS keys to edit your previous commands. Pressing RETURN
will issue the command via the current EXEC.
To re-issue the last command issued, you can type 'REDO'. Not
related, but relevant, you can return to the last program run
(which is still in memory) by typing 'REENTER'
6. What GAMES are available on this system?
We have many esoteric and classic games available on this system.
To get a list and a description of each game, type 'HELP GAMES'
7. How can I host a website here?
Simply run the following command substituting your system LOGIN
for 'LOGIN'. This creates the sub-directory 'HTML'.
@BUILD <LOGIN.HTML>
Either edit your .HTML files in that directory or upload them
using FTP. Your URL will be HTTP://TWENEX.ORG/~LOGIN
8. How does DIRECTORY and FILE PROTECTION work?
TOPS-20 allows for 18bit DIRECTORY and FILE protection settings
which includes features found under 9bit UNIX 'permissions' as
well as additional protections which are uniquely TOPS-20.
FOR FILES:
OCTAL PROPERTY
--------------------
77 FULL ACCESS
40 READ
20 WRITE/DELETE
10 EXECUTE
04 APPEND
02 LIST
00 NO ACCESS
FOR DIRECTORIES:
OCTAL PROPERTY
--------------------
77 FULL ACCESS
40 READ
10 CONNECT
04 BUILD
00 NO ACCESS
PROTECTIONS are grouped together in a set of 3, and correspond as:
@SET DIRECTORY PROTECTION <LOGIN> 777700
^ ^ ^
| | \ all other users
| \__ users in your group
\____ your (owner) login
Such that, you and users in your group have full access to the
directory <LOGIN>, while all other users have no access.
If you are used to UNIX file permissions you should be immediately
impressed that under TOPS-20 you can create a file that:
1. Does not show up in a directory listing
2. That is not readable even if you know its name
3. That is appendable to all users
9. How do I access the 'BBOARD' ?
The TWENEX bboard is a publically accessible mail box which
users of TWENEX.ORG can use to communicate with each other.
In your initial LOGIN.CMD the bboard's latest message is called
upon login. You can always re-read the last message posted to
the bboard by issuing 'BBOARD /LAST' at the EXEC prompt.
TO SEND A MESSAGE:
Simply use 'MAIL BBOARD' to POST or REPLY to a message on
the BBOARD.
TO READ A MESSAGE:
The 'BBOARD' command allows you to read and scan messages
on the bboard using various criteria. You can also use
'MM' to browse the bboard by typing 'BBOARD MAIL' from
within 'MM'
10. How can I use 'COMMODE', 'TALK', 'SEND' or 'PHONE'?
In order to use these to CONVERSE with other users logged
in to TWENEX.ORG, you must have 'TERMINAL RECEIVE LINKS'
set. While using 'TALK' you can either use the EXEC
comment character ';' to prefix your lines, run 'REMARK'
so EXEC doesn't interpret your input as commands or run
COMMODE (CHAT) which will prefix all conversation lines
with the user's LOGIN name.
'SEND' does not LINK TTYs, but allows users to send messages
back and forth. Once you have received a message from a
user, you can 'REPLY' to respond to the sender.
'PHONE' is probably the most elaborate CHAT system. It
allows you to see who is online, if they're willing to
receive links and so on.
Please note that it is not consider respectable to just
randomly LINK to user's TTYs. If you want to 'TALK' with
someone you've never talked to before, please use 'SEND'
or 'MAIL' first. If you don't get a response, don't push it.
If you wish to not have messages sent to your TERMINAL, type:
TERMINAL NO RECEIVE LINKS.
- more to come, please check back soon -
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