TOPS-20 User's Guide AA-FP69B-TM June 1988 This document introduces users to the TOPS-20 operating system. It describes how to use the system, obtain system information and run programs. This document supersedes the document of | the same name, order number, AA-FP69A-TM _______ _______ | and also the document Getting Started ____ _______ | with TOPS-20, order number AA-4187D-TM. Change bars in margins indicate material that has been added or changed since the previous printing of this manual. Bullets indicate that material has been deleted. Operating System: TOPS-20 (KL Model B) Version 7.0 Software: TOPS-20 EXEC Version 7.0 First Printing, September 1985 Revised, June 1988 c Digital Equipment Corporation 1985, 1988. All Rights Reserved. The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on equipment that is not supplied by DIGITAL or its affiliated companies. The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: digital DEC MASSBUS RSX DECmate PDP RT DECsystem-10 P/OS UNIBUS DECSYSTEM-20 Professional VAX DECUS Q-BUS VMS DECwriter Rainbow VT DIBOL RSTS Work Processor The postage-prepaid READER'S COMMENTS form on the last page of this document requests the user's critical evaluation to assist us in preparing future documentation. CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER 1 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 1.1 RECOGNIZING KEYBOARD SYMBOLS . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 1.2 DIALING IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 1.3 GETTING THE ATTENTION OF THE SYSTEM . . . . . . . 1-4 1.4 GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR TERMINAL . . . . . 1-5 1.5 DECLARING THE TERMINAL TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6 1.5.1 Controlling Terminal Output . . . . . . . . . . 1-8 1.5.2 Setting the Terminal Speed . . . . . . . . . . 1-10 1.6 STARTING A JOB WITH LOGIN . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11 1.6.1 User Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14 1.6.2 Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14 1.6.2.1 Selecting Secure Passwords . . . . . . . . . 1-14 1.6.2.2 Keeping Your Password a Secret . . . . . . . 1-15 1.6.3 Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15 1.6.4 Session-Remark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16 1.7 EXECUTING COMMANDS AUTOMATICALLY DURING LOGIN . 1-16 1.8 ENDING A JOB WITH LOGOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18 1.9 SETTING ADDITIONAL TERMINAL PARAMETERS . . . . . 1-19 1.9.1 Setting the Terminal Page Length . . . . . . . 1-19 1.9.2 Setting the Terminal Line Width . . . . . . . 1-19 1.9.3 Using Formfeeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19 CHAPTER 2 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM 2.1 USING TOPS-20 COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 2.2 OBTAINING A LIST OF TOPS-20 COMMANDS . . . . . . . 2-5 2.3 OBTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARTS OF A COMMAND 2-6 2.4 TYPING COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7 2.4.1 Full Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8 2.4.2 Recognition Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8 2.4.3 Abbreviated Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9 2.4.4 Combined Recognition and Abbreviated Input . . 2-11 2.4.5 What Are Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12 2.5 CONTINUING COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12 2.6 ADDING COMMENTS TO COMMAND LINES . . . . . . . . 2-12 2.7 CORRECTING INPUT ERRORS . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13 2.7.1 DELETE - Erasing a Character . . . . . . . . . 2-14 2.7.2 CTRL/U - Erasing an Entire Line . . . . . . . 2-14 2.7.3 CTRL/W - Erasing a Word . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14 2.7.4 CTRL/R - Reprinting a Command Line . . . . . . 2-14 2.7.5 CTRL/H - Reprinting Part of an Erroneous Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14 2.8 SETTING ALERTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15 iii 2.9 OPERATING SYSTEM STOPPAGE . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16 CHAPTER 3 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS 3.1 GETTING A LIST OF USERS ON THE SYSTEM . . . . . . 3-1 3.2 LINKING WITH OTHER TERMINALS . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 3.3 READING MAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 3.3.1 System Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 3.3.2 User Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 3.4 SENDING MAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 3.5 SENDING QUICK MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8 3.6 COMMUNICATING WITH THE OPERATOR . . . . . . . . . 3-9 3.7 CONTROLLING MESSAGES AND TERMINAL LINKS . . . . 3-10 3.7.1 System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10 3.7.2 User Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11 3.7.3 Terminal Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11 3.7.4 Inhibiting All Non-Job Output . . . . . . . . 3-12 3.7.5 Mail Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13 3.7.6 Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14 CHAPTER 4 FILE SPECIFICATIONS 4.1 TOPS-20 FILE SYSTEM ORGANIZATION . . . . . . . . . 4-1 4.2 COMPLETE FORM OF A FILE SPECIFICATION . . . . . . 4-1 4.2.1 Device Names - dev: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2 4.2.2 Directory Names - . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 4.2.3 Project-Programmer Numbers - [PPN] . . . . . . . 4-4 4.2.4 Filenames - name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 4.2.5 File Types - .typ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6 4.2.6 Generation Numbers - .gen . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6 4.2.7 File Attributes - ;A, ;P, ;T . . . . . . . . . . 4-8 4.3 USING WILDCARDS TO SPECIFY FILES . . . . . . . . . 4-9 4.4 SPECIFYING SPECIAL CHARACTERS - CTRL/V . . . . . 4-10 4.5 TYPING FILE SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11 4.6 USING LOGICAL NAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13 4.6.1 The Device DSK: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15 4.6.2 The Device POBOX: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16 CHAPTER 5 CREATING AND EDITING FILES 5.1 SELECTING AN EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 5.1.1 EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 5.1.2 TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 5.2 DEFINING THE LOGICAL NAME EDITOR . . . . . . . . . 5-4 5.3 CORRECTING TYPING ERRORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 iv CHAPTER 6 USING DISK FILES 6.1 USING FILE STRUCTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2 6.2 PROTECTING DIRECTORIES AND FILES . . . . . . . . . 6-4 6.2.1 Directory Protection Numbers . . . . . . . . . . 6-4 6.2.2 File Protection Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 6.2.3 Checking Protection Numbers . . . . . . . . . . 6-6 6.2.4 Changing a Directory Protection Number . . . . . 6-8 6.2.5 Changing a File Protection Number . . . . . . . 6-8 6.3 CONNECTING TO DIRECTORIES . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8 6.4 ACCESSING DIRECTORIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11 6.5 COPYING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-13 6.6 RENAMING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14 6.7 APPENDING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14 6.8 LISTING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15 6.9 PRINTING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15 6.9.1 Modifying a PRINT Request . . . . . . . . . . 6-18 6.9.2 Canceling a PRINT Request . . . . . . . . . . 6-18 6.9.3 Setting Defaults for the PRINT Command . . . . 6-19 6.10 DELETING AND RESTORING FILES . . . . . . . . . . 6-20 6.11 CREATING TEMPORARY FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-21 6.12 REGULATING DISK FILE STORAGE . . . . . . . . . . 6-22 6.13 LONG TERM OFF-LINE FILE STORAGE . . . . . . . . 6-25 6.13.1 Archiving Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-25 6.13.2 Getting Information about Archive Status of Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-25 6.13.3 Canceling an Archive Request . . . . . . . . . 6-26 6.13.4 Retrieving an Archived File . . . . . . . . . 6-26 6.13.5 Deleting an Archived File . . . . . . . . . . 6-27 6.13.6 Archiving Expired Files Automatically . . . . 6-27 6.14 VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE FILES . . . . . . . . . . 6-29 CHAPTER 7 USING MAGNETIC TAPE 7.1 USING MAGNETIC TAPE STORAGE . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1 7.2 USING UNLABELLED TAPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1 7.2.1 Using Unlabelled Tapes with Tape Allocation Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 7.2.2 Using Unlabeled Tapes with Tape Allocation Disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 7.2.3 Setting Tape Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3 7.2.4 Positioning the Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 7.3 USING LABELLED TAPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 CHAPTER 8 RUNNING SYSTEM PROGRAMS AND OTHER USERS' PROGRAMS 8.1 RUNNING SYSTEM PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1 8.2 GIVING COMMANDS TO SYSTEM PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . 8-2 8.2.1 Example: Using a System Program . . . . . . . . 8-3 8.3 GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT SYSTEM FEATURES . . . . 8-5 v 8.4 RUNNING USER PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6 8.5 CONTROLLING PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7 8.5.1 Typing CTRL/C to Halt Execution . . . . . . . . 8-7 8.5.2 Typing CTRL/O to Stop Output to Your Terminal . 8-8 8.5.3 Typing CTRL/T to Print the Run Status . . . . . 8-9 8.6 RUNNING PROGRAMS WITHOUT DESTROYING MEMORY . . . 8-12 8.7 RUNNING MULTIPLE PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13 8.7.1 Saving Forks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-15 8.7.2 Changing the Current Fork . . . . . . . . . . 8-16 8.7.3 Creating Background Forks . . . . . . . . . . 8-16 8.7.4 Deleting Forks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-17 CHAPTER 9 PRODUCING AND RUNNING YOUR OWN PROGRAMS 9.1 PRODUCING A SIMPLE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1 9.1.1 The Source Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1 9.1.2 Executing the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2 9.1.3 Debugging the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3 9.1.4 Saving the Program for Future Use . . . . . . . 9-4 9.2 PREPARING A MULTI-MODULE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . 9-5 9.2.1 Writing and Entering Modules into Files . . . . 9-5 9.2.2 Executing the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6 9.2.3 Producing a Cross-Reference Listing . . . . . . 9-6 9.2.4 Using Subroutine Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8 9.2.4.1 Entering the Subroutines into Files . . . . . 9-9 9.2.4.2 Compiling the Subroutines . . . . . . . . . . 9-9 9.2.4.3 Creating the Library File . . . . . . . . . 9-10 9.2.4.4 Using the Library File . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11 9.2.4.5 Changing a Subroutine in the Library . . . . 9-12 9.2.5 Loading and Saving the Program for Future Use 9-13 9.2.6 Saving Arguments in Indirect Files . . . . . . 9-14 9.2.7 Comparing Changes in Files . . . . . . . . . . 9-14 9.3 USING THE LOAD-CLASS COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . 9-15 9.3.1 Object (Relocatable) and Executable Programs . 9-16 9.3.1.1 Using Relocatable Object Programs . . . . . 9-18 9.3.2 Selecting a File and Recognizing the Programming Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18 9.3.2.1 Using Nonstandard File Types . . . . . . . . 9-20 9.3.2.2 Setting a Default Compiler . . . . . . . . . 9-20 9.3.2.3 Using the File Type .REL . . . . . . . . . . 9-20 9.3.2.4 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21 9.3.3 Compiling Only Out-of-Date Object Programs . . 9-21 9.3.4 Remembering Arguments to LOAD-Class Commands . 9-22 9.3.5 Concatenating Files to Produce One Source Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23 9.3.6 Specifying Special Actions with Switches . . . 9-23 CHAPTER 10 USING BATCH 10.1 PREPARING A BATCH JOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1 vi 10.1.1 Creating a Control File . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3 10.1.2 Monitoring Your Batch Job . . . . . . . . . . 10-3 10.1.3 Submitting a Control File to Batch . . . . . . 10-3 10.1.3.1 Setting Defaults for the SUBMIT Command . . 10-4 10.1.4 Checking a Batch Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4 10.1.5 Examining the Output from a Batch Job . . . . 10-5 10.2 MODIFYING A BATCH JOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6 10.3 CANCELING A BATCH JOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7 APPENDIX A TOPS-20 COMMANDS A.1 SYSTEM ACCESS COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1 A.2 FILE SYSTEM COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2 A.3 DEVICE HANDLING COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3 A.4 PROGRAM CONTROL COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4 A.5 INFORMATION COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5 A.6 TERMINAL COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6 A.7 BATCH COMMAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7 APPENDIX B STANDARD FILE TYPES APPENDIX C CHANGING YOUR PROGRAM USING EDIT C.1 ENTERING YOUR FORTRAN PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . C-1 C.2 EDITING YOUR FORTRAN PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . C-2 C.2.1 Starting EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-2 C.2.2 Printing a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-3 C.2.3 Inserting a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4 C.2.4 Deleting a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-5 C.2.5 Replacing a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-6 C.2.6 Changing a Line Without Completely Retyping It . C-6 C.2.7 Saving a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-7 C.3 RERUNNING A FORTRAN PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . C-7 C.3.1 Typing Out Your Program . . . . . . . . . . . . C-8 APPENDIX D USING BASIC D.1 STARTING BASIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1 D.2 ENTERING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1 D.3 SAVING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-2 D.4 RUNNING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3 D.5 EDITING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3 D.6 RENAMING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3 D.7 RERUNNING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-4 D.8 LISTING YOUR PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-4 D.9 RUNNING AN EXISTING PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . D-5 D.10 LEAVING BASIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5 vii INDEX FIGURES 2-1 Fields of a Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4 8-1 Methods of Running Multiple Programs . . . . . . 8-14 9-1 Source, Object, and Executable Programs . . . . 9-17 TABLES 1-1 Special Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 2-1 Special Command Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . 2-10 4-1 System Device Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 4-2 Special System Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4 4-3 Symbolic Generation Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7 6-1 Directory Protection Digits . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 6-2 File Protection Digits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6 8-1 CTRL/T Status Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10 8-2 Unexpected Process Termination Messages . . . . 8-11 9-1 LOAD-Class Command Standard File Types . . . . . 9-19 10-1 Illegal Commands in Batch Jobs . . . . . . . . . 10-2 B-1 Standard File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1 viii PREFACE PREFACE _______ ______ _____ The TOPS-20 User's Guide describes the functions that you can perform | with the TOPS-20 operating system. This manual is the first document _______ | of two TOPS-20 user-oriented manuals. The audience for the TOPS-20 ______ _____ User's Guide ranges from the entry level first-time user to the experienced higher level language programmer. | Descriptions of how to use the system, obtain system information, | enter programs, run programs, and modify programs have been excerpted _______ _______ ____ _______ _______ | from Getting Started with TOPS-20 and incorporated into the TOPS-20 ______ _____ | User's Guide. This information is not designated with change bars in _______ ______ _____ | the TOPS-20 User's Guide. Only new TOPS-20 operating system features | are highlighted with change bars. _______ ______ | Once you learn about the functions described in the TOPS-20 User's _____ | Guide, you can refer to the second and more advanced manual, the _______ ________ _________ ______ TOPS-20 Commands Reference Manual, for complete descriptions of all of the TOPS-20 commands and how to use them. The following suggests a list of chapters to read according to the level of information you need to do your job. o If you are a first time user, such as a librarian, clerk, or data entry person, read Chapters 1, 2, 3, 8, 10. o If you are a system administrator, or a new operator, read Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7. o If you are a programmer, read Chapter 9. ix Following is a list of manuals referenced in this manual: _______ ________ _________ ______ o TOPS-20 Commands Reference Manual _______ ____ _________ _____ o TOPS-20 User Utilities Guide _______ ____ __________ ______ o TOPS-20 Tape Processing Manual _______ ______ _________ _____ o TOPS-20 System Manager's Guide ____ ______ _____ o EDIT User's Guide ____ _________ ______ o EDIT Reference Manual __ ______ ______ o TV Editor Manual ______ ______ o EDT-20 Primer _______________ _____ _________ ______ o TOPS-10/TOPS-20 Batch Reference Manual _______________ __________ ______ o TOPS-10/TOPS-20 DECmail/MS Manual Conventions Used in This Manual __________ ____ Underlined text indicates what the user types in command examples. ^letter means press the keys labeled CTRL and the specified letter simultaneously, for example ^C. Ellipsis ... means that items in a command line can be optionally repeated. is implied in command examples. indicates when you should press the ESCape (or ALTmode) key. x CHAPTER 1 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM This chapter describes: o Recognizing keyboard symbols (Section 1.1) o Dialing In (Section 1.2) o Getting the attention of the system (Section 1.3) o Getting information about your terminal (Section 1.4) o Declaring the terminal type (Section 1.5) o Controlling terminal output (Section 1.5.1) o Setting the terminal speed (Section 1.5.2) o Starting a job with LOGIN (Section 1.6) o Executing commands automatically during LOGIN (Section 1.7) o Ending a job with LOGOUT (Section 1.8) o Setting additional terminal parameters (Section 1.9) 1.1 RECOGNIZING KEYBOARD SYMBOLS 1.1 RECOGNIZING KEYBOARD SYMBOLS You use a terminal to communicate with the system. Although many different types and models of terminals exist, they all have similar keyboards, which resemble typewriter keyboards. Before you begin using the system, become familiar with the keyboard on the terminal. In addition to the standard characters (letters, numbers, and punctuation) and the space bar, there are keys that perform special functions. Table 1-1 describes these keys and their functions. 1-1 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM Table 1-1: Special Function Keys Table 1-1: Special Function Keys ____________________________________________________________________ Key Function ____________________________________________________________________ CTRL The CTRL (or control) key initiates a number of system (Control) functions when it is used in conjunction with another character. To type a control character, hold down the CTRL key, and at the same time press the character you want. For example: to type a CTRL/C, hold down the CTRL key and at the same time press the letter C. In most cases this prints (echoes) on your terminal as ^C. DELETE The DELETE key erases characters. On some terminals this key is labeled DEL, RUBOUT, RUB CHAR OUT, or with a special symbol. ESC The ESC (or escape) key initiates a variety of (Escape) different functions. o Completes an abbreviated command and prompts you with a guideword o Completes an abbreviated argument o Ends input to some system programs o Causes special functions to be performed by some programs At TOPS-20 command level, the ESC key o Does not echo on your terminal o Displays an error message if you have made an error o Rings the terminal bell when you try to use it to complete a command and you have not typed sufficient information At system program level, depending upon the program you are running, the ESC key sometimes echoes on the terminal as a dollar sign. On some terminals this key is labeled ESCAPE, ALT, or ALTMODE. 1-2 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM If there is no escape key on your terminal, use CTRL/[ (press the CTRL and the left square bracket keys at the same time) to duplicate the function of the escape key. RETURN The RETURN key confirms to the system that you have completed a line and causes the terminal's cursor or printing head to go to the beginning of the next line. Unless you are told otherwise, terminate all command lines by pressing the RETURN key. On some terminals this key is labeled CR or RET. SP Creates a blank space by moving the terminal printing (Space Bar) head one space to the right. TAB The TAB key causes the cursor or printing head to move to the right to the next tab stop. Tab stops are normally every eight spaces. This is useful for aligning columns of data and for formatting programs. If there is no TAB key on your terminal, use CTRL/I to duplicate the function of the TAB Key. ____________________________________________________________________ 1.2 DIALING IN 1.2 DIALING IN Some terminals are connected to the computer by telephone. If you are using such a terminal, find out the computer phone number and use the following procedure: 1. Turn on the terminal. 2. Check the speed setting. (Refer to Section 1.5.2, for information on setting your terminal speed.) 3. Dial the computer telephone number. 4. Wait for a steady tone or a high-pitched beep, which indicates that the telephone connection to the computer has been made. 5. Place the telephone receiver in the slots in either the terminal or the acoustic coupler. (An acoustic coupler is a device to connect the telephone with a terminal if the terminal does not have a built-in telephone receptacle.) 6. Wait for the carrier detect light to come on. 1-3 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM Your terminal is now connected to the computer. The system prints a system identification message similar to the following: KL2102, TOPS-20 Development Sys., TOPS-20 Monitor 7(7) @ The @ character, which is the TOPS-20 prompt, indicates that TOPS-20 is ready to accept a command. 1.3 GETTING THE ATTENTION OF THE SYSTEM 1.3 GETTING THE ATTENTION OF THE SYSTEM Press any key on the keyboard to signal the system that you want to log in. After you press a key, a system identification message and the TOPS-20 prompt, @, are printed on the terminal. If you do not receive the system identification message, one of the following conditions exists: o The system is down o Your terminal is set at the wrong speed for the line you are connected to (refer to Section 1.5.2 for information on setting the terminal speed) o The system is not available for your use o The system is full o Your terminal is not connected to the system If the system is not available for your use, you receive a message similar to the following: ?LOGGING IN ON LOCAL TERMINALS IS CURRENTLY NOT ALLOWED This message means that the operator has set the system to prevent timesharing. The system notifies you when it resumes its timesharing operation by printing a message similar to the following: SYSTEM RESTARTING, WAIT... and after a pause, [FROM OPERATOR: SYSTEM IN OPERATION] If the system is full, you receive the following message: ?FULL reason 1-4 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM Wait a few minutes; then press a key. Repeat this until you receive the system identification message. The explanation that follows ?FULL is meaningful to the system manager and to system programmers. If you must wait an excessive length of time before successfully logging in, you might want to bring the error message to the attention of one of these people. 1.4 GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR TERMINAL 1.4 GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR TERMINAL Terminals have different characteristics for printing information, depending on their type and speed. Because you have not yet told the system the kind of terminal you are using, the system automatically sets defaults for the terminal. These defaults are based on the most common type of terminal at your site. The defaults set parameters such as the terminal page length at 66 lines and the line width at 72 characters, in addition to setting lowercase and tabs. The INFORMATION TERMINAL command displays the settings of these parameters or values, along with other characteristics of your terminal. After the system prints the system identification message and the TOPS-20 prompt (@), you are at TOPS-20 command level and you can give commands to the system. Type the TOPS-20 command INFORMATION TERMINAL-MODE and press RETURN. The system prints the information about your terminal. ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE (FOR TERMINAL) TERMINAL SYSTEM-DEFAULT TERMINAL SPEED 9600 TERMINAL NO INHIBIT (NON-JOB OUTPUT) RECEIVE LINKS REFUSE ADVICE RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES RECEIVE USER-MESSAGES TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) COMMAND TERMINAL NO PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE TERMINAL LENGTH 66 TERMINAL WIDTH 72 TERMINAL LOWERCASE TERMINAL RAISE TERMINAL NO FLAG TERMINAL INDICATE TERMINAL NO FORMFEED TERMINAL NO TABS TERMINAL NO IMMEDIATE TERMINAL FULLDUPLEX 1-5 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM Note that you can specify a terminal line number after the (FOR TERMINAL) guidewords. This allows you to obtain information about another user's terminal. The system uses your terminal line number as the default when you do not specify one. The SYSTAT command (discussed in Section 3.1) shows the line numbers for all users on the system. 1.5 DECLARING THE TERMINAL TYPE 1.5 DECLARING THE TERMINAL TYPE Once you are at TOPS-20 command level, you can inform the system of the type of terminal you are using. _________________________________ Terminal Types Recognized by the System _________________________________ ____ ____ _____ HARD COPY VIDEO MODEL 33 H19 MODEL 35 TERMINET MODEL 37 TI EXECUPORT (TI) VT05 LA30 VT50 LA36 VT52 LA38 VT100 LA120 VT102 VT105 VT200-SERIES | VT300-SERIES ___________________________________ NOTE Installations can add other terminals to their individual systems. To declare the terminal type, give the TERMINAL command, and type in the type of your terminal. In this example, the terminal type is a VT100. ________ _____ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) VT100 1-6 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM After you identify the terminal type to the system, all subsequent output conforms to preset terminal parameters for that type. The terminal type specifies the proper values for: Formfeed Tab Outputting lowercase characters Line width Page length If you do not set the proper parameters for the terminal, you may find the output format undesirable for your work. After you identify the terminal type, you can again give the INFORMATION TERMINAL-MODE command to see the parameters that were set as a result of your TERMINAL command. Tell the system you are using a VT100 by giving the TERMINAL command; then give the INFORMATION TERMINAL-MODE command. ________ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) VT100 ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE (FOR TERMINAL) TERMINAL VT100 TERMINAL SPEED 9600 TERMINAL NO INHIBIT (NON-JOB OUTPUT) RECEIVE LINKS REFUSE ADVICE RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES RECEIVE USER-MESSAGES TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) COMMAND TERMINAL NO PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE TERMINAL LENGTH 24 TERMINAL WIDTH 80 TERMINAL LOWERCASE TERMINAL NO RAISE TERMINAL NO FLAG TERMINAL INDICATE TERMINAL NO FORMFEED TERMINAL TABS TERMINAL NO IMMEDIATE TERMINAL FULLDUPLEX Setting the terminal type changes only the following parameters: terminal type, length, width, lowercase, formfeed, and tab. Therefore, when you identify the terminal as a VT100, the output conforms to the parameters for that type of terminal, that is, a page length of 24 lines, a line width of 80 characters, lowercase letters, no mechanical formfeed, and no mechanical tabs. Identifying the terminal type for a video terminal additionally allows more effective use of the DELETE key. The system erases the last character you typed on the screen rather than print the character followed by a backslash, as it does on a hard-copy terminal. 1-7 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 1.5.1 Controlling Terminal Output 1.5.1 Controlling Terminal Output The following commands control output to terminals: TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) COMMAND TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) CHARACTER x (AND UNPAUSE ON) y TERMINAL NO PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE The TERMINAL PAUSE COMMAND allows you to stop output to the terminal at any time by typing CTRL/S, and continue output by typing CTRL/Q. This command is the default for all terminal types. You can define your own characters to stop and continue output with the TERMINAL PAUSE CHARACTER command discussed below. TERMINAL PAUSE END-OF-PAGE automatically stops output to the terminal when the output is equal to the current page length set for the terminal. When the system stops the output, it rings the terminal bell and waits for you to type CTRL/Q. The CTRL/Q resumes the output. This prevents the output from rolling off a video terminal screen so rapidly that you cannot read it. However, if you want to stop the output before the end of the page, type CTRL/S. This command is the default if you declare your terminal to be a video terminal, for example a VT100. TERMINAL NO PAUSE END-OF-PAGE prevents the output from stopping at the end of the page. This command is the default if you declare your terminal to be a hard-copy terminal, for example an LA36. If TERMINAL PAUSE END-OF-PAGE is not set, and you need the terminal output to stop at the end of a page, give the following command: ________ _____ ___________ @TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE If TERMINAL PAUSE END-OF-PAGE is set, and you do not want the terminal to stop output at the end of the page, give the following command: ________ __ _____ ___________ @TERMINAL NO PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE TERMINAL PAUSE CHARACTER x y allows you to choose your own pause and continue characters. These characters are alternatives to the CTRL/S and CTRL/Q default characters. (To specify your own pause and continue characters, TERMINAL PAUSE END-OF-PAGE and TERMINAL PAUSE COMMAND must be in effect.) 1-8 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM You can specify the pause and continue characters in several ways. Some of the more common forms are: o an ASCII code in octal o a character within double quotation marks (" ") o the word SPACE to specify the space bar Octal ASCII codes for the keyboard characters are listed in several _______________ _____ _________ ______ TOPS-20 manuals. The TOPS-10/TOPS-20 Batch Reference Manual, for example, lists these codes. To specify the space bar as both the pause and continue character, give the following command: ________ _____ _________ _____ _____ @TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) CHARACTER SPACE (AND UNPAUSE ON) SPACE To see the characters that you may have specified in the TERMINAL PAUSE CHARACTER command, give the INFORMATION TERMINAL-MODE command: ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE (FOR TERMINAL) TERMINAL VT100 . . . TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) COMMAND TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) END-OF-PAGE TERMINAL PAUSE (ON) CHARACTER SPACE . . . In this example, the continuation character is not displayed, because it is the same as the pause character (SPACE). Also, if you specify the TERMINAL NO PAUSE COMMAND or the TERMINAL NO PAUSE END-OF-PAGE command, or if the system default characters, CTRL/S and CTRL/Q, are in effect, the TERMINAL PAUSE CHARACTER line does not appear in the information display. NOTES Several terminal types require that you change the pause and continue characters to something other than CTRL/S and CTRL/Q. For example, the VT125 and the VT100 with the printer port option do not recognize these characters. When you use the SET HOST command to log in to a remote system, CTRL/S and CTRL/Q are reserved by your host system; they are not passed to the remote system. CTRL/A is the default character for pausing and continuing output coming from a remote system. 1-9 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 1.5.2 Setting the Terminal Speed 1.5.2 Setting the Terminal Speed Terminals can transmit and receive data at various speeds. This rate of speed is called a baud rate. Baud rates range from 10 to 960 characters per second: 10 characters per second is 110 baud; 960 characters per second is 9600 baud. There are actually two different speeds: terminal speed and line speed. The terminal speed is the speed at which your terminal receives characters from and transmits characters to the system. This speed is set by switches or keys that are physically located on your terminal. The line speed is the speed at which the system receives characters from and transmits characters to your terminal. The line speed is set with the TERMINAL SPEED command. The terminal speed and the line speed must match for your terminal to communicate with the system. Your system can have two types of terminal lines, those that are set to a certain speed and "autobaud" lines. An autobaud line automatically sets a line speed that matches the speed of your terminal when you initially type any key on the keyboard. Your system manager presets line speeds when the type of terminal connected to the terminal line is constant. For example, a terminal line connected to a VT220 video terminal may be set to 9600 baud while a line connected to a slower LA100 hard-copy terminal may be set to 300 baud. Terminal lines are autobaud when the line can be connected to various types of terminals. For example, terminal lines which are reserved for telephone connections to the computer are usually autobaud. NOTE If your terminal is connected by telephone to an autobaud terminal line, an initial character enables the system to determine your terminal's baud rate, provided the rate is 300, 1200, 1800, 2400, or 9600. If the baud rate is 110 or 150, type a second character. If you press a character and fail to get the system identification message, press the BREAK key twice followed by another character. Do not set the line speed to a speed your terminal (or modem) does not support. If you should do this by mistake, contact the operator for assistance. To change your terminal and line speeds, first change your line speed with the TERMINAL SPEED command. Then, manually change the speed settings on your terminal. 1-10 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM For example, to change the line speed for input and output to 2400 baud, give the TERMINAL SPEED command: ________ _____ ____ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) SPEED (OF INPUT) 2400 NOTE On some hard-copy terminals, the switch to change the baud rate is located at the left of the keyboard. On some video terminals, the switch to change the baud rate is located on the underside or the back of the terminal. On others, special keys on the main keyboard are used to change the baud rate. If you set only the input speed for the line and do not specify the output speed, the system assumes that the output speed is the same as the input speed. If you are using a hard-copy terminal and accidentally set a line speed incompatible with your terminal, you cannot correct it. Contact the operator, give your terminal line number, and ask him to set your line at the speed you want. If you are using a video terminal and accidentally set an incorrect line speed, you may be able to correct the speed by setting the terminal speed to the current line speed and then, resetting the line and terminal speeds. After you start a job on the system, you may find there are more terminal parameters you need to set in addition to those already described. Section 1.6 describes starting a work session with LOGIN. Section 1.9 explains the additional parameters you can set. 1.6 STARTING A JOB WITH LOGIN 1.6 STARTING A JOB WITH LOGIN Before using TOPS-20 for the first time, you must obtain the following from the staff at your installation. 1. Your user name 2. Your password 3. Your account Your user name, password, and account identify you so that you can use the computer and be charged appropriately. 1-11 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM To start working on the system, you must first identify yourself to the system by typing the LOGIN command, which validates you as a user, creates your job, and begins charging your account. The LOGIN command requires your user name, password, and account. The command also allows you to add remarks concerning the work session. This _______ __ identification procedure is called logging in. After you give the LOGIN command, the system creates a job and prints a line containing the job number, the terminal number, the current date and time and the date and time of your last login. The system prints an @ on the next line; you are now at TOPS-20 command level. TYPING ERRORS If, in the process of logging in, you make a typing error, type CTRL/U. This tells the system to ignore everything you have typed on that line, because you have made a mistake and want to start the line over. After you type a CTRL/U, the system prints XXX and then prints @ on the next line. After the @ prompt, do the following: 1. Type LOGIN, and press the key labeled ESC (for ESCape). | _____ @LOGIN (USER) 2. After you see the guideword (USER), type your user name and press the ESC key. | | _____ _______ @LOGIN (USER) SARTINI (PASSWORD) 3. After you see the guideword (PASSWORD), type your password, and press the ESC key. Because your password is secret, it does not print on the terminal. This safeguard prevents other people from using your name and account. Even though your password is not printed, it is given to the system as part of your identification. | | | _____ _______ @LOGIN (USER) SARTINI (PASSWORD) (ACCOUNT) NOTE On some terminals, the guideword (PASSWORD) may be followed by a nonsense word or message. If this is the case, when you type your password over this word, your password is illegible. 1-12 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 4. After you see the guideword (ACCOUNT), type your account and, instead of pressing the ESC key, press the key labeled RETURN. You use the RETURN key to tell the system you have finished typing the lines. TOPS-20 will print a message similar to the one below. _____ _______ ___ @LOGIN (USER) SARTINI (PASSWORD) (ACCOUNT) 341 Job 40 on TTY127 6-Feb-88 08:42:47 @ This message gives you: o Your system assigned job number (40). o Your terminal number (127). o The current date and time (6-Feb-88). o A system message of the day, if any. Installations use the message of the day to inform users of new programs or system changes. NOTE Some systems do not require you to enter an account when logging in. If you don't have an account, press the RETURN key after you type your password. You will be logged in. The following example shows the entire logging-in process: AURORA, Research and Development, TOPS-20 Monitor 7(7) _____ _______ ___ @LOGIN (USER) SARTINI (PASSWORD) (ACCOUNT) 341 Job 57 on TTY127 23-Jul-88 09:48:40, Last Login 22-Jul-88 09:30:27 @ NOTE You do not have to use the ESC key when logging in. However, the ESC key provides guidewords that prompt you for user name, password and account. Spaces between arguments are sufficient if you do not need the help of guidewords. For example: LOGIN SARTINI password 341. 1-13 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 1.6.1 User Names 1.6.1 User Names Your user name identifies you to the system and to other users. A user name may contain up to 39 alphanumeric characters, as well as period (.) and hyphen (-). Your user name is also the name of your login directory. 1.6.2 Passwords 1.6.2 Passwords To provide security, you must give a password when logging in. Depending on the procedures at your site, you may be assigned a password or allowed to select one for your first login. When you type your password, it is not displayed on the terminal; this prevents others from learning it and logging into your area without your authorization. 1.6.2.1 Selecting Secure Passwords 1.6.2.1 Selecting Secure Passwords - Use these guidelines in selecting a password: | | o Use a minimum of six characters. Unless your system manager | sets a greater minimum password length, a password of at | least six characters is recommended. Passwords can be up to 39 characters long and include hyphens. o Use a password that cannot easily be guessed. Avoid passwords that have a personal association to you such as your name or initials, the name of a family member or pet, the make of your car, or any name associated with your work, such as your company or special project. o Avoid words found in the dictionary. By avoiding words readily found in the dictionary your password choice is less subject to discovery by a program that successively enters the words in the dictionary, searching for one that produces a successful login. Use a nonsense word or a word from another language. o Include digits in a password. The content of a password is more important than the length. Using digits as well as letters provides the most secure passwords. For example, for a six-character password using letters only, there are 300 million combinations, while a six-character password with digits has 2 billion combinations. 1-14 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 1.6.2.2 Keeping Your Password a Secret 1.6.2.2 Keeping Your Password a Secret - Often illegal system accesses involving the use of a correct password can be traced to disclosure of the password by its owner. Do not be unconcerned about protecting your password because you do not keep any sensitive information on the system. A system breaker could use your password to gain more information about the system and break into other areas, or a malicious user could destroy your files or steal computer time. Use these guidelines to prevent others from learning your password: o Never write down your password. o Do not include your password in any file, including the body of an electronic mail message. (If anyone else reveals their password to you in this fashion, be sure to delete the information promptly.) o Never give your password to other users except under very unusual circumstances, and then be sure to change it immediately after the need for sharing has passed. o Avoid using the same password for your accounts on multiple systems. The system breaker's first step after learning a password for one system is to try that username and password on other systems. o Note the date and time of your last login. After you give the LOGIN command, the system displays the date and time of your last login. Check this message routinely. If you observe a login that you did not make, change your password immediately and notify your system manager. o Change your password frequently. Changing your password every 3 to 6 months is sufficiently frequent on most systems where there have been no password compromises and no sharing of passwords. DIGITAL discourages sharing passwords; however, if passwords are shared, the frequency of password changes should be every month or two. To change your login password use the SET DIRECTORY PASSWORD command: ___ _________ ________ ______________________ @SET DIRECTORY PASSWORD 1.6.3 Accounts 1.6.3 Accounts To log in to the system, you must give a valid account. Your account is billed for central processor unit (CPU) usage and for file storage. 1-15 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM Once you log in, all charges are made to the account you give in the LOGIN command unless you specify otherwise. If your login directory has a default account, you do not have to specify an account when you login. If you must change your account during a job, give the SET ACCOUNT command or include the ;A attribute in the file specification. (Refer to Section 4.2.7, file attributes.) However, you can change it only to another valid account. 1.6.4 Session-Remark 1.6.4 Session-Remark The LOGIN command allows for an optional argument following your account. If you press the ESC key after typing your account, the system prints the guidewords (SESSION-REMARK). You can then type one line of text to identify a specific work session for accounting purposes. This session remark cannot exceed 39 alphanumeric characters, including hyphens and spaces. If you need to change the SESSION-REMARK during a job, give the SET SESSION-REMARK command. You can see the current session-remark for your job when you give the INFORMATION JOB-STATUS command. 1.7 EXECUTING COMMANDS AUTOMATICALLY DURING LOGIN 1.7 EXECUTING COMMANDS AUTOMATICALLY DURING LOGIN You can create a LOGIN.CMD file that contains the TOPS-20 commands you want executed when you log in. The system automatically reads this command file every time you log in. After executing these commands, the system prints any output from the commands followed by the message End of LOGIN.CMD and the TOPS-20 prompt (@). For example, if you always use a VT100 terminal, you can include a TERMINAL VT100 command in a LOGIN.CMD file. Every time you log in, the system reads the LOGIN.CMD file and recognizes the terminal as a VT100. All output to the terminal conforms to the parameters set for a VT100. Below is an example of a typical LOGIN.CMD file. Note that comments are preceded by an exclamation mark (!). (Refer to Section 2.6 for information on adding comments.) The commands in this file are discussed in the following chapters. TERMINAL VT100 !Set the parameters for a VT100 TERMINAL PAUSE CHARACTER SPACE SPACE !Set the space bar to stop and ! start terminal output TERMINAL PAUSE END-OF-PAGE !Stop scrolling output at end ! of page DEFINE WK: WORK: !Define a logical name for a ! directory DEFINE EDITOR: SYS:EDT.EXE !Define a logical name for ! an editor 1-16 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM DEFINE PB: PS:PHONE.BOOK !Define a logical name for a file INFORMATION LOGICAL-NAMES !Display the logical names defined ! in the three previous commands MOUNT STRUCTURE WORK: /NOWAIT !Mount the structure WORK: SET PROGRAM DSR KEEP CONTINUE !Keep program DSR when it's ! started SET ALERT 16:25 VANPOOL IN 5 MINUTES !Set a daily reminder DAYTIME !Display the date and time If there is an error with one of the commands, the system processes the commands up to the one in error. When the system encounters the error, it stops reading the file and prints the following message: %Error while reading LOGIN.CMD.1, file aborted. followed by the message produced by the command in error. You can also create a COMAND.CMD file that contains any TOPS-20 commands you want executed when you log in. The COMAND.CMD file differs from the LOGIN.CMD file because the system automatically reads the COMAND.CMD file whenever you give a PUSH command as well as every time you log in. (Refer to Section 8.6 for an example using the PUSH command.) After executing the commands in the COMAND.CMD file, the system prints any output from the commands followed by the message End of COMAND.CMD and the TOPS-20 prompt. Note that the system reads the LOGIN.CMD file before it reads the COMAND.CMD file. If there are conflicting commands in the two files, the last command executed (that is, the one in the COMAND.CMD file) takes precedence. NOTE The system processes the LOGIN command line or the PUSH command before it reads the LOGIN.CMD file or the COMAND.CMD file. Therefore, you are still successfully logged into the system or the PUSH command is still in effect, even if the command file contains an error. Your system manager can create system-wide LOGIN.CMD and COMAND.CMD files. Like your own command files, the system LOGIN.CMD and COMAND.CMD files are executed automatically when you login. Each system command file is executed before your own file of the same name: 1. SYSTEM:LOGIN.CMD 2. LOGIN.CMD 3. SYSTEM:COMAND.CMD 4. COMAND.CMD 1-17 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM If your site has system-wide LOGIN.CMD and COMAND.CMD files, you should examine the commands in these files to avoid putting duplicate commands in your own command files. To display the system LOGIN.CMD file give the command: ____ ________________ @TYPE SYSTEM:LOGIN.CMD Refer to Chapter 5 for information on how to create files. 1.8 ENDING A JOB WITH LOGOUT 1.8 ENDING A JOB WITH LOGOUT When you want to leave the system, you should not just turn off your terminal and walk away; you should tell the system you are leaving. To leave the system, type LOGOUT after the @, and press the RETURN key. This terminates your communication with the system. This _______ ___ procedure is called logging out. ______ @LOGOUT After you press the RETURN key, you will see a message similar to: Killed Job 57, User SARTINI, Account 341, TTY 127, at 23-Mar-88 09:49:36, Used 0:0:14 in 1:25:56 This message indicates that you have successfully logged off the system. Your job number was 57, your user name was SARTINI, your account was 341, the terminal you were using was connected to terminal line 127. You left the system at 09:49:36 on March 23, 1988. The last part of the message indicates how long the system actually worked for you (14 seconds) and how long you were logged in (1 hour, 25 minutes, and 56 seconds). If you do not log off the system, your terminal will not be free for another user. Also, someone can come along and do work on the system under your identification, and you will be charged for the computer use. If you type a character to get the system's attention and fail to log in within 5 minutes, the system automatically logs you off the system and prints the LOGOUT message. This message is similar to the following: Autologout Killed Job 8, TTY 26, at 23-Mar-88 10:50:35, Used 0:0:0 in 5:15 If you are on a dial up line, the system hangs up the line. 1-18 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM 1.9 SETTING ADDITIONAL TERMINAL PARAMETERS 1.9 SETTING ADDITIONAL TERMINAL PARAMETERS After you log in to the system, you may find you need to set additional terminal parameters for your work. The following sections describe more parameters you can set. For a complete description of all parameters you can set with the TERMINAL command, refer to the _______ ________ _________ ______ TOPS-20 Commands Reference Manual. If you are reading this manual for the first time, you can skip these sections until later. 1.9.1 Setting the Terminal Page Length 1.9.1 Setting the Terminal Page Length When you declare the terminal type, the system sets a page length for the terminal. The length of the page varies depending on the type of terminal. To change the page length, give the TERMINAL LENGTH command. The system uses the page length to determine where to stop terminal output when TERMINAL PAUSE END-OF-PAGE is set. The page length is also important when using formfeeds. To change the page length to 30, give the following command. ________ ______ __ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) LENGTH (OF PAGE IS) 30 1.9.2 Setting the Terminal Line Width 1.9.2 Setting the Terminal Line Width The system sets a line width for the terminal when you identify the terminal type. To change the line width, give the TERMINAL WIDTH command. The width can be set at a minimum of 8 characters per line to a maximum of 255 characters per line. To change the line width to 50, give the following command. ________ _____ __ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) WIDTH (OF LINE IS) 50 If a line of input or output on your terminal exceeds the width set for the terminal, the system prints the maximum number of characters on one line and continues printing on the following lines. This can affect the number of lines the system prints when page mode is set. 1.9.3 Using Formfeeds 1.9.3 Using Formfeeds On a hard-copy terminal with a mechanical formfeed, the system advances the paper to the top of the next page by outputting a formfeed character (CTRL/L). On a hard-copy terminal without a formfeed mechanism, the system can simulate a formfeed by outputting the proper number of linefeeds. Usually the system prints ^L instead of advancing the paper. 1-19 GETTING ON AND OFF THE SYSTEM To advance the paper to the top of the next page and prevent the ^L from printing, give the TERMINAL NO INDICATE command. Use this command to print a memo, report, or information that you want to appear on individual pages. ________ __ ________ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) NO INDICATE (FORMFEED) When you declare the terminal type, the system simulates formfeeds if they are required by the terminal. You can also use the TERMINAL NO FORMFEED command to force the system to simulate formfeeds regardless of the terminal type. 1-20 CHAPTER 2 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM This chapter describes: o Using TOPS-20 commands (Section 2.1) o Obtaining a list of TOPS-20 commands (Section 2.2) o Obtaining information about the parts of a command (Section 2.3) o Typing commands (Section 2.4) o Continuing commands (Section 2.5) o Adding comments to command lines (Section 2.6) o Correcting input errors (Section 2.7) o Setting alerts (Section 2.8) o Operating system stoppage (Section 2.9) 2.1 USING TOPS-20 COMMANDS 2.1 USING TOPS-20 COMMANDS A TOPS-20 command is an instruction that specifies the function you want the TOPS-20 operating system to perform. By giving TOPS-20 commands you accomplish your work through the operating system. 2-1 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM Each TOPS-20 command contains one or more of the following parts: 1. Command name 2. Guidewords 3. Arguments 4. Switches 5. Subcommands 6. Command terminator The command name identifies the command and its function. Guidewords can assist you in identifying the argument you should type. (Guidewords are always printed within parentheses.) An argument is the response you enter after a guideword. This argument further identifies the information the system needs to process the command. Switches and subcommands allow you to select more precise options to a given command. Using a switch or a subcommand, you can also override default options that are part of the command. Use a carriage return to end a command. Before doing anything more, try typing a few easy commands. TOPS-20 recognizes many commands, but this manual discusses only some commonly used commands. Appendix A contains a list of TOPS-20 commands, and _______ ________ _________ ______ their meanings. The TOPS-20 Commands Reference Manual describes all of the commands available to the nonprivileged user of TOPS-20. You type a TOPS-20 command directly after the system prints the @ prompt; you end a TOPS-20 command by pressing the RETURN key. With some commands, you must type one or more arguments before you press the RETURN key. For example, the LOGIN command described earlier requires your user name, your password, and your account as arguments. The system tells you that it requires an argument by printing a guideword in parentheses after you press the ESC key. Some commands, such as DAYTIME, do not require arguments. To find out today's date and time, type DAYTIME after you see the @, and then press the RETURN key. _______ @DAYTIME Thursday, May 26, 1988 08:41:21 @ The system prints the date in the format: ________________ _____ _________________ ____ day-of-the-week, month day-of-the-month, year 2-2 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM The system prints the time of day in the format: _____________________ hours:minutes:seconds The hours are given using a 24-hour clock. The time shown in the above example (08:41:21) is 21 seconds after 8:41 in the morning. Twelve midnight is displayed as 00:00:00, twelve noon is displayed as 12:00:00; and seven o'clock in the evening is displayed as 19:00:00. Other commands require one or more arguments. Arguments can be letters, numbers, or a combination of both. A common argument is a file specification. (Refer to Section 4.2 for a description of file specifications.) To find out which kind of argument you should type, press ESC after you give the command. The system prints the guideword, prompting you for the kind of argument to type. If the command does not need an argument, when you press ESC, the system rings the terminal bell. The following example illustrates the DIRECTORY command followed by the guidewords (OF FILES) and the filename TEST.FOR as the argument: _________ ________ @DIRECTORY (OF FILES) TEST.FOR Some commands accept switches while others accept subcommands. With switches and subcommands, you can be more specific about what you want the command to do. A switch is a slash followed by an option. The option may be followed by a colon and an argument. Switches specify details about the action of the given command. You can give one or more switches to a command by typing them on the same line as the command. To include a switch, type a slash (/), followed by the option. Some options require that a value, preceded by a colon, also be given. The following example shows the use of a single switch and its value to print four copies of the file TEST.FOR.3: _____ ___________________ @PRINT (FILES) TEST.FOR.3/COPIES:4 [Job TEST Queued, Request-ID 41, Limit 27] A subcommand resembles a switch in its function. The difference between switches and subcommands is the syntax. While you enter switches on the same line as the command, you enter each subcommand on a separate line following the command line. 2-3 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM To include subcommand(s), end the command line by typing a comma, and press RETURN. The system prints the subcommand level prompt, @@, to indicate that you can now type subcommands. Subcommands, like TOPS-20 commands, contain subcommand names, guidewords, and arguments of their own. You can give several subcommands, but each one must be typed on a separate line. To end each subcommand, press RETURN. After you type your last subcommand, press RETURN; the system prints @@; press RETURN again. The system then processes the command and its subcommand(s). When the system prints the single @ you are back at TOPS-20 command level. The following example demonstrates the use of a single subcommand to the DIRECTORY command: _________ @DIRECTORY (OF FILES), _______ @@DELETED (FILES ONLY) @@ PS: TEST.FOR.2 .QOR.1 .REL.3 Total of 3 files Each part of a TOPS-20 command or subcommand is referred to as a field and is separated from each adjacent field by a space. Figure 2-1 shows the fields of the LOGIN command. @LOGIN (USER) user name (PASSWORD) password (ACCOUNT) account ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | terminator | | | | | | argument | | | | | guideword | | | | argument | | | guideword | | argument | guideword command name Figure 2-1: Fields of a Command Figure 2-1: Fields of a Command 2-4 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM 2.2 OBTAINING A LIST OF TOPS-20 COMMANDS 2.2 OBTAINING A LIST OF TOPS-20 COMMANDS After the system outputs an @, you can type a question mark (?) to print the list of TOPS-20 commands. GIDNEY, TOPS-20 Development System, TOPS-20 Monitor (6012) _ @? Command, one of the following: ACCESS ADVISE APPEND ARCHIVE ASSIGN ATTACH BACKSPACE BLANK BREAK BUILD CANCEL CLOSE COMPILE CONNECT CONTINUE . . . | TAKE TALK TDIRECTORY TERMINAL TRANSLATE TYPE UNATTACH UNDECLARE UNDELETE UNKEEP UNLOAD VDIRECTORY or system program name To stop the printing of this list, type two CTRL/Cs, which returns you to TOPS-20 command level. _______ Appendix A gives a brief description of each command. The TOPS-20 ________ _________ ______ Commands Reference Manual contains a complete description of all TOPS-20 Commands available to the nonprivileged user. If you remember that a command begins with a certain letter or letters, type the letters that you recall, and then type ?. TOPS-20 prints the list of commands you could type using those letters. It then prints what you have typed so far and waits for you to finish the command. In the example below, you remember that the command you want begins with the letter A. You type A, followed by a question mark. TOPS-20 prints the names of all the commands beginning with the letter A and possible filenames from the (SYS:) system directory, and waits for you to complete the command or filename. __ @A? Command, one of the following: ACCESS ADVISE APPEND ARCHIVE ASSIGN ATTACH or system program name _____ _________ @ACCESS (TO DIRECTORY) Password: __ @^C When typing a question mark, you are not limited to just one letter; you may type as many as you need. ____ @CON? Command, one of the following: CONNECT CONTINUE or system program name ____ _________ @CONNECT (TO DIRECTORY) Password: @ The CONNECT command joins you to another user's files. 2-5 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM 2.3 OBTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARTS OF A COMMAND 2.3 OBTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PARTS OF A COMMAND You can type a question mark following a command or subcommand to print a list of possible arguments for the command. For example, type the TERMINAL command followed by a question mark. You do not have to press the RETURN key. TOPS-20 lists the possible arguments, prints the command up to the point at which you typed ?, and waits for you to enter a valid argument. ________ _ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) ? one of the following: FLAG FORMFEED FULLDUPLEX HALFDUPLEX HELP IMMEDIATE INDICATE INHIBIT LENGTH LINE-HALFDUPLEX LOWERCASE NO PAGE PAUSE RAISE RECEIVE SPEED TABS TYPE WIDTH or one of the following: 33 35 37 EXECUPORT H19 LA120 LA30 LA36 LA38 SYSTEM-DEFAULT TERMINET TI VK100 VT05 VT100 VT102 | VT125 VT131 VT200-SERIES VT300-SERIES VT50 VT52 @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) Give the LENGTH argument, and press ESC. The system prints (OF PAGE IS): ________ ______ @TERMINAL LENGTH (OF PAGE IS) Type another question mark to find out which argument the system expects you to give. The system prints "Length of page in decimal" and reprints the command. ________ ______ _ @TERMINAL LENGTH (OF PAGE IS) ? Length of page in decimal @TERMINAL LENGTH (OF PAGE IS) Choose a number (the example uses 20); type it in and press RETURN. __ @TERMINAL LENGTH (OF PAGE IS) 20 Some commands do not require arguments. If you type a command followed by a question mark and that command does not require further arguments, the system prints the message "Confirm with carriage return." This informs you that you are at the end of the command. Press RETURN to confirm the command and to have the system perform the function you requested. _______ _ @DAYTIME ? Confirm with carriage return _______ @DAYTIME 2-6 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM In addition, the question mark can be used to list the subcommands and switches of a command. To list the subcommands of a command, type a question mark at subcommand level (indicated by @@). The system prints the list of subcommands. For example, type the DIRECTORY command followed by a comma, and press RETURN. When you receive the @@, type a question mark. _________ _ @DIRECTORY (OF FILES) , _ @@? confirm with carriage return or one of the following: ACCOUNT ALPHABETICALLY ARCHIVE BEFORE . . . SMALLER TIMES USER @@ To list the switches of a command, type the command; type a slash followed by a question mark. The system prints the list of switches for that command. Remember that all switches begin with a slash. For example, type the PRINT command, followed by a slash and a question mark. _____ __ @PRINT (FILES) /? /SPOOLED-OUTPUT or Job switch, one of the following: /ACCOUNT: /AFTER: /DESTINATION-NODE: . . . /REPORT: /SPACING: @PRINT (FILES)/ 2.4 TYPING COMMANDS 2.4 TYPING COMMANDS You can type TOPS-20 commands to the system by using either full input, recognition input, abbreviated input, or a combination of these methods. The LOGIN command, which identifies you to the system, is used in Sections 2.4.1 through 2.4.3 to demonstrate full, recognition, and abbreviated input. 2-7 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM 2.4.1 Full Input 2.4.1 Full Input To give a command using full input, type the complete command, using a space to separate the fields. To log in using full input, type the complete LOGIN command line. _____ _______ ___ @LOGIN SARTINI ___ 341 2.4.2 Recognition Input 2.4.2 Recognition Input To give a command using recognition input, type a portion of the command and press ESC. In order for the system to distinguish this command from other commands, you must type enough of the command to make it unique. The system responds in one of the following ways: | | 1. Prints as much of the command as the system can recognize. 2. Prints the remainder of the command name. 3. Prints a guideword. 4. Prints the remainder of the argument. 5. Rings the terminal bell, indicating that you need to type more information. 6. Prints an error message. Continue typing and pressing ESC until the command is complete. Recognition input requires less typing than full input, so you are less likely to make a mistake. To log in using recognition input, type LOG and press ESC; the system finishes the LOGIN command by printing IN and the guideword (USER). You can also use recognition on your user name. (Here the user name is SARTINI.) Type SAR and press ESC; the system finishes the user name by printing TINI and the guideword (PASSWORD). Type the complete password (it is not printed) and press ESC; the system prints (ACCOUNT). Type the account (here it is 341) and press RETURN. In the following example, type the underlined portions of the command. At the point where the underlining stops, press ESC. | | | ___ ___ ___ @LOGIN (USER) SARTINI (PASSWORD)___(ACCOUNT) 341 If you use recognition where it is ambiguous, the system rings the terminal bell. Type more information, or type a question mark to determine what the system wants you to type. 2-8 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM Use recognition with the INFORMATION command. Type INFO and press ESC; the system prints RMATION (ABOUT). Type a T and press ESC; the system rings the terminal bell because you did not give enough information. To find out what information the system needs, type a ?. The system prints TAPE-PARAMETERS and TERMINAL-MODE. This tells you that the system could not complete the argument beginning with the letter T because there are two possibilities to choose from, and you did not type enough of the argument to distinguish which one you wanted. Type an E and press ESC; this time the system prints RMINAL-MODE (FOR TERMINAL). Press RETURN to end the command. | | ____ __ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) T? one of the following: TAPE-PARAMETERS TERMINAL-MODE | _ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE (FOR TERMINAL) If you use recognition where it is not appropriate (such as at the end of a command), the system rings the terminal bell. You can use recognition in typing arguments, subcommands, and file specifications. When typing file specifications, you can also use CTRL/F to complete individual portions of a file specification. (Refer to Chapter 4 for more information on using recognition with file specifications.) Recognition input offers several advantages: o You can double-check the accuracy of your typing. When TOPS-20 types the completed command, it verifies that it correctly interpreted your typing. o You can minimize the amount of typing. When typing a filename you need to type only enough characters to uniquely identify that file. o TOPS-20 prompts your next response by printing a guideword. 2.4.3 Abbreviated Input 2.4.3 Abbreviated Input To give a command using abbreviated input, type only enough of the command to distinguish it from any other command. Usually, typing the first three letters is sufficient to distinguish one command from another. Abbreviated input requires the least amount of typing of the various methods of input. 2-9 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM To log in using abbreviated input, type LOG and a space; type the full user name (here it is SARTINI) and a space; type the password (the password is not displayed); type the account (here it is 341) and press RETURN. ___ _______ ___ ___ @LOG SARTINI ___ 341 There are a few cases where non-unique abbreviations stand for a frequently used command. For example, DIS is the abbreviation for DISABLE, even though other commands begin with the letters DIS - DISCARD and DISMOUNT. Table 2-1: Special Command Abbreviations Table 2-1: Special Command Abbreviations ________________________________________________ Special Abbreviation Command ________________________________________________ C CONTINUE D DEPOSIT DIS DISABLE E EXAMINE INFORMATION F INFORMATION FILE-STATUS LOG LOGIN (When not logged in) LOG LOGOUT (When logged in) ________________________________________________ Some commands can be distinguished by typing only one or two letters. For example, several TOPS-20 commands begin with the letter A: ACCESS, ADVISE, APPEND, ASSIGN, and ATTACH. You can give any of these commands, by typing only the first two letters. To give the APPEND command you need only type AP; to give the ACCESS command, you need type only AC. NOTE When using one or two letters to distinguish commands, keep in mind that as the system develops, new commands will be added and existing abbreviations may require more letters to identify a unique command. 2-10 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM The same method of using abbreviated input for TOPS-20 commands applies for the arguments and subcommands to those commands. In the INFORMATION command, there are two arguments beginning with the letter T: TAPE-PARAMETERS and TERMINAL-MODE. To get information about the terminal parameters, just type E to complete the abbreviation TE. ___________ __ @INFORMATION T? one of the following: TAPE-PARAMETERS TERMINAL-MODE _ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TE In the DIRECTORY command, there are four subcommands beginning with the letter S: SEPARATE, SINCE, SIZE, and SMALLER. To print a list of files in your directory, including the number of pages of each file, use the subcommand SIZE. Type DIRECTORY followed by a comma; the system prints the subcommand prompt, @@, ; type the abbreviation SIZ. __________ @DIRECTORY, ___ @@SIZ @@ PUBLIC: PGS PROG1.PAS 3 .TXT.14 3 LOGIN.CMD.2 1 MAIL.TXT.1 2 NATTACH.TST.1 1 VERCBL.BAT.1 2 .CBL.1 1 Total of 13 pages in 7 files You can type more letters than are required to uniquely identify a command. Abbreviated input simply makes the system more convenient to use. 2.4.4 Combined Recognition and Abbreviated Input 2.4.4 Combined Recognition and Abbreviated Input You can mix these two methods of typing commands. Use abbreviated input for the parts of the command you know, and use recognition for the parts of the command you are uncertain of. You can give the LOGIN command using the combination of input methods. ___ _______ ___ @LOG SARTINI (ACCOUNT) 341 To give this command, type LOG and a space; type the user name (here it is SARTINI) and a space; type the password and press ESC. After the system prints (ACCOUNT), type the account (here it is 341) and press RETURN. 2-11 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM 2.4.5 What Are Defaults 2.4.5 What Are Defaults default A default is the value supplied by the operating system when you do not specify one yourself. For instance, if you do not specify the number of copies in a PRINT command, the system uses the default value of 1. By not explicitly stating the value, the system assumes you have chosen the default. TOPS-20 supplies default values in several areas. The defaults used with individual commands are specified in _______ ________ _________ ______ each command's description in the TOPS-20 Commands Reference Manual. 2.5 CONTINUING COMMANDS 2.5 CONTINUING COMMANDS Occasionally it is necessary to type a command that is longer than the maximum line length allowed by your terminal. You can continue typing commands past the end of the line and onto the next line, without pressing RETURN. The system accepts fields of a command that are split between two lines. In the following example, note that the filename, MANUFACTURING, is split between two lines: _____ _______________ _____________________ ________ @PRINT (FILES) CONCERNS.TXT.1, DESIGN-REVIEWS.MEM.1, MANUFACT ____________ ____________ URING.PLAN.1 /AFTER:18:00 If you want to avoid splitting a command field, type a space followed by the continuation character, a hyphen (-), at the end of the line and press RETURN. Then, continue typing the command on the next line. _____ _______________ _____________________ _ @PRINT (FILES) CONCERNS.TXT.1, DESIGN-REVIEWS.MEM.1, - ____________________ ____________ MANUFACTURING.PLAN.1 /AFTER:18:00 Do not use the continuation character to divide a file specification. (Refer to Section 4.2, Complete Form of a File Specification, for a description of file specifications.) 2.6 ADDING COMMENTS TO COMMAND LINES 2.6 ADDING COMMENTS TO COMMAND LINES You can include comments on the command line or on a separate line by prefixing the comment with a comment character, either a semicolon or an exclamation point. The semicolon causes the remainder of the line to be considered as a comment; the exclamation point causes only the text up to the next exclamation point or the end of the line to be considered as a comment. 2-12 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM The following examples show the valid ways to add comments to the TERMINAL command: ________ _____ _____ _______ _______ ___ _______ @TERMINAL VT100 ;This comment follows the command _____ _______ ________ ___ ________ ________ _____ @!This comment precedes the command! TERMINAL VT100 ________ _____ _______ __ ______ ___ ________ _____ @TERMINAL !This comment is within the command! VT100 _____ ______ ____ __ _ _______ @;This entire line is a comment If a comment exceeds one line, the same rules applied to continuing commands (refer to the previous section) apply to continuing comments. The comment character is useful for placing comments in your LOGIN.CMD and COMAND.CMD files. (Refer to Section 1.7 for an example of a LOGIN.CMD file with comments.) The comment character is also useful when conversing with another user while linked via the TALK command. (Refer to Section 3.2 for information on using the TALK command.) 2.7 CORRECTING INPUT ERRORS 2.7 CORRECTING INPUT ERRORS Five keys help you correct input mistakes. These keys are DELETE, CTRL/R, CTRL/U, CTRL/W, and CTRL/H. Except for CTRL/H, these keys are effective only before you press RETURN to end the command. If you press the RETURN key before noticing that a command is incorrect, the system tries to execute it. Usually the command is invalid and the system prints: ?Unrecognized command @ _____ This allows you to try again. If you typed a valid command by mistake, you can halt its execution by various means: 1. Stop EDIT by pressing ESC, typing EQ and pressing the RETURN key. 2. Stop printout on your terminal by typing CTRL/O. 3. Stop system programs (such as FILCOM) by typing CTRL/C. 4. Stop any program or command by typing two CTRL/C's. In each case you are returned to the TOPS-20 operating system. You can then give any valid TOPS-20 command. 2-13 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM 2.7.1 DELETE - Erasing a Character 2.7.1 DELETE - Erasing a Character The DELETE key moves the cursor back one character and deletes that cursor character. Most video terminals actually move the cursor (an underline or block that marks your position) backward and erases the character when you press DELETE. Hardcopy terminals print the deleted character followed by the backslash character /. 2.7.2 CTRL/U - Erasing an Entire Line 2.7.2 CTRL/U - Erasing an Entire Line To erase the current command line, type CTRL/U. CTRL/U deletes the line and performs a RETURN so that you can reenter an entire line. Most video terminals erase the line when you press CTRL/U. Hardcopy terminals print three Xs at the end of the command. 2.7.3 CTRL/W - Erasing a Word 2.7.3 CTRL/W - Erasing a Word To erase a word, type CTRL/W. Most video terminals actually move the cursor backward and erase the last word when you type CTRL/W. Hardcopy terminals print an underscore after the word to indicate that the word has been deleted. 2.7.4 CTRL/R - Reprinting a Command Line 2.7.4 CTRL/R - Reprinting a Command Line CTRL/R reprints the current command line. You commonly use CTRL/R when editing with CTRL/W and DELETE on a hardcopy terminal has made the command difficult to read. In this example of the TERMINAL command, you mistakenly type WIDHT instead of WIDTH and correct the mistake with DELETE. To make the command more readable by incorporating the correction, type CTRL/R. ________ _____ ____ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) WIDHT\T\HTH^R @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) WIDTH 2.7.5 CTRL/H - Reprinting Part of an Erroneous Command Line 2.7.5 CTRL/H - Reprinting Part of an Erroneous Command Line If you make an error in a command line and press RETURN, the system prints a question mark (?) followed by an error message. To reprint the command line up to the erroneous field, type CTRL/H or the BACKSPACE key. The system reprints the command line up to the field that is in error, and you can now complete the command correctly. (CTRL/H or BACKSPACE must be the very next character pressed after pressing RETURN. Also note that both CTRL/H and BACKSPACE print ^H on the terminal.) 2-14 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM The following example illustrates the use of CTRL/H or BACKSPACE with the TERMINAL command: ____ ____________ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) LENGTH-WIDTH ?Does not match switch or keyword - "LENGTH-WIDTH" __ @^H ______ __ @TERMINAL (FEATURE OR TYPE) LENGTH 66 To try this example, type TER and press ESC; the system prints MINAL (FEATURE or TYPE). Type LENGTH-WIDTH and press RETURN. The system prints the error message ?Does not match switch or keyword - "LENGTH-WIDTH". (There is no TERMINAL command argument LENGTH-WIDTH. The argument is LENGTH or WIDTH but not both.) Type CTRL/H or BACKSPACE; the system reprints the command line up to the erroneous field. You can finish the command correctly by typing LENGTH 66. 2.8 SETTING ALERTS 2.8 SETTING ALERTS You can arrange for the system to ring your terminal bell and issue a one-line message at any future time. You do this by giving the SET ALERT command. ___ _____ _______ _______ ___ _____ _______ @SET ALERT (AT TIME) 9:45:00 (MESSAGE) PREPARE FOR 10:00 MEETING [09:45:00 alert - PREPARE FOR 10:00 MEETING] You can also be notified at a time that is relative to the current time. The following example sends an alert 10 minutes from the current time: ___ _____ _________ ___ __ ______ ______ @SET ALERT (AT TIME) +00:10:00 (MESSAGE) END OF COFFEE BREAK! [10:02:26 alert - END OF COFFEE BREAK!] If you wish to be alerted at the same times, include the appropriate SET ALERT commands in your LOGIN.CMD file. This file is discussed in _______ ________ _________ ______ Section 1.7. Refer to the TOPS-20 Commands Reference Manual for complete information on SET ALERT. To obtain a listing of all outstanding alert requests, give the INFORMATION ALERTS command. ___________ ______ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) ALERTS (PENDING) Next alert at 1-Mar-88 11:25:00 - Project meeting 5 mins Other alerts set for: 1-Mar-88 13:00:00 - Call for ajax specs 1-Mar-88 16:55:00 - Almost time to go home! 2-Mar-88 00:09:00 - Submit weekly report by noon 14-Mar-88 09:00:00 - Going away luncheon for manager today Alerts are automatic 2-15 COMMUNICATING WITH THE SYSTEM The line "Alerts are automatic" indicates that alerts are issued whether or not you are running a program. Your issuing of the SET AUTOMATIC or the SET NO AUTOMATIC command determines whether or not the system interrupts programs to issue you alerts. If SET NO AUTOMATIC is in effect, you are notified only when your terminal is at TOPS-20 command level. Note that when you log out, all pending alerts are cleared. You have to reset them when you log in again, unless they are specified in your LOGIN.CMD or COMAND.CMD command file. 2.9 OPERATING SYSTEM STOPPAGE 2.9 OPERATING SYSTEM STOPPAGE The TOPS-20 Operating System may stop unexpectedly because of a malfunction. When the operating system stops, the terminal does not print or receive any characters you type. This indicates that the part of the computer controlling input from and output to the terminal is malfunctioning. If the system can recover from this error, it prints: [DECSYSTEM-20 continued] You may lose a few seconds of typing, but after this message prints on the terminal, you can continue your work. When a fatal error occurs (the entire computer stops working), the system outputs the message: %DECSYSTEM-20 not running When the system resumes operation, it outputs the message: System restarting, wait... and after a few moments, it prints another message, similar to the following: [From OPERATOR on line 6: SYSTEM IN OPERATION] Once the system restarts after a fatal error, you must log in to the system again. If you have changed the speed of your line with the TERMINAL SPEED command, you may have to reset the speed, depending upon the default speed set by the system manager. After a fatal error, some of your files may be missing or incomplete. Contact the operator to have these files restored from the system backup tapes. 2-16 CHAPTER 3 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS This chapter describes: o Getting a list of users on the system (Section 3.1) o Linking with other terminals (Section 3.2) o Reading mail (Section 3.3) o Sending mail (Section 3.4) o Communicating with the operator (Section 3.6) o Controlling messages and terminal links (Section 3.7) 3.1 GETTING A LIST OF USERS ON THE SYSTEM 3.1 GETTING A LIST OF USERS ON THE SYSTEM To get a list of users currently on the system, type the command SYSTAT, and press the RETURN key. The SYSTAT command reports on the status of the system: ______ @SYSTAT Mon 26-May-88 15:25:55 Up 6:09:39 12+5 Jobs Load av 0.13 0.10 0.06 Job Line Program User 9 120 EMACS TAMBUR 11 251 MACRO GUNN 12 131 FILDDT MARTIN 13 176 EXEC GREEN 14 140 MS SULLIVAN 26 63 SYSDPY DEUFEL 27 173 EXEC BERRY 33 DET EXEC MORIL 34 65 EMACS WORLEY 45 142 EXEC HARAMUND 3-1 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS 50* 210 SYSTAT MORIL 51 105 EXEC BRANNON 1 232 PTYCON OPERATOR 2 233 JNPGPD OPERATOR 3 234 EXEC OPERATOR 4 235 NMLT20 OPERATOR 5 236 MCBNRT OPERATOR The first line of output gives the day of the week, date, time, and the length of time since the system was last started. In the above example, the date is Monday, May 26, 1988 at 3:25:55 PM. The system has been up just over six hours. The second line gives the number of user jobs plus the number of operator jobs. There are 12 timesharing jobs, plus the operator of the system who is running 5 programs. The last three numbers on this line indicate the load average on the system over a one, five, and fifteen minute period. The load average is a measure of system demand. The third line contains the column headings for the job number, the line number, the program, the user, and the user's originating system. The number of the job attached to your own terminal (in this case you are job 50) appears with an asterisk (*) next to it in the job column. | To display information about the jobs on a specified node in the | TOPS-20 cluster, include the NODE keyword and node name argument. | ______ ____ ______ | @SYSTAT NODE KL2102 | Thu 13-Aug-88 13:08:12 | THEP Up 0:10:33 17+6 Jobs Load av 0.11 0.12 | Job Line Program Node User Origin | 231 DET DTRSRV KL2102 Not logged in | 232 DET RMSFAL KL2102 Not logged in | 233 DET RMSFAL KL2102 Not logged in | 234 434 EXEC KL2102 LOMARTIRE LAT1(LAT) | . | . | . | 228 235 MAILS KL2102 OPERATOR | 229 236 WATCH KL2102 OPERATOR | 230 237 EXEC KL2102 OPERATOR | | If you specify an asterisk as the node name, the SYSTAT command | displays information on all nodes in the TOPS-20 cluster. | ______ ______ ____ _ | @SYSTAT SYSTEM NODE * | Thu 13-Aug-88 13:02:00 | DISNEY Up 223:12:12 17+6 Jobs Load av 0.3 0.27 0.14 | THUP Up 0:10:33 11+5 Jobs Load av 10.36 10.27 10.14 | CLYDE Up 26:34:31 6+8 Jobs Load av 1.33 1.21 0.99 | CONRO UP 12:13:14 2+5 Jobs Load av 5.01 4.95 4.99 3-2 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS 3.2 LINKING WITH OTHER TERMINALS 3.2 LINKING WITH OTHER TERMINALS One way to communicate with a user that is logged-in to the system is by linking terminals. This allows you to conduct a two-way conversation. To link terminals, give the TALK command followed by the name of the user you want to talk to. The system prints a message informing you that the terminals are linked, and prints the @ sign on the following line. Now, everything you type, or the system prints on your terminal is also printed on the terminal you are linked with. ____ ____ @TALK (TO) MAYO LINK FROM SARTINI, TTY26 After you see the @ sign, you can conduct your conversation using one of the following options: an exclamation mark, the REMARK command, or a combination of both options. Begin each line you type with an exclamation point (!). After you press RETURN, the system prints an @ sign on the following line and you can continue typing, beginning each line with an exclamation point. If you do not begin the line you type with an !, after you press RETURN, the system prints the message ?UNRECOGNIZED COMMAND. ____ ____ @TALK (TO) MAYO LINK FROM SARTINI, TTY26 _ ____ __ _ _____ @! This is a test. To avoid typing the exclamation point on each line when you have several lines of text, give the REMARK command. After you give the REMARK command, the system prints a message advising you to type the remark, and end it with CTRL/Z. The system does not print an @ sign when you use REMARK. After you type the message and end with CTRL/Z, the system prints the @ sign on the next line. ____ ____ @TALK (TO) MAYO LINK FROM SARTINI, TTY26 ______ @REMARK Type remark. End with CTRL/Z ___ ____ ________ _ ___ ____ __ ___ PER YOUR REQUEST, A NEW COPY OF THE _______ ____ __ _______ __ _________ UPDATED LIST OF MANUALS IS AVAILABLE __ ___ _________ ______________ __ IN THE DIRECTORY . ^Z 3-3 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS You can use a combination of the exclamation point and the REMARK command when you TALK with another user. Use REMARK for a several line comment and the ! for a shorter comment. To end the link with another user's terminal, give the BREAK command. The other user can also give the BREAK command to end the link with your terminal. ____ ____ @TALK (TO) MAYO LINK FROM SARTINI, TTY26 ______ @REMARK Type remark. End with CTRL/Z. ___ ____ ________ _ ___ ____ __ ___ PER YOUR REQUEST, A NEW COPY OF THE _______ ____ __ _______ __ _________ UPDATED LIST OF MANUALS IS AVAILABLE __ ___ _________ ______________ __ IN THE DIRECTORY . ^Z @!THANKS, I HAVE SEVERAL ITEMS TO ADD TO THE LIST. _____ ____ __ _______ ____ ___ _____ @!SEND MAIL TO HOLLAND WITH THE INFO. _____ @BREAK (LINKS) When you are linked to another user's terminal, the other user's job is not affected by what you type. For example, if another user is running a program that is waiting for a command, and you TALK to that user, the system does not interpret what you type as a command to that user's program. Anything output to one terminal is output to the other as well. Thus you can show another user the output from a program by running it, or the contents of a file by typing it. If the user you want to TALK to does not want to receive links from another terminal, the system rings the bells on both terminals five times, then prints the following message on your terminal: ?Refused, Send mail to user instead Refer to Section 3.7, Controlling Messages And Terminal Links, for information on refusing and receiving links. If the user you want to TALK to is not logged in, the system prints the following message: ?User is not logged in Send mail to the user instead 3.3 READING MAIL 3.3 READING MAIL There are two types of mail that you can receive at your terminal: mail from the system and mail from other users. You can receive system and user mail when you are logged in or logged off the system. 3-4 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS 3.3.1 System Mail 3.3.1 System Mail System mail is sent to all users on the system by the operator or a privileged user. This type of mail automatically prints on your terminal when you log in. TOSCA, Computer Engineering, TOPS-20 Monitor 7.0(7) _____ _______ ___ @LOGIN (USER) SARTINI (PASSWORD)___ (ACCOUNT) 341 Job 57 on TTY127 16-MAR-88 09:49:24 Date: 16-MAR-1988 0842-EST From: OPERATOR at TOSCA To: SYSTEM Subject: SYSTEM SHUTDOWN The system will not be available tomorrow from noon to 2:00 p.m. due to scheduled maintenance. When system mail is sent while you are logged in, you are notified with the message: [New message-of-the day available] To read the new message of the day, use the INFORMATION MAIL SYSTEM command: ___________ ____ ______ @INFORMATION MAIL SYSTEM Sender: OPERATOR Date: 23 Jul 88, 1033-EST From: OPERATOR To: SYSTEM at KL2102 Subject: Lineprinter paper A new shipment of lineprinter paper is now available for anyone who needs to replenish paper. ======== 3.3.2 User Mail 3.3.2 User Mail User mail is mail sent to you by another user on your system or a system in your network. When you log in, you are notified of new mail with a message similar to: You have mail from COMBS at 08:18:13 When user mail arrives while you are logged in, you are notified with a message similar to: | | [You have netmail from COMBS@GIDNEY at 14:40:56] 3-5 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS | The program that you can use to read messages sent to you by another | user is DECmail/MS. (For complete information on the DECmail/MS _______________ __________ ______ | program, refer to the TOPS-10/TOPS-20 DECmail/MS Manual). | | To start the DECmail/MS program, type MS and press RETURN. The system | prints: | __ | @MS | Last read:23-Apr-88 13:00. 24 messages, 5 pages. | Message 19 flagged. | MS> | | The lines that appear between the MS command and the MS> prompt give | you the status of your mail file. | | To read any unread messages in the current message file, use the READ | NEW command: | ____ ___ | MS>READ (MESSAGE SEQUENCE) NEW | Message 24 (261 chars), received 23-Apr-88 22:46:35 | Date: 23 Apr 1988 2248-EDT | From: MORRILL at KL2102 | To: RANDERSON at KL2102 | Subject: Project Meeting | Message-ID: <"MS10(2055)+GLXLIB1(1056)" 11818792562.11.542.18243 | at KL2102) | | There will be a project meeting today at 4 p.m. in the | Engineering Conference Room. | ======== | MS read>> | | This command displays all messages in the current message file that | you have not read. After the READ command displays a message, it | leaves your terminal at read-command level, as indicated by the "MS | read>>" prompt. Press the RETURN key to read the next new message (or | to return to the MS> prompt if there are no other new messages). | | To read any of the messages again, use the READ command at the MS> | prompt or at read-command level. | ____ | MS>READ (MESSAGE SEQUENCE) message sequence | | or | ____ | MS READ>>READ | | where: | | message sequence specifies the messages you want to read. At | read-command level, it is assumed that you want to reread the current | message. 3-6 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS Mail you receive from other users is contained in a file called MAIL.TXT. Although the mail program locates this file automatically, you should be aware of its location. This is described in Section 4.6.2, The Device POBOX:. 3.4 SENDING MAIL 3.4 SENDING MAIL | Another way to communicate with a user is to send mail with the | DECmail/MS program. DECmail/MS handles local and network mail, which | goes to users of different (remote) computers. DECmail/MS also | provides facilities for filing, retrieving, editing and deleting mail | messages. | | You can send mail to a user currently on the system, or to a user who | is not logged in. The DECmail/MS program can also send mail to a | group of users. To start the DECmail/MS program, type MS and press | RETURN; the system prints MS>. Type the SEND command. After you give | the SEND command, the DECmail/MS system prompts you for the "To". | Type the user name or names (if you type a group of user names, | separate them with commas); the system prints cc:. Type the name(s) | of the user or users you want to receive a copy of the mail; the | system prints Subject:. Type a one-line heading for the message. | ____ | MS>SEND _______ ________ _________ | To: PORADA, MORRILL, MCELMOYLE ______ | cc: BROPHY ______ _______ | Subject: SYSTEM CHANGES | | Now, the DECmail/MS system types the following help message on your | terminal: | | Message (ESC to enter Send level, ctrl/Z to send, ctrl/K to | redisplay, ctrl/B to insert file, ctrl/E to enter editor): | | After the DECmail/MS system types the help message, anything you type | (other than ESC and the control characters) is assumed to be the text | of your message. | | Type a line of text and issue CTRL/Z to send the message: | _____ __ _ ____ __ ___ ___ ______ | THERE IS A LIST OF THE NEW SYSTEM _______ _________ __ ___ _______ | CHANGES AVAILABLE IN THE PROJECT _____ | ROOM. __ | ^Z | | The DECmail/MS system types information similar to the following, | letting you know that the message was successfully sent: | | Processing mail... | Mail queued for delivery by MX | MS> 3-7 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS | If you send mail frequently to a group of users, store the list of | names in a file. Then, when you run the DECmail/MS program, instead of typing the entire list of names after the To:, you can type the name of the file, preceded by an @ sign. (Refer to Chapter 4 for information on specifying files and to Chapter 5 for information on creating files.) | ____ | MS>SEND __________ To: @USERS.LST CC: Subject: | For a complete description of the DECmail/MS program, refer to the _______________ __________ ______ | TOPS-10/TOPS-20 DECmail/MS Manual. 3.5 SENDING QUICK MESSAGES 3.5 SENDING QUICK MESSAGES Another way to communicate with a user who is logged in to the system is to send a message with the SEND command. To send a message, give the SEND command followed by the user name and a message with up to six 80-character lines of text. The system prints your user name, terminal line number and message on the receiving terminal. SEND does not detect the status of the receiving terminal. So, if the receiving terminal is turned off or the user is not logged in, the message cannot be received. Before you SEND a message, use the SYSTAT command to verify that the receiver is logged in to the system. The following example illustrates the SYSTAT command and the SEND command: ______ _______ @SYSTAT KISTLER 10 11 EXEC KISTLER ____ _______ ___ ___ __ ___ _____ _______ ________ _____ @SEND KISTLER Are you on the North project interest list? To type a multiple line message, just keep typing past the end of the line and onto the next line without typing RETURN. SEND reorganizes your message so that words split between two lines appear correctly formatted on the receiver's terminal. ____ _______ ___ _____ _______ ____ _____ _____ ______ __ _ __ @SEND KISTLER The North project team meets every Friday at 9 in ___ _____ __________ _____ the Lunar Conference Room. The message appears on the receiver's terminal as: From LEOPOLD on line 11: [The North project team meets every Friday at 9 in the Lunar Conference Room.] 3-8 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS | To send a message to a user on a remote node in the TOPS-20 cluster, | specify the /NODE: switch: | ____ __________ ________ _____ ______ ___ ________ | @SEND /NODE:THUP ANDERSON Don't forget the meeting! 3.6 COMMUNICATING WITH THE OPERATOR 3.6 COMMUNICATING WITH THE OPERATOR To communicate with the operator on your system, use the PLEASE program. This program allows you to conduct a two-way conversation with the operator or send the operator a one-way message. To use the PLEASE program, type PLEASE and press RETURN. PLEASE then prints a message instructing you to type your message and end it with CTRL/Z or ESC. Now, type your message. If you need a response from the operator, end your message by typing CTRL/Z. If you just want to send a one-way message to the operator and do not need a response, end your message by pressing ESC. In the following example, you need a response from the operator, so you end your message with CTRL/Z. Then, when your dialog with the operator is finished, press ESC. ______ @PLEASE Enter text, terminate with CTRL/Z to wait for response, or ESCape to send message and exit ____ ________ __ ___ _____ What happened to the RP07? [PLSOPN Operator at GIDNEY has been notified at 11:18:32] 11:36:04 From Operator at terminal 2 => Just aligning the heads - back up in 10 minutes Enter new text (Same terminators) ______ Thanks In this example you don't need a response from the operator so you press ESC after your message: ______ @PLEASE Enter text, terminate with CTRL/Z to wait for response, or ESCape to send message and exit ___ _____ _______ __ ___ __ _____ The laser printer is out of paper [PLSOPN Operator at GIDNEY has been notified at 11:18:32] @ If your PLEASE message exceeds one line, press RETURN at the end of the line and continue typing on the next line. 3-9 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS If no operator is in attendance, PLEASE warns you before you can type your message. Your message is still sent and can be answered by the operator when he returns. However you should end your message with ESC, since it may be a long wait before it is answered. To find out if the operator is in attendance before you use the PLEASE program, give the INFORMATION SYSTEM-STATUS command. _______ For a complete description of the PLEASE program, refer to the TOPS-20 ____ _________ _____ User Utilities Guide. 3.7 CONTROLLING MESSAGES AND TERMINAL LINKS 3.7 CONTROLLING MESSAGES AND TERMINAL LINKS Several types of messages can appear on your terminal while you are running a program or executing a TOPS-20 command. In addition, another user can link his terminal to yours with an ADVISE or TALK command. You can allow or suppress types of messages and terminal links. This lets you work without interruption or print a clean copy of a file on a hard copy terminal. 3.7.1 System Messages 3.7.1 System Messages System messages are messages of general interest to all users. These messages are sent by the system, by the operator, or by a privileged user. Some examples of system messages are: [Caution -- disk space is low] [System going down in 1 minute!] [Deleted files will be expunged in 30 seconds] [System expunge completed] You can specify if you want to receive or refuse system messages on your terminal with the RECEIVE or REFUSE SYSTEM-MESSAGES commands. Note that these commands also control the notice of new mail. To see if your terminal is set to RECEIVE or REFUSE SYSTEM-MESSAGES, give the INFORMATION TERMINAL command. Then give the REFUSE SYSTEM-MESSAGES command to suppress system messages. ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE . . REFUSE LINKS REFUSE ADVICE RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES RECEIVE USER-MESSAGES . . @REFUSE SYSTEM-MESSAGES 3-10 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS CAUTION Since some system messages report important events, you should use the REFUSE SYSTEM-MESSAGES command only when you need to produce uninterrupted output (such as on a hard-copy terminal). Remember to set your terminal back to RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES after the output is complete. 3.7.2 User Messages 3.7.2 User Messages User messages occur when another user issues a SEND command to send a message to your terminal: From SMITTY on line 24: [Going to lunch?] You can specify if you want to receive or refuse user messages on your terminal with the RECEIVE or REFUSE USER-MESSAGES commands. In the following example, check to see if your terminal is set to RECEIVE or REFUSE USER-MESSAGES with the INFORMATION TERMINAL command. Then give the RECEIVE USER-MESSAGES command to accept user messages. ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE TERMINAL VT100 . . . RECEIVE LINKS REFUSE ADVICE RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES REFUSE USER-MESSAGES . . . TERMINAL FULLDUPLEX _______ _____________ @RECEIVE USER-MESSAGES 3.7.3 Terminal Links 3.7.3 Terminal Links Terminal links occur when another user gives a TALK or ADVISE command to link his terminal to yours: LINK FROM PRATT, TTY 123 !Do you still have my pack? 3-11 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS You can stop another user from linking his terminal to yours with the REFUSE LINKS command. In the following example, check to see if your terminal is set to RECEIVE or REFUSE LINKS with the INFORMATION TERMINAL command. Then give the REFUSE LINKS command. ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE TERMINAL VT100 . . . RECEIVE LINKS REFUSE ADVICE RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES REFUSE USER-MESSAGES . . . TERMINAL FULLDUPLEX ______ _____ @REFUSE LINKS Note that if you set your terminal to REFUSE LINKS and another user attempts to TALK to you, the system signals you by ringing bells on your terminal five times. 3.7.4 Inhibiting All Non-Job Output 3.7.4 Inhibiting All Non-Job Output The TERMINAL INHIBIT command stops your terminal from accepting links, system-messages and user-messages; in other words, all output that does not originate from your own job. Use this command when you need to protect your terminal from unwanted output, for example, when printing a file on a hard copy terminal. TERMINAL INHIBIT essentially has the same function as REFUSE LINKS, SYSTEM-MESSAGES and USER-MESSAGES. However, TERMINAL INHIBIT blocks all links and messages before they can be rejected or accepted by your REFUSE and RECEIVE settings. Therefore, when TERMINAL INHIBIT is in effect, your REFUSE and RECEIVE settings are disabled. Note that in the INFORMATION TERMINAL-MODE display below, a "IS DISABLED" comment follows each REFUSE and RECEIVE setting. To block all terminal output that does not originate with your job, give the TERMINAL INHIBIT command. Then, check the result with the INFORMATION TERMINAL command. ________ _______ @TERMINAL INHIBIT ___________ _____________ @INFORMATION (ABOUT) TERMINAL-MODE TERMINAL VT100 . . . 3-12 COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER USERS TERMINAL INHIBIT (NON-JOB OUTPUT) REFUSE LINKS IS DISABLED REFUSE ADVICE IS DISABLED RECEIVE SYSTEM-MESSAGES IS DISABLED RECEIVE USER-MESSAGES IS DISABLED . . . TERMINAL FULLDUPLEX Use the TERMINAL NO INHIBIT command to restore your REFUSE and RECEIVE settings. 3.7.5 Mail Messages 3.7.5 Mail Messages Mail messages appear on your terminal when another user sends you mail or when you have unread mail. These messages come from two different sources. The first type of mail message is a notice of new mail. This message comes from the mail program and is printed whenever new mail arrives: [You have a message from PRATT] You can specify if you want to receive notice of new mail on your terminal with the RECEIVE or REFUSE SYSTEM-MESSAGES commands. The second type of mail message results from your giving the SET MAIL-WATCH command. [You have mail from PRATT at 16:07:05] SET MAIL-WATCH causes the system to check your MAIL file for unread mail every five minutes. If the system finds unread mail it prints a message when your terminal is at TOPS-20 command level. This means that