Mike Maddox
Sure! What machines does it cover?
--
-Rich Steiner >>>---> rste...@visi.com >>>---> Bloomington, MN
Written online using slrn 0.9.5.4!
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
It covers Unisys (Sperry/Univac) 1100/2200 MASM (meta-assembly language)
programming. The Sperry 1100/2200 series first came to popularity as the
1108; my first exposure at University of Houston in 1970 was an 1108.
The book is an introduction to MASM, shares a number of techniques garnered
from over 15 years' experience with MASM (but specifically steers clear of
code that is hard to understand), and presents a style guide, as well. I
worked as a site support specialist and/or systems programmer for the Air
Force, the IRS, the US Dept of Agriculture, Bell Laboratories, the Texas
Dept of Human Services, a couple of Memphis commercial customers,
Petro-Canada, and other Sperry/Unisys customers. I poured all my expertise
and experience into this work. I hope it will work for you.
Mike Maddox
Hope that clears it up. The basic-mode instruction set worked so
consistently across a huge number of machines that it's easy to forget that
they were different machines!
"Mike Maddox" <dma...@rmi.net> wrote in message
news:398F748E...@rmi.net...
Does anyone know of any decent guides in this area?
Are you still bound by that agreement?
Mike Maddox wrote:
--
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect, especially on my
http://home.germany.net/101-69082/samba.html
Simple Samba Solutions web page
>Richard -
>
>It covers Unisys (Sperry/Univac) 1100/2200 MASM (meta-assembly language)
>programming. The Sperry 1100/2200 series first came to popularity as the
>1108; my first exposure at University of Houston in 1970 was an 1108.
I guess I was more curious which machine-specific instructions (if any)
you might cover. For example, the 1110, 1100/40, and 1100/80 had various
Byte Move instructions that I think were removed in the 1100/90 machines
(and probably the 2200/400 and on) and replaced with much efficient Bit
Move instructions.
Does it also cover the basics of extended mode MASM coding? Or doesn't
that exist outside of Unisys? :-)
>The book is an introduction to MASM, shares a number of techniques garnered
>from over 15 years' experience with MASM (but specifically steers clear of
>code that is hard to understand), and presents a style guide, as well.
That sounds potentially very useful. I only dabble in MASM a little here,
but the only references I have here are my AIM manual and MASM Programmer
Reference from my 1100/80 days at Mankato State, and my old yellow copy of
_UNIVAC 1100 MASM PROGRAMMING - A Basic Approach_ by Richard Weisgerber
and John Odom which is good but very basic.
>Oops! Richard, you asked which machines the book covers. The answer is
>essentially any 1100 or 2200 since the 1110 and 1100/40. The book
>specifically avoids the extended-mode instruction set. (Excluding these was
>a condition of the permission I received from my employer, Unisys, to write
>the book. At the time I wrote the book, extended-mode programming was
>supported only as far as required to make Unisys softare products work.)
I see I should have read this before responding to the first message. :-)
That's unfortunate. I have a particular interest in extended mode, but I
realise that Unisys had a problem releasing that information, sometimes
even internally. Strange. :-)
Mike wrote:
>
> Hi folks - I wrote a book on 1100/2200 MASM programming some years ago.
> It is out of print, but I could make it available again. Any interest
> out there?
>
> Mike Maddox
I'd find it difficult to answer the question without having first seen
the book. My general rule of thumb is that any book teaching MASM
programming that teaches the student to use ER SNAP$ for debugging is of
dubious utility - not having seen your book, I don't where it fits with
regard to this criterion.
I suspect I'd be interested in looking at the book if I could find a
copy.
Regards,
David W. Schroth
I doubt anyone in Unisys would attempt to enforce that agreement, but my knowledge
of extended mode was shaky at its best, and that was four long years ago. I've
done Windows programming, a smattering of OS/2 programming, lots and lots of
distributed systems performance work, SAS data analysis, and ANYTHING but Unisys
work since then.
I wish you the best of luck finding a guide to extended-mode MASM. Unisys's
suppression of the technology may make it hard.
Mike Maddox
Andrew Williams wrote:
> rats - I have been writing basic-mode MASM for 20 years now (subroutines to my
> ACOB, FTN and whatever) and really need some way forward on Extended-mode MASM
> (and mixed-mode - interfaces between one and the other).
>
> Does anyone know of any decent guides in this area?
> Are you still bound by that agreement?
>
> Mike Maddox wrote:
>
> > Oops! Richard, you asked which machines the book covers. The answer is
> > essentially any 1100 or 2200 since the 1110 and 1100/40. The book
> > specifically avoids the extended-mode instruction set. (Excluding these was
> > a condition of the permission I received from my employer, Unisys, to write
> > the book. At the time I wrote the book, extended-mode programming was
> > supported only as far as required to make Unisys softare products work.)
> >
> > Hope that clears it up. The basic-mode instruction set worked so
> > consistently across a huge number of machines that it's easy to forget that
> > they were different machines!
> >
> > Mike Maddox
> >
> > Richard C. Steiner wrote:
> >
> > > In article <398C8A0B...@rmi.net>, Mike wrote:
> > >
> > > >Hi folks - I wrote a book on 1100/2200 MASM programming some years ago.
> > > >It is out of print, but I could make it available again. Any interest
> > > >out there?
> > >
> > > Sure! What machines does it cover?
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Rich Steiner >>>---> rste...@visi.com >>>---> Bloomington, MN
> > > Written online using slrn 0.9.5.4!
> > > The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
>
I can make lots more on request. I will hold off re-producing the book (e.g.,
reformatting it in MS-Word and redoing the diagrams in Visio) until it looks as
if there will be substantially more interest. I can also publish it via
iUniverse.com or other Internet-based channel if that makes sense. (Of course,
I may have to reinstall my 5-1/4-inch diskette drive.... :-) )
Mike Maddox
dma...@rmi.net or
mike....@wcom.com (Worldcom)
William J. Toner wrote:
> Count me in as well.
>
> "Mike Maddox" <dma...@rmi.net> wrote in message
> news:398F748E...@rmi.net...
>William, Richard and other MASM fans: I have a couple of copies of the MASM
>book in loose-leaf, 3-hole punched format. I'll let each copy go for US$37.50
>postage paid, first class, to a US address. Please respond to me privately and
>I'll give you my street address for a check or money order.
>
>I can make lots more on request. I will hold off re-producing the book (e.g.,
>reformatting it in MS-Word and redoing the diagrams in Visio) until it looks as
>if there will be substantially more interest. I can also publish it via
>iUniverse.com or other Internet-based channel if that makes sense. (Of course,
>I may have to reinstall my 5-1/4-inch diskette drive.... :-) )
>
>Mike Maddox
>dma...@rmi.net or
>mike....@wcom.com (Worldcom)
Count me in amongst the interested, unless Rich will let me make a copy...;-).
Doug Vaselaar
--
- Sig Comimg Soon to This Space -
> My general rule of thumb is that any book teaching MASM
> programming that teaches the student to use ER SNAP$ for debugging is
of
> dubious utility - not having seen your book, I don't where it fits
with
> regard to this criterion.
I agree, any MASM programmer worth their salt knows that SLJ TON$ is the
way to go. ;-)
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Changing careers in one's mid-40s can be wrenching, but it can also be
rewarding.
I used MASM extensively to write a multitude of tools for MFD maintenance
and inspection. And there's no better way to collect performance data from
ER SYSBAL$ (SIP). From my college classes in 1971 into the late 1980s, I
wrote thousands of lines of MASM for a wide variety of customers. I really
kind of miss MASM and the kind of control one has over the machine. With
the right temperament, MASM can be an art form. I've never gotten that kind
of feeling from C. (Heck, I still think of C as a fast way to generate
assembly code, although I never see it.)
Appreciation of that art form is what I tried to share in my book. I hope
others share that enthusiasm. There really is nothing like coding "right
down on the bare metal."
Thanks for recognizing me.
Oh, and by the way, what is your "real addiction"?
Mike
Steve J. Martin wrote:
> In article <398C8A0B...@rmi.net>, Mike <dma...@rmi.net> wrote:
> > Hi folks - I wrote a book on 1100/2200 MASM programming some years
> ago.
> > It is out of print, but I could make it available again. Any interest
> > out there?
> >
> > Mike Maddox
>
> I also remember some excellent articles on MASM programming style
> that Mike contributed to, if memory serves, Unisys World.
>
> I too would probably spring for a copy of the book, although these
> days I use MASM mostly as a way of turning system data structures (MFD,
> MCT, PCT, ALAT, etc.) into SGSs to feed my real addiction ...
>
> Cheers,
> Steve J. Martin
> http://www.sjmsoft.com
>kind of miss MASM and the kind of control one has over the machine. With
>the right temperament, MASM can be an art form. I've never gotten that kind
>of feeling from C. (Heck, I still think of C as a fast way to generate
>assembly code, although I never see it.)
I once used Unisys' 2200 C compiler to port an app. That C compiler
release was so buggy we had to 1) turn off optimization, and 2) look
at the generated MASM code to look for bugs. What sort of bugs did we
find? Things like Q3 quarter words being referenced as Q1, etc.
Years later, I was asked to debug a multi-threaded app coded in 2200
C. Could not find the cause, threads simply started and stopped
without regard to the semaphores that were in use, Wish it was written
in MASM instead, and the whole thing would have taken a lot less time.
My real addiction, Mike, is SSG (writing Symstream skeletons). It
can also be an art form!
Regards,
Regards
AwfulAlex
awfu...@planetpastel.com
What fascinated me about SSG is that it demands a special type of thought
process, essentially thinking on two levels at once (SSG and the output ECL
or whatever). You either start crazy, or it makes you crazy....
Mike
Thanks!
Mike Maddox
--
Erwin Richard
http://erwin.richard.net
"Mike" <dma...@rmi.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
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