Übersetzung von Kommandosprachen

Load-sharing computer networks require the portability of command languages. This can be achieved by the standardization or by the translation of command languages. The structure and the way of acting of a command language translator is given which is suitable for the translation of a specific class of command programs and which consists of a languageindependent program working on language dependent tables. An example is given for the translation of a command program.     

Recent developments in machine-independent job control languages

The paper gives a general survey of recent developments in the field of Job Control Languages. Three high-level portable job control languages (UNIQUE, GCL and ABLE) are presented in outline, and their merits and disadvantages are discussed. The approaches of the MU5 and of single-language machines are discussed together with the question that these pose: ‘Is a JCL as such really necessary?’ In conclusion particular reference is made to the question of standardization and to the continuing work in this field.     

The concept of supermacros in today's and future simulation languages

The concept of supermacros is an extension of the features of a simulation language. The supermacro enables potential users (beginners) to start the simulation even of difficult problems without learning all features of the simulation language.Invoked by a single command the supermacro performs automatically the definition of a specific model and performs or initialises complex experiments to be done with this model. The concept of supermacros can be fully implemented in coming simulation languages, in today's languages only in parts. Proposals for implementation in today's simulation languages are given, examples show this new powerful feature.     

An operating system for interactive terminals

Conventional operating systems have for many-years used the ideas of standard stream interfaces to peripherals. Multi-tasking has been used in order to give an efficient response while maintaining simplicity and flexibility for the user. This paper describes an extension to an operating system which makes similar facilities available for the control of interactive workstations, and also provides a command dispatcher which enables the straightforward implementation of arbitrary user-defined command languages. The current system has been written in BCPL to run on a PDP 11/45 handling a Vector General display, but the design is suitable for use with a variety of terminals, computers and languages.     

A dialogue system for creating and manipulating graphical symbols and structures

Conventional higher level programming languages have not been designed for effective application to the kind of problems which arise in interactive computer graphics. In order to correct this, efforts have been made to use conversational languages or to design command languages which allow the user to interact with the system via light buttons or teletype.This paper describes a conversational system — called DIGS — using a keyboard-oriented language. The language enables the user to construct models step-by-step with a minimum of typing effort. Intermediate results (graphic or non-graphic) may be controlled at each point of the construction process.The purpose is to provide a tool for easily creating and editing fairly complex symbols as well as hierarchic pictures. Data can be associated with the picture parts and relationships defined between them.     

A programmable text editor

While operating system command languages have improved in recent years, the advances have not yet been widely applied to other command interpreters. This paper describes an editor that has been given two features popular in operating system command languages — i/o redirection and programmable command files. The result is suited both to editing and to some repetitive reformatting tasks often solved by one-shot, ad hoc programs. Examples display the utility of the extensions, and implications for still other command interpreters are discussed.     

TRIPOS—a portable operating system for mini-computers

There are several successful operating systems for mini-computers written in high level languages and the time is now ripe for the development of portable systems for such machines. The system described in this paper is primarily designed to provide a friendly interactive multiprocessing environment for a single user. From his point of view, substantial parts of the system are completely machine independent. These include, for instance, the filing system, the command language, text editors, overlaying facilities and interprocess communication primitives. The system is suitable for many different application areas ranging over process control, data acquisition, data communication, text handling, data base systems and teaching.     

A HELP system for the user community

Interactive computer guidance systems are discussed. The user interface of such systems and the computer resources required are examined for a large computer centre. The design and development of a Liverpool HELP system is discussed. The Liverpool HELP system, which is written entirely in GEORGE job control language, is shown to be an efficient and inexpensive solution to the provision of an on-line enquiry service.     

Modeling the effects of emphasis and question on fundamental frequency contours of Cantonese utterances

Emphasis and question are two factors that have significant effects on F/sub 0/ contours for various languages, among which tone languages require more careful study because their F/sub 0/ contours show complex interaction between lexical tones and sentence intonation. This paper employs the command-response model for the process of F/sub 0/ contour generation to investigate the effects of these two factors for Cantonese, a typical tone language with nine tones. Analysis shows that the major effect of emphasis is on phrase commands, whereas the polarity and the amplitude of the tone commands in the emphasized part are hardly affected so that the inherent tone command patterns are maintained. In the intonation question, the inherent tone command in the later part of the sentence-final syllable is always substituted by a positive tone command. The particle question, on the other hand, maintains the inherent tone command for the question particle. In both types of questions, a sentence-final phrase command is added or enhanced, and a particular ending tone command is attached, the amplitude of which can indicate the degree of inquisitive intention. By comparison, the effect of emphasis starts from the target part for emphasis but is not confined to it, whereas the effect of question is localized in the sentence-final part and especially concentrated within the ending syllable. Nevertheless, both of them can be represented in the framework of the command-response model, by which F/sub 0/ contours for expressive speech can be generated efficiently.     

Task-Action Grammars: A Model of the Mental Representation of Task Languages

A formal model of the mental representation of task languages is presented. The model is a metalanguage for defining task-action grammars (TAG): generative grammars that rewrite simple tasks into action specifications. Important features of the model are (a) Identification of the "simple-tasks" that users can perform routinely and that require no control structure; (b) Representation of simple-tasks by collections of semantic components reflecting a categorization of the task world; (c) Marking of tokens in rewrite rules with the semantic features of the task world to supply selection restrictions on the rewriting of simple-tasks into action specifications. This device allows the representation of family resemblances between individual task-action mappings. Simple complexity metrics over task-action grammars make predictions about the relative learnability of different task language designs. Some empirical support for these predictions is derived from the existing empirical literature on command language learning, and from two unreported experiments. Task-action grammars also provide designers with an analytic tool for exposing the configural properties of task languages.     

Using the Proforma PROGRAM command

A common criticism or authoring languages used Tor computer aided instruction is that they are too restrictive. This article describes how one command within the Proforma authoring language enables the user to leave the confines or that language, run another program, and then return to the exact spot within the original Proforma study unit at which it was left. Two systems are outlined, one in which the separate program is accessed by chaining, and another in which subprograms are used. An example of an application in French language teaching is described in some detail.     

Mkscan—An interactive scanner generator

Mkscan is a tool for generating and editing scanners. It has been designed with ease of use in mind. The tol is interactive and uses a full screen interface. No attempt is made to provide an all-purpose tool that can generate a recognizer for any regular language. Instead, mkscan has been tailored to suit the lexical structure of common programming languages and command languages. Using mkscan, a scanner for Pascal can be created in under ten minutes–including the time taken to type the list of keywords.     

: A distributed real-time logic language

This paper presents a new language that integrates the real-time and distributed paradigms within the framework of a concurrent logic language. Concurrent logic languages (CLLs) are capable of expressing concurrence, communication and nondeterminism in a natural way. That is, the intrinsic parallel semantics of the concurrent logic languages makes them well-suited for distributed programming. The proposed language is particularly suitable for loosely coupled systems and it contains mechanisms for distributed and real-time process control. A new execution model for concurrent logic languages is presented, which enables efficient distributed execution and real-time control. The model is introduced by giving an operational semantics for the language and the new model's implementation is discussed, including the definition of a new abstract machine and its implementation on a network of Unix workstations. Although the sequential core is not optimized, some previous results are discussed, showing the feasibility of the language's execution model for distributed real-time systems. The language is currently being used as the kernel language for a distributed simulation and validation tool for communication protocols.     

: A distributed real-time logic language

This paper presents a new language that integrates the real-time and distributed paradigms within the framework of a concurrent logic language. Concurrent logic languages (CLLs) are capable of expressing concurrence, communication and nondeterminism in a natural way. That is, the intrinsic parallel semantics of the concurrent logic languages makes them well-suited for distributed programming. The proposed language is particularly suitable for loosely coupled systems and it contains mechanisms for distributed and real-time process control. A new execution model for concurrent logic languages is presented, which enables efficient distributed execution and real-time control. The model is introduced by giving an operational semantics for the language and the new model's implementation is discussed, including the definition of a new abstract machine and its implementation on a network of Unix workstations. Although the sequential core is not optimized, some previous results are discussed, showing the feasibility of the language's execution model for distributed real-time systems. The language is currently being used as the kernel language for a distributed simulation and validation tool for communication protocols.     

Implementation of an FP-Shell

One of the best features of the UNIX™ Shell is that it provides a framework which can be used to build complex programs by interconnecting existing simple programs. However, it is limited to linear combinations of programs, and building of more complex programs must be accomplished by executing sequences of commands. This paper introduces Backus' FP (Functional Programming) as an alternative command language for UNIX. In FP, programs are true functions and another distinctive feature of FP languages is that they contain functional forms, which are constructs for combining programs to build new programs. Also, the functional style of programming provides a natural way of exploiting parallel machine architecture.     

Robot language from the standpoint of FA system development—An outline of FA-BASIC

A new unified FA (Factory Automation) language has been developed. The language is suited for robot control, vision system control and programmable controller (PC) control and enables a unified means for programming. The language is called FA-BASIC and has common functions such as expression, control structure and input/output statement based on BASIC language.

FA-BASIC is composed of three subsystems: FA-BASIC/R for robot control, FA-BASIC/V for vision system control and FA-BASIC/C for PCs.

Many languages have been developed up to now, but most of them were aimed at single purposes. These single purpose languages were too limited when developing an integrated FA system, because several languages and different program-making methods must be mastered.

Using FA-BASIC, programming with mutual interconnections between robots, PCs and vision devices is done by the one common method.

In this paper, the basic design concept and functions of FA-BASIC will be presented, along with the features of FA-BASIC/R and on outline of a robot control system using a standard mechanism-independent intermediate language and standard fundamental modules. Also, for easy programming, an off-line programming system with graphical aids and a menu-selection method which require no special effort to master will be introduced as the only present-day universal robot programming method.     

POP-2 performance on a small 1900 machine

A simple benchmark is described which enables the performance of the programming language POP-2 to be investigated. The benchmark, run using the Multiple On-line Programming (MPO) facilities of the GEORGE 3 operating system, is used to investigate the effects of certain installation controlled running conditions upon terminal response. The results of some of the investigations are presented and an indication of future areas of study is given.     

The Tinkertoy graphical programming environment

The Tinkertoy graphical interface to Lisp is described, in which programs are `built' rather than written, out of icons and flexible interconnections. It represents a computer/user interface that can easily exceed the interaction speed of the best text-based language editors and command languages. It also provides a consistent framework for interaction across both editing and command execution. Moreover, because programs are represented graphically, structures that do not naturally conform to the text medium can be clearly described, the new kinds of information can be incorporated into programs and program elements     

The Macintosh Programmer's Workshop

The authors discuss the Macintosh Programmer's Workshop (MPW), a Macintosh development environment that includes a comprehensive set of programming tools and handles several languages. It also combines the graphical interface common to all Macintosh applications, a command language similar to the Unix shell languages, and Smalltalk's immediate execution of commands in any window. They focus on the program-development environment rather than on the tools in that environment. They give the history of MPW, and describe its design goals. The bulk of the article is a discussion of MPW's design