Burroughs MCP: Batch and the Operator Console

Although our main focus is on time-sharing, it's good to know a bit on how the batch facility works on MCP. In this post I will give a brief introduction, along with details on how to use the operator console.

/images/mcp/b5500-spo.png The B5500 operator console on retro-b5500. Source: Rupert Lane. License: CC0.

Batch

The MCP batch facility allows you to compile and run programs, and manage files on disk. Interestingly it uses a different syntax from CANDE.

Batch instructions are indicated by an invalid character in column 1, by convention a ?. Multiple instructions per line are allowed if separated by ;. The end of the batch job is indicated by a END instruction.

Batch jobs can be submitted via punched cards, tapes, keyed into the operator console or (if you are not running time-sharing) via the data terminals.

To compile a program you use COMPILE file WITH compiler where file is a file name for the compiled program and compiler is ALGOL, FORTRAN etc. The source can be an existing file on disk or you can take it from cards supplied after the compile directive.

Putting this together, here is how to submit a simple job using punched cards on the emulator. Create a plain text file that looks like this:

?COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL
?DATA CARD
BEGIN
    FILE OUT PRINTER 4 (2, 15);
    INTEGER J;
    J := 42;
    WRITE(PRINTER, /, J);
END.
?END

The first line is a batch directive to create LIFE/DISK using the Algol compiler. The second line indicates that this file should come from the following cards. Next is the Algol program which terminates with END.. Finally, the batch directive ?END finishes the job.

On retro-b6600, switch to the card reader, load this file and press the REMOTE button. On simh, break into command mode on the main simh window by pressing Control-E then typing attach cd0 /path/to/file and then continue.

MCP will sense that there are cards to read automatically. On the operator console you will see work being done as the program is compiled, executed and the results printed.

5:ALGOL/LIFE= 2 BOJ 1020
PBD0004 OUT LINE:ALGOL/LIFE= 2
0:PRNPBT/DISK/SITE= 3 BOJ 1020
ALGOL/LIFE= 2,PST= 1 EOJ
4:LIFE/DISK= 2 BOJ 1020
PBD/0004001 REMOVED
PBD/0004001/0000000= 18 SEGS--CREATED 10/05/25 AT 10:20:16:35
PBD0005 OUT PRINTER:LIFE/DISK= 2
PRNPBT FOR ALGOL/LIFE, PST= 1, IOT= 1; EOJ AT 10:20
PRNPBT/DISK/SITE= 3,PST= 1 EOJ
LIFE/DISK= 2,PST= 1 EOJ
0:PRNPBT/DISK/SITE= 2 BOJ 1020
PBD/0005001 REMOVED
PBD/0005001/0000000= 3 SEGS--CREATED 10/05/25 AT 10:20:18:14
PRNPBT FOR LIFE/DISK, PST= 1, IOT= 1; EOJ AT 10:20
PRNPBT/DISK/SITE= 2,PST= 1 EOJ

Switch over to the printer window on retro-b6600 or the printer file (units/printer.txt) on simh and you will see the compiler output and finally the program running and printing 42. Below is how it looks, slightly edited to remove whitespace:

 LABEL  000000000LINE   00125278?COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL   ALGOL  /LIFE
 LABEL  000000000LINE   00125278?COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL   ALGOL  /LIFE
    BURROUGHS B-5700 ALGOL COMPILER MARK XIII.0     MONDAY, 10/05/25,  10:20 AM.

                BEGIN                             0000
                    FILE OUT PRINTER 4 (2, 15);   0000
                    INTEGER J;                    0003
                    J := 42;                      0003
                    WRITE(PRINTER, /, J);         0004
                END.                              0011
                                                   2 IS   14 LONG, NEXT SEG    1

PRT(31) = OUTPUT(W) INTRINSIC, SEGMENT NUMBER =    3.
PRT(5) = BLOCK CONTROL INTRINSIC, SEGMENT NUMBER =    4.
PRT(14) = ALGOL WRITE   INTRINSIC, SEGMENT NUMBER =    5.
PRT(15) = ALGOL READ    INTRINSIC, SEGMENT NUMBER =    6.
PRT(16) = ALGOL SELECT  INTRINSIC, SEGMENT NUMBER =    7.
                             1 IS    2 LONG, NEXT SEG    0
                             8 IS   69 LONG, NEXT SEG    0

NUMBER OF ERRORS DETECTED =   0.  COMPILATION TIME =    1 SECONDS.
PRT SIZE =  26; TOTAL SEGMENT SIZE =    85 WORDS;
                 DISK SIZE =   9 SEGS; NO. PGM. SEGS =   8
ESTIMATED CORE STORAGE REQUIRED =   696 WORDS.
ESTIMATED AUXILIARY MEMORY REQUIRED =     0 WORDS.

 LABEL  000000000LINE   00125278?COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL
           ALGOL  /LIFE
 LABEL  000000000PRINTER00125278?COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL
           LIFE   /DISK
42,
 LABEL  000000000PRINTER00125278?COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL
           LIFE   /DISK

The above will do a 'load and go' compile, not storing the executable on the disk permanently. If you wish to do this, change the compile command to be:

COMPILE LIFE/DISK WITH ALGOL FOR LIBRARY

and the binary can then later be run with:

EXECUTE LIFE/DISK

Other batch commands are:

REMOVE file Delete file from disk
DUMP TO tape file Save files to a tape in library format
UNLOAD TO tape file As above, but deletes file on disk after tape write
LOAD FROM tape file Loads file from specified library tape
ADD FROM tape file As above, but only loads to disk if not already there
CHANGE file1 TO file2 Renames file1 to file2

file in the above can use the = wildcard: for example, to remove all files under the time-sharing user guest you could do REMOVE =/GUEST.

The Operator Console

The operator console, or SPO, allows the operator to monitor tasks and manipulate the running system. It is half-duplex, so it can either be printing or accepting input. To start giving input, press Esc and type the command, terminated by Enter. To abandon the command, press Esc again. simh precedes input with an I and output with an R when printing to the console.

Commands are two letters, like MX. They take optional parameters which are in most cases given after the command. One special case is when you need to provide a 'mix number' or process id: in this case you give the number before the command.

Let's look at some commands that are useful on emulation.

MX will show what jobs are currently running. For example, if I typed this while the above batch job was running I would see:

MX
 0:CANDE/TSHARER= 1
 4:LIFE/DISK= 2
END MX

If I wanted to kill the job, I would find its mix number - here 2 - and 'deep six' the job with the DS command:

2 DS

-OPRTR DS-ED:LIFE/DISK= 2, S= 2, A= 11
 LIFE/DISK= 2,PST= 1 DS-ED

If I had compiled the file to save on disk, I could run the binary via the CC or ? command which takes batch instructions:

? EXECUTE LIFE/DISK; END

 4:LIFE/DISK/SITE= 2 BOJ 1135
 PBD0009 OUT PRINTER:LIFE/DISK= 2

PD will show a listing of files on disk, allowing the = wildcard. To see a list of files starting with FORTRAN:

PD FORTRAN/=
 FORTRAN/TRANS
 FORTRAN/DISK

The image at the top of this post shows the start of a directory listing of all files on the disk via PD =/=.

Here is a full list of operator commands; many of these are only of use when running on real hardware. m means mix number.

Command Usage
m AX data Send data to program that is waiting for input
BK Send break
BS tu/buf Make tu/buf a SPO
CC control info Supply control information, eg run a program
? control info Supply control information, eg run a program
CD Type info on pseudo decks on disk
CE Start CANDE
CI file Change intrinsics file
CL unit Stop the job using unit
m CT proc io Set limits for processor or I/O for a job
m DS Terminate a job
DT mm/dd/yy Set the date
ED deck Eliminate pseudo card deck
EI Was intended to stop all processes, but now prints EIO
ES job spec Eliminate scheduled job
m FM unit Reply to a FM RQD message
m FR Tell a job that was the last tape reel
m IL unit Designate what unit to find a non-labelled file on
m IN index = int Insert a value in the PRT at index
LD dk/mt Load CONTROL/DECK from disk or tape
LN Start a new log file
LR Run LOGOUTR/DISK
MX List programs in the mix
m OP Specify that a COBOL file is optional
m OK Resume processing of a job
OL unit Print status of units
m OT index Print value of index in memory for job
m OU unit Send output to unit
PB unit Load a printer backup tape
PD file spec List files on disk
PG unit Purge a magnetic tape
m PR = level Set priority of a job
m QT Skip a printer backup file
RD #int Remove a pseudo card deck
m RM Remove file flagged by job as duplicate
RN n Specify number of pseudo card decks
RS unit Restart a job
RW unit Rewind and lock a tape
RY unit Mark a tape as ready
RO,SO,TO Reset, set and list options
SF factor Set multiprocessing factor
SS SPO or ALL Send message to remote SPOs
m ST Suspend a job
SV unit Mark a tape as not ready
TF Show multiprocessing factor
m TI Show how much time a job has used
TR hhmm Set time
TS List tasks in the scheduler
m UL unit Designate unit as source for file
WD Print current date
WM Print system version
WT Print current time
WU Print who is logged in where
m WY Print why a job has been suspended
XI file Swap intrinsics file
XS job Force job to be executed from scheduler

Further Information

On bitsavers, the Operations Manual section 4, "Control Information" starting on PDF page 63, details the batch language and options. The B5500 Handbook section "Keyboard Input Messages" on PDF page 37 defines the operator console commands (except a few time-sharing related ones like CE).

Richard Cornwell also has a good summary of batch commands.

Questions, corrections, comments

I welcome any questions or comments, and also especially any corrections if I have got something wrong. Please email me at rupert@timereshared.com and I will add it here and update the main text.