Modcomp Computer?

[Paul Koning]

>>>>> "CRC" == CRC  <technobug at comcast.net> writes:

 CRC> On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:53:55 -0400, Paul Koning
 CRC> <pkoning at equallogic.com> wrote:

 >> I don't know about Modcomp, but that's not the IBM way.  IBM had
 >> amazingly primitive file systems (at least through OS/360), but
 >> not quite *that* primitive.  You could create files at anytime,
 >> but only through JCL.  (Actually, I think it was possible to
 >> create files under program control, but not via the standard
 >> APIs.)
 >> 
 >> [...]  paul
 >> 

 CRC> You are talking about big iron here. The IBM 1800, SEL, and
 CRC> Modcomp were essentially toys which used a preallocated file
 CRC> system to ensure speed in file access. All files were guaranteed
 CRC> contiguous and of know size. The editor, compiler, and linker
 CRC> each had their own segments which they individually managed. The
 CRC> editor would create "files" within its segment. The JCL on these
 CRC> machines was quite rudimentary and did not include any
 CRC> capability to re-hack the file system. You could always design
 CRC> an application to partition and manage one of the preallocated
 CRC> segments.

 CRC> I remember having to re-sysgen the system numerous time while we
 CRC> were designing the application in order to optimize the file
 CRC> sizes.

Interesting.

DEC did it much better in RT-11 -- a very fast and simple file system
without any gratuitous pain in the neck operating limitations like
that.

	paul