[TUHS] Unix Circuit Design System

Clem cole clemc at ccc.com
Sat Jan 2 00:31:16 AEST 2016


Xterm can emulate a Tek terminal. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 1, 2016, at 8:58 AM, Michele Ghisolfo <ghisolfo.m at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Thank you!  I think I'll tamper with it a bit, when I have time.  With
> regards to
> the lack of wheel emulation in xterm, I think it wouldn't be too difficult to
> write a terminal emulator with the set of tek functions and codes used
> by "draw".
> 
> I'll try as soon as possible!
> 
> 2016-01-01 0:13 GMT+01:00 Warren Toomey <wkt at tuhs.org>:
>> Ah, it's in the archive at
>> http://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Applications/Circuit_Design/
>> 
>> Cheers, Warren
>> 
>> 
>>> On 1 January 2016 8:52:34 am AEST, Clem Cole <clemc at ccc.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Funny you should ask....
>>> 
>>> I had the last known virgin copy of that UCDS a few years ago, which we
>>> managed to save.  Dennis declared it part of V7 (just a little late being
>>> distributed), which we promptly sent to Warren, who has the source in his
>>> archives.    Note it uses a tektronix 40xx terminal as the native screen.
>>> It's been years since I used it, but I may be able to answer a few
>>> questions.  I suspect the biggest issue with trying to use with xterm
>>> emulation is that lack of the two wheels that the tek terminals had.
>>> 
>>> Good luck,
>>> Clem
>>> 
>>> On Thu, Dec 31, 2015 at 1:20 PM, Michele Ghisolfo <ghisolfo.m at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hello all!
>>>> 
>>>> While I was reading the article "A Research UNIX Reader:  Annotated
>>>> Excerpts
>>>> from the Programmer's Manual" from Douglas McIlroy, I learnt of a set of
>>>> utilities for designing electronic circuits.  Here is a brief quote of
>>>> this
>>>> article:
>>>> 
>>>> "CDL (v7 pages 60-63)
>>>> 
>>>> Although most users do not encounter the UNIX Circuit Design System, it
>>>> has long
>>>> stood as an important application in the lab.  Originated by Sandy Fraser
>>>> and
>>>> extended by Steve Bourne, Joe Condon, and Andrew Hume, UCDS handles
>>>> circuits
>>>> expressed in a common design language, cdl.  It includes programs to
>>>> create
>>>> descriptions using interactive graphics, to lay out boards automatically,
>>>> to
>>>> check circuits for consistency, to guide wire-wrap machines, to specify
>>>> combinational circuits and optimize them for programmed logic arrays
>>>> (Chesson
>>>> and Thompson).  Without UCDS, significant inventions like Datakit, the
>>>> 5620 Blit
>>>> terminal, or the Belle chess machine would never have been built.  UCDS
>>>> appeared
>>>> in only one manual, v7."
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I looked it up on the 7th Edition's Manual and I haven't found references
>>>> of
>>>> this system.  I also searched a v7 system image downloaded from TUHS and
>>>> got no
>>>> results.  However I got some references of this system in USENET
>>>> archives.  In
>>>> particular, two hierarchies, net.draw and after net.ucds were dedicated
>>>> to it.
>>>> Apparently two of the binaries of the system were called "draw" and
>>>> "wrap".  I
>>>> also found a manual of a similar system which I suppose is the UCDS
>>>> descendant
>>>> in the 1st Edition of Plan 9.  This is the link of the document:
>>>> 
>>>> http://doc.cat-v.org/plan_9/1st_edition/cda/
>>>> 
>>>> However that edition of Plan 9 is not publicly released and I could not
>>>> find
>>>> it in following editions.  But since v7 Unix is available, I hope it may
>>>> be possible to get hold of an older release at least.
>>>> 
>>>> Does anyone have any information?
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you in advance!
>>>> 
>>>>    --- Michele
>> 
>> --
>> Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.



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