[TUHS] Documentation for Sys-V basic interpreter

KenUnix ken.unix.guy at gmail.com
Sat May 20 09:26:41 AEST 2023


Thanks to all for the input!

Ken

On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 4:19 PM segaloco <segaloco at protonmail.com> wrote:

> The earliest documentation I can spot is the bs(1) man page dated
> November, 1979 in the CB-UNIX 2.3 Manual (although the page itself is
> tagged CB-UNIX 2.1.)
>
> This appears to be the same lineage as what we see in the commercial PWB
> releases, however, the earliest backstop I have on that is June, 1980 with
> 3.0. PWB 1.0 contains no such page, and unfortunately the situation right
> around 1979 is still a bit fuzzy re: PWB 2.0 and UNIX/TS. That said, the
> preface to the CB-UNIX 2.3 manual (which is also a 2.1 page from 1979) pays
> no credit to the UNIX/TS 1.1 nor PWB 2.0 manuals the way the PWB 3.0
> preface does, so perhaps bs(1) started in CB?
>
> Looking forward, this utility persists up til SVR2, but is gone as of the
> SVR3 globe-with-UNIX-lines manual series. Curiously, it was also omitted
> from the 3B20 PWB 4.1 manual, but the 5.0 and subsequent System V 1 and 2
> manuals don't have a hardware-exclusivity masthead mark, so this was likely
> made portable/ported to 3B20 sometime around '81. In any case, none of the
> man pages in any of these manuals indicate any memoranda or other papers in
> the SEE ALSO. Doesn't mean one doesn't exist, but points to the likelihood
> that the manpage is really all you get documentation-wise. Even the BTL
> versions don't mention any papers.
>
> In any case, that's what I could turn up, there is a bs(1) manpage in the
> following versions:
>
> - 1979 - CB-UNIX 2.1
> - 1980 - PWB 3.0/System III
> - 1981 - PWB 4.x (Non 3B20)
> - 1981 - CB-UNIX 2.3 (unmodified from 2.1)
> - 1982 - PWB 5.0
> - 1983 - System V
> - 1984 - System V Release 2
>
> Hope that helps. All of these save the 4.x version should be in various
> places around. I don't remember seeing anything outrageously different
> between 3.0 and 5.0, so it very well may be that the 4.x manpage could be
> easily synthesized with a diff, but I don't have a physical page to prove
> anything.
>
> - Matt G.
> ------- Original Message -------
> On Friday, May 19th, 2023 at 8:06 AM, KenUnix <ken.unix.guy at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi.
>
> Was any documentation ever done for the basic interpreter
> that was on System-V?
>
> Things like allowed keywords or special keywords.
>
> Thanks
> Ken
>
>
> --
> WWL 📚 Okey Dokey OK Boss
>
>
>
>

-- 
End of line
JOB TERMINATED Okey Dokey OK Boss
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.tuhs.org/pipermail/tuhs/attachments/20230519/8883a790/attachment.htm>


More information about the TUHS mailing list