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Power-Programmierung
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1991-01-18
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3KB
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58 lines
Roger. You are welcome to post PC370.ZIP on usenet. I also
uploaded it to CompuServer IBMPRO forum assembly language
directory. It also in is in the PC-SIG library under program
ref. number 402. Since this is the last shareware release
of PC/370 and it is now over 3 years old, I am no longer in
the business of distributing single copies on diskette and
I am referring people who request it to CompuServe or PC-SIG.
I am also returning unsolicited shareware registrations and
suggesting that users donate the registration to their local
college if they fell obligated to do something. I am returning
a registration check I received today from Ulster County
Community College in New York.
Regarding the history , it goes like his:
1. The original version was developed for CP/M on 8 bit Z80
chip for use by students in my class on 370 architecture
any assembly language that I taught for several years at
USF in the early 1980's. Prior to PC/370 the students has
(had) to wait 2 days to get simple assembly language program
run on the USF mainframe system which was overloaded.
2. At one pint, I tried to market it via Lifeboat Associates
(a CP/M software distributor) and even ran an add in the
ComputerWorld rag with the caption "370 on a chip". This
was even before IBM announced the PC.
3. In June 1985 PC/370 rel 1.0 was released as shareware. It
included a full screen editor, 370 cross assembler, linker,
and 370 emulator which could run programs on any PC with
MS-DOS 2.0+ and 256k.
4. In January 1988, PC/370 rel. 4.2 was released as shareware
with 370 standard floating point instruction set support via
80x87 co-processor, limited macro pre-processor written in
PC/370 assembler, resident run time emulator option, plus
support for calling PC/370 subroutines from Micro Focus COBOL
using their early binary BIN API interface. The API was
developed in cooperation with Micro Focus and they distributed
PC/370 rel. 4.2 as is to their customers that wanted in back
in that time frame. Around the same time, a college text on
IBM 370 assembler was published by Prentice Hall (author was
Charles Kacmar) which included PC/370 rel. 2.0 as the basis
for all of the student homework and example assembler problems.
5. During 1988, I developed an entirely new MVS mainframe compatable
macro processor. And in early 1989, I successfully executed
contracts with Pansophic and Micro Focus for use of PC/370
and follow-on software in their commercial products. Pansophic
uses it in their PC/TELON developer product, and Micro Focus
markets the entire product under the name MF/370. The commercial
version now runs not only on MS-DOS but also OS/2. Note that
under the contracts I have retained the right to distribute the
4.2 shareware version for use by students, colleges, etc. Micro
Focus has also developed a special discount program on the new
product for universities. Also note that since this is a hobby
and I work for Florida Power, the contracts free use for FPC and
in fact FPC has had a production online application using PC/370
running for over 4 years.