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----------------------- | | | V M i X 2 8 6 | | for | | MSDOS Environments | | | | Multiuser Operating | Supervisor | | for the | | I B M PC / XT / AT | | | Version 1.4X | | | ----------------------- By J. Anthony Borras Commercial Software Associates Post Office Box 185 Corona del Mar, California 92625 (714) 721-9953 IBM PC/XT/AT are trademarks of the IBM Corp. This manual was written by: Commercial Software Associates Post Office Box 185 Corona del Mar, California 92625 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright (c) 1988 by: J. Anthony Borras All rights reserved No part of this program or related documentation may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, or thereby translated into any language, without the prior written permission of the publisher. You may only make a copy of the program for backup purposes. LIMITED SHAREWARE LICENSE - VMiX 286 may be copied for others to tryout, subject to the following copying restrictions specified by this time limited license: All copies distributed to others must include a copy of the Copyright Notice, the Limited Shareware License, Disclaimer of All Warranties and Liabilities, and the Software License Agreement. A registration fee of $59 is solicited from personal users (up to 3 CPU's) as a condition of continued use of the program beyond a trial usage period of 30 days. - The party agrees that unauthorized usage under this agreement will cause great damage to the licensor, Commercial Software Associates. page 2 Basic Prices REGISTRATION fee ................. $59. SOURCE license ................... $499. (+$440, if upgrade from registration fee) UPGRADE Version 1.XX ............ $20. page 3 Disclaimer of All Warranties and Liabilities Commercial Software (ComSoft) Associates makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this manual or to the software described there in, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. VMiX 286 is sold or licensed `as is', and is for use by the original purchaser only, except as expanded by the Limited Shareware License described above. The entire risk, as to the quality and performance, of the VMiX experimental system is with the buyer. In the event of loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused by the VMiX 286 program, the buyer (and not ComSoft, its distributors, or its retailers) assumes the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction and any incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect in the software or its use, even if ComSoft has been advised of the possibility of such damages. page 4 SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT The party, whose signature appears below, agrees that they will utilize the software entitled `VMiX 286' exclusively for their private use in their own personal system, not to exceed 3 CPU's. The party agrees that all copies of the VMiX 286 software package are the property of Commercial Software Associates, Westwood California and that all copies will display the original copyright. The party agrees that the location of all copies will be reported to Commercial Software upon written demand. The licensee agrees to fill out and mail this registration form and license within 30 days of the start of the try- out period specified by the Limited Shareware License shown above. Support will be provided to registered licensees only. The party agrees that unauthorized usage under this agreement will cause great damage to the licensor, Commercial Software Associates. Unless this agreement is returned to Commercial Software and registration fee is paid upon expiration of the Limited Shareware License, it will not be possible to inform the purchaser of any updates, additions, or corrections to this software package or accompanying manual. page 5 RETURN TO: Commercial Software Associates Post Office Box 185 Corona del Mar, Ca. 92625 SERIAL NUMBER: ____________________ NAME ________________________________ name COMPANY/TITLE __________________________ company title ADDRESS __________________________ street __________________________ city state zip TELEPHONE ( ) - phone Signature: __________________________ page 6 page 7 FEATURES of VMiX 286 VERSION 1.4X First Level Release Distributed as shareware in continued development state. - VMiX is not presently a full operating system. It provides the services of a multiuser operating system supervisor. The VMiX kernel ties tightly between the host operating system I/O services and the user applications. The eventual goal of the VMiX kernel is to arbitrate use of system resources by individual tasks with either or both UNIX I/O or MSDOS I/O, in an environment providing up to 16 megabytes of physical memory. - VMiX incorporates enhanced multi- tasking support. The console screen can be automatically partitioned into up to four windows, for a total of 4 tasks executing from the console. The active task controls and responds to the console keyboard. The active task can be switched, at any time, by pressing the hot key, Shift-Tab. - VMiX provides concurrent multiprocess capabilities to the host operating system, which will still service most of the low level interface to the computer hardware. NOTE: MSDOS disk driver reentrancy problems are not addressed by this release. If two tasks are requesting disk I/O, one is placed in IOWAIT by VMiX, while the other completes a disk sector access. page 8 - VMiX release 1.4X does not operate in 286 protected mode at all times. Hence, it can be used in 8088 PCs. System services are provided in sysgate.asm to execute your own functions in protected mode. The debugger "assign gdt" method allows entries to the VMiX gdt. This can also be done with the memory manager system service. - REMOTE permits a user to call a remote PC running VMiX, and teleoperate, as if he were at the console of the remote PC. Useful for remote customer support of application programs, offsite login and operations. VMiX terminal drivers offer CGA text mode and IBM function key emulation at a COMM port. Only the remotely accessed PC needs to be execut- ing VMiX. - With VMiX you can run programs like WINDOWS, LOTUS 123, XTALK, BASIC, DBASE, or WORD at the console and BASIC, DEBUG, TURBO PASCAL, WORDSTAR 3.2 or 4/0, DBASE II/III, or PROCOMM at a COMM terminal. Multiple BASIC or GWBASIC interpreter sessions are supported. - Supports a maximum of five users (only because of COMM limitations), each with multiple processes up to a maximum of 10. - SPAWN or '&' permits a script of VMiX shell commands to be submitted to a background process executing the VMiX shell. This allows for background jobs like compiling or printing by a concurrent child process. page 9 - DOSJOB permits MSDOS keyboard inter- active applications to be partitioned and managed as concurrent video display window tasks. - SWAP will move tasks from/to conven- tional memory and store them in extended memory for later resumption. - Automatic or User specified windows in both alphanumeric and hires graphics modes, from either the console or VT-100 COMM terminal. - Loadable character fonts, 33 line CGA display. Version 1.4X provides support for EGA video modes and up to 58 line display, with VMiX font type 1. - Console operator status line and passive fault-tolerance. - Built-in debugger. - Memory manager and memory mapper. - Assembly and C language interface. - Interrupt 15h System Services. - VMiX 286 requires MSDOS 2.10 or above, and 320K of memory to execute. It will adjust to and recognize, either an 8088 IBM PC, an 80286 IBM AT, or 100% clone. page 10 page 11 PREFACE This manual is divided into Three Parts. They are: PART ONE HOW TO GET STARTED How to Get Started: This part of the manual covers the preparation required to use VMiX 286 effectively. It provides information on how to install the shipped system. PART TWO USING VMiX 286 General Use: This part of the manual contains a detailed description of the various features of VMiX 286. It provides a step-by-step guide to the use of the operating system's commands. Also included are notes describing useful features and those areas where extra caution is recommended. Advanced Use: This part of the manual contains useful information regarding the internal functions of the operating system. It describes procedures for writing programs that utilize the VMiX system services and explores in detail the external interface. PART THREE APPENDICES Appendices: This part of the manual contains various appendices, including release notes, a Technical Section, and a description of VMiX status messages. page 12 page 13 --------------------------------------- | | | | | CONTENTS | | | | | | --------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION Page Copyright Notice 2 Software License Agreement 5 Features of VMiX 286 8 Preface 12 Table of Contents 14 List of Figures 18 PART ONE: -How to Get Started- Page Title Page 1 Introduction 3 How to Get Started 7 Commands Overview 15 Shell Commands 15 Command Summary 18 Contents 14 PART TWO: -Using VMiX 286- Page Title Page 1- 1 VMiX Start-Up 1- 3 Interface to MSDOS 1- 4 VMiX Configuration 1- 7 Using the Command Line 1- 8 System Console Display 1-12 Shell Commands 1-14 Login Terminals 1-16 Terminal Types 1-17 IBM Function Keys 1-18 Communications 1-20 Extended Memory 1-21 The Root Shell 2- 1 Command 1 - debug 2- 3 Command 2 - rshell 2- 4 Command 3 - remote 2- 5 Command 4 - swap 2- 8 Command 5 - chprio 2- 9 Command 6 - exec 2-11 Command 7 - dosjob 2-15 Command 8 - spawn 2-17 Command 9 - kill 2-20 Command 10 - quit 2-22 Contents 15 PART TWO: -(Continued)- Page The Debugger Shell 3- 1 Command 1 - read 3- 3 Command 2 - write 3- 4 Command 3 - assign 3- 5 Command 4 - deassign 3- 9 Command 5 - init 3-11 Command 6 - examine 3-12 Command 7 - set 3-13 Command 8 - quit 3-24 Utility 9 - monitor 3-25 Advanced Use 4- 1 Contents 16 PART THREE: -Appendices- Page Title Page A- 1 Appendix A Release Notes A- 3 Problem Reports A- 7 Appendix B VMix System Services B- 1 Appendix C Technical Information C- 1 Appendix D Status Monitor D- 1 Contents 17 --------------------------------------- | | | | | FIGURES: | | | | | | --------------------------------------- PART ONE: FIGURE DESCRIPTION Page Fig. 1 VMiX Start-up Screen 15 2 VMiX Debugger Screen 17 3 VMiX Command Summary 20 Contents 18 PART TWO: FIGURE DESCRIPTION Page Fig. 4 COMMON TERMINALS 1- 9 5 Terminal Function Key Emulation 1-19 6 Object type name definitions 3- 6 7 SRCSINK object id's 3- 6 8 Color Keys 3-19 9 Color Codes 3-20 10 Root Window Sizing 3-21 PART THREE: FIGURE DESCRIPTION Page Fig. A-1 VMiX Status Board A- 5 A-2 VMiX 286 Conventions A- 6 C-1 VMiX 286 O/S Hierarchy C- 3 C-4 VMiX 286 Synchro Primitives C- 4 C-5 VMiX 286 Scheduler C- 5 C-6 VMiX 286 Structures C- 6 C-7 VMiX 286 Queue Structures C- 7 C-8 VMiX 286 Object Model C- 8 C-9 VMiX 286 I/O Objects C- 9 C-10 vm_boot Structure Chart C-10 C-11 vm_shell Structure Chart C-11 Contents 19 TABLE DESCRIPTION Page Table C-1 VMiX Global Data C-12 Contents 20 PART ONE VMiX 286 HOW TO GET STARTED Part I, Introduction page 1 Part I, Introduction page 2 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 INTRODUCTION VMiX 286 provides a multitasking and multiuser environment for the new evolving personal workstations. VMiX retains some of the freedom, control, and general access to the system that existed during the earlier days of personal computing. VMiX enhances your computing envi- ronment in several ways. First you can view information from several programs simultaneously using VMiX's console windowing capabilities. You can also multitask, not just execute in the back- ground, but in each of the windows. You can also give the full screen to one or more programs. Since VMiX is a multi- user environment, not just a windowed multitasking shell, you can also support several workstations or modems at your computer's serial ports. VMiX also provides the choice to load tasks that can be swapped out to extended 286 memory, interrupted and made active again, at your command. This virtual memory capability, to load more programs than you have conventional memory to execute-in, is enhanced by the additional capability to execute swapped programs, while they are swapped. Part I, Introduction page 3 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 It is possible that as personal computer hardware reaches new levels of speed and complexity, control of operating kernels will revert to the manufacturer, like has been the case with mini-computers and mainframes. Systems like VMiX provide an alternative to users of the new personal computers. The ability to develop creative, highly custom applications which manipu- late the total system will probably be lost if new independent environments are not implemented for the OS/2 world. Since with MSDOS, this was unnecessary, we have complacently left the area of PC control program development to computer manufacturers or to large dedicated system houses; there is a substantial amount of catch-up involved in creating a new independent platform. Because of the scope of the VMiX project, some areas have been kept initially simple. This is a mixed blessing that limits the capability of VMiX to operate satisfactorily with a larger volume of existing software. VMiX, allows applications to start with full kernel privileges, as all MSDOS environment applications have, in the past. After initialization, the application can move itself to the desired protection level. In some commercial environments, with the concept of trusted hosts, this might be Part I, Introduction page 4 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 highly risky. However, not all personal computer applications need to be crash proof, if you loose the ability to develop custom applications. Most of the effort, so far, has been concentrated in the development of the process manager and preemptive scheduler. Process management is, there- fore, substantially robust, except that a hi-resolution clock has not yet been implemented. VMiX is still limited by the resolution of the 55 millisecond time-of-day clock. This produces approx- imately 18 task switches per second and can result in yerky scrolling of the video display. File management within the VMiX object manager is not implemented. Hence, there presently are limitations with I/O redirection. The VMiX memory object manager is about 75% complete. So, conflicts still exists when VMiX relies on the MSDOS memory manager to do things right from a multiprogramming standpoint. VMiX does provide access to 286 protected mode memory. This memory is called extended memory. Version 1.4X uses this area to swap programs that do not fit in conven- tional memory. The VMiX Application Program Interface (API) allows programs to be executed in protected mode. Part I, Introduction page 5 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The tty driver, which handles EGA/ CGA/MDA video modes at the console and character I/O to the serial devices is relatively robust. Direct video access can not be redirected until full 386 operations are attained. There are programs that just can not run on a dumb terminal (if only, just because the keyboard layout is too limiting). An interprocess communications manager to service requests from other serially connected PCs running VMiX is not yet included in VMiX, but is a high priority objective. Part I, Introduction page 6 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 HOW TO GET STARTED GENERAL: VMiX 286 is designed for use on the IBM Personal Computer, IBM AT, or other compatible computers running under the MSDOS 3.10+ operating system. Two floppy disk drives, or a hard disk are recommended. Memory requirements are 320K of RAM, but a full 640K is desirable for multiuser operations. At least 1 megabyte of memory and an 80286 processor is required for extended memory task swapping. Swapped tasks are temporarily suspended until swapped back to conventional memory (the first mega- byte of Intel address space). The color graphics adapter, CGA, is recommended for a 640 x 200 console display. Version 1.4X is a prototype system intended mostly for Intel 8086 Real Mode, however 386 Protected Mode is planned for implementation in Version 2. The present kernel resource supervisor incorporates data structures compatible with the Intel 80286 protected mode and provides for the execution of conforming functions in protected mode. To successfully use the varied features of VMiX 286 it is necessary to carefully read parts I and II of this manual COMPLETELY before use. Part I, How to Get Started page 7 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 BEFORE using VMiX 286, copy all the files described below, from the Shipping Diskette to a formatted System Disk that includes your MSDOS operating system. NEVER use the Shipping Diskette to actually run VMiX 286. Use the copies that you have made from it and keep the Master Disk in a secure, cool place. If you have a problem with your program that is related to the Work Disk, insert another copied disk to check out the problem. Do not use the Master Disk, there may be a failure in the computer system that could destroy the information contained on it. For this reason, it is wise to maintain two work copies of the Master Disk at all times. Part I, How to Get Started page 8 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The VMiX 286 System consists of the twenty one files described below. MASTER DISK CONTENTS VM_BOOT.EXE - The VMiX start-up program. To start, type VM_BOOT from MSDOS's A> prompt and press <RETURN>. PS.EXE - Utility executed by user to view process staus. DSTAT.EXE - Utility executed by user to view device and channel status. DPATH.EXE - Utility executed by user, to set the directory search PATH for data files. MONITOR.EXE - Utility executed by user to monitor process information and system status. SYSGATE.OBJ - Link file for VMiX (API) Application Programming Interface. SOURCE FILES: DOCUMENTATION FILES: SYSGATE.ASM READ.ME MONITOR.C DPATH.DOC DSTAT.C PS.C MANUAL.DOC C_BIOS.H $_PROC.H $_KERNEL.H IO_CHAN.H $_CONFIG.H IO_IRP.H $_MEM.H IO_OBJ.H Part I, How to Get Started page 9 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 I N S T R U C T I O N S 1) Upon receipt of your SHIPPING Diskette, copy the five files: VM_BOOT.EXE, PS.EXE, DSTAT.EXE, MONITOR.EXE and DPATH.EXE onto your own System Diskette. 2) Using your editor, create a file named CONFIG.SYS. Include the following two lines: BUFFERS = 15 (or more) FILES = 20 and, save the file to your system boot disk. 3) To execute the VMiX 286 program requires MSDOS Version 2.10 or above, and 320K of memory. A color graphics card, CGA is recommended for the console display. Release 1.4X does not operate in 286 protected mode at all times, so it will execute properly in PCs with 8088 processors. Start VMiX by typing: A> VM_BOOT<RETURN> If you have a Monochrome Adapter, VMiX will sense it. Part I, How to Get Started page 10 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 4) The RS232 cabling for COM1 and/or COM2 should be constructed depending on whether the host PC will be connected to a dumb terminal or to another PC acting as a terminal. PIN PIN H 1 1 O S 2 -- - _ _ _ - -- 2 T -_ __ - - 3 __ _ - - - - _ __ 3 T S E e 4 4 R r M i --5 5 I a -| N l | --6 6 A | L P | 7 ------------------------- 7 o | r | --8 8 t -| --20 20 See Part II, Using VMiX 286, for detailed instructions regarding the use of VMiX 286 commands and options. Part I, How to Get Started page 11 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 Some conventions used in the manual are: [ ] = Indicates that what is contained between the braces is optional. xxxx = Used to represent alphanumeric characters within a prompt. Example: `ENTER FILENAME? xxxx' ???? = Used to represent numeric characters within a prompt. Example: `set remote -c????' < > = Used to indicate a specific keyboard key. Example: `Press <RETURN>' [ ] = Used to indicate a specific function key or numeric keypad key. Example: `Press [F9]' Part I, How to Get Started page 12 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The Only Keys You Need to Know: <RETURN> VMiX is designed to interpret the <RETURN> key pressed by itself, alone in a line, as a request for help. The<RETURN> key is labled 'Enter<--' on IBM keyboards. <Esc> When using BASIC or BASICA interpreters, this key will clear BASIC's line editor buffer. This key will prevent Syntax Errors, which sometimes occur during new commands typed, when using BASIC from a terminal port. When using the root commands exec or dosjob, this key will abort a wait for a busy DOS. The debugger shell uses<Esc> with some looping commands, to exit or end a loop. <Ctrl> <Break> Pressing these two keyboard keys simultaneously, will abort an operation. <Ctrl> <C> Pressing these two keyboard keys simultaneously, will abort an operation. Part I, How to Get Started page 13 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 <Ctrl> <F> Pressing these two keyboard keys simultaneously, will toggle the function key emulation from a terminal. Keyboard digits <1>, <2>, <3>... <0>, will perform like [F1], [F2]... [F10]. Holding down the <Shift> key while pressing a keyboard character key will cause an Alt-key sequence to be sent to the host. The terminal will beep when the function keys are turned-on. <Shift> <Tab> Pressing these two keyboard keys simultaneously, will toggle the currently active console task that owns the keyboard. The keyboard is re-assigned, in round-robin fashion, among the channels currently assigned to the console. The VMiX console status-line displays the channel/task that owns the keyboard. <Shift><Tab> does not affect multitasking. <&> When the character '&' is placed in a VMiX command line, a background process will be started to execute everything in the line, up to the '&' character. This method of starting a job should be used only for non- interactive processes. Part I, How to Get Started page 14 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 COMMANDS OVERVIEW SHELL COMMANDS When the VMiX start-up screen displays the initial command prompt 'A>______', press the <RETURN> key to view the available commands (or tokens) for the root shell level. The screen will display: (Fig. 1) ---------------------------------------------------------- | VMiX.286 1.4X Copyright (C) ComSoft 1987 | |----------------------------------------------------------| | [PROCESSOR = 80286] | | A>_<RETURN>___________ | | | | --------------------------------- | | | VMiX 286 ROOT SHELL | | | | debug rshell remote swap | | | | chprio exec dosjob spawn | | | | kill quit | | | --------------------------------- | | | | A>____________________ | | | ---------------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 1) See Chapter 2, 'The Root Shell', for a detailed description of each command. Part I, Commands Overview page 15 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The term root refers to the first level in a nesting of layered levels. It is used primarily to refer to processes that invoke other child processes. The root process is the grandfather of all subsequent children. When VMiX starts, the root process is created and displays at the console of the processor running it. The root process has the highest privilege on the system. Only root can terminate (quit) VMiX. The term shell refers to a grouping of commands and capabilities that is provided by a command language interpreter. MSDOS has a single shell called command.com. This is the shell that interacts with MSDOS users when they type diskcopy or dir, etc. VMiX can have a large number of shells, each called from the previous or father shell. Here again, the top command shell is called the root shell, even though it is the top shell for all processes besides the root process. If you type debug and press <RETURN>, you will invoke the debugger shell. The VMiX prompt will change to '- _______', press the<RETURN> key to view the available commands (or tokens) for the debugger shell level (Fig. 2). Part I, Commands Overview page 16 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 ---------------------------------------------------------- | VMiX.286 1.4X Copyright (C) ComSoft 1987 | |----------------------------------------------------------| | A>_debug<RETURN>______ | | - _<RETURN>___________ | | | | ---------------------------- | | | VMiX KERNEL LEVEL DEBUGGER | | | | read init assign | | | | write examine deassign | | | | set quit | | | ---------------------------- | | | | - ____________________ | | | ---------------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 2) See Chapter 3, 'The Debugger Shell', for a detailed description of each command. Part I, Commands Overview page 17 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 COMMAND SUMMARY All the available shell commands or tokens are summarized in Figure 3, below. VMiX has 2 shells levels that correspond to 3 layers of token nesting. Shell level 0 is the top or root layer of tokens. The debugger shell is the next shell level, it contains 2 layers of tokens or commands. The basic rule of token parsing by the VMiX command interpreter is that to reach a token at a higher layer you must invoke the token(s) at the lower layers of the shell level you are at. For example, to execute the token read from the root shell level, you should type debug read, but from the debugger shell level (you are already at layer 1) you need only type read. If a token has no action associated with itself, but instead is a path to several sub-tokens at the next higher layer, then typing just that token will display, on the screen, the choices available for the sub-tokens to complete the command. For example, if you type the token set from inside the debugger shell, the sub-tokens (next layer) belonging to 'set' will be displayed (ie., 'video', 'remote', 'baud', 'debug', ...). Then, if you type set video, since there are no deeper tokens, the switches belonging to 'set video' will be displayed. Part I, Commands Overview page 18 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 Finally, you type set video -m to set the video mode and VMiX will prompt you with a menu of available video mode settings. You select video mode '6' for 640 x 200 BW graphics. The paragraph above describes the learning curve for VMiX. Had you already been familiar with the debugger shell, you would have typed the single command line: set video -m6. Part I, Commands Overview page 19 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 |ROOT |DEBUG | |LEVEL..|LEVEL....................................| | 0 | 1 | 2 | --------------------------------------------------- |debug | | |read | | |write | | |set | | |baud | | -c " sets communications: chan| | baud, parity, word, stop"| | |dos | | -m " toggles DOS shell | | emulation mode ON/OFF" | | -n " sets DOS INT21 function | | maximum nesting level" | | -p " sets DOS current process | | PSP: nuPSP(seg)" | | |font | | -t " sets font type: (0 - 3)" | | |pool | | -a " adjusts transient | | program memory: | | MCB(seg), nusize(para)" | | -m " sets transient program | | partition size: | | (0 - 1024K)" | | -o " sets transient program | | memory owner: | | MCB(seg), nuPSP(seg)" | --------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 3) Part I, Commands Overview page 20 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 |ROOT |DEBUG | |LEVEL..|LEVEL....................................| | 0 | 1 | 2 | --------------------------------------------------- | |process | | -b " sets process shell buffer| | size: (0 - 127)" | | -e " toggles system evironment| | protection ON/OFF" | | -h " toggles process hardware | | priviledge ON/OFF" | | -p " sets process priority: | | (0 - 31)" | | |remote | | -c " sets remote channel" | | -l " sets polled terminal | | login channel" | | |system | | -m " toggles manager message | | displays ON/OFF" | | -s " toggles scheduler swapped| | processing ON/OFF" | | -t " toggles scheduler clock | | processing ON/OFF" | | -w " sets shutdown wait delay:| | seconds" | | |terminal | | -t " sets terminal type: | | (0 - 9)" | --------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 3 continued) Part I, Commands Overview page 21 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 |ROOT |DEBUG | |LEVEL..|LEVEL....................................| | 0 | 1 | 2 | --------------------------------------------------- | |video | | -c " sets video background/ | | foreground colors" | | -C " sets window color attrib"| | -m " sets video mode:(0 - 16)"| | -s " toggles status line | | display ON/OFF" | | -w " sets root window size: | | y0, x0, y1, x1" | | -W " auto partitions (1 - 4) | | task windows | | (Shift-Tab toggles kbd)" | | |init | | |comm | | -c " sets communications: chan| | baud, parity, word, stop"| | |examine | | |memory | | |mcb | | |kernel | | |assign | | |gdt | | |deassign | | |gdt | | |memory | | |quit | --------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 3 continued) Part I, Commands Overview page 22 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 |ROOT |DEBUG | |LEVEL..|LEVEL....................................| | 0 | 1 | 2 | --------------------------------------------------- |rshell | |remote | | -c " sets remote channel" | | -l " sets polled terminal login channel" | |swap | | |'process id' | |chprio | | |'process id and new priority level' | |exec | | -a " adjusts transient program memory: | | MCB(seg), nusize(para)" | | -m " sets transient program memory partition | | size: (0 - 1024K)" | | -o " sets transient program memory owner: | | MCB(seg), nuPSP(seg)" | | |path | | " utility displays/sets program | | file search path" | | |dpath[.exe] | | " utility displays/sets data file | | search path" | | -v " sets verbose mode" | | -q " sets quiet mode" | | -r " allows data read only" | | -w " allows data read/write" | | -h " help" | | |dstat[.exe] | | " utility displays all objects" | | -a " selects only assigned objects" | | -r " selects only free objects" | --------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 3 continued) Part I, Commands Overview page 23 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 |ROOT |DEBUG | |LEVEL..|LEVEL....................................| | 0 | 1 | 2 | --------------------------------------------------- | |monitor[.exe] | | " utility monitors process/system" | | -p " monitors VMiX memory pool" | | -r " monitors process registers: | | process id" | | |'process id' | | |ps[.exe] | | " utility displays all processes" | | |'MSDOS command...' | |dosjob | | [-W] " gives process the full screen" | | |'MSDOS command or /VMiX command...' | |spawn | | -c " sets I/O channel for STDIO and gets | | command line script" | |kill | | |'process id' | |quit | --------------------------------------------------- (Fig. 3 continued) [ ] indicates optional Part I, Commands Overview page 24 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 Part I, Commands Overview page 25 PART TWO VMiX 286 CHAPTER 1 USING VMIX 286 Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-1 Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-2 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 VMiX START-UP VMiX presently has no installation options, but can be pre-initialized to your desired state by including commands with its invocation. The section titled 'Using the Command Line' describes how to include VMiX commands in a start-up batch file, for completely automatic execution. VMiX is easy to install. Simply copy the executable files in the VMiX archive to your directory and execute the boot module VM_BOOT.EXE. If you can execute your appli- cations from MSDOS, they are already installed for VMiX. VMiX does not use PIF or other types of application configuration files. Applications that write directly to the screen will usually coexist with other applications at the console, but will not display properly at a COMM port terminal or PC. Part II, VMiX Start-Up page 1-3 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 INTERFACE TO MSDOS exec Starting a Program VMiX provides access to the MSDOS command shell with the root command exec. The command syntax is: exec [ MSDOS command ] Two or more VMiX processes can use the exec command to access MSDOS, provided that: a) All transient program memory has not been previously allocated (.COM programs will do this, as well as .EXE program which have not been modified with exemod an MSDOS utility program). The -m switch can be used with exec to control the amount of memory that .COM or .EXE programs can grab. b) MSDOS is not busy with a nested function call beyond the initial exec call from VMiX. If another VMiX process has also invoked MSDOS services that have not completed, then VMiX will wait for MSDOS to say that it can handle another request. The user waiting for MSDOS access can determine the process currently using (and not releasing) MSDOS by examining the VMiX parameter 'doslevel' from the VMiX debugger with the utility monitor.exe. Part II, VMiX Start-Up page 1-4 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 exec Controlling Memory Use To control memory use within the 640K that VMiX utilizes, exec provides the -m option. When exec -m???? has been specified, all programs will be limited to partitions equal or smaller than the size (in kilobytes), specified with the command. The command syntax is: exec -m [ max. K bytes ] The recommended start-up partition size is 256 kilobytes: exec -m256 The use of exec as a prefix to DOS commands becomes optional if the user has enabled DOS shell emulation from within the VMiX debugger. MSDOS shell emulation is toggled by the command: debug set dos -m The exec command is described further in Chapter 2,'The Root Shell'. Part II, VMiX Start-Up page 1-5 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 dosjob Starting a Program in a Window VMiX provides a second command for windowed access to the MSDOS command shell. The command syntax is: dosjob [-W][ MSDOS command ] Up to four VMiX processes can use the dosjob command to access MSDOS. To use 'dosjob' to run a program that requires access to the full screen, use the '-W' option: (ie., 'dosjob -W [drive:][PATH]filename') dosjob can also be used to execute VMiX shell command(s) in a separate console window, VMiX shell commands given to a 'dosjob' must be preceded with a '/' (ie., 'dosjob /debug' or 'dosjob /rshell'). The '/' must not be used, if the command is for MSDOS, for example 'do gwbasic' or 'do dir'. NOTICE, that after a 'dosjob' command the keyboard moves to the new process. Part II, VMiX Start-Up page 1-6 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 VMiX CONFIGURATION CONFIGURATION: SYS_MAXPROC 8 total number of processes SYS_MAXOBJ 27 total number of objects SYS_MAXTYP 10 total number of object types SYS_NTTY 5 total number of terminals SYS_NPRN 2 total number of printers SYS_NVOM 10 total number of managers SYS_MAXTDB 10 total num. of terminal types SYS_MAXFUN 10 total number of driver funcs SYS_MAXCHAN 16 total number of channels SYS_NPSTATE 18 total num. of queued pstates SYS_NOSTATE 2 total num. of queued ostates SYS_INITPRI 7 new process initial priority SYS_EXEPRI 2 lowest priority adjust SYS_MAXPRI 31 system highest priority SYS_TABLEN 10 max. entries in shell table SYS_MAXTOK 10 total number of token tables SYS_MAXARG 10 total number of arg tables SYS_SHLBUF 128 shell command buffer size SYS_INITSTK 2048 new proc default stack size SYS_MINSTK 512 process minimum stack size SYS_NULLSTK 512 NULL process stack size SYS_PAGE 512 memory page size bytes SYS_EPAGE 65536 extended page size bytes SYS_PRVSTKS 4 num. of priviledge stacks SYS_MAXGDT 32 total num of gdt descriptors SYS_MAXLDT 32 total num of ldt descriptors SYS_PNMLEN 8 process name maximum length SYS_SLICE 0 clock tick scheduler step SYS_QUANTUM 0 preempt base count NULLPID 0 NULL process id NULLUID 0 NULL object id Part II, VMiX Start-Up page 1-7 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 USING THE COMMAND LINE VM_BOOT [-r][ [ command ] /... ] VMiX presently has no initialization options, but will accept a command line of up to 127 characters long. Multiple commands can be entered, separated by a valid VMiX delimiter '/' ',' tab or space. Since all root and debugger shell commands can be executed from the command line, the user has a wide range of control over the state VMiX begins in. You will learn the shell commands in Chapters 2 and 3. For now, the examples below illustrate some useful ways to invoke VMiX, other than the standard VM_BOOT, typed with no commands. EXAMPLES: VM_BOOT set video -m6/set system -m/ set system -t/set video -s<RETURN> (This could also be typed as shown below, since the shell only needs a minimum of two characters to recognize a token.) VM_BOOT se vi -m6/se sys -m/ se sys -t/se vi -s<RETURN> The above command lines, invoke VMiX from MSDOS A> prompt. The video mode of the root console is set to 6 (640 x 200 Part II, Using the Command Line page 1-8 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 BW graphics mode); the debugger object manager messages are toggled ON; logins and multitasking are disabled, and the root console's status line is toggled ON. VM_BOOT set remote -l2/set term -t4 set baud -c2 300,n,8,1<RETURN> The above command line, invokes VMiX from MSDOS A> prompt. Sets VMiX to poll COM2: for logins and selects the terminal type to be (4)VT-100. The VMiX default terminal type is 9, backspacing teletype. The communication parameters for VMiX channel 2, which coincides with COM2:, are reset to 300 baud with no parity checking. NOTE: Normally, VMiX polls only COM1: for logins. The default baud rate is 9600 with no parity. Once started, processes can run on any serial port simultaneously. However, presently only one port at a time is monitored, awaiting for some user to press an attention getting <RETURN>. If COM1: has been assigned to a printer or other device, use the above command line to set your second user terminal to use COM2:!!! COMMON TERMINALS: -t0 = TELEVIDEO 910/920 -t1 = ADM3A -t2 = VT-52 -t3 = ZENITH H19 -t4 = VT-100 -t9 = tty Part II, Using the Command Line page 1-9 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 VM_BOOT set vi -m3/exec b:basic<RETURN> The above command line, invokes VMiX from MSDOS A> prompt. The video mode of the root console is set to 3 (80 x 25 alphanumeric with color, required by BASIC for start-up); invokes the foreign dos exec command, (MSDOS, in this case) to run the BASIC interpreter in drive b:. NOTE: Since the command line was typed from MSDOS A> prompt, A: is the default drive. VMiX exec command expects an MSDOS command.com file present in the boot drive!!! BASIC expects the initial screen video mode to be 3, alphanumeric. The same is true of Microsoft WINDOWS. VM_BOOT set font -t1/set proc -b64/ set video -m6<RETURN> The above command line, invokes VMiX from MSDOS A> prompt. Sets VMiX to use compressed characters (font type 1), requests that the shell command line be up to 64 characters long, and resets the video to 640 x 200 CGA graphics mode. VM_BOOT set vi -m3/assign srcsink 0/ spawn -c5 set vi -W/exec basic<RETURN> The above command line, invokes VMiX from MSDOS A> prompt. The video mode of the root console is set to 3, a new channel to the console is obtained; and a task is spawned to the new channel, the screen is windowed, and BASIC is executed. The same results can be Part II, Using the Command Line page 1-10 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 obtained with the command line shown below: VM_BOOT dosjob basic<RETURN> This illustrates the power of the dosjob command or 'do', for short. Note VMiX's default video mode is 3, alphanumeric text. Part II,Using the Command Line page 1-11 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 SYSTEM CONSOLE DISPLAY The VMiX operator console, is the host PC video display and keyboard. This user has root priviledges. If the system has a color graphics adapter, the default console mode is 80 x 25 alphanumeric text. If there is a monochrome adapter (MDA), the default and only mode allowed is monochrome. For EGA of VGA video adapters the default starting mode is the same as for CGA, however additional graphics modes are supported with these adapters (use: debug set video -m to select other modes). Multiple console processes are supported by the debugger set video -W command, which automatically partitions screen windows for the background tasks; and by the hot key, Shift-Tab, which moves the keyboard to any of the windows. The set video -W command is fully automatic. It should be used after a new channel has been assigned to the console, COMM = 0. The upper case '-W' command, as opposed to the manual window select '-w', uses the tally of COM0 channels to chose the number and size of the windows needed. This command can be used within a spawn command or previous to it. All tasks running in the windows will execute concurrently in the background, regardless of which one owns the console keyboard. Part II,Using the Command Line page 1-12 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The root shell provides two commands that request services (from MSDOS). The first, 'exec', has as its argument any valid MSDOS command, which is then executed by the current process. The second is a multitasking version of 'exec'. The command 'dosjob' takes the same arguments as 'exec', but the MSDOS command is executed in the background by a new process, in a separate window. The hot key, <Shift><Tab>, can be used to switch the keyboard to the right window. Part II,Using the Command Line page 1-13 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 SHELL COMMANDS When the VMiX start-up screen displays the initial command prompt 'A> ______', press the <RETURN> key to see the available commands (or tokens) for the root shell level (Fig. 1). The full name of the token need not be entered in a command, the shell will recognize the command by the first two characters, if only two were entered (otherwise, it tries to match as many characters as were entered). VMiX has presently two shell levels, the root shell and the debugger shell, each with its own group of legal commands (tokens). The shells are driven by token tables. Any token can, in-turn, point to its own secondary token table. For example set is a valid debugger shell token, that owns a table of its own. The 'set' token table contains the sub-tokens (video, remote, baud, system, dos, font, terminal, process and pool). Therefore, you can enter a command like set video<RETURN> or set baud <RETURN>. Now, 'set video' does not say much by itself, except that you wish to set the video display to some state. Token arguments or switches complete the command. The token video, abbreviated vi, has a list of arguments that it will accept. All arguments are preceded by the switch character '-', (ie., -s, -m, -m6). Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-14 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The shell will help you, if you forget what are the valid secondary tokens and arguments. Just type as much as you know, and VMiX will display the available choices. For example, from the debugger shell, type set and press <RETURN>. A list of secondary tokens and arguments will follow. If an argument can take values, you have the option of entering the value(s) after the argument switch, or the VMiX shell will, in most cases, prompt for the values omitted. To enter a command belonging to an alternate shell, while still inside the current shell level, simply precede the command with the alternate shell name. For example, from the root shell (the prompt is 'A> __________') to enter a debugger command precede the command with debug. (ie., deb set vi -m3). Note: You do not return to the starting shell, but to the one invoked with the command. VMiX Version 1.4X will allow, in most cases, for a debugger command to be typed from the root shell without the debug prefix. Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-15 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 LOGIN TERMINALS VMiX supports users on COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4 serial ports on an IBM PC or compatible. The default baud rate is 9600. Presently, VMiX does not synch on the baud rate. The baud rate for COMM channels can be changed from the debugger shell or the MSDOS command line by using: set baud -c????,baud,parity,word,stop It is strictly by convention that COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4 are assigned VMiX object channels 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. These ports can be assigned other channels from the debugger, simultaneously or exclusively. Initially, only one serial port is scanned for logins. The default port is COM1:, but this can be changed by the command set remote -l2<RETURN>, entered from the debugger shell or from the MSDOS command line. Technically, VMiX will support more than COM1: to COM4:, but the user needs to configure channels to other ports from the debugger, with assign and set baud. From the login terminal, press<RETURN> to receive the VMiX login: prompt. Passwords are disabled in Release 1.3X, so any 8 character user name that you enter is acceptable for the login. Terminal emulation is by default, no emulation. To set the terminal type use debug set terminal -t<RETURN>. Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-16 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 TERMINAL TYPES Normally, a terminal or a PC will be connected to the host's COM1: or COM2: ports, to serve as a user workstation. In both cases, you need to tell VMiX what terminal type to expect. The VMiX command for this is set term -t????, where: -t0 = TELEVIDEO 910/920 -t1 = ADM3A -t2 = VT-52 -t3 = ZENITH H19 -t4 = VT-100 -t9 = tty If a PC is used as a terminal, it must be executing a communications program with terminal emulation. Usually, VT-100 terminal emulation will be an adequate choice. VMiX supports windows with VT-100 emulation, however, non-conflicting scrolling only works with windows whose width is equal to the display (80 cols.) The debugger auto windowing command 'set video -W' should only be used at a VT-100 terminal, when no more than 2 STDIO channels are assigned to it. The same applies to the root shell command 'dosjob', when used from a terminal. Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-17 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 IBM FUNCTION KEYS Pressing <Ctrl><F> from a terminal, will toggle-in IBM PC function key emulation (emulated by the digit keys) and also provide the [Ins], [Del], and [End] keys, invoked by pressing ^I, ^D, or ^E. The <Alt> key will become the terminal's <Shift> key. The first time <Ctrl><F> is pressed the terminal will beep and the function key substitutes will become active; the second time ^F is pressed, there will be two beeps and the terminal keys will return to normal operation. In function key emulation mode, the arrow keys will produce the same codes that an IBM PC keyboard produces, and the terminal's [Home] key will behave as in a PC keyboard. The IBM PC's <Ctrl> [NumLock] function is provided by press- ing <Ctrl><S>, instead. Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-18 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 ^F (1 beep) for press IBM PC KEY TERMINAL KEY [F1] 1 [F2] 2 [F3] 3 [F4] 4 [F5] 5 [F6] 6 [F7] 7 [F8] 8 [F9] 9 [F10] 10 <Ctrl>[Break] ^C <Ctrl>[NumLock] ^S [Ins] ^I [Del] ^D [End] ^E [Home] [Home] <Alt> <Shift> NOTE: The <Ctrl> key symbol has been abbreviated as ^. Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-19 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 COMMUNICATIONS VMiX supports users on COM1, COM2, COM3, and COM4 serial ports on an IBM PC or compatible. The term 'users' implies the ability to logon to those ports. The use of COM ports by VMiX for user logons can conflict with other users attempting to execute a communications program that also wants to use the same COM port for serial communications. The conflict arises when VMiX polls the port to check for initial logon activity. VMiX is designed to poll only one assigned COM port at any given time. The assigned port is user configurable by using the command set remote -l ????. The default VMiX assigned polled port is COM1. This should be changed to a non-conflicting port, before executing a program that will use COM1 for any activity. The command to set an alter- nate polled port is: . set remote -l1 (for COM1 logins) set remote -l2 (for COM2 logins) set remote -l3 (for COM3 logins) set remote -l4 (for COM4 logins) Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-20 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 EXTENDED MEMORY VMiX 286 executes all tasks in low memory (an area of physical memory also known as conventional memory). VMiX can use 80286 extended memory to swap tasks out of conventional memory to make room in low memory for other tasks. The root shell command swap controls the migra- tion of tasks between conventional and extended memories. If a process is in low memory, it will be swapped to extended 80286 memory. If the process is already swapped, then it will be moved back to low memory and resume execution. Swapped processes will not normally execute, and will stay suspended until they are swapped again to low memory. To allow swapped tasks to also execute, (less frequently than in-memory tasks) use the debugger command set system -s. VMiX swapping can conflict with other processes using extended memory. However, you can reserve extended memory for other uses, like caches, TSR's, etc. so that VMiX swapping will not interfere. Use the 'assign memory' command, before any swapping, to assign extended memory above 1 MegByte (conventional memory). The command syntax is: assign MEMORY [ size in bytes ] Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-21 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 Part II, Using VMiX 286 page 1-22 PART TWO VMiX 286 CHAPTER 2 THE ROOT SHELL Part II, The Root Shell page 2-1 Part II, The Root Shell page 2-2 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: debug OUTLINE: Purpose: To invoke the VMiX debugger shell. DESCRIPTION:: debug is a root shell token. This command has 8 sub-tokens: read, write, set, init, examine, assign, deassign, and quit. 'debug', by itself, invokes the VMiX debugger shell. The debugger shell prompt is '- __________'. Once in the debugger shell, all the debug sub-tokens become first level tokens and you do not have to preceed them with the token 'debug' (refer to Chapter 3 for use). VMiX accepts numeric input in two forms, decimal or hexadecimal. To enter hexadecimal numbers preceede the number with the characters '0x'. To return to the root shell, from the debugger use the token 'quit'. NOTE: All eight debugger sub-tokens can be used from the root shell level, whether you precede them with the token 'debug', or not. If used with the prefix 'debug', you will move to the debugger shell when the current command completes. Without the prefix, you will remain at the root shell. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-3 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: rshell OUTLINE: Purpose: To start a new shell. DESCRIPTION: Part II, The Root Shell page 2-4 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: remote OUTLINE: -c " selects remote channel" Purpose: To control your PC remotely via a modem or terminal connection. DESCRIPTION: The root shell command 'remote' terminates VMiX, but first sets STDIO to use the channel specified after the -c switch. Therefore, MSDOS resumes at the device associated with the channel. VMiX Release 1.4X, does not fully implement I/O redirection, particularly to files. So this token is only useful to terminate to MSDOS level, when the channel requested is assigned to a COMM object (serial port) connected to a terminal or modem (NOTE: in VMiX terms, a COMM object is called a 'SRCSINK', a device that is a source as well as a destination for characters). VMiX provides two REMOTE commands. The single word command remote is only available from the root shell. The debugger shell has a different command, set remote (refer to Chapter 3). The two commands behave differently. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-5 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 From the root shell typing, remote -c1 (for COM1 remote) remote -c2 (for COM2 remote) remote -c3 (for COM3 remote) remote -c4 (for COM4 remote) Will: a) shutdown VMiX and logoff Root, b) return to DOS, c) set DOS's STDIO to COM1, COM2, COM3, or COM4 when DOS takes over. This will allow you to run your PC from a terminal or via a modem. Note, you should select a terminal type (using set terminal) appropiate for the equipment connected to your computer's COMM ports. A popular terminal type supported by VMiX is VT-100 emulation, since many PC communication programs provide this type of emulation. The commands required to do this are: debug (go to debugger) set terminal -t (a valid terminal type number can be optionally entered preceded by -t) In the example above, VMiX will display a menu of terminals available. In the example below, VMiX will set the terminal type to 4 (VT-100). set terminal -t4 (choose VT-100) Part II, The Root Shell page 2-6 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 All this can be put in a .BAT file, to be used when running VMiX for this purpose. If the terminal type is to be a VT-100 and the serial port in use will be COM1, then the single line in a .BAT file would read: vm_boot set terminal -t2 / remote -c1 While in REMOTE mode, FUNCTION KEY emulation is toggled by pressing the <Ctrl> and <F> keys from the terminal's keyboard. Note that the digit (numbers) keys on the terminal's keyboard will now work as [F0] through [F9] keys. The [Ins], [Del], and [End] keys can now be invoked from the terminal by pressing ^I, ^D, and ^E respectively. The terminal's arrow keys and [Home] key will simulate these keys on the IBM PC keyboard and the terminal's <Shift> key will simulate the IBM PC's <Alt> key. Press ^F a second time to return to numeric keys. Returning control to the CONSOLE is accomplished by pressing <Ctrl> <Z> from the terminal, while in the FUNCTION KEY mode. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-7 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: swap OUTLINE: Purpose: To swap a task. DESCRIPTION: The command syntax is: swap [ process id ] If a process is in low memory, it will be swapped to extended 80286 memory. If the process is already swapped, then it will be moved back to low memory and resume execution. Swapped processes will not normally execute, and will stay suspended until they are swapped again to low memory. To allow swapped tasks to also execute, (less frequently than in-memory tasks) use the debugger command set system -s. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-8 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: chprio OUTLINE: Purpose: To change the executing priority of a VMiX process. DESCRIPTION: All VMiX processes start with the default priority of 7. Priorities adjust constantly in VMiX, within the range 2 through the assigned base maximum for the process. When you use chprio, you merely set the base maximum that the current priority of a process is allowed to float within. VMiX uses this float range, for example, to 'up' the priority of a process, when the keyboard is used. Task switching, also adjusts the current priority. A process with a base priority of 14 will execute twice as fast as another at priority 7, all other things being equal. A process with priority 1 will not execute at all. It will sleep until you 'up' the priority above 1. VMiX priorities range from a high of 31 to a low of 0. The scheduler always chooses the process with the highest priority. The scheduler round robin's processes with the same priority. At the expiration of the quantum for a process, when the current process is preempted and the next READY process is activated, the previous process' Part II, The Root Shell page 2-9 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 priority is reduced. On the other hand, the current priority of any process is increased when I/O for that process is received. The current priority of any process never increases above its base priority, nor drops below SYS_EXEPRI. The configuration value for SYS_EXEPRI is 2. If the priority of a process is reduced below SYS_EXEPRI, it remains in the READY to execute state until all processes with normal priorities have terminated or become non-READY. The token 'chprio' is used to change the base and current priority of any process to the new value requested. The command syntax is: chprio [ pid [ / priority ] ] where, pid is the process id of the target process, and priority is a priority value between 0 - 31. If only chprio is entered, then the shell will prompt for the two arguments. The default pid, if you only press <RETURN>, is the current process id. The default priority is the base priority of the target process. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-10 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: exec OUTLINE: -a " adjusts transient program memory size: MCB(seg), nusize(para)" -m " sets transient program memory partition size: (0 - 1024K)" -o " sets transient program memory owner: MCB(seg), nuPSP(seg)" Purpose: To execute a valid MSDOS file or command. DESCRIPTION: exec is a limited utility interface to MSDOS. The 'exec' token can be used (with no switches) to execute any MSDOS command string from within a VMiX root shell. The main purpose of exec is to execute an MSDOS file. It can be invoked by itself or in conjunction with the spawn token. The command syntax is: exec [ MSDOS command ] The utility of exec for invoking executable images from within a VMiX process is limited because exec uses the MSDOS command.com loader. The MSDOS loader makes assumptions about memory allocation, which do not conform to a multiuser environment like VMiX. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-11 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The use of exec as a prefix to DOS commands becomes optional if the user has enabled DOS shell emulation from within the VMiX debugger. MSDOS shell emulation is toggled by the command: debug set dos -m Two or more VMiX processes can use the exec command to access MSDOS provided that: a) All transient program memory has not been previously allocated (.COM programs will do this, as well as .EXE program which have not been modified with exemod, an MSDOS utility program). The -m switch can be used with exec to control the amount of memory that .COM or .EXE programs can grab. The command syntax is: exec -m [ max. K bytes ] where, the maximum number of K bytes specified limits the amount of memory that a program can allocate as its own. For example, exec -m128<RETURN>, will limit programs to a maximum of 128K bytes. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-12 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 b) MSDOS is not busy with a nested function call beyond the initial exec call from VMiX. If another VMiX process has also invoked MSDOS services that have not completed, then VMiX will wait for MSDOS to say that it can handle another request. The user waiting for MSDOS access can determine the process currently using (and not releasing) MSDOS by examining the VMiX parameter 'doslevel' from the VMiX debugger with the command examine process. The -a switch is provided with the 'exec' command, to allow for the release of memory previously allocated by MSDOS. This can be a dangerous option. To help in determining the arguments for this switch, use the debugger shell's examine token. The debugger shell will list the MSDOS memory control blocks with the command examine mcb. This command will list the segment address of each MCB and the size of each memory block, in 16 byte paragraphs. The command syntax is: exec -a [ MCB address [ / nusize ] ] where, the segment address of the MCB has been obtained using the debugger shell, and nusize is the new requested size in paragraphs for the block. The parameters can be entered in hexadecimal, using the format 0x???? (example, exec -a 0x26F0 0xAF8). Part II, The Root Shell page 2-13 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The -o switch is provided with the 'exec' command, to allow for the change of ownership of memory previously allocated by MSDOS. Some programs (like to allocate all available memory. This is indicated by an 'end' MCB block that has been assigned the PSP segment of the program, as its owner. Normally, the 'end' MCB holds available memory and has a NULL PSP (0) for its owner (use exam mcb from the debugger shell to examine the memory chain). You should next use the utility monitor to determine that the program has not allocated stack space in the area covered by the 'end' MCB. After this is verified, it will be safe to use the -o switch and recover the 'end' memory. To free the memory, set the PSP owner to 0000. Sometimes, a better solution is to deallocate some of the memory with the -a switch, since the process owner could be using some of the 'end' MCB memory. The command syntax is: exec -o [ MCB address [ / nuPSP ] ] where, the segment address of the MCB has been obtained using the debugger, and nuPSP is the new PSP that will own the memory block. The parameters can be entered in hexadecimal, using the format 0x???? (example, exec -o 0x65F0 0). Part II, The Root Shell page 2-14 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: dosjob OUTLINE: -W " gives process the full screen" Purpose: To execute a valid MSDOS command, and/or a series of VMiX shell commands, within an automatic window. DESCRIPTION: dosjob spawns a child process that executes a string of commands, input immediately following, and on the same line as the 'dosjob' token. dosjob, like 'exec', provides an interface to MSDOS. The 'dosjob' token is used with no switches to execute any MSDOS command string from within a new VMiX multitasking process. The main purpose of dosjob is to execute an MSDOS file or command. It can also be invoked in conjunction with VMiX shell commands. For example, a dosjob, can include another 'dosjob' command in its input string. The difference between 'dosjob' and 'exec', is twofold. dosjob will start a new process to execute the job, while exec will use the current process. Second, dosjob, (without the -W option) will open a new window for the process, while exec will use the bounds of the current shell process. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-15 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The command syntax is: dosjob [-W] [ MSDOS command ] [ / [ command ] /... ] NOTE: 'dosjob' essentially performs a new SRCSINK channel 'assign', followed by a 'set video -W' and a 'spawn' of a new child process, to execute the input command string. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-16 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: spawn OUTLINE: -c " sets spawn I/O channel and shell script" Purpose: To dispatch a background task to be performed independently and con- currently with everything else. DESCRIPTION: spawn creates a new child process, owned by the invoking shell. The channel specified immediately after the -c switch becomes the STDIO channel for the new process. After the channel number, a script of VMiX shell commands can be entered. Multiple commands are input, separated by a valid VMiX delimiter ('/' ',' tab or space). The command syntax is: spawn -c???? [ [ command ] /... ] A way to implement EMAIL in your system, is to have a user spawn an exec job to somebody elses channel, where the 'exec' merely types a newly created text message file: spawn -c1 / exec type b:\news\myfile.txt Part II, The Root Shell page 2-17 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 A more elegant way is to assign a new channel to the device COM1 or COM2, so that we can create a window without disturbing the user too much. If a window is created on the user's own channel, then we have modified his envi- ronment from our side; that is bad. By using exec dstat -a, we can determine the port # to talk with our target user. In VMiX, ports refers to physical devices, and channels are logical circuits to those devices. Assume we determined that he is using COM1. From the debugger shell, we first enable messages, to see what channel number VMiX will allocate for our 'assign': set system -m (enable manager msgs) then we grab a channel, assign srcsink 1 (the 1 requests COM1, if you prefer to be prompted, just type 'assign') lets say that we were informed that channel 3 was assigned, then: quit (to exit the debugger) now we 'spawn' to channel 3, spawn -c3 / set video -w1 40 10 79 / exec type b:\news\myfile.txt Part II, The Root Shell page 2-18 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 This created a 10 x 40 window (via channel 3) at the top right of his display. The command set video -W can also be used, in place of our manual 'set video -w....' in the example above. A better EMAIL system could be written using the VMiX System Services listed in sysgate.asm, just like ps.c and dstat.c were written. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-19 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: kill OUTLINE: Purpose: To terminate the execution of an image from a process other than the owner. If the target process shell is not executing an image, then the process is terminated. DESCRIPTION: kill allows a hard terminate of a process or image to be commanded from another process. This command has two levels of action. If the target process shell is executing an image started by a previous exec call, then that image is terminated via an MSDOS INT 20h system call. If no 'exec' image is being executed then 'kill' will terminate the target process. The command syntax is: kill [ process id ] The utility ps.exe, executed with exec, will list all active (pid's) process id's. SECURITY: The kill command will not let a user terminate another user's process. Only root or the su superuser has the access priviledge to terminate all/any. A regular user can only terminate his own spawned processes. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-20 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the pid assigned by a 'spawn', use the debugger shell command set system -m to enable object manager messages, before the spawn of a new background job. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-21 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: quit OUTLINE: Purpose: To terminate the shell and exit. DESCRIPTION: quit decrements a process's shell level (number of nested shells) by one and returns to the previous shell, if any. The root shell is VMiX's top shell, so when terminated by a process without root privilege, the process is ended. Normally, the first process started at the console has root privilege. If the process has root privilege, then VMiX is also terminated. Part II, The Root Shell page 2-22 PART TWO VMiX 286 CHAPTER 3 THE DEBUGGER SHELL Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-1 Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-2 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: read OUTLINE: DESCRIPTION: read is not implemented in VMiX Release 1.4X; a dummy 'read' is performed by this token. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-3 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: write OUTLINE: DESCRIPTION: write is not implemented in VMiX Release 1.4X; a dummy 'write' is performed by this token. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-4 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: assign OUTLINE: assign allocates a VMiX channel to an owner uid and assigns a VMiX object to the channel. assign allocates extended memory. assign gdt allocates a VMiX 286 global descriptor table entry, returning a new segment selector for either code or data. DESCRIPTION: The command syntax is: assign [ uid [ / objname ] [ / objdata ] ] where, uid is the identification of the new owner for the channel. Note: if the owner is going to be a process the pid is equivalent to the uid of the process. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-5 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The objname is one of: Object type name definitions PROCESS type proc is a process SRCSINK type tty is a terminal CHRSINK type prn is a printer DSKFILE type df is a file MEMORY type mf is a memory block BLKSINK type dsk is a disk drive MANAGER type sys is an obj manager MAILBOX type mbox is a mailbox DATLINK type dlc is a data link The objdata, in the case of a SRCSINK type object, is one of: SRCSINK object id's 0 = The Root Console 1 = COM1: 2 = COM2: 3 = COM3: 4 = COM4: If the object is a process',the objdata is the pid of the target process. For all other object types, except MEMORY, the objdata is always the uid of the target object for the channel. The utility dstat.exe, executed with exec, will list all VMiX objects. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-6 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The objdata, in the case of a MEMORY type object, is the size, in bytes of the object to assign. The size will be rounded-up to the nearest 64k block. Only extended memory can be allocated by this command. The extended memory pages can be listed with the VMiX utility monitor.exe -p. NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the channel assigned by this command, use the debugger command set system -m to enable channel manager messages, before the assign. NOTE: When assigning a channel to a SRCSINK that is going to be used for logins, the uid identifing the new owner of the channel must be set to 0, to indicate the uid of the scheduler, (example, assign 0 srcsink 1). Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-7 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The command syntax is: assign gdt [ access [ / size ] [ / segment ] ] where, access is usually entered as the word 'code', if the segment is a code segment or as the word 'data', if the access byte of the gdt descriptor is to be set to data segment access rights. The user can also enter a decimal or hexadecimal value, if he wishes to override the default access rights value that VMiX uses for its segments. The parameters can be entered in hexadecimal, using the format 0x???? (example, assign gdt 0x9B 10 0xF000 or assign gdt code 10 0xF000). size is the size that the segment is to have, specified as the number of pages. A VMiX page is 512 bytes long. segment is the segment address in physical memory that the selector is to translate to, when loaded onto a segment register. NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the gdt selector assigned by this command, use the debugger shell command set system -m to enable memory manager messages, before the assign gdt. The manager always returns a far pointer, so the selector is really only the first word of the block address displayed by the manager. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-8 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: deassign OUTLINE: deassign deallocates a VMiX channel. deassign gdt deallocates a VMiX gdt selector. deassign memory deallocates a VMiX extended memory block. DESCRIPTION: The command syntax is: deassign [ channel ] where, channel specifies the channel number to deassign. This can be a dangerous command to execute, since STDIO to the root console (channel 0) could be deassigned, freezing the console. If no other shell is running, there is no way to assign the STDIO to the root console again. NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the channel and IO Request Packets (IRP) deassigned by this command, use the debugger shell command set system -m to enable channel manager messages, before the deassign. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-9 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The command syntax is: deassign gdt [ selector ] where, selector is the gdt selector returned by an assign gdt. NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the gdt selector deassigned by this command, use the debugger shell command set system -m to enable memory manager messages, before the deassign gdt. The manager always returns a far pointer, so the selector is really only the first word of the block address displayed by the manager. The command syntax is: deassign memory [ page ] where, page is the extended memory page to return to the free memory pool. The memory was previously assigned with the assign command. The extended memory pages can be listed with the VMiX utility monitor.exe -p. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-10 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: init OUTLINE: comm -c " sets communications: chan, baud, parity, word, stop" DESCRIPTION: (See set baud.) Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-11 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: examine OUTLINE: memory " displays memory graphically, in 1K blocks" mcb " displays information on the MSDOS memory control blocks" kernel " displays information on the VMiX kernel" DESCRIPTION: examine memory This command displays a map of the first one megabyte of memory space. The screen displays memory in blocks representing 1024 (1K) bytes. If the block is in use by the system, then it is marked by a '$' or a solid black block, in graphics mode. If the block is in use by VMiX, then it is marked by a 'V' or a gray shaded block. Memory control blocks are distinguished by an '=' or a small solid black block with border, in graphics mode. Memory not in use is indicated by an '.' or a small solid white block with border. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-12 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: set OUTLINE: baud -c " sets communications: chan, baud, parity, word, stop" dos -m " toggles DOS shell emulation mode ON/OFF" -n " sets DOS INT21 function maximum nesting level" -p " sets DOS current process PSP: nuPSP(seg)" font -t " sets font type: (0 - 3)" pool -a " adjusts transient program memory: MCB(seg), nusize(para)" -m " sets transient program memory partition size: (0 - 1024K)" -o " sets transient program memory owner: MCB(seg), nuPSP(seg)" process -b " sets process shell buffer size: (0 - 127)" -e " toggles system environment protection ON/OFF" -h " toggles process hardware priviledge ON/OFF" -p " sets process priority: (0 - 31)" Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-13 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 remote -c " selects remote channel" -l " sets polled terminal login channel" system -m " toggles manager message displays ON/OFF" -s " toggles scheduler swapped task processing ON/OFF" -t " toggles scheduler clock processing ON/OFF" -w " sets shutdown wait delay: seconds" terminal -t " sets terminal type: (0 - 9)" video -c " sets video background/foreground color" -C " sets window color attribute" -m " sets video mode (0 - 16)" -s " toggles status line display ON/OFF" -w " sets root window size: y0, x0, y1, x1" -W " auto partitions (1 - 4) task windows (Shift-Tab toggles kbd)" Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-14 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 DESCRIPTION: set pool -a " adjusts transient program memory: MCB(seg), nusize(para)" -m " sets transient program memory partition size: (0 - 1024K)" -o " sets transient program memory owner: MCB(seg), nuPSP(seg)" The -m switch can be used to control the amount of memory .COM or .EXE programs can grab, without the need to use exemod.exe, an MSDOS utility, to modify the headers of .EXE programs. The command syntax is: set pool -m [ max. K bytes ] where, the maximum number of K bytes specified limits the amount of memory that a program can allocate as its own. For example, set pool -m128<RETURN>, will limit all programs loaded thereafter to a maximum of 128K bytes. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-15 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The -a switch is provided with the 'set pool' command, to allow for the release of memory previously allocated by MSDOS or to increase the size of an MSDOS memory control block. This option can also be used to increase or decrease a VMiX memory control block, and hence the number of pages of memory in the paged memory pool. The function's performance depends on whether the segement address passed is for an MSDOS MCB, or a VMiX MCB. In the later case, the paged memory pool is affected. This can be a dangerous option. To help in determining the arguments for this switch, use the debugger shell's 'examine' token. The debugger shell will list the MSDOS memory control blocks with the command examine mcb. This command will list the segment address of each MCB and their size in 16 byte paragraphs. The command syntax is: set pool -a [ MCB address [ / nusize ] ] where, the segment address of the MCB has been obtained using the debugger shell, and nusize is the new requested size in paragraphs for the block. The parameters can be entered in hexadecimal, using the format 0x???? (example, set pool -a 0x26F0 0xAF8). Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-16 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The -o switch is provided with the 'set pool' command, to allow for the change of ownership of memory previously allocated by MSDOS. Some programs when loaded by MSDOS allocate all available memory. This is characterized by an 'end' MCB block that has been assigned the PSP segment of the program, as its owner. Normally, the 'end' MCB holds available memory and has a NULL PSP (0) for its owner (use exam mcb from the debugger shell to examine the memory chain). You should next use the utility monitor to determine that the program has not allocated stack space in the area covered by the 'end' MCB. After this is verified, it will be safe to use the -o switch and recover the 'end' memory. To free the memory, set the PSP owner to 0000. Sometimes, a better solution is to deallocate some of the memory with the -a switch, since the process owner could be using some of the 'end' MCB memory. The command syntax is: set pool -o [ MCB address [ / nuPSP ] ] where, the segment address of the MCB has been obtained using the debugger shell, and nuPSP is the new requested PSP segment to own the block. The parameters can be entered in hexadecimal, using the format 0x???? (example, set pool -o 0x65F0 0). Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-17 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 set video -c " sets video background/foreground color" -C " sets window color attribute" -m " sets video mode (0 - 16)" Screen COLORS, in VMiX are set with switches -c and -C, in text modes, and in graphics modes. Alphanumeric Text Modes: The command syntax is: set video -c [ color code ] set video -C [ color code ] The color code is a 2 digit hexadecimal number of the form: 0xbf where, b is the background color key and f is the foreground color key, selected fron the table below. To use this method, the color code argument must be entered in hexadecimal format. Because the argument is in hexadecimal, bf must be preceeded by an '0x'. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-18 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 Color Keys b backgrounds f foregrounds 0 black 0 black 8 gray 1 blue 1 blue 9 lt. blue 2 green 2 green A lt. green 3 cyan 3 cyan B lt. cyan 4 red 4 red C lt. red 5 magenta 5 magenta D lt. mag 6 brown 6 brown E yellow 7 white 7 white F brt white B/W Graphics Modes: The command syntax is: set video -c [ color code ] set video -C [ color code ] The color code is a decimal or hexa- decimal number which represents the pixels on(1) or off(0) binary pattern on the screen. See the color code table given below. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-19 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 Color Codes decimal hexadecimal 0 0x0 00000000 black 85 0x55 01010101 gray 170 0xAA 10101010 gray 255 0xFF 11111111 white Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-20 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 set video -w " sets root window size: y0, x0, y1, x1" The -w switch is used to specify the bounds of a new root window. A root window is where all user dialog with the operating system takes place. An 'exec' call, when the video mode has been set to graphics mode, will display within the root window, since graphics modes bypass the ROM BIOS. An 'exec' call in alphanumeric mode could, in some cases take over the entire screen. 0 ---------------------------------------------------------- | VMiX.286 1.4X Copyright ComSoft, Inc. 1987 | |----------------------------------------------------------| | | | | r | TOP left corner | | *---------------------------- | Y o | |y,x | | | | WINDOW | | w | | | | | | y,x| | | ----------------------------* | | BOTTOM right corner | | | | | 24 ---------------------------------------------------------- 0 column 79 X (Fig. 4) Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-21 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The command syntax is: set video -w [ [ top row ] [ / top col ] [ / bot row ] [ / bot col ] ] set video -W, " auto partitions (1 - 4) task windows (Shift-Tab toggles kbd)" To support multitasking from the console (up to 4 windows) or a VT-100 terminal (up to 2 windows), the -W switch is provided. Note that the 'W' must be typed in upper-case, to distinguish it from the manual set window command, described above. The command syntax is: set video -W This command is sensitive to the number of channels that have been assigned to COMM = 0, the console. It uses this count to determine the number of windows to divide the screen into. The set video -W command, is intended to work in cunjunction with the hot key, Shift-Tab. This console key combination will move, in round-robin fashion, the active window/channel which owns the console keyboard. All tasks running in the windows will execute concurrently in the background, regardless of which one owns the console keyboard. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-22 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 The nominal set of commands needed to start a background/windowed task at the VMiX console, manually, is: debug : will get you to the debugger set system -m will enable messages assign srcsink 0 : will grab a new console (device 0) channel quit : will return to the root shell spawn -c???? set video -W / exec ..... will spawn a new background task to channel ???? provided by assign and partition the screen (press Shift-Tab to move the keyboard to the new task) The above sequence can be replaced by the simpler to use, single command: dosjob ..... where ..... is the same user task string used with spawn, above. dosjob set video -W / exec ..... NOTE: The VMiX status line (set video -s) will display the current console vio channel (ie., where the keyboard is active). Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-23 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: quit OUTLINE: Purpose: To terminate the shell and exit. DESCRIPTION: The debugger shell token 'quit' decrements the shell level by one, terminates the debugger shell, and returns to the previous shell. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-24 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 NAME: monitor.exe OUTLINE: monitor " displays process control block information" -p " displays information on the VMiX paged memory control blocks" -r " monitors process registers continuously: process id" DESCRIPTION: monitor -r " monitors process registers continuously: process id" The command syntax is: monitor [ -r ] [ process id ] The VMiX 'monitor' utility accepts several command line inputs. If the switch '-r' is not given, the process whose pid is specified is displayed. If no process id is given, the utility will ask for a pid to be supplied. This command displays the process control block and the saved context registers. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-25 C O M S O F T VMiX 286 When the '-r' switch is included before the process id, the process registers will be continuously monitored until the <Esc> key or <Ctrl> <Break> are pressed. While in the register mode, pressing <Ctrl> <s> will put the process being viewed to sleep. Pressing <Ctrl> <q> will wake the process. Part II, The Debugger Shell page 3-26 APPENDICIES Appendices page A-1 Appendices page A-2 APPENDIX A RELEASE NOTES V1.4X Appendix A, Release Notes page A-3 Appendix A, Release Notes page A-4 Appendix A, Release Notes page A-5 Appendix A, Release Notes page A-6 RELEASE NOTES The distribution file READ.ME includes the new release changes for this version. PROBLEM REPORTS TAR10 When running BASIC or BASICA interpreters from a dumb terminal, the command buffer is not cleared correctly after a carriage return, leaving the previous command in the buffer. When the next command typed is shorter than the previous, a Syntax Error will result. To correct this situation, press the <Esc> key to clear the buffer. TAR11 MicroSoft WINDOWS will not start correctly unless the current VMiX video mode is set to 3. Turbo Pascal will start correctly in graphics modes, but the editor will fail, so also set VMiX video mode to 3 before an 'exec' of TURBO. BASIC will start correctly in graphics modes, but will not respond to the keyboard. TAR13 MicroSoft WINDOWS with a bus mouse driver will crash, because changes the driver does to the 8259 set-up are not compatible with VMiX. This will be corrected in a future release. WINDOWS with a serial mouse will work correctly. Appendix A, Release Notes page A-7 TAR14 Pressing <Ctrl><F> from a terminal will toggle-in IBM PC function key emulation (emulated by the digit keys), and also provide the [Ins] and [Del] keys. Using the [Ins] and [Del] keys (emulated by ^I and ^D) with the BASIC editor will crash the user. TAR40 Some communication programs, like XTALK will multitask with VMiX. Since most communication programs write directly to video memory, they should execute at the console. and be started with the dosjob -W command. Care should used not have your second user on a COMM port which is equal to the default port for the communications program, to avoid a port re-initialization. XTALK starts on COM1, so put your second user on COM2. TAR41 WORDSTAR 3.2, which does not write directly to video memory, will execute correctly from a second user at a COMM port. However, exit from this version of WORDSTAR, will crash that user; again because of memory management problems at deallocation time. To correct this, terminate the WSTAR image from another user shell utilizing the 'kill' token. TAR42 CODEVIEW writes directly to video memory, so use it only at the console. Appendix A, Release Notes page A-8 TAR70 Speed-up boards that add an 80286 to a system, will not operate correctly with VMiX because the software expects an AT bus for protected mode operations. If the CPU is an 8088 or 8086, VMiX will detect a non 286/386 CPU and will not initalize protected mode functions and stay in real mode. The same is true of some clones which use an XT bus with the 80286. To force VMiX to ignore an 80286/386 processor and force 8086 mode, invoke VMiX with the vm_boot -r option. TAR81 With the 'exec' command, any VMiX task can either change the default disk or set a new PATH. VMiX keeps only one global default disk and path because of the overhead to maintain a different one for each task. It is therefore, possible for one task to trash another that expected its own, previously set, default disk and/or PATH. Set your path once, for all the tasks your system should accommodate. Appendix A, Release Notes page A-9 Appendix A, Release Notes page A-10 APPENDIX C TECHNICAL INFORMATION Appendix C, Technical Info page C-1 Appendix C, Technical Info page C-2 Appendix C, Technical Info page C-12 VMiX GLOBAL DATA 04-07-87 Appendix C, VMiX Global Data page C-13 Appendix C, VMiX Global Data page C-14 io0us_addr6845 - Port address of video controller CSR io0i_bwinbot - Current banner window bot right(row col) io0i_bwintop - Current banner window top left(row col) io0as_chantab[ ] - I/O channel Control Block Table io0b_chrxsiz - Current pixels per font character io0b_chrysiz - Current scan lines per font character io0i_colorbg - Current video background color io0i_colorfg - Current video foreground color io0b_colvmax - Maximum number of video columns io0i_conbg - Console background color io0i_confg - Console foreground color io0i_conwn - Console window background color io0ui_comm - Asynch comm port BIOS device id io0ui_commax - Maximum number of logable comm ports io0ai_commbuf[ ] - Comm object _ttyin_event buffers io0b_currtmod - Current TTY screen mode io0i_currtsiz - Current TTY size 0x174F (row col) io0pc_currvbuf - Current console video buffer address io0b_currvfnt - Current console font io0b_currvmod - Current console mode io0i_currvsiz - Current console size 0x184F (row col) io0as_drvtab[ ] - Driver Setup Block Table io0ap_fontab[ ] - Character Font Table io0i_gcurx - Current graphics cursor x position io0i_gcury - Current graphics cursor y position io0ps_irphead - Pointer to I/O Request Packets chain head io0i_hascon - Process owns console flag io0ui_nextchan - Next available I/O channel io0ui_nextuid - Next available object id io0ui_nextdrv - Next available driver table entry io0ac_objnam[ ] [ ] - Object Name Table io0as_objtab[ ] - Object Control Block Table io0ui_regenlen - Length of Video RAM io0b_rowvmax - Maximum number of video rows io0i_statlin - Status line display flag io0ps_stdirp - Pointer to STDIO chan's I/O Request head io0b_stormode - Shutdown restore BIOS video mode io0b_tcurx - Current text cursor x position io0b_tcury - Current text cursor y position io0ps_tdb - Pointer to io0as_tdbtab[ ] Appendix C, VMiX Global Data page C-15 io0ui_termmax - Maximum terminal description blocks io0as_tdbtab[ ] - Terminal type Description Block Table io0b_vmode - Current BIOS video mode ker0us_asmcode - Kernel assembly code segment ker0us_asmdata - Kernel assembly data segment ker0us_code - Kernel C code segment ker0us_data - Kernel C data segment ker0i_debug - Manager's messages flag ker0i_defdrv - Current default drive BIOS device id ker0i_dos - MSDOS version number ker0i_error - Kernel error code ker0i_inbios - BIOS entry semaphore ker0i_infdos - Foreign DOS (MSDOS) entry semaphore ker0us_initoff - Initialize new stack offset ker0us_initseg - Initialize new stack segment ker0pf_int09 - Pointer to keyboard ISR ker0us_intds - Interrupt data segment ker0us_intsp - Interrupt stack pointer ker0us_intss - Interrupt stack segment ker0us_kerds - Kernel C data segment ker0us_kersp - Kernel C stack pointer ker0us_kerss - Kernel C stack segment ker0i_lockbios - Locks BIOS entry ker0i_lockfdos - Locks foreign dos (MSDOS) entry ker0i_p286 - Host machine id flag ker0i_remote - Termination mode ker0i_rootshl - Top level shell active flag ker0ps_savregs - Pointer to temporary REGS Kernel area ker0i_shllev - Current process' shell depth level ker0ui_shutcnt - Shutdown delay count (SECs) ker0ui_stathw - BIOS hardware status ker0ps_vmpsp - Pointer to VMiX's PSP ker0s_vmpsp - VMiX's Program Segment Prefix mem0ui_exalloc - Maximum para available to next .exe image mem0ps_ldt - Pointer to LDT tables mem0as_ldttab[ ] [ ] - Local Descriptor Table Appendix C, VMiX Global Data page C-16 mem0ui_maxpge - Maximum pages in memory pool mem0ui_maxpara - Maximum available para of physical memory mem0ps_mcbhead - Pointer to memory chain head mem0ps_mcbtail - Pointer to end memory control block mem0us_page0 - Segment address of start of paged memory mem0as_pgetab[ ] [ ] - Paged Memory Table mem0us_toppara - Segment address of top physical memory sch0ui_clkcnt - Timer tick count delay sch0ui_clkdiff - Number of clock deferred ticks to post sch0i_clkflg - Scheduler process clock ticks flag sch0ui_clktick - Current clock tick sch0ui_currpid - Current process id sch0us_ctxoff - Current process task state store offset sch0us_ctxseg - Current process task state store segment sch0ui_nextpid - Next available process id sch0ui_numproc - Current number of active processes sch0ui_preempt - Preempt process quantum flag sch0us_procsp - Current process stack pointer sch0us_procss - Current process stack segment sch0as_proctab[ ] - Process table sch0i_tmqempty - Timer queue is empty flag sch0i_tmqhdkey - Timer queue head element delta key shl0as_argtab[ ] [ ] - Argument switches tables shl0i_bufsiz - Current shell input buffer size shl0ps_debtok[ ] - Pointer to debug shell tokens shl0ps_remarg[ ] - Pointer to remote token switches shl0ps_shltok[ ] - Pointer to root shell tokens shl0ps_spwarg[ ] - Pointer to spawn token switches shl0as_toktab[ ] [ ] - Shell token tables Appendix C, VMiX Global Data page C-17 deb0ps_debarg[ ] - Pointer to debug token switches deb0ps_examtok[ ] - Pointer to debug examine tokens deb0ps_fntarg[ ] - Pointer to font token switches deb0ps_iniarg[ ] - Pointer to init token switches deb0ps_initok[ ] - Pointer to debug init tokens deb0ps_pooarg[ ] - Pointer to pool token switches deb0ps_proarg[ ] - Pointer to process token switches deb0ps_settok[ ] - Pointer to debug set tokens deb0ps_vidarg[ ] - Pointer to video token switches Appendix C, VMiX Global Data page C-18 APPENDIX D STATUS MONITOR Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-1 Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-2 VMiX CONSOLE STATUS The VMiX status line displays at the bottom of the console display when selected from the Debugger Shell. To toggle the status line use the command set video -s from the Debugger Shell or the command debug set video -s from the Root Shell. The status line displays: the time the current console vio channel the current console video mode the keyboard toggle keys [Ins] [Num Lock] <Caps Lock> [Scroll Lock] all disk access errors Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-3 PASSIVE DISK MONITOR REPORTED DISK ERRORS Bad drive/command - This error is caused by an invalid drive number or disk driver command. AMark not found - The Data Address Mark recorded just before the data area of a sector could not be found. Indicates a disk which has not been formatted, has suffered magnetic damage, or it could indicate defective media. Write protected - A write protect tab is present on the media or a fixed disk is write protected. If there is no tab the drive's sensor is probably bad or misaligned. Sector not found - The requested sector number could not be found. If the sector number was valid for the drive, then defective media, alignment, or format problems are probably to blame. Drive reset fail - An attempt to reset the specified drive failed. Drive init fail - This error reflects a problem with the drive parameter block. It could indicate a controller action that failed because of bad parameters. Bad parameters could indicate an attempt to initialize an invalid drive. Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-4 DMA overrun - The controller could not get DMA access to the data bus before time ran out. DMA boundary - DMA cannot read or write across 64k segment boundaries. This is a software driver error. Bad sector (AT only) - An operation was attempted on a sector flagged bad by the low level formatter. Such areas should have been marked bad in the FAT. Bad track (PC/XT only) - An operation was attempted on a track flagged bad by the low level formatter. Such areas should have been marked bad in the FAT. Bad read CRC/EEC - The sector could not be successfully read. Repeated attempts will usually read a weak sector. A common disk I/O error, possibly caused by defective media, dirty heads, power glitches, or misaligned drives. A write to the sector will usually fix the problem, except in the case of defective media. Repeated CRC read errors are an indication to the prudent user to back- up his data to new media and/or replace the current media where the data is stored. Soft error fixed - Reports that the controller's 48bit EEC algorithm successfully corrected a soft data error. Controller fault - The controller had not successfully completed the requested command before time ran out. Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-5 Track seek fail - Moving the drive head to seek a requested cylinder was unsuccessful. If the cylinder number was valid for the drive, then a hardware problem is probably to blame. Drive unavailable - The time allowed for an operation expired without a response from the drive. MSDOS reports this error as 'Drive not ready'. Unknown error - An error code was returned for which VMiX has no defined error description. Write fault (AT only) - Usually this indicates a hardware problem with the physical drive. Status error (AT only) - The controller status register indicated that an error condition existed, but the error register did not contain a valid error code. Sense fail (PC/XT only) - Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-6 Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-7 Appendix D, Status Monitor page D-8