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README.TXT
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Oberon (TM) for MS-DOS Systems,
Version 2.0 / 3.1, 1. 4. 93
Copyright (C) 1993 by Institut fuer Computersysteme ETH Zuerich
Introduction
Oberon is both a programming language and an operating environment. It is the
final outcome of a research project whose aim was an extensible, highly
integrated and compact operating platform for single-user personal
workstations.
The original project was launched and carried out by N. Wirth and J. Gutknecht
for the Ceres workstation. Ported versions of the Oberon language and system
are now available for numerous commercial machines, among them MacIntosh, IBM
RS/6000, DEC station, SPARC station and IBM PC/386 compatibles.
Version 3 is an object-oriented evolution of the original system. It supports
a generic mechanism for the management of end-user objects and comes with a
graphical user interface called Gadgets (TM).
Literature
The following family of books on Oberon is available from Addison-Wesley
company:
The Oberon System- User Guide and Programmer's Manual,
by M. Reiser
Programming in Oberon- Steps beyond Modula-2,
by M. Reiser and N. Wirth
Project Oberon- The Design of an Operating System
and Compiler, by N. Wirth and J. Gutknecht
A detailed user's and programmer's guide to the Gadgets system and a tool
assisting with the migration to Version 3 are included in the online
documentation.
MS-DOS Oberon
Oberon for IBM PC/386 compatibles is henceforth called MS-DOS Oberon. Even
though MS-DOS Oberon is highly congruent with the original system as described
in the above listed literature, there are some preconditions and
implementation specialties to know. The following sections summarize these
points. They also include a summary of principles of operation and an
installation guide.
Hardware Requirements
1) Intel 80386DX- or 80386SX-processor
2) 2 megabytes or more of main memory
3) mouse with 2 or 3 buttons and driver
4) VGA-board
Software Requirements
1) DOS version 3.3 or 5.0
2) HIMEM.SYS driver for extended memory access
Disclaimer
Permission to use, copy, modify or distribute this software and its
documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that
the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that
the name of ETH not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to
distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission.
ETH disclaims all warranties with regard to this software, including all
implied special, indirect or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever
resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract,
negligence or other tortious action, arising out of or in connection with the
use or performance of this software.
Contact Address
MS-DOS Oberon
Institute for Computer Systems
ETH Zentrum
CH-8092 Zuerich
E-mail: Oberon@inf.ethz.ch
E-Fax: +41 1 2519678
Acknowledgement
The MS-DOS Oberon project has partly been supported by IBM research
laboratory, Rueschlikon Switzerland. It has been carried out by A. R. Disteli.
Principles of Operation and Installation Guide
Mode of Operation
MS-DOS Oberon principally operates in 386 protected mode in high memory above
1 MB. Below the 1 MB limit are video-RAM, extender, system loader, Oberon
kernel and the procedure activation stack. The extender handles interrupts and
DOS system calls. It also bootstraps the Oberon module loader and starts the
Oberon system.
Restriction
Currently, no other software running in protected mode or V86 mode must be
installed simultaneously with Oberon. This restriction applies in particular
to expanded memory managers like EMM386. Also SMARTDRIVE should not be
installed.
File System
MS-DOS Oberon maintains its own DOS file directory. It contains all Oberon
files that are created at Oberon run-time. Note that Oberon file names may be
up to 31 characters long and may contain an arbitrary number of part-
separators ".". Oberon translates such file names internally into aliasing DOS
file names and maintains a translation table.
In addition, Oberon offers commands System.CopyFromDOS and System.CopyToDOS,
allowing file copy from arbitrary DOS directories to Oberon and vice versa.
Template: System.CopyFromDOS a:/MyDir/Filename.Ext => Oberonname~
Diskettes
Data transfer from and to diskettes is supported by module Backup. Data on
Oberon diskettes are stored in a private format that supports full Oberon file
names. Use commands SetDriveA and SetDriveB to set the current drive.
Keyboard
The following table shows how to generate special characters under Oberon
control.
special character key
mark viewer F1 (* Setup *)
no scroll F2 (* used in program Draw *)
double s F7
escape ESC
ae ctrl-a
oe ctrl-o
ue ctrl-u
Ae F8
Oe F9
Ue F10
ctrl-shift-del ctrl-break (* keyboard interrupt *)
If the appropriate keyboard driver is installed, ae, oe, ue, Ae, Oe, Ue and
double-s can also be typed directly.
Mouse
The standard Oberon user interface is based on a 3-button mouse and on the
following interpretation of button clicks:
Primary clicks:
left: set caret
middle: execute
right: select
Interclicks while selecting (holding down the right button):
left: delete selected data
middle: copy selected data to caret
left & middle: undo interclick
Alternatively, interclicking left/middle can be replaced by pressing ctrl-
key/alt-key on the keyboard.
Preverably install a Logitech Mouse Driver V6.0 (Included in this release
named MOUSE.COM). MS-DOS Oberon also supports a 2-button mouse. In this case,
the left button subsumes the functions execute and set caret. To switch from
execute to set caret, keep the mouse still and the button pressed for ca. 0.5
sec.
Display
MS-DOS Oberon by default assumes a VGA display interface with a resolution of
640 * 480 * 16. However, support is also provided for the ET4000 Super-VGA
standard with a resolution of 1024 * 768 * 256. In order to activate the Super-
VGA support, simply open ET4000.Tool, execute the renaming command and restart
Oberon.
Printing
DOS-Oberon currently supports Postscript and HP PCL printing. To that purpose,
different drivers are available: The HP500 printer family and Postscript.
These drivers assume that an appropriate printer device is connected to one of
the parallel ports LPT1 or LPT2 or the serial ports COM1 or COM2 with 9600
baud for Postscript printers and 19200 baud for HP printers. If no suitable
printer is installed, a printfile (Document.Print) is generated on the local
disk. Simply open Printer.Tool in Oberon, execute the renaming command and
restart Oberon.
System Installation and Operation
The installation kit consists of the following files:
name contents
README.TXT this description
SYSTEM.EXE Oberon system in compressed form (selfextracting file)
CHANGES.TXT Changes since the last release
to install Oberon
1) assert FILES = 64 in CONFIG.SYS
2) create new directory
3) copy SYSTEM.EXE into new directory
4) execute SYSTEM.EXE
to load and start Oberon
5) install mouse driver
6) set directory containing the Oberon system to current directory
7) execute START command
System Exit
8) Activate command System.Quit
Getting started with Oberon
The above mentioned book The Oberon System- User Guide and Programmer's Manual
is a complete and comprehensive guide to the basic Oberon system. In addition,
online documentation for the Gadgets system is included in the installation
kit, as well as some sample source code files. See the different tools for
prepared opening commands.
List of installed Oberon packages
Program packages
Basic system
Compiler
Edit program editor
Paint picture editor
Script (V3) /Write (V2) text editor
Illustrate (V3) /Draw (V2) graphic editor
Gadgets (V3 only)
Program samples in source form
Biorhythm.Mod calculates biorythm
RandomNumbers.Mod generates good random numbers
IFS.Mod generates fractal fern graphic
Online documentation
ReadMe.Text this text
OberonGuide.Text
GadgetsGuide.Text Version 3 user's and programmer's guide
Fonts
Courier monospace font
Syntax proportional text font
Elektra general symbols
Math mathematical symbols