System/34 - Article Index

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Alignment
The expensive check forms must be perfectly aligned or all of the numbers won't fit in the little boxes, which is tragic. Therefore, an a...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rpg Programming Language: Encyclopedia Ii - Rpg Programming Language - Example Code
The following program receives a customer number as an input parameter and returns the name and address as output parameters. * H...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Overview Of The Ibm System/36
The IBM System/36 was a simple and popular small business computer system, first shipped in 1983. It had a 17-year product lifespan. The ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Alignment
The expensive check forms must be perfectly aligned or all of the numbers won't fit in the little boxes, which is tragic. Therefore, an a...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - More Crazy Acronyms - Mrts Srts Nrts Neps And Nops
MRT = Multiple Requestor Terminal program. SSP could actually run one program on up to 7 terminals at once. The operator would start the...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Language Compilers
The S/36 had four: RPG II, COBOL, BASIC, and FORTRAN. RPG was cheaper, created compact code sizes, and became the far-and-away best-sell...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Forms Numbers
When the operator printed paychecks, it was vitally important that paycheck information printed on check forms and not on plain paper; li...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - The Need For Spooling
Computer printers are slow. Very slow. On the S/36, computer programs could write data to the printer much faster than the printer can pr...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Spooling
SPOOL is an acronym for Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On Line. ... See also:System/36, System/36 - Overview of the IBM System/36...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Other Object Types
Of course, Cobol, Fortran, and RPG generated object code (type O). Basic was interpreted only; a compilation utility called BASICS create...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - How Spooling Works
To allow the system to manage the problem, system components called "writers" and "spool files" were developed. A writer is a small syste...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - When You Can't Spool
Sometimes the operator requires a dedicated, live printer - for example, when printing receipts for customers in real time, don't use spo...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Popular System/36 Applications
MAPICS, the Manufacturing and Planning Integrated Control System, was a popular S/36 application. IBM Office programs (DisplayWrite, IDDU...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - The Advanced 36 9236/9436
In 1994, IBM released the Advanced 36. Priced as low as $7995, it was the machine that allowed S/36 folks to get faster and more modern h...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Migrating To The Advanced 36
Was a dream. It was so easy to migrate to the Advanced 36 from the System/36. In fact, it was even easier with a gadget IBMers rented tha...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Migrating To The As/400 Iseries
Was tough. The AS/400 had troubles like decimal data errors that the S/36 did not, so these types of problems were always popping up. It ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rpg Programming Language: Encyclopedia Ii - Rpg Programming Language - Overview
RPG (aka RPG IV aka RPGLE) is the mainstay programming language of the IBM iSeries platform. Originally designed as a query tool, IBM has...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - System/36 Model 5364
Was called the "Baby/36" by IBMers, but this name was later attached to a software program produced by California Software Products, Inc....   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Caching
How does a 64K computer program run on a S/36 when only 48K of RAM is available? By using a process called caching. The system uses a ca...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - System/36 Magazines
Not magazine drives, actual magazines that a person would read. Programmers read about the System/36 in magazines like DataNetwork (which...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Did I Have To Program?
Not really. You could create a short sequence of file and input specifications and store them as a source member. A component called Dat...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - The As/entry 9401
Was just a stripped-down AS/400. The operating system was OS/400. This machine was offered c.1991 to target customers who had a S/36 and ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Ibm Colors
Before 1984, the 5251 monitor predominated - it was US$2,000 and what IBM called "dual color" (green and bright green). However, by 1984...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Programming Ibm Colors
Interestingly, programming colors did not require a new screen programming language, because the implementation was completely at the ha...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - The Five Lights
On a 5251 type terminal (aka "Concrete Block",) there were five lights to watch for: (1) System Available light. If lit, this terminal i...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Terminals Displays Screens Workstations And Monitors
Are words used interchangeably to describe the same thing. An operator sat in front of a device that vaguely resembles today's PC, except...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Acronyms
Note that these acronyms are common IBM terminology and are also used on the successor AS/400s, on IBM mainframes, and on many other IBM ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Program Sizes
Since the S/36 ran "8-bit" programs, the largest program that could be compiled and run was 64K. Most were not nearly that large. Since ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rpg Programming Language: Encyclopedia Ii - Rpg Programming Language - History
RPG is one of the few languages created for punch card machines that is still in common use today. This is because the language has evolv...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Red Lights
The five red lights on the System/36 were as follows: (1) Power check. (2) Processor check. (3) Program check. (4) Console check. (5) Tem...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Dipswitches
Early 1980s-era printers and workstations had a series of binary switches known as "dipswitches" for configuration. The binary OFF settin...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Physical Appearance And Requirements
The System/36 5360 System Unit vaguely resembled a huge washer-dryer in appearance, but unlike its predecessor, it ran on 220 volts AC. A...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - System Security
There are four types of System/36 security: (1) the badge reader that almost nobody ever bought, so it isn't discussed here; (2) passwor...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Disk Space Metrics
Disk space on the System/36 was organized by "blocks." One block = 2560 bytes. A high-end 5360 system would ship with about 550,000 block...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Files Libraries And Folders
SSP provides for two different data objects called files and libraries. Files contain records, most always with a fixed record length. L...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Setting The Address
Up to 60+ local devices could be configured on a System/36, using eight lines numbered from 0 to 7. A line was defined as a series of twi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Ssp The System/36 Operating System
SSP ("System Support Program") was the only operating system of the S/36. It contained support for multiprogramming, multiple processors,...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Configuring Using Cnfigssp
The CNFIGSSP procedure was used to configure the system, including the devices. Each device is assigned a two-character ID. The first let...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Processors
S/36s had two eight-bit processors, the CSP or Control Storage Processor, and the MSP or Main Storage Processor. The MSP was the workhor...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Printers
A great computer system wouldn't be complete without great printers. Typical System/36 offerings would include: IBM 5219 - A daisywheel ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/36: Encyclopedia Ii - System/36 - Memory And Disk
The smallest S/36 had 128K of RAM and a 30 MB hard drive. (That's 128 kilobytes... less than some modern calculators. And the mammoth 12...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - The Need For Spooling
Computer printers are slow. Very slow. On the S/34, computer programs could write data to the printer much faster than the printer can pr...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - How Spooling Works
To allow the system to manage the problem, system components called "writers" and "spool files" were developed. A writer is a small syste...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Disk Space Metrics
Disk space on the System/34 was organized by "blocks." One block = 2560 bytes. A high-end system would ship with about 90,000 blocks of d...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Files And Libraries
SSP provides for two different data objects called files and libraries. Files contain records, most always with a fixed record length. L...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - When You Can't Spool
Sometimes the operator requires a dedicated, live printer - for example, when printing receipts for customers in real time, don't use spo...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Program Sizes
Since the S/34 ran "8-bit" programs, the largest program that could be compiled and run was 64K. Most were not nearly that large. Since ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Caching
How does a 64K computer program run on a S/34 when only 48K of RAM is available? By using a process called caching. The system uses a ca...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Spooling
SPOOL is an acronym for Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On Line. ... See also:System/34, System/34 - Physical Appearance And Requi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Language Compilers
The S/34 had four: RPG II, COBOL, BASIC, and FORTRAN. RPG was cheaper, created compact code sizes, and became the far-and-away best-sell...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - System/34 Magazines
Not magazine drives, actual magazines that a person would read. Programmers read about the System/34 in magazines like DataNetwork and Ne...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - System Security
There are three types of System/34 security: (1) the badge reader that almost nobody ever bought, so it isn't discussed here; (2) passwo...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Popular System/34 Applications
MAPICS, the Manufacturing and Planning Integrated Control System, was a popular S/34 application. The System/34 Text Editor was a precurs...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Did I Have To Program?
Not really. You could create a short sequence of file and input specifications and store them as a source member. A component called Dat...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - More Crazy Acronyms - Mrts Srts Nrts Neps And Nops
MRT = Multiple Requestor Terminal program. SSP could actually run one program on up to 7 terminals at once. The operator would start the...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Other Object Types
Of course, Cobol, Fortran, and RPG generated object code (type O). Basic was interpreted only; a compilation utility called BASICS create...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Forms Numbers
When the operator printed paychecks, it was vitally important that paycheck information printed on checks forms and not on plain paper; l...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Terminals Displays Screens Workstations And Monitors
Are words used interchangeably to describe the same thing. An operator sat in front of a device that vaguely resembles today's PC, excep...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Sda - Screen Design Aid
This application allows the operator to build screen formats or menus online. Screen formats are very much like what Visual Basic and Acc...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Sort - The System Sort Utility
SORT is an interesting program. It has one to eight input files, which may be of any valid record length. It has one output file, of any ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Seu - Source Entry Utility
This looks like a DOS-era text editor. SEU allows data entry on a line-by-line basis. Special forms are used to assist the operator in k...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Ebcdic
The Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code is the IBM mainframe counterpart of ASCII, the American Standard Code For Interchange ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - F1 I1 S1-s3 And M1.01 - M2.10
These are proper names given to system equipment. F1 is the Fixed Disk (the hard drive.) I1 is the Diskette Drive. S1, S2, and S3 are the...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - The Four Lights
The four red lights on the System/34 were as follows: (1) Power check. (2) Processor check. (3) Program check. (4) Console check. If any ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Crazy Acronyms.
IPL - Initial Program Load Starting or restarting the system. This acronym was pronounced eye-pee-ell and was used as a verb ("IPL the sy...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Ibm Colors
Before 1984, the 5251 monitor predominated - it was US$2,000 and what IBM called "dual color" (green and bright green). However, by 1984...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Programming Ibm Colors
Interestingly, programming colors did not require a new screen programming language, because the implementation was completely at the ha...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Memory And Disk
The smallest S/34 had 48K of RAM and an 8.6 MB hard drive. (That's 48 kilobytes... less than some modern calculators. And the mammoth 12...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Printers
A great computer system wouldn't be complete without great printers. Typical System/34 offerings would include: IBM 5211 - A band printe...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Processors
S/34s had two processors, the CSP or Control Storage Processor, and the MSP or Main Storage Processor. The MSP was the workhorse; it per...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Configuring Using Cnfigssp
The CNFIGSSP procedure was used to configure the system, including the devices. Each device is assigned a two-character ID. The first let...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - The Five Lights
On a 5251 type terminal, there were five lights to watch for: (1) System Available light. If lit, this terminal is connected to the S/34...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Setting The Address
Up to 32 devices could be configured on a System/34, using four lines numbered from 0 to 3. A line was defined as a series of twinaxial c...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - System/34: Encyclopedia Ii - System/34 - Ssp The System/34 Operating System
SSP ("System Support Program") was the only operating system of the S/34. It contained support for multiprogramming, multiple processors,...   » Read the article