.MH "Background"
.SH "Ancient History"
The Software Tools Subsystem, as it now exists, is in its
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ninth major revision.  To give you an idea of its development,
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here is a short history of successive versions.
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.HI 5 "Version 1:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features: Basic utility commands, no redirection of input
or output, low-level routines for performing file
operations, but no consistent input/output.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language: Fortran
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.HI 5 "Version 2:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features: Almost complete set of utility commands, redirection
of input and output, all [ul Software Tools] i/o routines,
[ul Software Tools] editor and Ratfor, improved reliability
during information passing from one program to another.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language: Low level routines in Fortran,
high level routines and programs in Ratfor
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.HI 5 "Version 3:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features: Same as version 2, but with Primos compatible
i/o for speed;
new shell added later greatly expanded program interaction
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language: Almost entirely Ratfor
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.HI 5 "Version 4:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features: Same as version 3, plus: (1) ability to
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handle
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file names of up to 32 characters on new Primos file
partitions; (2) much faster disk i/o (on an unloaded
system, benchmarks show an improvement on the order of
a factor of 20); (3) internal reorganization to speed
up command searches;
(4) support for virtual mode programs and a shared command interpreter.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language: All higher-level routines in Ratfor.  A few
special routines in assembly language to provide capabilities not
inherent in Fortran.
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.HI 5 "Version 5:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features: A new command interpreter supporting arbitrary networks
of pipes, generalized command file handling, and dynamic command
line structures was added.
General reorganization of Subsystem directories on disk.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language: Ratfor and Assembler (PMA).
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.HI 5 "Version 6:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features:  Shared libraries, maximal security under unmodified
Primos, increased robustness.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language:  Ratfor and Assembler (PMA)
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.HI 5 "Version 7:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features:  Much faster disk I/O, extensions to pathnames to allow
specification of non-file-system devices, new Ratfor preprocessor
with significant extensions, some general cleanup of code and
redundant tools, many additional tools.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language:  Ratfor, Assembler (PMA), and some PL/I.
.sp
.HI 5 "Version 8:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features:  Additional I/O speed, reduced working set, support
for PL/I[bl]G, Pascal, Fortran 77, DBG, improved error handling,
terminal type handling, virtual terminal handler.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language:  Ratfor, Assembler (PMA), and some PL/I.
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.sp
.HI 5 "Version 9:"
.HI 3 [bf .]
Features: Increased security for shared segments, improved shell,
extended text editors and formatter, access to new Primos file
system features, some support for Prime's C compiler,
a high precision mathematics library, and an improved stacc.
.HI 3 [bf .]
Language:  Ratfor, Assembler (PMA), and some PL/I.
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.SH "Authors and Origins"
The principal authors of the Software Tools Subsystem are Allen Akin,
Perry Flinn, Dan Forsyth, and Jack Waugh,
of the Georgia Institute of Technology,
aided by a cast of thousands.
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The ultimate antecedent for the design of the Subsystem is
the UNIX operating system, written by Dennis Ritchie and Ken
Thompson of Bell Labs for the DEC PDP-11 computers.
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The tremendous debt owed to Brian W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger,
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the authors of
.ul
Software Tools,
cannot be overstated.