OEDIT
The OEDIT program is for looking at and modifying Alto files and Alto
Trident files, in octal and other formats. Call it with OEDIT f1 f2
... where the f's are the names of the files you want to look at (you
are limited to about 4 Trident files, 15 or 20 Diablo files). OEDIT
will display the contents of the corresponding words of all the files
on the same line, with wrap-around printing if they don't all fit.
Each filename can be optionally preceded by a disk drive specification
as in the following examples: "tp5:name.ext" means the file "name.ext"
on Trident drive number 5, while "DP1:name.ext" means "name.ext" on
Diablo drive 1. The default is "dp0:", which means the standard system
disk. Each T-300 disk has up to three distinct Alto file systems; if
Trident drive 2 were a T-300 drive, these file systems would be
referred to as "tp2:", "tp402:", and "tp1002:" (a 2 in the right byte,
and either 0, 1, or 2 in the left byte).
The files are initially opened with read-only access. The second and
subsequent files can only be read and displayed by OEDIT. But OEDIT
has commands that write into the first of the specified files. If you
want to be able to alter the first file, use the /W switch on the OEDIT
command. Otherwise, OEDIT will have to reopen the first file to obtain
read/write access the first time that you try to store into it; OEDIT
will request confirmation before reopening the first file.
OEDIT output usually goes to the Alto screen only; the font used is the
one stored in the file named "dp0:gacha10.al" if that file exists,
otherwise the standard system font (fixed pitch looks better). If you
would like a permanent record of your OEDIT session, use the /F or /L
switch on the OEDIT command, which will copy the session on the file
"dp0:Oedit.Lst". Note that this provides a way to get octal dumps of
Alto files.
When it starts, the program computes the lengths (in bytes and words)
of all of the specified files. For large files this can take upwards
of 15 seconds (if the file system hints prove to be wrong), so don't be
alarmed by the delay.
After typing the lengths, OEDIT waits for commands:
n/ show location n of each file in the standard modes
lf show the next location of each file
↑ show the previous location of each file
cr show the current location again
tab show the location pointed to by the last displayed location
n! show locations n to n+40b of each file
> show the next 40b locations of each file
< show the previous 40b locations of each file
nV display the value n itself in both octal and decimal
nF beginning at current location in the first file,
find a word containing the value n, show it and its address
Q quit
------------
Copyright Xerox Corporation 1980
OEDIT November 23, 1980 2
The lf, ↑, tab, <, >, and cr commands can be preceded by a number which
is written into the current location of the first file. Control-W is
synonymous with ↑, and control-V is synonymous with V.
All numbers can be input in a variety of formats, called modes. Each
mode is referred to be a one-letter code (either upper or lower case),
as described in the following table:
O a double-word octal number
W a single-word octal number
H an octal byte
A,S, or C an ASCII byte
X a hexadecimal byte
E an EBCDIC byte
D a double-word decimal number
N a decimal byte
When inputting a number, you announce the intended mode by giving a
mode letter followed by a colon; the default is "O:". Thus, "O:354" or
"o:354" or "354" inputs the integer 354b, while "C:A" inputs the
character code for upper case A in ASCII. The register that you are
loading with this input is a double word, 32 bit integer; this is
necessary since file addresses may exceed 16 bits in length. In
situations where only 16 bits make sense, such as specifying the new
contents of the current word of the first file, the least significant
16 bits of the input register are used. Each input mode specifies a
new chunk of data to be shifted in at the right of the input register.
Input modes that describe only a byte of data shift this new byte in at
the right, while modes that describe a double-word of data reset the
entire register. Separate multiple chunks of input with spaces. For
example, "O:40502", "40502", "h:101 h:102", "C:A c:B", "x:41 x:42",
"x:41 c:B", and "d:16706" are all legal ways to describe the input
value 40502b (a one-word quantity).
When inputting a number in octal, decimal, or hexadecimal, preceding
the digits with a minus sign will take the two's complement. In
particular, "-1" is an easy way to input a number that has all one
bits. Thus, to give another example, "O:37777600000", "W:-1 W:0", and
"h:-1 x:FF w:0" are all ways to specify a double word quantity
consisting of 16 ones followed by 16 zeros.
When inputting a number in octal, decimal, or hexadecimal, preceding
the digits with a minus sign will take the two's complement. In
particular, "-1" is an easy way to input a number that has all one
bits.
All addresses are word addresses (even though the file lengths are also
shown in bytes.) Furthermore, addresses are only displayed in octal.
The data words in the files can be displayed in modes analogous to the
modes listed above:
O displays a full-word octal value
H two octal bytes
A,S, or C two ASCII bytes
X two hexadecimal bytes
E two EBCDIC bytes
D a full-word signed decimal value
N two decimal bytes
OEDIT November 23, 1980 3
The control character correponding to each output mode is a command to
type out the current location in that mode. If the control character
is preceded by a number, it means open that location and display it in
the specified mode. When no particular mode is spcified, OEDIT uses a
set of modes called the standard modes. Unless you say otherwise, the
standard mode set is OHA. You may add modes to the standard set by
specifying them as global switches on the OEDIT command; you can also
remove a mode from the standard set by preceding that letter with a
minus sign in the list of global switches. Thus, if one wanted to
display the files in hexadecimal, ASCII, and EBCDIC only, one would
type "OEDIT/-O-HXE filename".
A note on EBCDIC: the underline character in EBCDIC is represented by
left-arrow in ASCII; the cents symbol in EBCDIC is represented by
backslash in ASCII; and the hook symbol in EBCDIC (logical negation) is
represented by up-arrow in ASCII. All unassigned character codes in
EBCDIC are represeted by tilde in ASCII.
It is often useful to be able to scan through a portion of a file
looking at every d'th word, that is, at a set of addresses that form an
arithmetic progression, and either searching for a particular value in
a particular field, or writing a particular value into a particular
field. This capacity exists in OEDIT by means of a special command,
invoked by typing "F" or "f" without first giving a number. You will
first be prompted to input a starting address, ending address, and the
parameter d (the common difference of the arithmetic progression; d
must be positive). Then, input a mask that specifies by its one bits
the relevant field. Next, say S for Searching or R for Replacing.
Finally, give the new data, with the bits already in the correct field;
data bits that are obscured by the mask don't matter. Each number that
you are inputting during this process can be in any mode; separate
multiple bytes with spaces, and end each numeric argument with carriage
return or escape.