To:	Users
From:	Bob Supnik
Subj:	ESI-X
Date:	10-Mar097

                                COPYRIGHT NOTICE

The following copyright notice applies to both the ESI-X source and binary:

        Original code published in 1966-1968, written by David J Waks
        Portions Copyright (C) 1997 Digital Equipment Corporation

        All Rights Reserved except as specified below.

        Permission is hereby granted to use, copy, modify, and distribute
        this software (or portions thereof) for any purpose, without fee,
        subject to these conditions:

        (1) If any part of the source code for this software is distributed,
        then this copyright and no-warranty notice must be included
        unaltered; and any additions, deletions, or changes to the original
        files must be clearly indicated in accompanying documentation.

        (2) If only executable code is distributed, then the accompanying
        documentation must state that "this software is based in part on the
        original work of David J Waks".

        (3) Permission for use of this software is granted only if the user
        accepts full responsibility for any undesirable consequences; the
        authors accept NO LIABILITY for damages of any kind.

        These conditions apply to any software derived from or based on this
        code, not just to the unmodified code.

        Permission is NOT granted for the use of any author's name or
        company name in advertising or publicity relating to this software
        or products derived from it.


1. Introduction

This package contains the source and binary for ESI-X, the Engineering 
and Scientific Interpreter eXtended.  ESI-X was the first stored program 
scientific interpreter for the PDP-8.  It provided a full range of 
scientific calculation capabilities, including the ability to store 
complex programs.  It was written at Applied Data Research in 1966-67.

The package contains the following items:

	defs.pal		minimal symbol table definitions
	esix.pal		ESI-X main program
	fp.pal			ESI-X transcendental functions
	esix.bin		ESI-X binary tape image
	macro8x.c		assembler for ESI-X

To assemble ESI-X, you must first compile the assembler:

	cc macro8x.c -o macro8x

and then use it to assemble the sources:

	macro8x esix.pal fp.pal

Note that the defs.pal file is not used with this version of macro8x; it 
was used with the original sources to conserve symbol table space.

The binary tape image can be used directly with any PDP-8 simulator that 
has a built-in binary loader command.  Because it uses locations 7600-7754, 
it requires a special loader to be executed on a real PDP-8.


2. History Of The Program

ESI was designed in 1966 by Dave Waks and implemented by Dave Waks and 
Spike Chagnon.  The original version ran in 4KW of memory.  Dave Waks 
wrote the following comments on the origins of the program:  "Digital's
announcement in August of 1966 of the PDP-8/s-- the first computer which
sold for "less than ten thousand dollars" (it cost $9,995) -- was what 
stimulated me to write ESI. (The price list is dated 8/1/66; my design 
notes start on 8/3.)  The thought was that a newbie could buy a real 
computer at what seemed like a very reasonable price, but what could they 
do with it?  ESI (originally the "Eight S interpreter") was the answer... 
Many of the key concepts came from the Johnniac Open Shop System (JOSS) 
developed at the Rand Corporation - what I believe was actually the first 
interactive computer system as we would define it today.  I had seen a 
talk on JOSS by its developer (Cliff Shaw?) at a computer conference 
(FJCC 64 in SFO?), and was so taken by it that I travelled to Santa 
Monica to meet with the author and get my hands on the system.  (I think 
also in the Fall of 64).  I really wanted to create my own version of 
JOSS, and the 8/S looked like the right target.  (btw, I'm pretty sure
that John Kemeny of Dartmouth also saw Shaw's talk, and he want back to
Dartmouth and wrote BASIC.)"

In 1967, Bob Supnik extended the program to use 8KW of memory and added 
the transcendental functions.  Thereafter, the 4KW version was called 
ESI-B (basic) and the 8KW version ESI-X (extended).  In 1968, Digital 
Equipment wrote a very similar program, FOCAL, and gave it away for free; 
this ended ESI-X' marketability.  In the 1970's, Applied Data Research 
gave the binaries of the program to DECUS.  However, the source was 
believed lost.


3. Provenance Of The Source

In 1997, Dave Waks found two PDP-10 failsafe tapes in his basement.  
According to a directory listing, one of them contained old Applied 
Data Research software for the PDP-7 and PDP-8, including ESI-X.  (The 
other had no label and has proved unreadable.)  Dave sent the tape to 
me to see if it could be salvaged.  I in turn contacted Paul Pierce, 
who was able to use his seven track magtape set up to read most of the 
tape.  Tim Litt then wrote a failsafe format interpreter which recovered 
the original ASCII files.  I then modified Gary A. Messenbrink's PDP-8
cross assembler to add the features (macros, variable field definitions)
used by the source code.  The result is the binary in this package.

As best as I can tell, the source was recovered more or less intact.  
There were numerous garbles in the comments, but whether these were 
due to undetected read errors, or typos in the original source, is 
impossible to determine.  In preparing for this release, I have made 
the following changes to the source:

- The macro "SDB n" (meaning CDF n*10) has been removed and replaced by 
  equivalent CDF instructions.  This is due to a limitation in the macro 
  assembler, which cannot process macros inside of literals.

- Obvious garbles in the comments have been removed or cleaned up.

- Tabulation of comments has been regularized, for readability.

- The definition of XX=HLT in defs.pal has been duplicated in esix.pal.

Otherwise, the source is unchanged.


4. Users' Guide

ESI-X implements a straightforward procedural language.  It has 26 
variables, denominated by the letters A-Z.  A variable can either be 
a simple variable or a subscripted variable, with one or two dimensions.  
If subscripted, only those subscript instances which are used are 
actually stored.  Subscripts have a maximum value of 999.

Language statements can either be executed directly or stored as 
programs for later execution.  Programs are organized into parts.  
There can be 9 parts, numbered 1-9.  Each part consists of multiple 
steps, numbered as floating point numbers beginning with the part 
number.  A sample program:

	1.01 TYPE "HELLO WORLD!".
	1.02 TYPE "HERE IS A TABLE OF SQUARE ROOTS.".
	1.03 FOR I=1(1)10, TYPE I, SQRT(I).
	1.04 STOP.

All ESI-X statements are sentences, with a verb to start and a period 
at the end. The period is NOT optional.

The statement syntax follows.  In the syntax, literal strings are 
capitalized; terminal classes are denoted by T<class name>.  The 
terminal classes are:

Tname				variable name (A - Z)
Tnumber				floating point number
Tinteger			integer part number (1-9)
Tstring				text string, delimited by "

<direct statement> :=		LOG ON | LOG OFF | * |
				  {<if clause>} <direct tail>
<direct tail> :=		<for clause> | <direct/indirect statement> |
				  <direct only statement>
<direct/indirect statement> :=	<set statement> | <do statement> |
				  <type statement> | LINE | NOLINE | PAGE
<direct only statement> :=	<direct delete statement> | <arith statement>
<indirect statement> :=		* | {<if clause>} <indirect tail>
<indirect tail> :=		<for clause> | <direct/indirect statement> |
				  <indirect only statement>
<indirect only statement> := 	<to statement> | <demand statement> |
				  <indirect delete statement> | DONE | STOP
<interrupt statement> :=	GO | CANCEL | <type statement>

<if clause> :=			IF <arith expr> <rel operator> <arith expr> ,
<for clause> :=			FOR <variable> = <arith expr> ( <arith expr> )
				  <arith expr> ,
<set statement> :=		SET <variable> = <arith expr>
<do statement> :=		DO <do tail>
<do tail> :=			PART Tinteger | STEP <arith expr>
<type statement> :=		TYPE <type tail>
<type tail> :=			<type arithmetic> | <type other>
<type arithmetic> :=		<type arith expr> {, <type arith expr> ...}
<type arith expr> :=		<arith expr> <type arith string> |
				  " Tstring " <type arith subexpr>
<type arith string> :=		" Tstring " <type arith subexpr>
<type arith subexpr> :=		<arith expr> <type arith string>
<type other> :=			SIZE | STEP Tnumber | PART Tinteger | ALL |
				  ALL VALUES | ALL PARTS | ALL Tname

<direct delete statement> :=	DELETE <delete tail>
<delete tail> :=		<delete list> | STEP Tnumber | PART Tinteger |
				  ALL | ALL VALUES | ALL PARTS
<delete list> :=		<variable> {, <variable> ... }
<arith statement> :=		<variable> = <arith expr>

<to statement> :=		TO STEP <arith expr> | TO PART Tinteger
<demand statement> :=		DEMAND <variable>
<indirect delete statement> :=	DELETE <delete list> | DELETE ALL VALUES

<arith expr> :=			<term> {<add operator> <term> ...}
<term> :=			<factor> {<mul operator> <factor> ...}
<factor> :=			{+ | - } <subfactor>
<subfactor> :=			<primary> {^ <primary> ...}
<primary> :=			<variable> | Tnumber | ( <arith expr> ) |
				  <function operator> ( <arith expr> )
<variable>			Tname { [ <arith expr> {, <arith expr> } ] }

<add operator> :=		+ | -
<mul operator> :=		+ | -
<rel operator> :=		= | < | > | GE | LE | NE
<function operator> :=		ABS | IP | FP | SGN | SIN | COS | SQRT | LOG |
				  EXP | ARCTAN | LN | DP | EP

Some comments on the syntax:

- LOG ON and LOG OFF delimit a session for a particular user.  LOG ON 
  allows the user to specify a session name.  ESI-X keeps track of lines 
  typed and inserts page breaks appropriately, with the page number and 
  session name at the top of each page.  PAGE forces top of new page.

- NOLINE and LINE disable and enable, respectively, typing a new line 
  character at the end of each TYPE statement.

- When executing a stored program, ESI-X monitors for interruption 
  (signified by the ALTMODE character, ^} on a modern keyboard).  In 
  interrupt mode, the user can inspect the state of the program with 
  TYPE commands, continue execution with GO, or return to direct statement 
  mode with CANCEL.


5. Useful Patches

- ESI-X rings the bell each time it requires keyboard input.  To suppress 
  this, patch the loaded program as follows:

	sim> d 6015-6016 nop

  or in binary:

	6015/	7000
	6016/	7000

- ESI-X requires a period at the end of every statement.  To suppress 
  this, patch the loaded program as follows:

	sim> d 6102-6104 nop

  or in binary:

	6102/	7000
	6103/	7000
	6104/	7000