Musings on 99000 macro code

[jbdigriz]

1 hour ago, dhe said:

So, yea for dfm - it started on the 990's and of course is very similar to TI-Writer/Editor Assembler editors.

I think you have the heritage of later versions of dfm figured out, Gleen took it and made it available for TI and later HPUX systems along with ISAMATION.

Larry Kroeker made a PC version available, at one point, I think Larry had a proto-windows version going.

I also think Larry has passed.

I did see an obit notice for a Larry Kroeker in McKinney, TX ca. 2011. Didn't see the full obit.

1 hour ago, dhe said:

In the past, TI was very pragmatic about licensing. So I imagine it was as easy as say Larry talking to someone in management along the lines of:

   Larry: Do you have any plans of selling dfm in the PC market.

   TI: No

   Larry: Do you mind if I do?

   TI: No, but we get 2% royalties and maintain our original copyright.

Tallies with what I've heard. Still want to nail down what ISSS was, but that's going on the stack for now. I'll be interested to follow Robert's take on DF-[SHOW,EDIT]  for modern OSes. He may be interested to know that 990 dfm supported tape files and encryption. I don't know if any of the DOS versions did. He may want to take a look at Midnight Commander, too, which bears a lot of DOS influences, possibly DF-EDIT and SHOW included. Looks like maybe he's following up an elder relation's project here? Wish him well with it, and maybe it will bear fruit with a new DOS or Windows version as well. Lot of people building retro DOS boxes these days. 

[Michael Anderson]

Strange that the Ten-X cobol accelerator would be discussed this late in Time.  That was my father's (Andy Anderson) and Freddie Walker's idea.  They got financing for the start up from friends and associates of another partner they picked up in the development Darren Appelt.  Ten-X is still around but reformed into another company named Ten-x precision.  Darren Appelt in my view would not be the best contact for questions about the Ten-X cobol accelerator.  Mark Gentry in Austin I think eventually became head of engineering at Ten-X to my understanding.  I can come up with his contact info if needed.  Michael Anderson

[jbdigriz]

On 12/6/2021 at 5:25 AM, Michael Anderson said:

Strange that the Ten-X cobol accelerator would be discussed this late in Time.  That was my father's (Andy Anderson) and Freddie Walker's idea.  They got financing for the start up from friends and associates of another partner they picked up in the development Darren Appelt.  Ten-X is still around but reformed into another company named Ten-x precision.  Darren Appelt in my view would not be the best contact for questions about the Ten-X cobol accelerator.  Mark Gentry in Austin I think eventually became head of engineering at Ten-X to my understanding.  I can come up with his contact info if needed.  Michael Anderson

Sorry I missed this till now, Michael. Appreciate the info!

[Ex-TI]

On 1/18/2018 at 9:26 AM, pnr said:

Hi,

 

Many thanks for that link! It explains why sometimes TI marketing documents refer to the 99120 as having the "Rx kernel" in macro rom and sometimes as having Pascal support instructions in it. In TI's vision for Microprocessor Pascal the two are closely linked topics.

 

 

This would be the manual "990/12 Writeable Control Store Assembler and Language". It describes the details of microprogramming a TI990/12, I understand. As the 990/12 was released in 1979, I would assume that this manual also dates from 1979, possibly with later revisions.

Did you ever locate the Writable Control Store manual?  I worked on that in the 80's and would love a copy.