Concise Command Language
Computer language
Concise Command Language (CCL) was the term used by Digital Equipment Corporation for the command-line interpreter / user interface supplied on several of their computing systems; its successor was named DIGITAL Command Language (DCL).
CCL provides the user with an extensive set of terminal commands.
The first operating system to include CCL was DEC's TOPS-10.
01History
The PDP-6 monitor came with a simple set of commands. To compile and run a FORTRAN program, one would
- .R F4 , , , invoke the FORTRAN compiler
- *DTA1:PROG3=DTA2:PROG3,SUB3A,SUB3B , , , specify binary output and source input
- .R LOADER 30 , , , invoke the loader, allocate 30K of memory
- *DTA1:PROG3 , , , specify binary object to load
- *SYS:/S , , , let the loader find the appropriate subroutine libraries
- .SAVE DTA1:PROG3 , , , write the executable to DTA1
- (The .(DOT) is a monitor prompt and the *(Star/Asterisk) is an application prompt)
The PDP-10 monitor (later called TOPS-10) had CCL. Key to its improvements over its predecessor were:
- multi-step commands: .EX PROG3,SUB3A,SUB3B
- would check to see if any of the 3 needed to be recompiled (and did so if necessary)
- run the object program loader (including needed subroutine libraries)
- start running the program
- advanced command file: .EX @RUNPROG3.CMD
- would run the command(s) in the .CMD file
02Commands
The following table contains a list of CCL commands.
| CCL command | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Short form | Full form | |
| BAC | BACKSPACE | Runs CAMP. A magnetic tape or cassette is spaced backward a specified number of files or records. |
| BO | BOOT | |
| CCL | CCL | Disables the CCL program on the OS/8 Keyboard Monitor residing on the system device. |
| COMP | COMPARE | Runs SRCCOM. Compares/shows differences between two source files. Although line by line, permits "catch up." |
| COM | COMPILE | Produces binary files and/or compilation listings for specified program files. |
| COP | COPY | Transfers files from one I/O device to another. |
| COR | CORE | |
| CREA | CREATE | Runs EDIT and opens a new file for creation. |
| CREF | CREF | |
| DA | DATE | |
| DEA | DEASSIGN | |
| DEL | DELETE | Deletes one or more files from disk or DECtape. |
| DIR | DIRECT | |
| ED | EDIT | Runs EDIT. Opens an already existing file for editing. |
| EOF | EOF | |
| EXE | EXECUTE | |
| HE | HELP | Prints information on specified OS/8 programs. |
| LI | LIST | |
| LO | LOAD | |
| MAK | MAKE | Runs TECO. Opens the specified file for output. |
| MAP | MAP | Runs BITMAP. |
| MUNG | MUNG | Runs a TECO Macro; command line parameters give added adaptability. |
| PAL | PAL | Runs PAL8. Assembles the source file specified as the argument. |
| PRI | Runs a program named LPTSPL. | |
| PU | PUNCH | Runs PIP. Punches the file specified on paper tape. |
| REN | RENAME | Renames one or more files on disk or DECtape. |
| RES | RES | Runs RESORC. |
| REW | REWIND | |
| SKIP | SKIP | |
| SQ | SQUISH | Runs PIP's "squeeze" / defrag tool |
| SU | SUBMIT | Runs the BATCH program. |
| TE | TECO | (Text Editor and COrrector, a sophisticated text editor with MACRO capabilities). |
| TY | TYPE | |
| UA | UA | |
| UB | UB | |
| UC | UC | |
| UNL | UNLOAD | |
| VER | VERSION | Prints the version numbers of the OS/8 Keyboard Monitor and CCL. |
| ZERO | ZERO | |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Concise Command Language”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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