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DATAmatic 1000
AUTOMATIC PROGRAMMING MANUAL
VOLUME I
THE ASSEMBLY PROGRAM
Copyright - 1957
DATAmatic
A Division of Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company
151 Needham Street
Newton.Highlands 61, Mass.
Printed in U. S. A. DSI-6
PREFACE
The present manual represents Volume I of a set of Autom~tic
Programming Manuals. It serves to introduce the concept of auto-
matic programming as applied to the DATAmatic 1000 Electronic
Data-Processing System. The main body of this volume is devoted
to a description and explanation of an Assembly Program for use
with this system. The DATAmatic 1000 body of instructions is re-
viewed, special Assembly Program instructions are described, and
the procedure for writing a program to be assembled is developed,
step by step. For the benefit of readers not familiar with the DATA-
matic 1000, a brief description of the system precedes the manual.
Volume II is devoted to the DATAmatic ABC-1 Automatic Business
Compiler, which permits the programmer to write complicated pro-
grams in easily learned codes. This volume also describes the
Library Additions and Maintenance Program (LAMP), by means of
which the programmer may utilize, modify, and/or add to a set of
frequently used routines stored on a special tape called the Sub-
routine Library. This Subroutine Library is listed and described in
a loose-leaf appendix to the Automatic Programming Manuals.
Volume m is a Utility Manual which describes a number of Service
Routines, such as a Tracer Routine, a Storage Print Routine, a
Program Modifier Routine, and a Tape Editor Routine. These rou-
tines perform service functions which facilItate maintenance and
use of the various automatic programming devices available with
the DATAmatic 1000.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface iii
Introduction to the DATAmatic 1000 vii
Introduction to Automatic Programming xxi
Programmer's Language 1
Word Structure 1
Tags 6
Absolute Tags 6
Relative Tags 8
Constants 12
Control Instructions 14
START 14
SEGMENT START 16
READ DmECTED SEGMENT 17
Hollerith Card Format 19
Input Converter Operation 21
Assembly Program Operation 23 .
Loading the Assembly Program 26
Starting the Assembly Process 26
Error Provisions 28
Resetting the Assembly Program 32
Program Tape 33
Operating Procedure for the Assembled Program 33
Appendix A. Fixed-field Card Format 36
INTRODUCTION TO THE DATAmatic 1000 vii
The DATAmatic 1000 is a high-capacity electronic data-processing
system designed specifically for application to the increasingly complex
problems and procedures required in modern business. The system
incorporates significant new systems techniques as well as several
basically new component developments. One of the primary features
of the DATAmatic 1000 is its exceptionally large capacity to store in-
formation on magnetic tape, coupled with its ability to feed informa-
tion from ma~etic tape to the processing section and back to magnetic
tape at a sustained rate of 60,000 decimal digits per second. In ad-
dition, the operational speed of the processing section maintains full
compatibility with this high speed of information transfer.
Two of the most cumbersome aspects of most business problems are
sorting and file maintenance. The DATAmatic 1000 is equipped with
an extensive and flexible set of instructions, designed specifically to
excel in the performance of these functions and many others. These
instructions may be automatically assembled into complete programs
by the DATAmatic ABC-l Automatic Business Compiler. Thereafter,
a task which is repeated daily or weekly is initiated simply by reusing
the program from its storage on the program magnetic tape.
In the DATAmatic 1000, reliability is a prime consideration through-
out every aspect of engineering and design. The design of electronic
circuitry is highly conservative. Every transfer of information within
the sy~tem is carefully checked to insure that the information is trans-
ferred without alteration. In addition, all arithmetic and logical opera-
tions are completely checked. All units of the system are constructed
of easily replaced standard packages to facilitate maintenance. A
system of marginal checking includes circuitry and a special program
which may be run periodically to locate any package which should be
replaced because of marginal performance. With proper use of this
facility, most machine malfunctions will be corrected before they occur.
viii INTRODUCTION
A High-Speed Memory Amplifier package representative of the
modular construction used throughout the DATAmatic 1000 system
Elements of the System
The system may be conceived functionally as comprising three main
sections, the Input, Central Processor, and Output Sections, although
its physical layout will generally not correspond with such a concep-
tion. Data is initially fed into the Input Section in the form of punched
cards. This section, which includes a Card Reader, an Input Con-
verter, and one Magnetic File Unit, reads the data from the cards,
translates it.into machine language, edits and arranges it into the
desired format, and records it on magnetic tape.
The Central Processing Section includes (1) Arithmetic and Control
Units, (2) the High-Speed magnetic-core Memory, (3) Magnetic File
Units, (4) Input and Output temporary storage Buffers, and (5) the
INTRODUCTION ix
Typical Layout of a DATAmatic 1000 Electronic Data-Processing
System
Central Console. The Central Processor reads data stored permanent-
lyon magnetic tape, performs all manipulations of data, controls the
sequence of functions performed, stores information temporarily while
it is being processed and, after processing, stores it permanently on
magnetic tape. By means of the Central Console, the operator may
monitor the overall operation of the system. As needed, Magnetic
File Units may be used by auxiliary equipment. Such action is con-
trolled by switches.
The Output Section converts data from magnetic tape into either
punched-card form or printed form, performing considerable editing
in the process. The Model 1300 Output Converter, which feeds
standard punching and/or printing equipment, may either replace
or supplement the Model 1400 High-Speed Output Converter and
x INTRODUCTION
Printer, depending on the quantitative requirements of the system
for output information. One Magnetic File Unit may be considered
a part of the Output Section.
Magnetic Tape Storage
The basic medium for the storage of information in the DATAmatic
1000 is magnetic tape. The particular tape used, the method of re-
cording information on it, ~nd the tape-handling equipment have all
been designed or selected to be mutually compatible and to provide
high capacity, ease and speed of access to information, ultra-reliable
storage and recovery of information, and maximum utilization of space
on the tape.
Type VTR-179 magnetic tape has been selected for the DATAmatic 1000
because of its reliability and long life. This tape consists of a layer of
iron oxide bonded to a tough, durable Mylar plastic base. A reel of
tape is three inches wide and 2700 feet long and can store over 37,000,000
decimal digits of information, the equivalent of data which would require
465, 000 punched cards.
Stored information is recorded on the magnetic tape in groups of mag-
netized spots. The length rather than the strength of these spots is
used to form a dot-dash code representing the encoded digits, letters,
and symbols. This, the first of a series of unique reliability features,
assures that variations in the recorded signal strength will not result
in errors.
The information is stored in standard quantities called blocks, which
are arranged in a nov~l fashion along the tape. The virtual elimination
of dead space and the optimum packing of information into the tape area
is achieved by regarding the tape as a series of areas one block in
length, then recording iQ every other block while the tape travels in
one direction and in the blocks omitted while the tape travels in the
INTRODUCTION xi
reverse direction. The blocks not filled in a given direction of travel
provide the space for starting and stopping the tape in that direction.
As a result, informati.on is recorded on almost the entire area of the
tape. Moreover, since the reversal of tape direction is accomlliished
automatically, all of this information is written or read sequentially
and the tape is positioned at its physical beginning at the conclusion of
this process.
Information is recorded lengthwise to the tape in 31 channels, a system
which greatly speeds the transfer of information and facilitates search-
ing processes. Specifically, as many as ten tapes may be searched
simultaneously, which means that the system is actually passing over
600, 000 decimal digits per second while seeking the particular item
desired. The read-record head will write on the tape at the sustained
rate of 60, 000 decimal digits per second and will recover this informa-
tion at the same rate. The reading or searching operations may be
performed with the tape travelling either forward or backward.
The tape-drive mechanism and the read-record head are contained in
the Magnetic Ffi.e Unit. An installation may include from four to one
hundred Magnetic File Units, all directly connected into the system.
They may be divided in any manner and at any time between the reading
and recording operations. The volume of transactions and the com-
plexity of operations govern the number of Magnetic File Units re-
quired for a given system. Furthermore, these units may be added to
or removed from the system at any time as these requirements vary.
In order that any Magnetic File Unit may be interrogated and informa-
tion recovered from it without interrupting the operation of the' Central
Processor, a File Reference Unit is available. Thus a Magnetic File
Unit may, at different times, be recording data received from the In-
put Converter, reading data to the Output Converter, recording data
xii INTRODUCTION
DATAmatic 1000 Magnetic File Units
from the Central Prooessor, reading data to the Central Processor,
or reading data to a File Reference Unit. Also available is a File
Switching Unit which increases the flexibility with which Magnetic
File Units may be arranged into the various functional groups.
Input Section
Data enters the DATAmatic 1000 on standard aO-column punched cards
which are initially read by the Card Reader. In this unit the card is
read tWice, the two readings are compared, and the card is stacked.
If the two readings of the card are not identical, the operation of the
Input Section will stop and the card will be sent to a reject hopper.
The Card Reader holds batches of over 3000 cards at one time and
passes them at the rate of 900 fully punched cards per minute.
INTRODUCTION xiii
The information which is read from the punched cards is translated
into the language of the system and arranged in the format of the mag-
netic tape by the Input Converter. In this process, it passes through
two control panels and two temporary storage locations, providing great
flexibility for transposition, duplication, and discarding of information.
The operator manually sets an identifying .control number into the In-
put Converter, which includes this number in the information to be
written on magnetic tape. The control number may then be written
on the batch of cards which it represents, in case it is desired later
to cross-reference these cards with their corresponding tape.
The encoded information is first arranged in a tOO-column format
within the converter. In this conversion, any number of card columns
may be duplicated provided that the total number of columns does
not exceed tOO. Triplication of columns is not permitted. Thirteen
conversion rules are available for the translation of punch code into
machine code. Any single card column may be translated by anyone
of these thirteen rules. The information is then translated into the
final tape format, the contents of two punched cards being fed to each
block on the magnetic tape. Several automatic checking features are
built in to detect improperly punched cards or errors either in reading
or in one of the conversion steps. The operator contr.ols the settings
of a group of panel switches which direct the course of action that the
machine is to follow in each of these situations.
It must be emphasized that the operation of the Input Converter is
strictly "off-line". That is, it proceeds entirely independently of and
simultaneously with the data -proce ssing and/or output functions.
Normally, one or more specific Magnetic File Units are assigned the
function of writing on tape all raw data received from input and com-
municating it ~o the Central Processor.
xiv INTRODUCTION
Binary Notation
Information which is manipulated, stored, or communicated other than
by electronic systems is generally written using 10 decimal digits, 26
alphabetic characters, and a ~umber of punctuation marks and other
special symbols. Basic to the adaptation of information to electronic
systems is the fact that such information can be written entirely in
terms of two symbols, generally called zero and one. This presenta-
tion is called binary notation and is analogous to the presentation of
information in the more familiar Morse Code, in which the two symbols
used are called dots and dashes. The symbols used in a binary nota-
tion are called binary digits or bits. For example, the ten familiar
decimal digits, 0 through 9, are represented in binary notation as
follows:
0000 - 0 0101 - 5
0001 - 1 0110 - 6
0010 - 2 0111 - 7
0011 - 3 1000 - 8
0100 - 4 1001 - 9
Bars will sometimes be placed over binary digits when there is some danger
of confusing them with decimal zeros and ones.
The storage of information by electronic equipment depends upon the
ability to distinguish between two states which represent the two sym-
bols used in binary codes. There are many electronic devices which
can make such a distinction. An example of such a device which is both
fast and reliable is the tiny, ring-shaped magnetic core. This core
may be magnetized in either of two senses; in one sense it is con-
sidered to be storing a binary zero and in the other sense a binary one.
These tiny magnetic cores constitute the principal element for the
storage of information in the High-Speed Memory and buffer storage
units of the DATAmatic 1000 Central Processor. In a group of four
such magnetic cores, ten of the sixteen possible combinations of states
may be used to represent the ten decimal digits.
INTRODUCTION xv
Central Proces.sing Section
The Central Processor has already been defined to include the Arithmetic
and Control Units, the Input and Output Buffer Storage Units, the High-
Speed Memory, the Magnetic File Units, and the Central Console. To-
gether, these units contain the electronic elements and circuitry for
high-speed performance of the stored programs.
The fast and reliable internal memory is composed of over 100,000
magnetic cores