VECTOR. 4 USER
'8
MANUAL
INTRODUCTION
TO
VECTOR 4 CP/M
Using
your
computer
involves many
of
the
same
operations
as
using
a
pushbutton
telephone.
With a
telephone,
you first
imnLt
the
number of
the
party
to
whom you wish
to
speak.
Then
the
telephone company's machines
arrange
the
transfer, matching up
the
number you entered with the right wires
and
cables
to
connect
you
with
your party. They do processing by keeping
track
of
how long you spend
on
the
phone.
You
talk each others' ears
off,
and when you hang up, the phone company permanently stores information.
But
with
the
phone,
you
never see all the complicated switching
that
goes
on
when you want to make a call across the country. All
that
affects
you
is
the
conversation. Unless you decide
to
write your own software, the same will be
true
of
the
computer:
you will
never
have
to
deal
with
the
RAM,
or
the
microprocessor,
or
decide
which
microcircuits
should open for
how
long to
write
the
data
onto the disk. The operating system manages
all
that
for you.
Like
a
telephone,
the
computer
needs
very specific input. You're no doubt
familiar with what happens when you input a wrong number
into
a
telephone:
if
the
number even matches a
real
phone,
it
won't be
the
person
you
wanted.
Entering a "wrong number" on the computer,
however,
usually
has
even
less
serious
consequences.
In
the
case
of
a
simple
typing
error
where
the
computer
can't
understand your entry, the computer will do nothing more
than
ask
you
to
repeat
what
you
entered. (Refer
to
the
Quick Reference Index for
an overview of screen handling commands, including
erasing
and
cancelling
input.)
Review
It
is
the
operating system of a computer which must decide:
• what you have input.
• whether or not
it
is a "wrong number".
• what
is
required from
the
hardware.
Only then can the processing portion of the computer do
its
calculations. And
after
that
it
is
the job of
the
operating system to determine:
• where
to
send
the
results
of
processing.
• what lines
to
use for sending
the
results.
• where
to
store
these results for the future.
Rev. A -
9-01-82
7100-0001
VU-5
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