Operating System

Unfortunately, it has been requested of me by the current IP holder to not freely distribute the OS images that we have backed up. It has been saved in multiple locations throughout the World so we will not be losing the OS anytime soon, however I can't publicly post it up here. However, if you are actively developing new software or hardware for the Centurion and need the OS to continue, please contact me through Discord.

JCL and Job Files

Using the OS can be confusing at times. There are a collection of JCL (Job Control Language) commands that can be executed at the prompt to perform basic operations. However, more complex jobs are executed from an ASCII script file that contains a collection of JCL commands. The script files, or Job Files, often run an executable after getting a certain amount of input from the user and organizing variables for the executable.

Click here for more information on JCL.

The following is an example of the JCL Script file S.CRT:

.NOLOG
.NOTIME
.JOB CRT ABORT=CANCEL
.SETC 6='.'
/ ENTER LIBRARY OR "NEWLINE" FOR NONE /
.ENTER 5
.SKIP 1 IF ? LE #5
.SETC 5='' 6=''
.USE #5#6#0 ON #1 FOR SYS0 SHAR
.RUN S.XCRTVU
.END
.SETC 6=''
S.CON

This is the S.CRT script. It takes the additional arguments when calling it, stores them in variables 0 and 1, then it grabs an extra input from the user and store it in variable 5. It then arranges all the inputs in the correct way and runs the executable S.XCRTVU. This script and executable together will display the contents of an ASCII file on the appropriate output device (CRT0, PRT0, etc.).

The executable that is run was most likely programmed in CPL (Centurion Programming Language).

Click here for more information on CPL.

This is how job files are created. They are just ASCII files and can be run simply by typing the name of the file followed by "ON #", where the # is the disk the file is stored on. For example, if there is a job file called "ORDERF" located on the removable platter (disk 0) and the OS is installed on the fixed platter (disk 1), you would execute that job by typing the following:

ORDERF ON 0

If a job file is located within a folder you can execute that job file by typing the folder name followed by a period then the name of the job file. For example, KOMPOZ is the Centurion built text editor and it is stored in the "S" folder, and if that folder is stored on the fixed platter (disk 1), typing the following will execute that program:

S.KOMPOZ ON 1

Known Job	Arguments	Usage
COPN	S.COPN File # #	Copies a file or folder from one location to another (# = disk)
NCOPN	S.NCOPN File # NewFile #	Copies a file one location to another and allows renaming (# = disk)
KOMPOZ	S.KOMPOZ	Opens the Text Composition Tool, no arguments required

Screenshots

This is the initial boot screen where you input the date and time and it finishes loading fully into the OS.

Once into the OS, type .STA to see the system status.

Type .DIR # to see a directory listing.

The SYSGEN utility is located in the "P" folder and can be used to modify the @OSN system configuration file.