A method for performing manual operations, such as address compare equal stop, single cycle alter, etc., in a time slice controlled microprocessor with microprogramming, which avoids stopping the processor clock when any of the programs requires a manual operation. This problem is solved by assigning the manual operations to a specific program, which for the other programs in the multiprogram environment executes the manual operations required.

A method and means for implementing the control structure of a computer comprising, for example the basic constructs of repetition, conditional execution, and nesting whereby, at any point, a machine language program can be decompiled into the English language source that produced it. The program is loaded into the memory of the machine in a manner to be location independent, so that each segment of a program may be debugged individually, if necessary, without affecting the balance of the progra...

A procedure for controlling a data processing system by a computer program that compares two versions of a source program and identifies the difference between the two. The program compares the two versions until a noncomparison is determined. The program then continues to compare each line in the base version to each line in the modified version until a comparison is found. The program then verifies that it is in the same area of both files by checking for an identical symbolic address and proc...

Apparatus and method for determining how a computer program is performing by sampling the operative conditions of a number of operating elements of a computer, such as the elements of the processing unit and the memory thereof. The information obtained from such sampling can be used to establish whether the program is "waiting," "executing" or "actively computing." Thus, a review of this information can be used to determine if the computer is being adequately utilized by the program and, if not,...

The Fortran Execution Time Estimator (FETE) for software monitoring and performance evaluation is a three-step process. The first step accepts FORTRAN IV source programs and produces an edited file with counters and flags. The second step executes the edited file. After execution, the third step re-reads the edited file and correlates it with the final counter values to provide a listing. The executable statements are collected and appear in the listing beside the exact number of executions and ...

In a microprogram control system of the type comprising an electronic computer having a programmable interruption control unit and a debugging microprogram executed during interruption which permits single step execution of a user's microprogram. When an interruption is desired, a next address of a program to be debugged is saved in a storage device. After executing the interruption the program operation is returned to a single step operation.

Data pertaining to the operation of a signal-processing system are written in zones of a central read/write memory which are either permanently or temporarily allocated to respective peripheral units to be monitored and which are each divided into a plurality of phases accommodating multibit words. An interface unit, designed to read out the contents of one or more phases of a memory zone allocated to a chosen peripheral unit and to transfer them to a kinescope or a printer for visualization, in...

A hardware diagnostic system is utilized to gather data on the real-time operation of software programs in a multiprocessor computer system. The system is activated by request instructions planted in the processor's programs at those locations which the programmer wishes to monitor. Upon detecting one of the request instructions, the system acts essentially independent of processor control to gather information concerning when and which processor acted upon the request instruction. The processin...

An electronic computer is disclosed which includes microprogram memory in which a microinstruction is stored, a microaddress control unit for supplying an address to said memory and a register for holding a microinstruction read out of said microprogram memory, the contents of the microprogram memory are stored in the first section of the memory of the microprogram-testing apparatus. The second section of said memory is supplied with data for testing the microinstruction. While the microinstruct...

A computer has a software trap handling pointer for holding the storing location of the information saved in the memory. At the setting of a software trap, the information containing the content of the software trap handling pointer is saved in the memory by means of a stack mechanism, and a value indicating the saved location is stored in the software trap handling pointer. At the time of a software trap return, the information containing the content of the software trap handling pointer which ...