LOW COST COMPUTER WITH DISPLAY SCREENS

Press, 25 May 1977, Page 13

LOW COST COMPUTER WITH DISPLAY SCREENS

Ihe work station concept means that this new

small computer can he used by up to eight people simultaneously. The IBM System/34 was announced in New Zealand last month. It is a low cost computer with new display screens and printers designed for workstation use. A number of individuals can use the visual display keyboards at once though these “work-stations” may be in different parts of an office or manufacturing complex. For example, the machine can be operated simultaneously from the warehouse, sales counter, accounts department, and so on. This is all made possible because the user can attach to the main unit up to eight display stations and printers in any preferred combination. It is the machine’s multiprogramming capacity that makes the multiple use so straightforward. Each display station can be up to 1500 metres from the main system unit, except of course for the main system console itself which must be located within six metres of the main system unit.

The System/34 is designed to give the user immediate access to business information. It is intended as much for the first time user needing the benefit of the work station system, as for the larger user wanting to integrate the work station approach into an existing system. One of the major software programmes which comes with the system is the work station utility programme which enables the user to prepare screen formats, retrieve and update information held on the disk file, and edit keyed data. Thanks to the work station utility programme, all this can be achieved using simple, easily understandable English language. The programmes also include several methods for guiding the user through operational steps. The System/34 can handle data from its origin through to the printed invoice, statement, stock report, and statistical analysis. “The important thing to remember about this new machine,” commented 1.8. M. general systems support manager, Mr Graham Page, “is that up to

eight people can be using it at the same time. “In other words, the machine can be serving the warehouse, sales counter, purchasing department, credit control, payroll and production side all simultaneously.” Mr Page also underlined the machine’s interactive capacity: “this means that the machine can be replying to eight different work stations immediately it has received the enquiry.” The basic System/34 configuration consists of the 1.8. M. 5340 System Unit, one 1.8. M. 5251 Display Station as both operator console and work-sta-tion, and either the 1.8. M. 5256 or 5211 Printer. The maximum configuration is the system unit, the 5211 printer, and a "mix” of eight displays and printers. The 1.8. M. 5340 System Unit has 32K. 48K or 64K bytes of MOSFET main storage. It has an instruction cycle time of 600 nanoseconds. It houses the disc storage, a diskette drive, an instruction processor, the printer controller and workstation controller. System/34 has three different disc storage capacities, of sufficient size to enable most users to keep all their files on line. With one disc spindle System/34 can hold 8.6 or 13.2 M bytes; with the optional second spindle, 27.1 M bytes. Average access time for each disc is 40 milliseconds. The diskette unit is the means of data exchange with other systems and devices, such as the IBM 5230 Data Collection System and the IBM 3740 Data Entry System. When used in “extended format” a diskette can hold up to 303, 104 bytes of data. With the optional drive which writes to both sides of the diskette, and using

double-density’ diskettes, capacity is increased to 1212 K bytes. With an optional comi munications feature, the System/34 can communicate with another System/34, IBM System 32 System 3 or System/370 I computer, and the IBM 5230 Data Collection System and IBM 3740 Data Entry system, using Binary Synchronous discipline. Using Synchro- ■ nous Data Link Control (SDLC) System/34 can : communicate with System/370 computers. 1 The IBM System Support Programme Product for System/34 provides an input queue, output spool- ’ in g , overlapped input/output and processing, and multiple libraries for an effective multiprogramming environment. Programming support for , Svstem/34 includes RPGII, which can be used to pro- , gramme applications using the display stations, i for keyboard and console . support, screen formats . and communications programmes. Wo r k-station Utility i (WSU) is a Programme Product designed to reduce the programming required for data entry, edit, file , update, and recording of , data on fixed disc. Simple, understandable WSU . statements provide for screen formatting, field editing, retrieving and updating master file records, J extraction of fields from master files, field validity checking and enquiry. ; Assembler, Sort, Data File ; Utility and Scource Entry Utility, all available on System/32, can be used with System/34 as well. i Key to the announcement of System/34 is the ‘ IBM 5251 Display Station, i the user work-station. Up to eight 5251 s can be attached to the basic system, at up to 1500 metres from the system.