Re: [TUHS] Origins and life of the pg pager

At Mon, 15 Jun 2020 07:03:53 -0700, Mary Ann Horton <mah(a)mhorton.net> wrote: Subject: Re: [TUHS] Origins and life of the pg pager There is a /usr/src/cmd/pg.c and /usr/bin/pg binary in Unix-32V, but no manual page. The pg.c I've seen has the date Nov. 5, 1978. It uses newline to proceed one page, '/' or control-Y to restart from the beginning, '-' or '_' to move back one page (via a 16kb buffer), and '!' to start a sub-shell. It prints 20 lines at a time with a formfeed between each page. The error message about failing to open a file is prefixed by "dk:" suggesting it may have had a different name at one point. There was also of course a pg.c on the 1980 and 1981 Usenix tapes, and on the 1983 tape a pg.1l manual page accompanies it. It was written by D. A. Gwyn starting sometime before June 1980. It is unique amongst programs called "pg". The pg.c in System V Release 2 has an sccsid of 1.5 (but no date), so may or may not have evolved from the one in 32V -- however it operates quite differently and the source doesn't appear to bear any noticeable resemblance. The source for this one remains quite recognizable in all System V derivatives, right up to OpenSolaris. -- Greg A. Woods <gwoods(a)acm.org> Kelowna, BC +1 250 762-7675 RoboHack <woods(a)robohack.ca> Planix, Inc. <woods(a)planix.com> Avoncote Farms <woods(a)avoncote.ca>