Oracle V4.1.4 for RSX-11MPlus

A brief history.
ORACLE version 4.1.4 for Digital Equipment Corporation's RSX-11M+ was released mid 1985. It was the first release of the ORACLE rdbms which did support multi version read consistency and full ACID compliancy, where V3.1.3 and V2.3 did not.
The distribution kit (a RL02 diskpack) became mine when I got ownership of the PDP-11/24 from Oracle Europe. A more detailed story about this can be read in the history section of the oracle v2.3 page.
The kit was converted to a container file, useable under SIMH in 2010.
A problem I faced however, was that the software, altough the installation did go without problems, the runtime execution of it was unexpectedly extremely slow.

For example, just the basic database initialisation took nearly a full hour, using a computer 3+GHz processor running Linux.
Not having a good understanding of the internals of RSX, I left it as it was, with the idea, 'maybe later'....

That 'maybe later' became reality during September 2024.
I had an email exchange with Johnny Billquist (yes that guy who did write the new and free to use TCP/IP stack for RSX-11M+) on something I wanted to know, and during that conversation I brought up the matter of the really bad performance of this V4 software.
Johnny kindly offered 'to have a look into it', so a copy of the container file was sent to him, not expecting much else other than 'It's going to take a while...', as he is a very busy man.

But, sometimes, little wonders do happen. As Johnny was able to make it happen, by having a deep knowledge of the internals of RSX. 3 Major improvements were made, 2 of them by just changing the task build command files, the 3rd improvement required an understanding how the low level communication mechanism between the user and the Oracle kernel task was handled.
With the help of a good disassembler, some knowledge of the internals (RSX and Oracle input from me) and several hours of putting the thinking cap on, a rewrite was done of a handfull of these low level functions.
The net effect of these improvements? Well, instead of taking nearly 1 hour to do a basic database initialisation, it now 'just' takes 10 seconds....

Where a full build of a demo database (i.e basic init, loading the catalog, the demo data, the UFI online help and the CRT definitions) took originally over 3 hours, it now it less than a minute.

For comparison, the same sequence executed on a real PDP-11/94 took nearly 20 minutes. That amount of time was what we used to see back in those days with the hardware of that era.

Instructions.
It is assumed that the container file is attached in SIMH as rl0.

Create a privileged account, suggested is [4,10] or [ORACLE] if you
want to use a named directory :
      create/dir du0:[4,10] or create/dir du0:[ORACLE]
      set def du0:[4,10] or set def du0:[ORACLE]

Mount the distribution RL02 pack :
      allocate dl0:
      mount/public dl0:oraclev4

Copy the code to the system disk :
      copy dl0:[4,200]*.* *.*

Unmount the distribution disk :
      dismount dl0:

Build the Oracle software :
      @orbld

  (When the build script asks the device, specify du0:, assuming you are 
   using either Johnny's or Mark Matlock's disk image on your PiDP-11/70.)

Two scripts are created, 'insoracle.cmd' and 'remoracle.cmd'.
The 'insoracle.cmd' is typically used from lb:[1,2]startup.cmd and
loads the ORACLE sofware into memory. Whereas 'remoracle.cmd' is typically
called from lb:[1,2]shutup.cmd' for an orderly removal of the software
from memory before system shutdown..

Furthermore, a global logical named 'sys$oracle is created and points
towards the install directory.

To make the Oracle HELP file part of the HELP system, edit 
lb:[1,1]dcl.hlp and lb:[1,2]mcr.hlp. Add the name 'ORACLE' to the
keyword section, and '1 ORACLE' to the end of the file, followed by
'@ORACLE' on the next line.

See the F.A.Q.
However, if you have one of these 3 manuals who do fit in a matching cube, let me know!
As long as this request is here, I don't have the cube :(

This F.A.Q. may expand as time passes.

Q: When was Oracle V4.1.4 for RSX11M+ released?
A: Early June 1985.

Q: Are there additions compared to the original distribution?
A: Yes. Besides some textual improvements, I also have added a HELP file which
   will get installed in LB:[1,1].
   You only need to add the reference to it in both LB:[1,1]MCR.HLP and
   LB:[1,1]DCL.HLP, as well as an entry in the keyword overview (can be found
   in the top part of the DCL/HLP / MCR.HLP file.

Q: Is there a size limit for the SGA?
A: Yes, the total SGA cannot exceed 64Kb period. The parameter file which comes
   with the distribution should be however sufficient for general use.

Q: Can I build my own program that works with ORACLE?
A: Yes. The 'High Level Interface' is available and is placed in ocicee.obj.
   Use ceetkb.cmd to build your own program with it, see sample.c for some
   additional information.
   For the C pre-compiler, see samplec.pc for additional information.
   Note : Only Whitesmith's C is supported for C based programs.

Q: What is the maximum size of a database?
A: Probably 2Gb, but try it out.

Q: The 'host' command seems to be missing?
A: At the 'UFI>' prompt, use a '$', immediately followed by the command to
   be executed, f.e. '$DIR *.UFI'

Q: The AIJ (After Image Journalling) utility seems to be missing. Is that
   correct?
A: Yes. The original release notes (see V4SHIP.REL) states that due to bugs,
   the AIJ functionality would be fixed in the V4.2 release. I have excluded
   it from this distribution.

Q: Can I run multiple instances?
A: No. This is due to the fixed naming used for the SGA.

Q: Does it have network support?
N: No. SQL*Net V1 started with Oracle V5.0.

Q: I'm using a SIMH based PDP11 on a PiDP-11/70, is there a speed difference?
A: Absolutely. Your machine may use a 3GHz+ processor, whereas a real PDPP-11
   processor did run at 10 - 20 MHz.

Q: What can i use this software for?
A: That is for you to decide. Maybe a database with cooking recipies,
   or an inventory of your vintage computing spare parts?

Q: Which tools are available?
A: Use 'HELP ORACLE' (if MCR.HLP and DCL.HLP are modified) from MCR or DCL.

Q: Is there a V4 documentation set available?
A: 1 - see the question above this one.
   2 - if the online help is also loaded into the database, use the 'help'
       command when logged in into UFI.
   3 - Paper documentation may still exists, but not available to me (yet).
   4 - If you happen to have an Oracle V4 for MS-DOS documentation cube,
       then 95% of it will be applicable (and let me know!).
       Also, much of the Oracle V5.0/5.1 rdbms manual will be compatible
       (to an extent) with V4.1.

Q: Which program is / does what?
A: After a sucessful build, you will find the following task files :

   BSI.TSK     (Basic Sql Interface) - a simplified UFI implementation
   CCF.TSK     (Create Contiguous File) - to create database files
   CRT.TSK     (CReate Terminal) - to create the terminal file.
   EXP.TSK     (EXPort) - to export data
   FSF.TSK     (FaSt Form) - simplified IAG implementation
   IAG.TSK     (Interactive Application Generator) - to generate screen apps
   IAP.TSK     (Interactive Application Processor) - to execute a screen app
   IMP.TSK     (IMPort) to import previously exported data
   IOR.TSK     (Initialize ORacle) - to init, start or stop the database
   OER.TSK     (Oracle ERror) to display the message for a given error code
   ODL.TSK     (Oracle Data Loader) - to load flat file data
   ODS.TSK     (Oracle Display System) - to monitor locks, processes and more
   ORAFSC.TSK  (ORAcle Fixed Statement Cache) - holds the internal SQL
   ORAOV1.TSK  (ORAcle OVerlay 1) - overlay 1 of the kernel
   ORAOV2.TSK  (ORAcle OVerlay 2) - overlay 2 of the kernel
   ORAOV3.TSK  (ORAcle OVerlay 3) - overlay 3 of the kernel
   ORAOV4.TSK  (ORAcle OVerlay 4) - overlay 4 of the kernel
   ORAOV5.TSK  (ORAcle OVerlay 5) - overlay 5 of the kernel
   ORAROO.TSK  (ORAcle ROOt) - root overlay of the kernel
   ORL.TSK     (ORacle Loader) - loads the kernel into memory
   OTS.TSK     (Oracle TaSk) - task entrypoint for the kernel
   PCC.TSK     (PreCompiler) -ORACLE C  pre-compile (EXEC SQL commands)
   RPF.TSK     (RePort Formatter) - to format the input to a specified format
   RPT.TSK     (RePorT generator) - to generate the RPF output with data
   SGADEF.TSK  (System Global Area DEFiniton) - common to hold the fixed SGA
   SGADMP.TSK  (System Global Area DuMP) - show data from the variable SGA part.
   SGI.TSK     (System Global area Information) - to see the settings for IOR
   UFI.TSK     (User Friendly Interface) - interactive user tool.