MPE (Multi-Programming Executive) is a discontinued business-oriented
mainframe computer
A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...
real-time operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
made by
Hewlett-Packard. While initially a mini-mainframe, the final high-end systems supported 12
CPUs and over 2000 simultaneous users.
Description
It runs on the
HP 3000 family of computers, which originally used HP custom
16-bit
16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors.
A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...
stack architecture
In computer science, computer engineering and programming language implementations, a stack machine is a computer processor or a virtual machine in which the primary interaction is moving short-lived temporary values to and from a push down s ...
CISC CPUs and were later migrated to
PA-RISC
PA-RISC is an instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Hewlett-Packard. As the name implies, it is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, where the PA stands for Precision Architecture. The design is also referred to a ...
where the operating system was called MPE XL.
In 1983, the original version of MPE was written in a language called SPL (
System Programming Language). MPE XL was written primarily in
Pascal, with some
assembly language and some of the old SPL code.
In 1992, the OS name was changed to MPE/iX to indicate
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
interoperability with the addition of
POSIX
The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines both the system- and user-level application programming inte ...
compatibility. The discontinuance of the product line was announced in late 2001, with support from HP terminating at the end of 2010. A number of 3rd party companies still support both the hardware and software.
In 2002 HP released the last version MPE/iX 7.5.
Commands
Among others, MPE/iX supports the following list of common
commands
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
* ...
and programs.
MPE/iX Commands Reference Manual - HP 3000 MPE/iX Computer Systems - Edition 11
/ref>
* =SHUTDOWN
* BASIC
BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
* CHDIR
* COPY
* DEBUG
* ECHO
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the li ...
* ELSE
* EXIT
* FORTRAN
* HELP
* IF
* PASCAL
* PRINT
Printing is the process for reproducing text and images using a master form or template
Print or printing may also refer to:
Publishing
* Canvas print, the result of an image printed onto canvas which is often stretched, or gallery-wrapped, o ...
* RENAME
* SH
* WHILE
''While'' is a word in the English language that functions both as a noun and as a subordinating conjunction. Its meaning varies largely based on its intended function, position in the phrase and even the writer or speaker's regional dialec ...
See also
* HP 3000
References
External links
Allegro Consultants, Inc.
Free HP 3000 Software, MPE Software Support
Beechglen Development Inc.
MPE Software Support
HP MPE/iX homepage
openMPE
Advocates of continued MPE and IMAGE source code access beyond 2010
Discontinued operating systems
Multi-Programming Executive
MPE (Multi-Programming Executive) is a discontinued business-oriented mainframe computer real-time operating system made by Hewlett-Packard. While initially a mini-mainframe, the final high-end systems supported 12 CPUs and over 2000 simultane ...
Proprietary operating systems
1974 software
{{operating-system-stub