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 made by
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
. 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 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
Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...
, with some
assembly language
In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...
and some of the old SPL code.
In 1992, the OS name was changed to MPE/iX to indicate
Unix interoperability with the addition of
POSIX 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
The command, also known as (change directory), is a command-line shell command used to change the current working directory in various operating systems. It can be used in shell scripts and batch files.
Implementations
The command has been ...
* COPY
* DEBUG
In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving '' bugs'' (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems.
Debugging tactics can involve int ...
* ECHO
* ELSE
* EXIT
* FORTRAN
* HELP
Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* '' ...
* IF
* PASCAL
Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...
* PRINT
* RENAME
Rename may refer to:
* Rename (computing), rename of a file on a computer
* RENAME (command), command to rename a file in various operating systems
* Rename (relational algebra)
In relational algebra, a rename is a unary operation written as \r ...
* SH
* WHILE
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
Proprietary operating systems
1974 software
{{operating-system-stub