Rick Fochtman wrote: >Unless you're a serious masochist, I suggest you drop that line >of inquiry. None of the HLL's support the Vector Processor so you're >stuck using Assembler Language if you want to use it.
That's not really true. For example, there was the IBM Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library (ESSL) Vector and Scalar/370 software. That software provided a library of mathematical functions you could call from FORTRAN, C, PL/I, APL2, or Assembler programs on MVS or VM. It was also supported for the languages that ran on AIX/ESA. Program number was 5688-226, and it was withdrawn from marketing in 2001. VS FORTRAN Version 2 (not sure which release) also had some automatic vector support of its own. The Vector Facility for 3090s was announced on October 1, 1985. Announcement letter 185-121 is still available on IBM's announcements Web site (http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi). At the time you could rent your first Vector Facility for a list price of $30,830 per month and any subsequent VFs for $19,170 per month. The purchases prices were $370,000 and $230,000, respectively. All prices are in 1985 dollars, of course. Before that there was the IBM 3838 Array Processor which ran (eventually) the Vector Processing Subsystem (VPSS)/XA. I think the 3838 debuted in 1976 or 1977. Your VPSS stuff could run on the VFs using (what else) VPSS/VF. VPSS/XA was IBM Program Number 5665-301. VPS/XA also supported FORTRAN, at least. And before *that* there was the IBM 2938 Array Processor which you attached to your System/360. By the way, you could think of today's zEnterprise BladeCenter Extension (zBX) as a mainframe vector processor...plus lots of other capabilities. - - - - - Timothy Sipples Resident Enterprise Architect Value Creation & Complex Deals Team IBM Growth Markets (Based in Singapore) E-Mail: [email protected] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
