HP NonStop G-Series - Manual (Page 24)

OSS Environment
A typical NonStop system on which the OSS environment has been installed includes workstations
connected to it by a local area network. While logged on to the NonStop system, users run Open
System Services by issuing the osh command at the TACL prompt.
For more details on system requirements and system configuration, refer to the Open System
Services Installation Guide and the Open System Services Management and Operations Guide.
For more information on running Open System Services and osh, see
Chapter 6 (page 85) .
OSS Device Support
The OSS environment supports most external devices indirectly through the Guardian environment.
Printers
Printing is requested by OSS print commands issued from the shell prompt. The print jobs are sent
to the spooler program in the Guardian environment. However, this is transparent to the user in
the OSS environment, and spooling and printing appear as though they were taking place from
the OSS environment.
Tape Drives
Open System Services does not directly support tape drives. Access to tape drives from Open
System Services is through the pax utility. See
Chapter 13 (page 151) for a discussion and examples
of the pax utility.
OSS Processes
OSS processes have some attributes that are different from those of Guardian processes. In Open
System Services, each process is assigned a process ID, which is a number that uniquely identifies
the process within the system.
An OSS process can also belong to a group, identified by a group ID. Processes in the same group
can be treated collectively. For example, all processes in a group that are active at the same time
receive the same job control signals.
For more information on OSS processes, refer to the Open System Services Programmer’s Guide;
also see
Chapter 11 (page 135) .
OSS and Open Computing Standards
Open System Services complies with several industry standards for open system computing that
were developed by public organizations having widespread industrial recognition: the X/Open
Company Limited, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).
The standards on which Open System Services is based are:
•
X/Open Common Applications Environment (CAE) Specifications
•
Information Technology—Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)—Part 1: System
Application Program Interface (API) [C Language]
•
Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)—System Application Program Interface (API) [C
Language]
•
Information Technology—Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)—Part 2: Shell and
Utilities
XPG4
X/Open Common Applications Environment (CAE) Specifications, also known as XPG4, covers
standardized software interfaces, including the systems calls, C library, and data interchange
24 Introduction to Open System Services