EMT 7101: Computer Applications in Engineering

Kego Kris
 DOS was a variant of CP/M (Control Program/Monitor)
which ran for the first time on IBM-PC in 1981
 It is called so because it resides on Floppy or Hard disk
and provides command level interface between user and
the computer hardware
 Though UNIX was a powerful operating system available,
it was not suitable for 8-bit 8086 microprocessor based
Personal Computers
 There was a need for a small operating system that could
work in 640K memory(RAM)
 The different versions of DOS have evolved over a period
of time
 Disk Operating System in abbreviated form as
DOS, refers to an operating system software used in
most computers that provides the abstraction and
management of secondary storage devices and the
information on them (e.g., file systems for organizing
files of all sorts)
 Such software is referred to as a disk operating
system when the storage devices it manages are
made of rotating platters, such as floppy disks or
hard disks
 An Operating System is a set of programs that
controls and coordinates the use of computer
hardware among various application programs
 It provides an environment within which user can
execute programs
 A computer can be divided into four components;
The hardware, the operating system, the applications
programs, the users
 It is the Kernel system that manages all the above
components.
 An application program interacts with the hardware only by
obeying rules and procedures programmed into the operating
system
 Executing an application program involves the creation of a
process by the operating system kernel
 Which assigns memory space and other resources
 Establishes a priority for the process in multi-tasking systems
 Loads program binary code into memory
 Initiates execution of the application program which then interacts
with the user and with hardware devices.
  A kernel connects the application software
to the hardware of a computer
KERNEL  The kernel provides the most basic level of
control over all of the computer's hardware
devices
 It manages memory access for programs in
the RAM
 It determines which programs get access to
which hardware resources
 It sets up or resets the CPU's operating
states for optimal operation at all times
 It organizes the data for long-term non-
volatile storage with file systems on such
media as disks, tapes, flash memory, etc.
 The various functions of the operating system are
 Controlling Input/Output devices (Keyboard, Mouse,
Monitor, Printer, Plotter etc..)
 Memory and File storage management
 CPU Scheduling and controlling processes
 Loading, initiating, executing and supervising user
applications programs
 Handling errors and restarting
 Providing command interface between user and computer
system
 When the computer is switched on, the firmware
program in Read Only Memory (ROM), also
called Basic Input-Output System(BIOS) reads
programs/data in the Operating System and loads
it into memory (RAM)
 This process is known Bootstrapping(Booting)
 The OS once loaded takes control of the
computer, handles user interaction and executes
application programs
 During Booting process, computer loads the
operating system into its memory
 DOS booting involves reading following files
into memory namely
 IO.SYS
 MSDOS.SYS
 COMMAND COM
 The Basic Input/Output Program (IO.SYS)
 This program provides interface between the hardware devices and
software of the system. It takes care of the keyboard input, character
output to monitor, output to printer and time of the day
 The File and Disk Manager Program (MSDOS.SYS)
 It contains the file management and the disk buffering management
capabilities. It keeps track of all the disk access of an application
program and remains permanently in memory
 The Command Processor (COMMAND.COM)
 It is also called command interpreter. It is the program that displays
the system prompt and handles user interface by executing the
command typed in by the user using keyboard.
 The CONFIG.SYS file
 This file contains reference to device drivers which
are loaded when OS takes control of the computer
 This device drivers are required for configuring
operating system for running special devices
 The AUTOEXEC.BAT file
 This is a special batch program that is automatically
executed when the system is started
 It can be used to define keys, define the path that MS-
DOS uses to find files, display messages on the screen etc
 It will be executed only if it exists in the root directory or
the diskette from which the system is loaded
 Each time the system is started, MS-DOS executes the
commands stored in AUTOEXEC.BAT file
 One can run it without restarting the system by typing
AUTOEXEC at the command prompt
 The user can store data or programs on secondary storage
devices called Hard disk or Floppy disk
 Physically, disks store data by recording any pattern of
magnetic changes on using a tiny read-write head that moves
over the surface
 Disk is divided into sectors and tracks
 The first two characters of alphabet (a: or b:) are reserved for
Floppy disks
 Hard disks are identified by characters (c:) or (d:)
 The next character in the sequence is assigned to Compact
Disk (CD-ROM) drive further the network drives connected to
the system are assigned the remaining characters
 It is a special type of file that contains other files
 The relation between files, directories and disk is
very similar to the relation between papers, filing
folders and filing cabinets
 The hierarchy in which directories are kept is
called a tree structure.
 Information or data is stored on a disk in the form of a file
 When storing any file, it must be given a unique name, which
can be used for subsequent identification/reference
 Filenames should not be longer than 8 characters, can have an
extension which should not be longer than 3 characters
 Following characters are valid in a filename : A to Z , a to z, 0
to 9, !,@#$%&(){}_-\’.
 Different files are identified by their extensions
 Files which have extension EXE, COM, BAT are executable
files
 Extensions TXT, DOC, BAK, BAS, C represent text file,
Documentation (MS-Word) file, Backup file, basic program
file, C program file respectively
 A file with an executable “file extension” means that the
file format supports some ability to run an automatic task
 This is in contrast to other file formats that simply display
data, play a sound or video, etc
 In other words, if you open a file with one of these file
extensions, your computer could, without your continued
permission, run one or more operations programmed into
that file
 Those additional operations would be welcome if you were
to run a program setup for a free software program
 To retrieve and identify file, we can use its
specific name or may refer to it with the help of
wildcards which can even refer to entire group of
files
 There are two wild card symbols
 Asterisk (*) indicates that any or a one valid character
can occupy that position or of the remaining positions
in the filename or extension,
 Question mark (?) means that any one valid character
can occupy that position.
 Switching on of the computer from Power off and
loading the operating system is called "Cold Boot“
 This generally starts with memory test and chips
initialization.
 There may be case when the computer is already on
or has hanged up and we want to reboot the system
 This is known as "Warm Boot" and is done by pressing
ctrl+alt+del keys simultaneously or just by pressing
"Reset" button on the system.
 Any instruction given to the computer to perform a specific task is
called command
 The commands are of two types :
 Internal Commands :
 These are in built commands of MS-DOS i.e. these are stored in Command
interpreter file (COMMAND.COM).
 These commands reside in the memory as long as the machine is at he
system prompt(C:\>) level
 To use these commands no extra /external file is required. E.g. DATE,
TIME, DIR, VER etc
 External commands
 These are separate program (.com) files that reside in DOS directory and
when executed behave like commands
 An external command has predefined syntax. for e.g. HELP, DOSKEY,
BACKUP, RESTORE, FORMAT etc.
 DIR : To list all or specific files of any directory on a specified disk
 MD : To make directory or subdirectory on a specified disk/drive
 CD or CHDIR : Change DOS current working directory to specified
directory on specified disk or to check for the current directory on the
specified or default drive
 RMDIR or RD : Removes a specified sub-directory only when it is
empty. This command cannot remove root directory (C:\) or current
working directory
 TREE : Displays all of the directory paths found on the specified drive
 PATH : Sets a sequential search path for the executables files, if the
same are not available in the current directory
 SUBST : Substitutes a string alias for the pathname and creates a virtual
drive
 COPY : Copies one or more files from source disk/drive to the specified
disk/drive
 XCOPY : Copies files and directories, including lower-level directories
if they exists
 DEL : Removes specified files from specified disk/drive
 REN : Changes the name of a file(Renaming)
 ATTRIB : Sets or shows file attributes (read, write, hidden, Archive)
 BACKUP : Stores or back up one or more files/directories from source
disk/drive to other destination disk/drive
 RESTORE : Restores files that were backed up using BACKUP
command
 EDIT : Provides a full screen editor to create or edit a text file
 FORMAT : Formats a disk/drive for data storage and use
 TIME : sets or displays the system time
 DATE : Sets or displays system date
 TYPE : Displays the contents of at the specified
file
 PROMPT : Customizes the DOS command
prompt
 If a users requires help on any DOS commands
he/she may type help and command name at the
command prompt
 Stallings (2005). Operating Systems, Internals and Design Principles. Pearson: Prentice Hall.
p. 6.
 Dhotre, I.A. (2009). Operating Systems. Technical Publications. p. 1.
 "Operating System Market Share". Net Applications.
 Silberschatz Galvin Gagne (2012). Operating Systems Concepts. New York: Wiley. ISBN
 978-1118063330.
 Hansen, Per Brinch, ed. (2001). Classic Operating Systems. Springer. pp. 4–7. ISBN 0-387-
95113-X.
 Ritchie, Dennis. "Unix Manual, first edition". Lucent Technologies. Retrieved 22 November
2012.
 "Apple introduces mac OS X Maverick's at WWDC". YouTube. TechandPlayTV. June 10,
2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
 "OS X Mountain Lion – Move your Mac even further ahead". Apple. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
QUESTIONS ?