Owner's manual

to the Guardian environment. The function of some OSS commands has been extended from
ordinary UNIX usage to allow interoperability with the NonStop operating system.
For more information about OSS commands and utilities, see Chapter 4 (page 53), the Open
System Services Shell and Utilities Reference Manual, and the online reference pages.
The OSS Utilities product (OSSUTIL – T8626 ) provides the essential OSS user commands and
utilities. Beginning with the J06.14 and H06.25 RVUs, the OSS Core Utilities product (T1202)
provides additional Open Source utilities. For information about the OSS Core Utilities, see OSS
Core Utilities User Commands (page 185).
Access to HP Software
Open System Services gives you access to the following types of HP software:
• The NonStop operating system
• The Guardian API, which includes a file system, process control, sockets, FORTRAN, COBOL,
C, and C++
• The OSS API, which includes a file system, process control, sockets, COBOL, C, and C++
• Other software, such as HP NonStop SQL/MX
The OSS API and programming in the OSS environment are described in the following OSS
manuals:
• Open System Services System Calls Reference Manual
• Open System Services Library Calls Reference Manual
• Open System Services Programmer’s Guide
OSS Reference Pages
Each OSS user command, utility, function, C run-time call, and file format is described in a separate
document called a “reference page.” These reference pages, sometimes known as “man (manual)
pages,” are the core of the reference documentation for Open System Services. They are accessible
through the man command.
For more information about the man command, see OSS Commands and Utilities (page 53), and
the Open System Services Shell and Utilities Reference Manual.
OSS and UNIX
Open System Services is based on the X/Open CAE Specifications, which incorporate the POSIX.1
and POSIX.2 standards, among other guidelines. Both POSIX.1 and POSIX.2 are based on UNIX
standards. Thus, the OSS environment and its features greatly resemble a UNIX environment. Open
System Services, however, is not strictly an interface based on the UNIX environment—it offers
NonStop fundamentals as well as interoperability with the Guardian environment as important
value-added extensions.
NOTE: A UNIX system and POSIX are not synonymous terms; a UNIX system is a complete
operating system while POSIX is a system interface.
OSS and the NonStop Operating System
As shown in Figure 2, the OSS environment coexists with the Guardian environment rather than
simply sitting on top of it.
22 Introduction to Open System Services