Logitech Modula-2

Description

A historically important Modula-2 compiler for 16 bit DOS and OS/2. Originally introduced in 1982 or 1983 as a DOS and CP/M-86 compiler but in 1984 as a DOS system including an editor, a mouse, a compiler, debugger and library, but the system previously existed as a DEC VAX application that could both produce native VMS applications and cross-compile code for DOS and CP/M, the VAX native version was sold until the shut-down of the M2 division and the cross compilation version continued to be sold as such for a few years after the introduction of the Logitech native 86 system.

The Multiscope division of Logitech was sold to Symantec in 1992 and they were really only interested in the debugger and shut down sales and development of the Modula-2 compiler shortly thereafter, although there was some minimal internal development to support the in-house use of the tool primarily as it was what the debugger and Time Line were written in. Some of the original developers in Switzerland founded their own company called Terra Datentechnik that offers compatible compilers and libraries to allow you to port Logitech M2 code to newer systems and offer a licensed version of the original DOS version of the compiler that has been updated.

1983 - Logitech Modula 2 advert

Logitech mouse

Being the first PC software that required a mouse the Logitech company ran into some problems finding a suitable product to mate with their software, mice had been announced for the PC but either not shipped or as a specialised piece of hardware costing prohibitively large amounts of money, also the editor had been developed with a three button mouse from a ETH Lilith system and most available mice only supported one or two. This left the company in something of a quandary, but they decided to have a mouse built for them that was a simplified, productionised version of the Lilith mouse, complete with an PC/XT bus interface card.

Everywhere the company showed their Modula-2 development system people started making inquires about the mouse and its availability as a separate item, Logitech scrambled to put together a developers kit and started to offer the mouse for sale, first as a a bus mouse but a little later with a serial connection that saw the controller moved into the mouse. The mouse became a bona fide hit as it was of a similar quality to existing mice but much cheaper, while a host of companies including Microsoft introduced mice in response to the Logitech mouse the latter remained the best seller for years, and was made unchanged well into the 90's. One factor in its relative success was the the company actually had a half decent and cheap developers kit while Microsoft et al. focused their development kits and drivers towards their own products only.

Over time the mice became a more important product line for the company than the development software and today the company's history omits any mention of their start as a software company.

Multiscope debugger

The Logitech company added an optional run-time debugger as an option to their system in late 1984, but previously it had been shipped with an source level debugger, much like the mouse system people were almost more interested in the run-time debugger for use with other development systems than with the Modula-2 system and after a couple of years the company introduced it as a separate product in the form of the Multiscope debugger. At the time the only other run-time debuggers available for the IBM PC were hardware based and thus expensive, the software based Multiscope therefore sold in large quantities.

Version

• Last known version: OS/2 v1.3W - DOS v4.0 - Note DOS and OS/2 version numbers not in synch.

Note that the company continued to sell and support the v3 branch after v4 came out.

• Version 2 introduced in late 85 or early 86 and instead of having to buy the whole system you could now buy it piecemeal with just the compiler retailing for USD 89 instead of 899 for the whole system.
• Version 1 introduced in 1984, previous to that compilers with 0.x version numbers had been sold.

License

• Commercial - OS/2 version discontinued, versions for DOS, VMS and Alpha Unix still available.

Links

• User manual for Version 1 - 1984
• A review of Logitec Modula-2 v0.3c
• A review of Logitech Modula-2/86 - From Software Review - 1986
• Logitech Mouse programmers toolkit manual - 1986

Author

• Logitech
• Symantec