B.Sc.

CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure

UNIT - II

Operating System Structure

- Operating System Services

- User Operating System Interface
- System calls
- Types of System Calls

Operating System Services:

An operating system provides an environment for the execution of programs.
The specific services provided, differ from one operating system to another.

User and other system programs

GUI batch command line

User interface

System calls

Program I/O File communi Resource accounting

executio Operatio system cation allocation

Services Protection
Error And security
detection Operating system

Hardware

Fig: A view of operating system services.

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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure

1) User interface –
Almost all operating systems have a user interface (UI). One is a command line
interface (CLI), which uses text commands. Another is a batch interface, in which
commands and directives to control those commands are entered into files, and those
files are executed.
Most commonly a graphical user interface (GUI) is used. Here, the interface is a
window system with a pointing device to direct I/O, choose from menus, and make
selections and a keyboard to enter text.
2) Program execution –
The system must be able to load a program into memory and to run that program.
3) I/O operations –
A running program may require I/O, which may involve an I/O device.
4) File system manipulation –
Programs need to read and write files and directories. They also need to create
and delete them by name, search for a given file, and list file information.
5) Communications –
There are many situations in which one process needs to exchange information
with another process. Communications may be implemented via shared memory or
through message passing.
6) Error detection –
The operating system needs to be constantly aware of possible errors. Errors may
occur in the CPU and memory hardware, in I/O devices, and in the user program.
7) Resource allocation -
When there are multiple users or multiple jobs running at the same time, resources
must be allocated to each of them.
8) Accounting –
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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure
Which users use how much and what kinds of computer resources. This record
keeping may be used for accounting.
9) Protection and security –
Protection involves ensuring that all access to system resources is controlled. Security
of the system from outsiders is also important.

User Operating System Interface –

There are two fundamental approaches for users to interface with the operating
system. One technique is to provide a command line interface or command interpreter
that allows users to directly enter commands that are to be performed by the operating
system.
The second approach allows the user to interface with the operating system
via a graphical user interface or GUI.
1) Command Interpreter –
Some operating systems include the command interpreter in the kernel. Others,
such as Windows XP and UNIX, treat the command interpreter as a special program
that is running when a job is initiated.
The interpreters are also known as shells. For example, on UNIX and Linux
systems, there are several different shells a user may choose from including the Bourne
shell, C shell, Bourne – Again shell etc.
The main function of the command interpreter is to get and execute the next
user specified command. Many of the commands given at this level manipulate files:
create, delete, list, print, copy, execute, and so on.
There are two general ways in which these commands can be implemented.
In first approach, the command interpreter itself contains the code to execute the
command.
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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure
An alternative approach, the command interpreter does not understand the
command in any way; it just uses the command to identify a file to be loaded into
memory and executed. Thus, the UNIX command to delete a file; rm sample.txt. Would
search for a file called rm, load the file into memory, and execute it with the
parameter sample.txt.
2) Graphical User Interface –
A GUI allows provides a mouse based window and menu system as an interface.
A GUI provides a desktop where the mouse is moved to position its pointer on images,
or icons, on the screen that represent programs, files and directories.
Depending on the mouse pointer's location, clicking a button on the mouse can
invoke a program, select a file or directory – known as a folder – or pull down a menu
that contains commands.
The first GUI appeared on the Xerox Alto computer in 1973. However, graphical
interfaces became more widespread with the advent of Apple Macintosh computers in
the 1980s. Microsoft's first version of Windows – version 1.0 – was based upon a GUI
interface to the MS-DOS operating system.
Traditionally, UNIX systems have been dominated by command line interfaces,
although there are various GUI interfaces available. However, there has been
significant development in GUI designs from various open source projects such as K
Desktop Environment (or KDE).
The choice of whether to use a command line or GUI interface is mostly one of
personal preference. As a very general rule, many UNIX users prefer a commandline
interface as they
often provide powerful shell interfaces.
Alternatively, most Windows users are pleased to use the Windows GUI environment.

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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure
System Calls
A system call is a request by the user to the operating system to do something
on behalf of user. System calls provides an interface between running program and an
operating system.
Let's first use an example to illustrate how system calls are used: writing
a simple program to read data from one file and copy them to another file.

Acquire input file name Acquire output file name Open the input file

if file doesn't exist, abort Create output file

if file exists, abort Loop
Read from input file
Write to output file until read fails
Close input and output file
Write completion message to screen Terminate normally
Figure – Example of how system calls are used

The first input that the program will need is the names of the two files: the input
file and the output file. Once the two file names are obtained, the program must open
the input file and create the output file.
There are also possible error conditions for each operation. When the program
tries to open the input file, it may find that there is no file of that name. In these cases,
the program should print a message on the console and then terminate abnormally.
If the input file exists, then we must create a new output file. We may find that

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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure
there is already an output file with the same name. This situation may cause the
program to abort or we may delete the existing file and create a new one.
Now that both files are set up, we enter a loop that reads from the input file
and writes to the output file. Finally, after the entire file is copied, the program may
close both files, write a message to the console or window, and finally terminate
normally.

Types of System Calls:

Six major categories of system calls described as follows,
1) Process Control –
When a process is running its execution is stop either normally or abnormally.
If error occurs, then error massage is generated. We should able to control the
execution of the newly created processes by assigning priority or reset the attributes
of processes or sometimes terminate a created process. When the process is created,
we should wait for its execution.
When a process creates memory is allocated or process terminates allocated
memory is freed. System calls for the purpose of process control are as follows,
a. end, abort
b. load, execute
c. create process, terminate process
d. get process attributes, set process attributes
2) File Management –
We first need to be able to create and delete files. Either system call requires
the name of the file and perhaps some of the file's attributes.
Once the file is created, we need to open it and to use it. We may also read or
write.
Finally, we need to close the file, indicating that we are no longer using it.
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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure
File attributes include the file name, a file type, protection codes,
accounting information, and so on. Get file attribute and set file attribute are required
for this function. System calls for the purpose of file management are as follows,
a. create file, delete file
b. open, close
c. read, write
d. get file attributes, set file attributes
3) Device Management –
A process may need several resources to execute – main memory, disk drives,
access to files, and so on. If the resources are available, they can be granted, and control
can be returned to the user process.
Otherwise, the process will have to wait until sufficient resources are available.
System calls for the purpose of device management are as follows,
a. request device, release device
b. read, write
4) Information Management –
Many system calls exist simply for the purpose of transferring information
between the user program and the operating system. For example, most systems have
a system call to return the current time and date.
Other system calls may return information about the system, such as the number
of current users, the version number of the operating system, the amount of free
memory or disk space, and so on. System calls for the purpose of information
management are as follows,
a. get time or date, set time or date
b. get system data, set system data

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B.Sc. CS FY 23-24 UNIT II : Operating System Structure
5) Communication –
There are two common models of inter-process communication: the message
passing model and the shared memory model. System calls for the purpose of
communication are as follows,
a. create, delete communication connection
b. send, receive messages
c. transfer status information
6) Protection –
Protection provides a mechanism for controlling access to the resources
provided by a computer system. Typically, system calls providing protection include set
permission and get permission, which manipulates the permission settings of resources
such as files and disks.
The allow user and deny user system calls specify whether particular users can
or cannot be allowed access to certain resources. System calls for the purpose of
protection are as follows,
a. set permission or get permission
b. allow or deny user

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