Thanks to David Gesswein's software archive, we have
an image that is very close to the original DECtape
distribution media for focal8-177.  These files can 
be found in the image file foc71-omsi.tu56, or one
at a time in foc71-omsi/.  A catalog similar to the
one at the end of the DECUS write-up can be found in
foc71-omsi.dir.  I am not sure if FACTOR.FC was ever 
really distributed as described, but I have added 
the file FACTOR.FO to foc71-omsi/ if you need it.

The sys/ and dsk/ subdirectories of this directory
contain files related to the later version of PS/8
FOCAL.  These files are extracted from the SYS: and
DSK: partitions of "focal-ps8-src.rk05", a SIMH
compatible image of an RK05 pack imaged by Dave
McGuire in March of 2015.

When these files were extracted, it was necessary to convert 
the word-oriented image into byte-oriented storage for modern 
machines.  This is done by converting two 12 bit words to three 
8 bit characters as described on page A-4 of the OS/8 Software
Support Manual (DEC-S8-OSSMB-A-D).  Files containing 8 bit 
data are generally terminated with a ^Z (0232) code, since 
OS/8 records file length in blocks.  Note that this transform 
is lossless for 12 bit data (i.e., .SV files).

In addition, for file types known to be ASCII text (.PA, .HL,
.LS), the eight bit has been forced off, effecting a conversion
of these files to 7 bit ASCII, terminated by ^Z (0032).

I have additionally created a src/ directory which 
contains the files from foc71-omsi/, sys/, and dsk/
that are needed to assemble and verify the various
versions of PS/8 FOCAL. The *.ok files there are 
verified binaries.  I use them to double check the 
build, but they are also perfectly fine BIN format 
versions you can punch or load into a simulator.

Instructions for building and verifying the various 
versions of PS/8 FOCAL are encoded in the Makefile
in the src/ directory.  I use Cygwin, but any UNIX-
like environment with Perl and a C compiler should 
be able to build or run the stuff in src/tools.

Where possible, the convention is that if a file name and 
extension are upper case, the file is unchanged from the 
original.  Files which are generated or modified will have 
lowercase extensions.  For example, "EFLOTB.PA" is from the 
disk image, but "EFOCLB.pal" is generated by concatenating 
the necessary files to be assembled together.
 
If you wish to build in the native OS/8 environment,
the instructions for the new version can be found
in the source files named EFOC0*.PA.  Instructions
for the old version are in the DECUS write-up
(decus-focal8-177.pdf).

If you're just looking for something to run, the file
src/PFOCLC.ok is a BIN format file of the generic newer
version, as can also be found in sys/PFOCAL.SV.

Enjoy!

        Vince Slyngstad