MDBS DATA BASE DESIGN REFERENCE MANUAL

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(1).. MDBS DATA BASE DESIGN REFERENCE MANUAL. The MDBS DDL MANUAL Version. Micro. Data P.. Lafayette,. Base O.. 3.08. Systems,. Box. Indiana. Inc.. 248 47902. USA. Telex:. (312). 209147. 303-6300. December. ISE. UR. (in Illinois). 1985. Copyright Notice This entire. employees. Inc . , and agreement. (C). and is provided for the use of the customer the customer ' s been Base Systems, have by Data copyrighted entire Micro contents reproduction by any means is prohibited except as permitted in a written with yicro Data Base Systems, Inc. manual. The. COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base. Systems,. Inc.. Rev.. 85A 3250321.

(2) NEW. Any. programming. RELEASES,. endeavor. necessarily continue Base Systems, Inc., version for a nominal. VERSIONS,. AND. magnitude over time.. of the. to evolve vows to. provide handling fee.. its. A WARNING. of the MDBS software will Realizing this, Micro Data users with updates to this. versions of MDBS software will be considered as separate products. bona fide owners of previous versions are generally entitled However, a preferential to rate structure. New. of our software is personalized to identify the some of licensee. several levels of this personalization, which involve encryption methods guaranteed to be combinatorially Our products have been produced with a very decipher. difficult to investment of to say nothing of the substantial capital and labor, base management of involvement in data area by our the years prior we Accordingly, seriously about any concerned principals. are unauthorized copying of our products and will take any and all available legal action against illegal copying or distribution of our products.. Finally,. (C). each copy There are. COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc..

(3) PREFACE By the mid-1960s, application developers were well aware of the data handling limitations of programming languages and file management overcome these limitations, data base management systems approaches By 1971, to data base four major appear. had shallow-network, the hierarchical, taken shape: approaches to logical data structuring relational, and CODASYL-network Each and manipulation. represented an advance over the old offered oriented data handling methods and the latter two approaches data base management advances over the former two. By the mid-1970s, software was well established as the cornerstone for application and some mini computers. development on mainframes. systems. began to management. To. file-. microcomputers end with their of the decade, computing began basis -power dollar on a per to The mainframe data base acceptance management systems of proliferate. coupled with the rise of microcomputers led to the formation of Micro Data Systems Base in both Incorporated by a group with expertise make The qerl.|1ine base management objective data was to areas. in tools available in the micro realm. This objective was and viable data 1979 with the release OE MDBS I authentic the -- microcomputers. base management system (dbms) for Over the years, MDBS has which into the only on evolved not present operates this The evolution of many microcomputers but on larger machines as well.. the. Near phenomenal. --. initial. fulfilled. first III. built-inIII. logging ábms, postrelational under. with micro dbms first a implementation of recovery, first full dbms dbms, multiuser micro run to first first UNIX.. with is highlighted and. MDBS. PCDOS,. Today,. many. firsts:. MSDQS. and. MDBS. III offers professional flexibility. application. developers. a. degree unavailable with any other data base of power and management software be This is micros, on or mainframes. -- highly efficient, minis implementation proprietary to the partially due MDBS techniques. is not a mainframe retread shoehorned into- a data modeling microcomputer. also due to the innovative is MDBS these Because features that provides. features go far beyond MDBS those the data base management approaches, of older is variously referred to as postrelational multiarchical or extendedor The emphasis in this approach network. to data base management is on the The result application world. natural representation of direct, As a tremendous increase in developer productivity. stated in the is QÉ Patabase Wtd ge.neratjon; A.rt Repnrt authoritative the the State (ed. D.j.L. Gradwell, Pergamon England, 1982): press, Oxford,. it. It III. III. "The. III. data modelling capability of MDBS is superior to any other commercially available DBMS." MDBS is DBMSs." "... a product ahead of mainframe that is, in many ways, (D.J.L. Gradwell). All. of application. III III. this translates system. and into convenience developers and administrators.. productivity. for. .. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems,. Inc.. ". Rev.. 85A.

(4) R&D Lab's expertise in the areas of decision support systems and artificial intelligence has resulted in two unique One environments for processing MDBS data bases. is aa decision environment KnowledqeMan. called support functions as universal knowledge management system, allowing usersIt to tepresent and process knowledge in many different ways spreadsheets, text, -- including graphics, forms, procedural models, relational data ba3es, and The second is a revolutionary data bases. postrelational MDBS makes the intelligence environment called Guru. artificial of both expert system technology and natural language benefits processing easily accessible to business users, without sacrificing familiar business computing capabilities.. The. MDBS. III. III. It. This manual provides an introductory overview of application development with Í4DBS III. in detail on the It then concentrates Data Description Language. features and utilization of the MDBS Companion manuals discuss the MDBS Data Manipulation Language and modules. manual. various optional This III is a reference is For a tutorial treatment of therefore not intended to be a tutorial. (explaining data base management value, characteristics, and advantages), the reader is advÍsed toits consult such suitable references. III. It. as:. I. 2. 3. 4.. Micro Database Manaqement - Practical by R.H. Bonczek, cation Development. Techniques.. et.. al.,. flor Appli536 pages,. Academic Press, New York, 1984. PC Tech journal, "A perspective on Data Models," Vol. 2, No. 1984. "Micros Get Mainframe Data Scheme," SYstems and Software, Vol. 3, No. 5, 1984. Database Management "Uniting Relational and Postrelational 1984. Tools", SYstems and Software, Vol. 3, No.. l,. li,. provides the most definitive coverage to date of with the approach, comparing and contrasting the base That book also includes data management approaches. older four usageQ through your extensive examples of MDBS is available It MDBS, For many from local bookstore, from the publisher, Inc. orMDBS seminars has the Company training offered practical in years, III major cities and at customer sites. The. first reference postrelational. it. III. does not stop with Inc. commitment to customer success The and Company offers a full software innovation, quality support. and range of consulting application development services to clients through regional offices in the Dallas, Chicago and New York offices. Services include: The. l. 2.. NIDBS,. Customized. application. Customized application and/or. KnowledgeMan 3.. Rexiu. 85A. systems. Communications. (C). the. interfaces. COPYRIGHT. design. systems MDBS. III. development using Guru, tools. including mainframe-micro. 1981. Micro. Data. links. Base Systems,. Inc..

(5) 4.. Special specific. training. application. on. a. wide. systems,. of topics including variety MDBS programming,. III. C. and Guru usage. 5.. General consulting including hardwarekofitware recommendations. feasibility. usage,. studies. and. experienced professional staff handles consulting and application and development needs of some OE the world's largest corporations has developed very extensive micro application governments. systems in such diverse areas as cash management, strategic planning, human resources and administration, waste disposal management, distributed service support. In many cases, these application systems have involved multiuser processing or mainframe-micro links.. Tííe. It. and KnowledgeMan are registered trademarksMenuof Base Systems, Guru, Screen Maker and Incorporated. trademarks of Micro Data Base Systems, Inc. MDBS. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. Micro Data Builder are. Rev.. 85A.

(6) MDBS. DDL. MDBS. MANUAL. MANUAL. DDL. ~. Table of Contents PREFACE CHAPTER A. B.. I. OVERVIEW . . . Manual Organization.. Introduction. to. . .. . .. Modules. III MDBS. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. MDBS Software . Data Base Design d. . . . . E. Access Languages . . . . F Data Integrity Facilities. . G. Data Security Faci1ities . Tuning FacijHties. Performance H. Multiuser Processing . . . . . MDBS and Screen Maker. . . K MDBS and KnowledgeMan: Decision Support . MDBS and Guru: L. Systems Expert . . . . . m. Summary of the MDBS Data Description Language Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER II. DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES . . . . . A. Data Base Areas and Pages. . . . . . . . . . The Logical Structure of an MDBS Data Base . B. C Types and Sizes of Data Items. . . . . . . . . D Controlling Record Placement . . . . . . . . . E. Data Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. .. I.. j.. F. .. III III III. Miscellaneous.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. CHAPTER III. MDBS.DDL SPECIFICATIONS . . . . A. Notational Conventions . . . . . . . . . DDL Sections B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER IV. DATA SECURITY, . . . . . . . . . Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. B. Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Access Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER V. DATA INTEGRITY. . . . . . . . . . A. Preventing Unauthor ized Changes. . . . . Fixed Set Retention. . . . . . . . . . . B. C. Duplicate Key' Exclusion. . . . . . . . . D Irivalid Dates and Times prohibited . . . . E. Feasibility Range Specification. . . . . F Data Base Recovery and Transaction Logging . CHAPTER VI. USING THE MDBS.DDL SOFTWARE . MDBS.DDL A. Usage Program. Interactive of the The Interactive B. Modes of Operation . . . C MDBS.DDL. Batch Usage of . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER VII. DDL ANALYZER "MESSAGES . . . .. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. and. Rev.. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1. l. 2 3 6 2. 8. 8.6 8.7 8.7 8.8 8.8. .li. 8 8. .13. 8. .14 9 9. li 21 23 24 24 25 25 29 51 51 51 51 57 57 57 58 58 58 60 61 61 64. 76. .. 85A. .l. 77. i.

(7) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. ... FIGURES Software Examples of. Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the Three Kinds of Relationships between a Pair of Record Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Examples of the Three Kinds of Recursive Relationships Involving a Single Record Type. . . . . . . . . . . Examples of Some Forked Relationships . . . . . . . . Using the MDBMDDL Module . . . . . . . © . . . . . . Using the MDBS.DMS Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Areas and Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Sample Logical Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . System-owned Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Recursive Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple Member Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple Owner Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sample DDL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sample DDL-Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. I-l. I-2.. MDBS. I-3. I-4. I-5. I-6. ll-l. ÍI-2. II-3. II-4. II-5. II-6.. III-I. IIÍ-2.. Notation. III-3. IV-l.. Using. .. .. .. . .. . .. MDBS.DDL.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . G. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . .. 6 8 8 8. 8.1 8.3 10. 12 18 19 19 20 26. 27-28 . .. 29 62. TABLES Types of Data Items . . . . . . . . . Read and Write Access . . . . . . . . Minimum Lower Bounds and Maximum Upper F'easibil: ity Ranges. . . . . . . . .. II-I. IV-l.. V-l.. APPENDICES AB. C.. Lata Description Language Keywords. . MDBS Data Description Language Syntax Maximums and Minimums in a DDL Source Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . Defaults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX. D. E. F. G. H.. APPENDIX APPENDIX. INDEX. ii. Figure. Rev.. .. 85A. .. .. IIÍ-2. .. .. . .. .. .. .. of Control. Flow. j. .. Item. MDBS.CNV.. I.. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. Range Examples. . . . . . . Estimating Data Base Sizes. . . . . . e G . . . . . . . . List of QRS Keywords. Alternative Layout for DDL Specification Data. .. .. .. (C). . . . . . . When. .. .. COPYRIGHT. .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. Using. 1981. . . . . . . . . MDBS.DDL. .. .. Micro. .. for. Bounds. .. .. G. .. of. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. Data. 22 52 59. . . . .A-l B-l to B-5. C-l to C-2 . . . .D-l . . . .E-l . .. . .. . .. .F-l .G-l. H-l to H-3. .I-l .j-l. . .. . .. .. .Index-l. . .. Base Systems,. Inc..

(8) MDBS. DDL. MDBS. MANUAL. I.. A.. DDL. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. Organization. Manual. is the first component in the set of MDBS It describes the data structuring facilities available for designing MDBS data bases and the Data Descriptimí (DDT,) The second Language for formally specifying data base designs. DMS MDBS which Manual, manual component describes in the set is. the commands programmers. data manipulation available to application these two basics. Beyond other manuals in the set describe various MDBS software options.. III. This. MDBS. Reference. ddl Manual Manuals.. MDBS The Mañuals are Reference any not oriented toward programming language. hardware, system, specific operating or host Tliey discuss those aspects of MDBS usage that are unaffected by the Thé programming language. and host hardware, operating system, operating variations in MDBS usage caused by differences in hardware, and systems host languages are detailed in the various MDBS System These variations Specific Manuals. are relatively minor.. III. in two forms: Version 3a and Version 3c. implemented Version 3c is Version with assembly language. To implemented with the C language. developer, an application with a few Versions 3a and 3c are practically indistinguishable. noted documentation Manuals is exceptions, in the MDBS Reference equally applicable to both implementations. MDBS. is 3aIII is. available. data structuring features presented in this manual advanced. and fundamental partitioned into two levels: features are denoted by a heavy vertical bar in the outside The margin. reader who is new to the data base field is strongly advised to initially concentrate on the fundamental features, ignoring those portions of the documentation that are marked with a vertical bar. An understanding of the fundamentals is sufficient for designing systems using MDBS. many application The be can Advanced. MDBS. III. When have been mastered, the advanced features the fundamentals should be examined (on a second Thé through the manual). pass advanced features include facilities for governing the mapping of records into storage, for segmenting a data base into physically range for feasibility distinct areas. for providing data security, checking, for performance tuning, etc. For the application developer who does not use the advanced features, there is a standard default each such when the data base is initialized. provided for feature In advanced using the an application features, developer has greater and over the characteristics of the resultant control system. application. flexibility. Chapter. I of this. provides an introduction to the family concludes application devekpment tools. with a It DDL MDBS the The and summary of features associated software. MDBS schema available constructs for building rigorously an are That chapter also contains an example schema. defined in Chapter II. of. MDBS. (C). COPYRIGHT. III. 1981. Micro. manual. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. l.

(9) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. - I:. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. Chapter DDL documents the Data Language Description syntax. Chapter schema specifications source included the in are for Chapter Data security specifications IV are treated in Chapter and V. automatic data integrity are presented in Chapter Chapters Thus II-V deal with utilizing the MDBS Data Description Chapter Language. Called VI describes the ddl Analyzer software. be used MDBS.DDL, software can for text entry to create a DDL this DDL and specification, source analysis editing, to line text a Chapter base. data that discusses the diagnostics initialize VII can arise during DDL analysis.. III. II. III.. B.. facilities. Introduction. to. MDBS. III. MDBS system is an extremely powerful data base management (dbms) designed for Serin!ls application development. Specially to maximize the productivity of professional application developers. MDBS addresses all the major issues facing OEMs, VARs, and information system services groups: providing quality application software, minimizing the development time and cost, facilitating the effective administration of application systems, promoting data sharing among customized application systems and generic decision support software, and porting application software into multiple operating environments.. III. III. III, truly extensive application systems that only on large computers are now in everyday use on MDBS systems Application microcomputers. span built with TPiey and most industries functional include the virtually all areas. systems ever developed ambitious application for microcomputers which would have been technically systems infeasible-or economically MDBS The development without times and costs for these III. micro-based sophisticated application systems are substantially less MDBS machines. these run-time than tokens allow larger for application systems to be inexpensively distributed. were. Because of once possible. MDBS. III. allows development for these savings is that MDBS to proceed with inexpensive, dedicated microcomputers. But even more approach important is MDBS'S unique postrelational to data modeling, mainframe which has yet to be equaled advanced even by the most TPte innate naturalness, -- rich and dbms. power expressive flexibility, furmshed by this innovative data model combine to yield significant by eliminating increases in developer productivity many of the network and hierarchical. inherent in conventional limitations One. III. reason. relational. dbms approaches.. ensuring enforcing data security, and control generation, concurrency integrity, performance tuning are all on a par with the best that is available in These are important not only for productive world. the mainframe development, on-going for application also but effective systems administration. Operating costs of large-scale application MDBS mainframe or than substantially less are with normally built time sharing alternatives. The. MDBS. data. facilities for III automatic program. III. 2. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems,. Inc..

(10) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. - I:. OVERVIEW. data bases are implemented with III results in very rapid response times. It. MDBS. that than. MDBS. -. chaining and redundancy among leading mainframe data. the. old. a. DDL. proprietary. is. much more. techniques. that. MANUAL. technique. efficient. so are systems. management commonplace base advantages Coupled postrelational with performance implicit in themechanisms, and with the built-in performance model tuning this for even proprietary technique yields very pleasing performance -being microcomputers. processed bases on quite sizable data. controls, highly refined integrity and security and network data sharing in both local area data base same The can multiuser operating system settings. whose be accessed by a simultaneously variety of application programs host languages may vary froin COBOL to C. can be directly accessed It by systems Guru can using the inference engine. also be expert It such accessed end the as through user directly facilities and KnowledgeMan system interface the nonprocedural query popular --fora comprehensive environment and integrated decision support customized graphics, analysis, modeling, text processing, spreadsheet generation, report etc. MDBS. subject. III. to. its. promotes. operates on a wide variety of hardware including the IBM 6800O-based machines, series and compatibles, the Intel 286/310, the AT&T 3B2-3B5, the DEC PDP-ll series and VAX 11/780 under operating MSDOS, systems such as PCDOS, XENIX and ULTRIX. UNIX, In many of these environments, Screen Maker is available as a screen management complement data base management. This versatile tool for to MDBS designing and processing polished end user interfaces supports a high degree independence. Thé resultant of of terminal portability MDBS a Maker and systems Screen is application with built III significant consideration. MDBS. PC. III. III. C.. MDBS. Software Modules. There. are. two. essential. the software modules: BaseIIIControl System (MDBS.DMS).. MDBS. DDL. and the Data Analyzer All A data base design other modules are optional.* specified with the is Data (DDL). The DDL Analyzer uses Language Description this DDL produce a and specification corresponding data dictionary to data base. Data the After this initialize initialization, (DML) commands be used Manipulation Language can in application These programs to create, retrieve and modify data in the data base. commands are processed by the data base control system software. (MDBS.DDL). * All of the optional software modules environments at all times. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. may. Micro Data Base Systems,. not be available. in. Inc.. 85A. Rev.. all 3.

(11) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. - I:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. other means are optionally available for In addition to the DML, Each accessing the data base contents. involves an of these additional software module that in turn uses the Data Base Control System in carrying out access requests. Optional access modules exist DML Engl: interactive processing, for ísh-like queries, data base browsing, batch loacting, customized report generation, access within a decision support environment, and inference engine processing of data base contents. Optional modules are also available to help data base and administrators developers modify or restructure existing data bases to conform with new designs. Although screen. management and data base management are separate both The MDBS are important to application developers. activities, Maker data base management software is complemented by two Screen One software modules. allows a developer to interactively design and preserve them in a screen dictionary. Screen Manipulation screens commands can be used in application Language (SML) programs to display and process these Tlie SML commands are executed by screens. the second module: the Screen Control System software. There and. basic forms of the PIDBS software: standard form of MDBS. Ttie RTL (recovery and the transaction However, logging) form has all the capabilities of standard MDBS. has a very different Data Base Control System with built-in recovery and transaction logging facilities that do not exist in the standard TPíe MDBS. RTL form is also furnished with a recovery for utility Thé MOBS RTL Manual describes processing transaction logs. the MDBS recovery and transaction logging facilities. how shows the various can Figure software modules and system. This using an application together in constructing diagram refers to the following terms:. MDBS. two. are. III. RTL. it. fit. I-l. DDL. Language that Analyzer - the Data Description Analyzer DDL schema a specification into an internal data transforms and initializes a corresponding postrelational dictionary base. data. DMU. Design the - administrator. DBRS. Data. Modification that a Utility uses to monitor space utilization, base size, and modify user access privileges.. data. expand. a System that Restructuring data schema of an existing to revise the base aná to re-optimize physical storage utilization.. the Data -administrator. Báse uses. base. data base. data. Data Base the dictionary-driven that controls all access to the encrypted Control data base, postrelational controls all aspects of data among sharing concurrent users. and (for the rtl form) automatically logs all transactions.. Base. Control. System. System. 4. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems,. Inc..

(12) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. - I:. BLF. the Batch - contents of base.. RCV. Load an. external. and. the - whose. commands. MOBS. -. MANUAL. DDL. loads the that automatically a data postrelational file into data. administrator uses to the data base back to a recover from data base. base. roll. selectively. postrelational. complete. Data. can be embedded. languages. RDL. Pacility. the Recovery Utility that a - monitor the transaction log, former state, corruption.. DML. OVERVIEW. in. a. Manipulation variety. t,anguage. of. wide. host. the Report Definition Language Analyzer that a generate interactive developer - uses to automatically I/O necessary application containing programs all statements, computations, and dml logic.. Ana1yzer. C. ISD. the Interactive Screen - interactively created. Designer that and revised. - outthe dictionary-driven SML requests made. Screen by an. system's screen. ses. dictionary.. all. SML. Control System that application program.. the high-level Screen Manipulation - can be embedded in an application independence. IDML. allows screens to be application for an. and. terminal. Language whose program with independence.. Interactive Data Manipulation -DMLthe training, DML testing logic,. full. carries commands screen. interactive data base. Language for and ad hoc. surgery.. IBS. QRS. the Interactive Browsing System for interactively - through data base records for purposes oft viewing, or creating their contents. the non-procedural, English-like Query Retrieval - satisfying ad hoc and "what-if" information needs.. browsing. editing, System. for. KnowledgeMan. the decision support environment with a complete knowledge management of synergistically integrated set facilities including spreadsheet, graphics, textSQLprocessing, procedural modeling, local data management, inquiry, etc.; also a valuable prototyping tool for developers.. Guru. (C). environment the artificial intelligence consulting business expert systems.. and. COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. for. constructing. Rev.. 85A. 5.

(13) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. - I:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. qrs l i D i M i i. ibs K nowledgeMan. JDML. -. w~"""~. "" Data Control. Guru. l. d. Application. Base System. ,. l. ". .. '. 7b:. (:""P'I'e{:. ses. I. "" Analyzer. i)' JJJL: )Transaction,. S jÑ[ , ;. }. (MDBS.DMS). 1'|'. Program. \ {. !. '. i. Screen. Dic,io,,.,y. ). I. í-. !'. ). táE!,,,. |d!u|. I). Log. Figure. D.. Data. I-l.. MDBS. Sof tware. Modules. Base Design. An initial step in developing an application system is designing the logical structure of its data base. This logical structure is shows the kinds oft data and relationships called a schema. that It base. The importance of dbms w exist in the data for facilities sctiematically representing an application world in a clear, concise, MDBS self-documenting fashion cannot be overstated. provides a wealth of logical data structuring facilities that are non-existent in data base systems management inverted, that f ollow the old hierarchical, relational and network data models.* By eliminating the MDBS makes easy old structuring restrictions, f or the application developer to design a schema that accurately mirrors the real world.. ill. III. III. it. and a * For detailed comparative analysis of the postrelational conventional data models, the most definitive presentation to date is: M,i.cro mmpá se Manaqemerlt Techniqlles for /\pp] ic&tion. -et.practica1 Academic 536 pp. 1984, peve1opTnent by R.H. Bonczek, Press, , al. 6. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micrp Data Base Systems,. Inc..

(14) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. - I:. The expressive power and schema design result from its. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. that MDBS III provides for flexibility capacity to (íirect1Y represent every. kind of naturally occurring relationship that is commonly encountered schema in real world applications. With conventional data models, a schema that into design involves an attempt to application the does not violate the structural restrictions imposed by a relational, dbins. hierarchical, with MDBS III, a developer is free to or network Every simply allow the schema to conform to the application world. each and name be given a semantically meaningful relationship can base guaranteed data by the relationship's integrity is automatically system. control. fit. a. The real world relationships schema include: postrelational. that can be cjj,rectj.Y. represented. in. 0. . .. and many-to-many relationships between one-to-one, one-to-many, two record types (Figure I-2) and many-to-many one-to-many. recursive one-to-one, relationships involving a single record type (Figure I-3) and many-to-many forked one-to-one, one-to-many, relationships among many record types (Figure I-4). Múltiple semantically-distinct the relationships can exist between same pair of record types and there is absolutely no restriction on the overall configuration of a schema's relationships. Each. schema. looks like the world with every represents, relationship depicted in a clear, self-documenting way. MDBS schemas are invariably more lucid and concise than conventional schemas where a developer must resort to field redundancy, attificiai record types, extraneous sets, or various modeling tricks.. (C). MDBS. COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. it. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. 7.

(15) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. - I:. HAS EMPLOYEE. PLACES BIOGRAPHY. ). DDL. MANUAL. CAN. ORDER. SUPPLIER. Each customer can place orders and each order many is placed by at most one customer.. > SUPPLY >. PART. Each supplier can supply and each many parts part be supplied by many can. suppliers.. of the Three Kinds of Relationships a pair of Record Types. Examples between. I-2.. >. CUSTOMER. employee Each has at most and each one biography biography belongs to at employee. most one. Figure. MOBS. -. T". G}FOLLOWS. EMPLOYEE. EVENT. >NAGB. ACTION. 3PREREQUISITE. ,. action can be the prerequisite for many other actions and can other have many actions as its prerequisites.. Each. Each employee can manage emp1oyees other and many managed by at most one is employee. other. each In a critical path, event follows at ismost one and other event followed by at most event. one other. a. Figure. I-3.. of the Three Kinds of Recursive Relationships Involving a Single Record Type. Examples. one-to-many. representation:. CONTRACT. LOT. -. one-to-many. SERVICE CENTER. representation:. PORTFOLIO. Figure 8. Rev-. 85A. ~. ->CASH. rental lot, or can involve and each vehicle under contract, a service. Each many bonds. (C). BOOK. CC'. portfolio.. of. COPYRIGHT. Some. Forked. 1981. Micro. ART. I CL E. and/or Eaeh book article other to many can refer books and/or arucles by and can be referred ec) books other many and/or. contain stocks, Ea ch cash. or cash position in at most one. portfolio can positions in. and/or stock, bond is contained. Examples. I-4.. REFER. STOCK. 22ÍND. STATUS 'V VEHICLE .. Each contract, service center many vehicles can. be either in a lot, or in center.. representation:. (recursive) CONTAINS. ". many-to-many. articles.. Relationships Data. Base Systems,. Inc..

(16) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. - I:. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. Data Description Language is a streamlined, free-£orm language for formally specifying the schematic data base. structure of a postrelational It supports nine data types for fields and numerous relationship orderings such as lito. fifo. sequences are next, prior, and multi-field sorts. Built-in sortinqDanish, French, English, provided for several languages including Norwegian Swedish, and Finnish. German, In addition to specifying a DDL can also be used the to control data base's logical structure, physical placement of records, to prescribe data security conditions, and to define data integrity constraints. The. Ana1Y.7er.. PPTi. The. mdbs. III. is a program Anályzer (MDBS.DDL) that can be used DDL and save, retrieve the interactively to a create, edit, DDL schema. specification of given application's This source by MDBS.DDL specification can also be analyzed for consistency. If an inconsistency is detected, a message explaining the error appears on the screen. then be corrected with the MDBS.DDL editing It nocaninconsistency is detected, the user can request facilities.to generate If MDBS.DDL a data dictionary from and the ddl source a Tite corresponding data base. foregoing steps are initialize MDBS.DDL summarized mode in Figure I-5. can also be used in a batch to initialize a data base. DDL. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AN APPLICATION AREA. PICTORIAL OF' SCHEMA. >. FORM. Y. (DDL SPECS. ( )¶. A. SAVE. MDBS.DDL (TEXT ENTRY. CREATE THE DDL SPECS. , EDIT THE DDL SPECS AS NEEDED. SAVE NEW SPECS. ». ANALYZE THE DDL SPECS IF. EMPTY BASE. DATA. ,, ,' INTEGRAL DATA , DICTIONARY \ \ \. li_. COPYRIGHT. 1981. _~1. NOERROR >MDBS.DDL (ANALYSIS. MODE). DATA DESIRED. .l. Figure (C). i. IPERROR. >. Y INITIALIZE BASE IF. OR A TEXT EDITOR >OF YOUR OWN CHOOSING. MDBS.DDL (EDIT MODE). Y RETRIEVE AS NEEDED. \. Y. RETRIEVE AS NF.F,pFn). )INITIALI2ED,. MODE). I-5.. Micro. Using. Data. the. MDBS.DDL. Base Systems,. Module. Inc.. Rev-. 85A. 8.1.

(17) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. Chapters. - I:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. VII of this manual describe II - and DDL Anályzer operations in. Description. Language The. DBR&. the. DDL. MANUAL. MDBS. Data. detail.. MDBS. (DBRS) Data Base System Restructuring schematic supports of types restructuring for existing all data bases. postrelational This includes the addition and removal of Data Base fields, record types, or relationships for MDBS schemas. contents are automatically revised to conform with the new schematic This optional software module is documented in the MDBS structure. DBRS. Manual.. E.. Access. III. Languages. variety. of access languages for processing Each language a is oriented toward Each need be used kind processing purpose. ai can particular or without any knowledge of how data is physically organized in the data The most that is needed is the data base's schematic base. diagram or a subschema diagram that portrays only those aspects of the overall schema that are of interest to a particular processing task. process: Íng can begin anywhere in a schema and any schematic relationship can be processed in any direction. MDBS. III. postrelational. supports. data. a. bases.. additional. to support ability of MDBS III access a languages high degree refined field-oriented processing results in of data independence, and queries insulating application programs from schematic changesof an MDBS III data base is All processing A processing request from driven. dictionary any of the entirely languages always executed The. by the Data Base Control System is the basis of information held in the data dictionary. languages. of all host programming This is fully independent It module the software guardian of data base security and integrity, is the monitor of concurrent processing situations, the virtual memory and the controller manager, of all internal physical aspects of data By mainframe is very compact in spite of its standards. access. processing. support of advanced postrelational access. (MDBS.DMS). on. it. Manipulation Language (DML) provides a a of of for processing all set aspects a data has been data base. base After postrelational initialized, The containing DML commands can be written. programs application which language in the application program is written is called the COBOL). An application program serves as an host language (e.g., data base and an end user of the application between interface the and The end user system. is not typically is not a programmer end data user desires to Nevertheless, the structures. familiar with put data into the data base or modify data that exists in the data base programs are Application or extract data from the data base. usually menu-driven; through the menu. the program determines what do. Control is then passed to a portion is that an end user wants tocommands DML having that will perform the desired data of the program loading, modification, manipulation: or extraction of data. However, in the application this data manipulation is not explicitly performed DML requests are actually Instead, the application program's program. executed by the data base control system.. =.. Tlíe. !4DBS. III. Data. commands. complete. it. 8.2. Rev-. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc..

(18) MDBS. DDL. OVERVIEW. - I:. MANUAL. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. software component of MDBS is its data base control This is a collection of data base management routines, An application program to as MDBS.DMS. calls collectively referredneeded. They details physical routines these as carry out all required to perform the data manipulation indicated by a DML command. The routines consult the data dictionary in the course of performing By embedding a DML command in an application the data manipulation. program, the programmer is giving a command to the data base control system. In order to use DML commands. the writer ofThiean application needs only to know the data base"s schema. application program is not concerned with the physical details programmer involved in There is no concern with executing a DML command. with pointers, searching indices. with merging files, with file formats, with disk characteristics, with disk I/O, with free space management, etc. The working relationship between an application program and PIDBS.DMS in an application system is shown in Figure I-6. a system.. major. KNOWLEDGE OF DATA BASE SCHEMA. »(. i. APPLICATION PROGRAMMER. KNOWLEDGE OF APPLICATION ¿AREA. >. ~. V. APPLICATION PROGRAM WITH DML COMMANDS. END USER. A m. DATA BASE CONTROL SYSTEM (MDBS.DMS). A. ·. m. |POSTRELATIONAL. / '. DATA. Figure. BASE. , l. I-6.. ). l DATA \. INTEGRAL DICTIONARY. j. Using. the. MDBS.DMS. Module. DML be stressed that the MDBS provides a stmjáard, It must language llrIiform handling all data manipulation regardless of the for application system being developed and regardless of:. the the the the. (C). COPYRIGHT. being used, central processor mixture of disk drives available, operating system being employed, host languages desired.. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. Rev-. 85A. 8.3.

(19) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. There. - I:. are. many. DML. OVERVIEW. commands. for. MDBS. -. record-at-a-time. DDL. MANUAL. processing.. group of extremely powerful Boolean DML commands is of which generates an entire collection of records satisfying-The MDBS desired criteria. the troublesome aspects III DML eliminates DML. MDBS DML CODASYL-network. There each. also. a. Because the of allows many records CODASYL'S to be simultaneously available for immediate processing, current-of-run-unit bottleneck Furthermore, the is absent. DML postrelational logic obsoletes the restrictive current-of-set navigation method that lies at the heart of CODASYL DML.. III. DML commands can be invoked from application programs COBOL, FORTRAN, C and/or assembler. They BASIC. in Pascal, written invoked be innate can operations point as also within at any directly KnowledgeMan decision support session. Developers an interactive can DML commands in programs also embed in the KnowleágeMan written programming language or in expert system rule sets built in the Guru The DML commands are documented intelligence environment. artificial MDBS DMS Manual. in the MDBS. III. The mdbs ínm supports the interactiveIII. Interactive Data Manipulation Language (IDML) execution of nearly all DML commands. It is independent The optional IDML software of all programing languages. has a module supports data dictionary built-in help facility, command and used parameterized macros inquiries, for frequently command This access language is especially sequencesfragments or useful for DML training, testing DML logic, and performing ad hoc data base surgery. It is described in the MDBS IDML Mnual. (QRS) System accepts non-programmers. nonprocedural structured After DML analyzing a query request, QRS internally employs the necessary This data is then logic for accessing desired data from a data base. presented as a report in tabular form or saved as a on disk. QRS used can be can be used directly from the operating system or at any juncture within an interactive Knowledgeíáan or Guru session.. The. =.. Retrieval III Queryrequests from English. MDBS. flat file. it. of operation. In either satisfying the ad hoc and "what developers and administrators. mode. QRS. if. ". is particularly valuable for information needs of end users,. language more powerful and itself is considerably those network and has systems, hierarchical than of flexible or been specially designed to be much easier to use than the relational SQL Rather than language. specifying the tables to be used and a QRS user equating redundant fields existing in those tables. merely states the names of the desired relationships. The. QRS. it. jargon features are user-definable views, virtual fields, data dictionary options, control retrieval, fully selective breaks (with control arithmetic expressions, dynamic output sorting, and a batched DIF value execution, query labels. statistics), full language and the optional output capability. All aspects of the query QRS module are presented in the MDBS QRS Manual. Included. among. and commands, tabular environment viewing.. 8.4. Rev-. 85A. the. many. QRS. end user. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc..

(20) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. -. I:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. Language (RDL) is a to formally specify the nonprocedural and oÍl a prompting behavior of a the desired report characteristics generate ROL An specification is input that report. program that will This optional F!DBS module is an Ái1romar,irp to the RDL Analyzer. language program which produces an efficient proqram qenerat.or containing all DFIL logic, all computations, all input prompting, and formatting needed to generate a report having the desired all output and appearance. content The. EñL.. IIIthatReport can language MDBS. Definition be used. C. Included among the many RDL features are extensive output functions, user-definable controls, built-in statistical functions, free-form layouts for report details, detail sorting, headers/footers grouping, fully for pages and flor detail groupings, multi-level selective retrieval criteria, wildcard string and character matchingv character class matching, and computed variables. The MDBS RDL Manual contains a full description of the ROL and the RDL pmalyzer. Browsing System (IBS) is a menu driven interface can be used to data bases. a browse through data base's records in order to view their data IBS can also be values or for on-screen editing of record contents. As used to create and delete records. such, provides an access as the that can be used by non-programmers, IBSas haswell a built-in application system's developer and administrator. help facility, supports data dictionary inquiries, and allows multiple methods a desired record. The optional II3S module is for reaching MDBS IBS Manual. fully described in the. =.. Interactive to III postrelational. The. FÍDEIS. It. it. facility. Batch Load mcility (blf) is an optional loads the contents of external flat files From a single file data base. is able to into a postrelational base records of various types and correctly establish create data their interrelationships within a data base. Thus, BLE allows data from external sources to be incorporated into a data base without any programming effort. This software module is fully described in the The MDBS BLE. module that automatically. III. MDBS. (C). BLF. it. Manual.. COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. 8.5.

(21) MDBS. DDL. f.. Data. MANUAL. - I:. OVERVIEW. -. MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. Integrity Facilities. professional developer realizes that preserving an !4DBS application system's data integrity is essential. provides a variety of automated facilities fot reducing the possibility of and for recovering from any data base destruction integrity breaches may These integrity facilities or corruption that exist above occur. MDBS and beyond mechanisms extensive data security for preventing unauthorized modifications to the data base. Every. III. Ill's. The. data base control system automatically prevents a data value from being stored for a field is not consistent with MDBS.DMS For the field's type. also checks for valid data values. instance. invalid dates and times are automatically prevented for date and time fields. For any field, the developer can designate a range Held these of feasible values. in the data dictionary, feasibility data by base system. ranges are automaticallv enforced the control The and one-to-many referential integrity of all one-to-one A developer relationships is automatically guaranteed. can also specify that fixed relationship retention is to be enforced for any schematic relationshipm MDBS. III. if it. the possibility of data base corruption due to external standard MDBS supports developer controlled buffer flushing. factors, transaction the RTL form supports page image posting, In addition. and page image posting selective allows warm logging, recovery. Transaction logging is restarts in single user processing situations. RTL'S data pertinent to both single user and multiuser applications. base system can automatically control log all transactions to a log work The units is developer controllable. of logical scope file. Each is accompanied by the identity of the user who transaction performed the Recovery In the event of data base corruption, (RCV) a base the up to the point of valid data Utility can regenerate work unit. is also Selective regeneration logical base last completed permitted to allow data contents to be rolled back to any desired RTL The form of MDBS is fully described in the MDBS earlier state. To reduce. .. it.. RTL. Manual.. 8.6. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc..

(22) MDBS. DDL. G.. Data. - I:. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. DDL. MDBS. -. MANUAL. Facilities. Security. even The are extensive, security mechanisms built into MDBS by mainframe Security control information for a data base standards. This includes each in the integral data dictionary. is maintained plus the access user's password and access privileges, restrictions defined for each field, record type, area and relationship existing in The security control information itself can be viewed and the schema. Design modified only by authorized users of dbrs or the MDBS Design (DMU). modification capabilities of the Modification optional DMU module are described in the MDBS DMU Manual.. III. iii. Utility. languages access able to use any of the MDBS or and name a bona fide base access, associated user for data utilities must be provided. The retrieval and/or modification access password privileges of that user are automatically observed by the data base do not supersede a user's privileges system. the access control If then a user's that attempts to access on data resource. restrictions One of the more innovative aspects of this security are denied. mechanism for data is the ability to define access restrictions a relationships, valuable feature rarely supported by other dbíns software. To. III. be. it. without built-in security mechanism is complete course, no MDBS encryption, encryption. supports fully selective allowing the developer to control which fields are to have their values automatically encrypted. Naturally, this encryption occurs for data held in both the data base and any of its transaction logs. Of. data. III. Facilities Because representation of of its direct. concise postrelational MDBS real world relationships, enjoys very significant processing and storage advantages over conventional data base management systems. avoidance The methods of traditional chaining and redundancy for MDBS a speed H.. Performance. Tuning. iii. implementing. gives further processing MDBS benefits, inherent performance a performance provides variety of that allow the tuning controls developer to adjust certain aspects oft data base control system's performance behavior in the interests of maximizing with respect its to a particular application system. advantage.. relationships. Beyond. these. III. III. The MDBS tuning facilities include automatic data compression for designated fields, assignment of record types to desired areas (e.g., devices), control over area page sizes. physical clustering of variable record logically related records, field replication, storage/retrieval via hashing, and multiple secondary key indexes for a developer can request the MDBS any record type. In addition, Data Base Restructuring System (DBRS) to rebuild an existing data base so that the physical placements of contents are optimized with respect to data base design criteria.. III. III. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. 8.7.

(23) MDBS. DDL. I.. Mültiuser. MANUAL. - I:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. Processing. Ensuring the integrity of a data base that is being used by multiple users is a crucial concern concurrently for application system implemented developers. Versions of MDBS for multiuser environments provide the developer with a complete range of locking and These enable the developer to effectively contention controls. when one end avoid disastrous consequences that can result user attempts to either view or alter data that another user is updating.. III. For maximum flexibility and performance optimization, locking can applied to individual records. relationships. or groups of records. MDBS A supports both passive and active locking techniques. count from contention is provided to release the system protocol deadlock For each application potential situations. program, the developer can control the number of automatic retries that will occur whenever Tlie an attempt is made to access a locked resource. time interval between retries is also developer controllable. be. III. The MDBS locking and contention controls are the same across supported multiuser operating systems and local area networks. all These inclu.de the UNIX, XENIX and ULTRIX multiuser operating systems and the IBM, The Novell, and 3COM EtherShare local area networks. underlying data base control system implementation is dependent on the. III. Characteristics of MDBS nature of the multiuser environment. processing that are applicable to particular environments multiuser documented Manuals in pertinent MDBS System Specific and/or are Multiuser Supplements.. III. j.. MDBS. III. and Screen. Maker. Maker Screen is a very extensive software tool that enables application professional developers to create highly sophisticated, screen extremely portable end user interfaces. Its flexible, powerful data base management facilities are an ideal complement to MDBS and administration management of truly abilities in the construction MDBS As with developer polished application systems. III, maximizing The various Screen productivity is the keynote of the Screen Maker. Maker capabilities are fully documented in the set of Screen Maker. Ill's. Reference. Manuals.. a Designer Maker's Screen Screen Interactive (ISl)), and revise the screens that are to developer can interactively create The screen designs are maintained system. be used by an application these stored screens, a To access and process in a screen dictionary. (SML) SML language is provided. manipulation screen high-level programming language used invoked from commands can be within the host SML Because processing is to implement an application system. Maker Screen furnishes very high degrees of both dictionary-driven, as well as very significant savings screen and terminal independence. in application system program size and development time.. Using. all. 8.8. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc-.

(24) MDBS. DDL. - I:. MANUAL. OVERVIEW. DDL. MDBS. -. MANUAL. is a menu-driven screen design facility used to both build Each screen maintain an application system's screen dictionary. how many of regardless is created only once, in the dictionary each be As is screen using different application programs will windows with multiple designed, the developer can associate many frames can be associated with each window of a screen Similarly, window A frame position is simply a screen is designed. that as a which value for end data program can output an application through a from end a program user into an data value user viewing and/or input variable. ISD. .. and. it.. it.. visual over control with ISD, the developer has complete a As each screen's windows and their respective frames. locations of screen, window or frame is interactively designed, the developer can (including foreground/background give various special effects specify any colors, intensity, etc.), full/half literal characters and assign a message line to is to contain, create help text for ISD gives the developer full control over the positioning, it. message lines and help content and special effects for such literals,. it. it. it,. text.. screen, window or frame is designed, a visual Ariy characteristics of a of appears on the console screen. window redesigned frame be by the can at any time screen, or Such changes application automatically developer or administrator. and are entirely independent of existing alter the screen dictionary Thus ISD allows application programs. other the layout and characteristics of any screen to be quickly and easily changed without modifying or even recompiling any application programs that use the screen. As. each. image. it. aspect of. a. independence, Screen addition to this high degree of screen independence. degree Both a high of terminal the supports dictionary and the application programs that use are fully A single insulated from changes in the types of terminals being used. dictionary can simultaneously drive the terminals being used. screen A single I/O screen dictionary screen can simultaneously drive the processing of the same or different application programs concurrently Thus Screen executing on machines with different kinds of terminals. Maker a greatly amplifies the results that developer can achieve, by making an application system's software and screen dictionary a perfectly portable across wide range of terminal environments. Maker screen. In. it. from a Maker's high-level SML commands can be invoked make programming languages existing use of any to variety of host screen dictionary. Each of the high-level SML commands has a very simple syntax and replaces dozens or even hundreds of typically would be program required to accomplish a comparable statements that I/O task. screen In this way, Screen Maker drastically extends a host by allowing language's screen handling abilities, an application dynamics developer to govern all the of screen usage via a few high commands. level my application program containing SML commands for DML commands for screen processing can also contain MDBS data base processing. Screen. it. III. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems,. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. 8.9.

(25) MDBS. DDL. SML. MANUAL. commands. manipulation tasks:. - I: are. OVERVIEW. -. furnished for the following. MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. kinds. of. screen. a desired screen, window or frame existing in the - selecting dictionary screen a frame, a window with any displaying or all of its frames, or a screen with any or all of its windows end user data input or data editing for any frame - accepting saving the present appearance of any frame, window or screen - clearing any window from displayed frame, the or screen terminal screen window or screen appearance to the - restoring any saved frame, terminal screen on the terminal or frames to new positions - moving windows. screen. moving and clearing the help text or message line - displaying, associated with any screen, window or frame Maker's Screen Screen Control System (SCS) carries out each SML request embedded in an application program The dictionary driven ses defined processing causes all screen, window and frame characteristics observed in the screen dictionary while an to be automatically application program executes. advanced For needs, Screen Maker hundred specialized SML commands, these language.. 8.10. Rev.. 85A. management screen developers with very unusual also provides a comprehensive of over one library Like the higher-level screen support routines. routines can be invoked within a host programming. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc..

(26) MDBS. DDL. K.. MDBS. MANUAL. III. OVERVIEW. - I:. DDL. MDBS. -. MANUAL. Decision Support. and KnowledgeMan:. KnowleágeMan is the highly acclaimed decision support environment that provides end users with a means for satisfying many of their own By knowledge and needs. management casual helping end users KnowleágeMan be developers to more productive, frees the professional application developer to concentrate on truly challenging applications these KnowledgeMan can directly access involving large data bases. MDBS and massive data bases subject to usual security of the MDBS the by data base control system integrity controls enforcedMDBS The integration of with KnowledgeMan makes the data tight data bases susceptible to fast local decision held in massive MDBS the security or integrity of support processing, without endangering these central data bases.. all. III. III. III. KnowledgeMan is a single knowledge spectrum management of makers. These* include:. relational spreadsheet. data. III. that encompasses facilities for supporting. program. a. broad. decision. base management. analysis graphics full-screen text processing customized report generation ad hoc. SQL inquiry mathematical functions and calculations. business. forms management customized procedures remote communications. They. are fully described in the KnowledgeMan various supplements.. *. Some. available (C). KnowledgeMan facilities in all environments at. COPYRIGHT. 1981. optional times.. are. all. Reference. Micro Data Base Systems.. and. Inc.. some. Manual. may. Rev.. 85A. and. its. not. be. 8.11.

(27) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. - I:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. tjnlike ordinary integrated software, KnowledgeMan's are window a not merely separate tools operating within manager. KnowledgeMan obsoletes the cumbersome process of "cutting and pasting" and the inconvenience of being forced to switch back and forth among and windows. does KnowledgeMan Nor follow different tools the nested approach used by 1-2-3, Symphony. "integration" to restrictive and their clones.* Framework, With KnowledgeMan, a user is not forced to carry on processing within the constraints of a single dominant component such as a spreadsheet or outline processor.. facilities. all. KnowledgeMan is based on a synergistic philosophy of integration that allows any facility to be used independently of the others. It also allows multiple facilities to be used together within a single operation, resulting in a total effect that is much greater than the sum of individual effects. Individually, each KnowledgeMan facility when compared Fused quite extensive to standalone packages. is they together, support many kinds of processing that are simply impossible with collections of leading standalone packages or with conventional "integrated" software. KnowledgeMan to grow.. has been. designed to give users plenty of carefully enough that novice users become is simple can It As experience and needs increase, a productive in a very short time. is free to grow in any desired direction user with KnowledgeMan's One universe of knowledge management possibilities. direction is MDBS Fot toward data bases. the use of massive postrelational instance. in the midst of a KnowledgeMan session QRS can be invoked to QRS, KñowledgeMan data base. Upon exiting query a postrelational processing resumes and a single request will incorporate query results into KnowledgeMan's local relational data base. Furthermore, MDBS application programs for processing postrelational data bases can be executed at any desired juncture within a KnowledgeMan session. These data programs can use for updating a exported by KnowledgeMan base from data postrelational or they can extract information the base for subsequent data import into KnowledgeMan's postrelational local processing environment. room. III. III. MDBS and between There is an even closerthe connection KnowledgeMan Reference KnowledgeMan. Manual, As explained in kU 1Ánq17&qe en.ti.re mÁrlipl}1atjon mmi1M1e aa .a, fn11v LLI gakA :Q£ Kn.ow1edqeMan. Añy DML command inteqra1 component can be invoked at point in an interactive KnowledgeMan session to transfer any data a data base and between postrelational central local KnowledgeMan DML commands variables, spreadsheets. or relational tables. arrays, the embedded spreadsheets and in in can also be cell definitions of customized Knowledget'ían procedures. Application developers can use these latter two techniques to provide KnowledgeMan users with direct data base. access to the latest information held in a central MDBS end on the part of KnowledgeMan's This requires no DML comprehension. III. u. III. users. * 1-2-3 trademark 8.12. and. Symphony are. trademarks. of Ashton-Tate.. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. of Lotus. and. Framework. Micro Data Base Systems.. is. a. Inc-.

(28) MDBS. DDL. L.. MDBS. - I:. MANUAL. III. and Guru:. OVERVIEW. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. Expert Systems. designed environment intelligence is an artificial r)!1siness problem solving. especially for In addition to its extensive computing procedural moaelingF (spreadsheet, business for facilities graphics, etc.). guru provides full-scale facilities for expert system construction and expert system consultation. All of these are blended guru for together into a single environment. is well-suited developing artificially intelligent application systems with their own built-in expert reasoning capabilities. Expert systems databuilt with Guru tables. can directly process spreadsheets, relational models, forms, etc. In addition, they can directly access MDBS data bases subject to all the usual security and integrity controls enforced by the mdbs data base control system. Guru. III. Ordinary expert system development tools do not support even the and basic kinds of knowledge representation processing: real base management, data spreadsheets, structured programming, business forms management, graphics, remote communications, text processing and handle does Not Guru so on. only also handles all of these, knowledge An expert reasoning in the convenient guise of rules. system is constructed by building a set of rules that capture an knowledge about expert's solving problems in an application area. Guru allows rules to be specified in terms Unlike ordinary tools, of spreadsheet data base retrieval, calculations, relational statistics generation, graphics display. model execution, MDBS DML commands, and. most. it. so. forth. When. an end user consults an expert system, Guru's innate engine a inference reasons with the rule set in order to reach End ask a solution. users consultation can for directly or the developer can embed consultation requests in application programs that end users execute. the inference engine is able to In either case, business computing actions specified in the rule set's carry out all Guru's inference engine rules. is able to use both forward and accommodate reasoning, fuzzy variables, reason about uncertain reverse and explain the line of reasoning a used in reaching situations. solution. Guru's capabilities are fully described in the two-volume Guru Reference Manual.. it. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems,. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. 8.13.

(29) MDBS. DDL. M.. Summary. MANUAL. - I:. of the. MDBS. OVERVIEW. Description. Data. MDBS. Language. and. DDL. MANUAL. Software. The remainder of this manual concentrates on the Data Description Language that can be used to formally specify schemas designed for a data base. postrelational also focuses on the DDL Analyzer which module provided for processing a DDL specification. is the software This chapter concludes with summaries of the ddl and DDL Analyzer. It. features.. l.. 8.14. of. Summary. MDBS. Mta Structuring. DDL. Features:. to 255 record types are allowed per structure.. logical. data. a.. Up. b.. Variable and fixed length records are supported.. c.. Up. d.. The. e.. Encryption of. f.. A. g.. Thé. h.. A. i.. Any. j.. Recursive sets are permitted.. k.. FIFO, LIFO, Sorted, next, prior, and immaterial orderings supported for member records of a one-to-many These orderings are supported for both owner set. set. records and member records of a many-to-many. l.. A. Rev.. to 65535 data items type.. (fields). are. allowed per record. items following are kinds of data allowed: character, integer, real (floating point), string (variable length character data item), binary (variable length data item), unsigned, internal decimal, time, date.. feasibility. a. data. range. item's values is supported. can be. values.. specified. for. a. item's. data. kinds of sets are allowed for following among one-to-many relationships record types: CODASYL many-to-many. set), one-to-one,. defining. (i.e.,. record type can be the owner of many sets (of any many kind) and the member of many sets (of any kind); between two kind) (of exist can record any types. sets set can be forked into multiple member record types and/or multiple owner record types.. sorted ordering can be ascending or descending on multiple data item types.. and. can be based. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro. Data. Base Systems,. Inc..

(30) MDBS. DDL. - I:. MANUAL. m.. n. o.. OVERVIEW. Sorted orderings can of a variety on any sequences.. be. of. MOBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. on English sequences or French) non-English (e.g.,. based. Automatic or manual record insertion for sets. Fixed or optional record retention for sets.. p.. the main data base area, up to 15 extra (physically distinct) areas can be defined for holding data base records. In some environments, there is a maximum of seven extra areas.. q.. Occurrences more areas.. r.. Related occurrences of more than one record type can be physically clustered.. s.. Records. t.. An. u.. Record by interrelationships are not implemented redundancy data (as in systems), of values (as they implemented by pointer chaining nor are in CODASYL and hierarchical network most For systems). MDBS record superior performance, interrelationships implemented a are with proprietary technique involving enhanced, multi-level, indexed, dynamic pointer arrays.. from. Aside. direct. of. can access.. a. be. record type can be assigned. "hashed". to one. into the data base for. or. fast,. extensive access code mechanism is provided for enforcement automatic access of read and write constraints placed on each data base user.. flat file. ,. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc.. Rev-. 85A. 8.15.

(31) MDBS. DDL. 2.. MANUAL. - I:. Summary. of the. Supports. b.. Can. be. text. file. Can. be. (MDBS.DDL). DDL. source. interactively in text entry. iii) iv). Deleting. a. DDL. it.. source. which. mode. text text text. DDL source DDL source DDL source DDL Saving source DDL source DDL source Renumbering. Listing. text. Retrieving. vi). MANUAL. text.. used. Creating. DDL. Features:. in batch manner to analyze initialize a data base for. i). v). e.. MDBS. -. used and. supports:. ii). d.. Analyzer. free format. a.. c.. DDL. OVERVIEW. on a disk file text from a disk text. file. in an edit mode which allows interactively DDL source text. line editing of Can be used interactively in an analysis mode which: i) Analyzes DDL source text for consistency error message if error detected ii) Displays Can the data base initialize if no error is iii) Can. be used. detected. 8.16. Rev.. 85A. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc..

(32) MDBS. DDL. MDBS. MANUAL. DDL. MANUAL. m. II.. A.. Data. DEFINITIONSANDEXAMPLES. Base Areas. and Pages. An átjáá exists on a consists of one or more areas. A Each area consists of two or more pagesis a disk file. a fixed-size logical block of bytes or words that is transferred as whole between central memory and disk. This transfer is automatically needed by MDBS.DMS performed in order to carry out DML commands. as A Each environments). area can hold up to 4095 pages (8191 in some MDBS.DMS. These are few pages in each area are reserved for use by (and other) System pages contain data dictionary called System pages. A DML command to information. to store data will cause the MDBS.DMS place that data on the non-System pages in an area. when the The name of a data base is stated wÍth the ddl. data base is initialized, one area having the same name as the data base is automatically prepared for use. This area is referred to as the main data base The System pages of this area contain the data area. dictionary. areas (up to 7 or 15 more) can be optionally Additional The DDL is used to give each of these defined with the DDL. extra and each is automatically a name prepared areas for use when the data TPie designer can base is initialized. control:. a idata. the name of the file on which an area resides. the disk on which an area resides, and the disk drive to which an area is assigned. This means that. base areas do ñQt, need to be on-line when the by MDBS.DDL or when the data base is used by MDBS.DMS (or query). However, the area in response to a DML command having the data base name (i.e., the main area) should always be kept MDBS.DMS needs on-line, since contains the data dictionary. to DML the commands. data dictionary in order to carry out consult Notice that some part of the data base can exist on fast drives. while another part OE the data base is on relatively slower (less expensive) data. base. all data initialized is. it. drives.. FigUe II-1 illustrates the foregoing relationships. In this These areas are the data base DBEX consists of four areas. named DBEX, They have been defined as residing on AR4, BAREA and AR3. DBEX has three System FILEA, FILEB, FILEC, and FILED, respectively. have two that contain the data dictionary; pages the other areas System pages apiece. FILEA is on Diskl, and the FILED is on Disk3, The DBEX area has been assigned other two files are on Disk2. to The other three areas have been assigned Drivel. to Drive2. Suppose and BAREA an application program needs to access data from the DBEX then Disk2 mounted and mounted Diskl Drivel in is in Drive2. areas, is Suppose that another application program needs to access data from the DBEX, AR3, and BAREA areas. Since both AR3 and BAREA are assigned to they the same drive but are on different disks, be used cannot However, simultaneously. prompt the application program can the end user assure that the to appropriate disk is in Drive2 at the proper by allowing time. Simultaneous usage of the two areas is accomplished example,. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc-. Rev.. 85A. 9.

(33) MDBS. .. DDL. MANUAL. - II:. DEFINITIONS. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. of them to reside on Diskl or by allowing them to reside on the disk or by assigning one of them to a third drive. Thé name and drive for an area can be altered with the DN!L when that file area is "opened" in an application program.. one. same. filea. jjj i. to. DisK1. p. )"PAGE DBEX. assigned. ( ). f,BExj. 1. (system. pagE). page. 2. (SYSTEM. PAGE). page. 3. (system. page). v. MlvÉl. area page. 18. assigned FlLEB. ^. '. Jn .r. k. J. page. page ar/4. page. (. area. {'. jl j ". ,. 2. 'k. @PÓ'. (system. page). (system. page). : 0. ar3 area. page. 2. (system. page). y. v. page 165 assigned. ( ). lGjj. page). Drive2. '. filed. jj1l. page. 3. (system. a Q ~. t,. page. 2. :. W\gÉiOC %. l. page. barea area. to. DlSiQ. ~~ >. )\. 3. )PAGE. assigned. filec ElfEA((.). ". to. D|SK3. ,P (system. page). (system. page). : t. page. 50. Figure. II-I.. Areas. and Pages. since selection of an appropriate page size is important, influences the number of pages in memory during system execution and of the system. thus impacts the performance If the memory available is advisable to select a for page buffers is relatively limited. For small page size to maximize the number of pages in memory. performance with four small pages in memory will typically instance. On performances based on two larger pages in memory. surpass the. it. The. it. 10. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc..

(34) MDBS. DDL. MANUAL. - II:. DEFINITIONS. MDBS. -. DDL. MANUAL. the buffer region is large, then a comparatively large other hand, advantageous, be providing a minimum of about 5 to 8 of page size can these pages will in the buffer region.. if. fit. For Version 3Ce There are certain lower limits on the page size. 3a, 256. be For Version must the page size must be a at least be andmust 256 large enough to hold an furthermore, multiple of Another area. occurrence of the largest how record type in the distributed the record occurrences are involved is consideration is possible (depending on the size of the record) that on a page. records are put on a page in such a way that a great deal of room is "wasted" As an example, consider the extreme case where on each page. assigned has been 260 QIÜY to an area with a bytes one record type of Since 512 records are not split over two or more bytes. page size of would pages, this mean that only one record is being stored on a page6 MDBS except that This can result in a great deal of "wasted" spaceattempt to use such space to hold internally used indiceSe Consideration of the factors such as these, will aid the application developer in selecting a good page size for an area.. it. it. It. will B.. The. Logical Structure Data. of an Items. MDBS. Data. and Record. Mse Types. terms str11.cr1}re of a data base is specified in of named a and a group of data items. record types. is record sets. DaU irems (fields) are the most zero, one, or more data items. a components Every data item is given elemental of logical structure. a name and is described in terms of the type and size of its values. The permissible types and sizes are discussed later in Section II-C. Two name data items in the same record type cannot be given the same (the same item name may be used in different record types). The. 1nqjca1. t=. we may want a data base to contain information we may each department For organization. in an all and location. name, of the department's number, to structure for such a data base would have a record type logical DEPT) (call LOCATION.which consists of athree data items: call them DNUMBER, NAME, record type is represented by a Pictorially, The DEPT labeled rectangle. with the names of its data items insiderecord type is represented as shown in Figure II-2. This Figure also EMPLOYEE, BIOGRAPH, No shows four other record types: JOB, SKILL. two record types can have the same name. The meaning of the arrows in this logical structure is discussed later.. As. about want The. an example. departments keep track. it. For each record type declared in a data base's logical structure, there can exist zero, one, or more occurrences of that record type in An occurrence of a record type consists of a the data base For value for each of the record type's data items. instance, an Il0l,SALES,CHICAGOA occurrence of the DEPT record type might be Another same be occurrence of the might record type A sample [l08,FOUNDRY,DETROIT]. occurrence of the record type JOB is MDBS lAl5,jANITORI. places no upper limit on the number of a record type that can exist in a data base. occurrences for. itself.. (C). COPYRIGHT. 1981. Micro Data Base Systems.. Inc.. Rev.. 85A. li.