Online Information Storage and Retrieval

The paper is addressed to those concerned with improving effectiveness of small or large libraries, or those considering the establishment of a new collection in a certain subject area. The large staffing and cost frequently discourages the setting of satisfactory services. The paper submits for consideration an avenue of using automatic aids to achieve effectiveness within the bounds of economic practicality. A number of methodologies have been developed. This paper summarizes the respective methodologies and the state of the art, with suggestions of the advantages of immediate application. Another objective of the paper is to point to the potential of truly satisfactory services to users considerably beyond present capabilities. Through on-line communication with computers the rapid memorizing and recall can be extended to vast information, normally confined to the shelves of a library or the drawers of filing cabinets. A human will be able to use terminals to recall information from huge repositories in an effective and convenient manner. The methods and procedures employed in information storage and retrieval for a century, such as indexing, classification or, more recently, content analysis, have proved of lasting value and serve as a foundation for the newer systems. However, to cope in a practical manner with the mass of data, it is essential that these traditional approaches be modified in order that these functions be performed automatically with only guidance provided from humans. For instance, the indexing of documents should be entirely performed by the computer. This however connotes an open-ended index-word vocabulary which is first semi-automatically processed to form a thesaurus. The next step would be the completely automated processing of a classification system, which also provides a scheme for placing of documents on shelves, in microform or in the memory of the computer. Based on these storage methods, the interactive man-computer storage offers the best potential for achieving high retrieval effectiveness to the point where information storage and retrieval systems became really useful as an extension of human memory and recall

NOPAL Reference Manual: Bottom-Part

Nopal is a descriptive non-procedural very high level language for writing specifications of programs for test of analog and digital electronic circuits by Automatic Test Systems (ATS). It can also be used for writing specifications of general purpose computation. Based on a NOPAL specification, the NOPAL processor generates a computer program in the ATLAS test language. A specification in NOPAL may consist of a number of modules,one of which is the main module. The main module consists of a collection of specifications of individual tests given non-procedurally in an arbiitrary order. A test in NOPAL corresponds to the notion of a physical test a unit under test (UUT). A test consists of stimuli (signals) to be applied measurements to be taken and logic for selecting diagnoses depending on the passing or failing of one or more tests. Information about the UUT and automatic test equipment (ATE) may also be included in the main module. The UUT and ATE information is used for conducting various consistency checks and is included in the produced documentation. A module, other than the main module, specify functions which apply stimuli, make measurements or evaluate variables. Interfaces among modules are provided by referencing in one module function specified in another module. The NOPAL processor analyzes the specification of module for consistency, completeness and non-ambiguity and generate error/warning messages and a number of reports which serve as the documentation for the specification. If the specification is error free, the NOPAL processor orders the program events to attain efficiency in computer time and in use of memory. Finally, it generates a program in the EQUATE-ATLAS Test Programing Language. ATLAS programs, generated from modules of a specification, are submitted together for compilation and executed on RCA EQUATE AN-USM-410 computer controlled ATE

Reverse Software Engineering

The goal of Reverse Software Engineering is the reuse of old outdated programs in developing new systems which have an enhanced functionality and employ modern programming languages and new computer architectures. Mere transliteration of programs from the source language to the object language does not support enhancing the functionality and the use of newer computer architectures. The main concept in this report is to generate a specification of the source programs in an intermediate nonprocedural, mathematically oriented language. This specification is purely descriptive and independent of the notion of the computer. It may serve as the medium for manually improving reliability and expanding functionally. The modified specification can be translated automatically into optimized object programs in the desired new language and for the new platforms. This report juxtaposes and correlates two classes of computer programming languages: procedural vs. nonprocedural. The nonprocedural languages are also called rule based, equational, functional or assertive. Non-procedural languages are noted for the absence of side effects and the freeing of a user from thinking like a computer when composing or studying a procedural language program. Nonprocedural languages are therefore advantageous for software development and maintenance. Non procedural languages use mathematical semantics and therefore are more suitable for analysis of the correctness and for improving the reliability of software. The difference in semantics between the two classes of languages centers on the meaning of variables. In a procedural language a variable may be assigned multiple values, while in a nonprocedural language a variable may assume one and only one value. The latter is the same convention as used in mathematics. The translation algorithm presented in this report consists of renaming variables and expanding the logic and control in the procedural program until each variable is assigned one and only one value. The translation into equations can then be performed directly. The source program and object specification are equivalent in that there is a one to one equality of values of respective variables. The specification that results from these transformations is then further simplified to make it easy to learn and understand it when performing maintenance. The presentation of translation algorithms in this report utilizes FORTRAN as the source language and MODEL as the object language. MODEL is an equational language, where rules are expressed as algebraic equations. MODEL has an effective translation into the object procedural languages PL/1, C and Ada

Design of the Data Description Language Processor

The Data Description Language (DDL) is a language for describing the structure of data, and expressing transformations that are to be performed on that data. The DDL Processor is a set of computer programs which interprets DDL statements and generates a computer program to perform the specified transformations. Together the DDL and its Processor provide a utility which can be used to perform jobs such as creating new data bases, reorganizing or extracting data from existing data bases, moving data to different storage devices, interfacing files between different programming languages, or between different operating systems. This report documents the design of the DDL Processor. Special features of the design include the use of special purpose internal languages, compiler-compiler techniques, bootstrapping methods, and a descriptor tree which aids in the parsing of input data

Man-Computer Problem Solving in Real-Time Naval Duels

The development of a new Man-Computer Problem Solving Methodology to be widely and effectively applied by the Navy has been the objective of this Research Project. The basic hypothesis that has been examined is as follows. If an interactive system would be available by which a human problem solver could put together, easily and quickly, a simulation of the problem and quickly perform tests of various solutions, perform an evaluation and then further improve the solution, then large scale economies and improved effectiveness would result. The research reported here may be considered to having taken the empirical approach. An experimental environment was selected, namely a Naval War. An interactive problem solving computer system was designed for this environment. To obtain an indication of the effectiveness of the system required the solution of problems in human engineering, computational methods and strategy in the areas of tracking and navigation, sonar applications and processing, and weapon application. New real-time interactive systems were incorporated to simplify the evolution of new problem solving methodologies

A Man-Machine Competitive Game: A Naval Duel

The research reported here is the development of a man-machine game in which the competitors are the captain of a submarine and the commander of an opposing task force. This naval game has been implemented and tested in the Problem Solving Facility of the University of Pennsylvania under Contract NOnr 551(48) sponsored by the Methodology Division, Office of Naval Research. The broad objective of this research has been to experiment with and develop a man-machine framework in which an executive, scientist or engineer may employ strategies and tactics in an operational environment. A complete functional description of the game will be given in this report. This chapter provides an overview of the game and cites its salient characteristics. Chapter 2 presents the game through a play-by-play record of one competitor in an actual duel. Chapter 3 presents the various aspects of the Problem Solving methodology and developed tactics by means of three annotated duels. This also illustrates the versatility of the game and demonstrates the competitors\u27 capability to interact with the computer. Chapter 4 summarizes our research to date and lists planned refinements to the game. Additional documentation of the game structure is provided in the appendices

The Naval Aviation Supply Office Inventory Retrieval System--A Case Study in File Automation

This article describes the case history of the pilot mechanization of files at the Naval Aviation Supply Office. The system described retrieves information on a real-time basis from a large file of technical and inventory data stored on magnetic disk memory. A feature of the system is the use of the Multi-List technique which stores an addressing index in the form of trees that provide access to the main file. The main file may be accessed by many different types of descriptors. Input to the file is via magnetic tape, console inquiry, or remote interrogation station. File and tree construction, the use of linkages between items to form lists, and the executive routine are described.