A data management system for time-shared file processing using a cross-index file and self-defining entries

Abstract

The Time-Shared Data Management System (TDMS), under development at System Development Corporation (SDC) for use in its Research and Technology Laboratory, is intended to provide the users of the SDC Time-Sharing System with a powerful set of tools for the manipulation of large volumes of formatted, that is, not free text data. The functions to be provided include the description of data, the storage of files or data bases into the computer environment, the retrieval of the data either in response to human query or under program control for processing by other programs of the system, and the maintenance of data already loaded.