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4. OPERATING PROCEDURES

Each user is assigned a password, after the KGS system has been put into operation (as it has in the CBT Computer Center).

In order to activate and operate the KGS system, the user must have a terminal which is set in the proper telecommunications mode to allow capability with Perkin-Elmer 7/32 Computer System (or any host computer). For the CBT user, switches must be adjusted to reflect the conditions shown in Table 2.

4.1

Perkin-Elmer Computer System Signon Procedure

As discussed in Section 2.2, Computer Software, remote access to the Perkin-Elmer Computer System is provided through a Multi-Terminal Manager (MTM) subsystem. Two conditions must be met before a user may access the computer and activate the KGS data base. The first is that the MTM system must be active. A user may determine this by turning on the terminal, dialing the computer (if necessary), and depressing the "RETURN" key. If an asterisk is displayed by the computer, the computer system is available and the command to "SIGNON" may be entered. If no response is received, first ensure that all terminal telecommunication settings are correct (see Table 2). If so, contact the computer facility as to system availability. The second requirement of the operator is that the account number and password for the KGS data base be known. With these two conditions met, the operator may access the computer by typing the following command:

SIGNON ID, 14, PDB (where ID equals a 1-8 character name for user

identification purposes)

An acceptance of the "SIGNON" command will be acknowledged by the computer responding with an asterisk.

4.1.1 Operator Prompting

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Operator interaction with the computer system may be described as having three levels. Each level of interaction is signified by the computer displaying a special character (prompt) in the left-most portion of the terminal display line. The presence of a prompt character notifies the operator that the system is available to accept operator commands. asterisk (*) prompt represents the first or highest level and is the only level at which programs may be loaded. Additionally, other MTM commands may be entered. These include, "Display Time," (D T), "Display Users" (D U), "Cancel" (CA), etc. Refer to the Perkin-Elmer Multi-Terminal User's Manual for complete list of commands and their usage. The second

loaded (such as the KGS data base). The third and final prompt is the greater than (>) sign. This is displayed when a program parameter is needed; such as the case when KGS data base is requesting a run mode. Depending on the system usage, situations will arise where a delay in the computer responding with a prompt will vary. Several factors determine the degree of delay in this response. These include the number of active terminal users, the run priority of the assigned tasks, and the amount of memory and disk resources being used. Normal response expected with the KGS system and five to six other programs running simultaneously is in the order of 1-5 seconds. This does not account for data base search time which may require longer periods of time due to data base size and the amount of information being retrieved.

4.2 Sorting

Sorting the KGS data base is performed by typing the following command:

KGSSORT

This will result in the sequencing of the data base in ascending order by author and file code within author.

4.3 Activating the KGS Data Base

Activating the data base system is accomplished via single command. The program loading and device assignments are performed using the PerkinElmer Command Substitution System (CSS) command file. For a detailed description of the CSS system refer to the Perkin-Elmer "OS/32MT Operator's Reference Manual."

The command to activate the data base is: PDB

Selec

This results in the program being loaded, and a message displayed requesting the operator to enter the desired satellite data base. tion of the desired data base satellite results in a request that the operator enter the desired run mode.

4.4 Data Base Supervisor Program

When the data base system is activated, a message is displayed on the user terminal requesting the data base name. At this time, the operator should type "KGS". By doing so, the proper data base is assigned, and data record retrieval and manipulation may be performed in the proper format.

4.5 EDIT Mode

The user can edit the KGS data base by typing "EDIT". asks for one of 5 different run modes (see Table 4).

Then the program

data base are numbered from 1 to the total number of records in the file. Each record contains 15 lines. The SEARCH mode is useful in finding a record number, if the record number is not known (see Section 4.5.4).

4.5.1 APPEND Sub-Mode

The APPEND mode is used to add new records to the data base. If you type APPEND, the program asks for each of the 15 lines that constitutes a record. The user merely enters the appropriate text in the proper field, as requested by the KGS Editor. When the user is finished typing the 15 lines, the text is displayed on the screen. If the user wishes to save this record, he or she types "YES" to the question "SAVE OK?". If no, type "NO" (typing "NO" results in the just entered text being discarded). Then the program asks for the first line of the next record. If no more records are to be added, the user types an "*"

4.5.2 DELETE Sub-Mode

The DELETE mode is used to delete a record from the data base. The program asks for the record number of the record to delete. It then displays the author and title of that record and asks "DELETE OK?". The user types "YES" or "NO". The program then asks for the number of the next record to delete. When through deleting, enter an "*".

4.5.3 UPDATE Sub-Mode

The UPDATE mode is used to change a record already in the data base. The program asks for the record number of the record to be updated. The program then displays the 15 lines of text for that record. The lines are numbered.

The user types a line number to be changed and the program shows the current contents of that line and asks for the next line. The next line of text that the user types in replaces the old line. The program then asks for the next line to change. When finished changing lines of that record, type an "*"

The new record is displayed on the screen and the program asks "SAVE OK?". The user types "YES" or "NO". The program than asks for the next record to update. When finished updating, the user types an "*".

4.5.4 SEARCH Sub-Mode

The program

The SEARCH mode is used to locate a record in the data base. asks for an author's name and searches the data base record author field for that author, employing a string search strategy. When a match is found, the record number of that record is displayed along with the author and title. The operator is then asked if the search process should

find more records containing that author.

4.5.5 RETURN Mode

After entering an "*" to end an active edit mode, the user is asked for a new run mode. When finished editing, type "RETURN". The "RETURN" mode returns the user to the main supervisor program.

4.6 SELECT DB Mode

By typing "SELECT DB", the user may change data bases and then go into any of the modes of operation available in the KGS system.

4.7 KEY WORD Mode

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By typing "KEY", the user may have an alphabetical list and number of
occurrences of all key words in his data base (see Appendix B).
option for hardcopy or terminal display is provided.

4.8 ONE KEY Mode

By typing "ONE KEY", the user can query the system as to the existence of any number of references containing that key word, without actually retrieving the references.

By typing the word "RETRIEVE," the KGS extract overlay module is activated. This program allows the user to select subsets of the data base by typing one of the following sequence of commands:

OPTIONAL PRINTER OUTPUT? (Yes or No) (Answer Yes or No)

A "YES" response will cause the retrieved records to be directed to the line printer. A "NO" response will cause the retrieved records to be displayed at the user's terminal.

Field or String Search

Enter "FIELD" or "STRING"

Author or Key Word

If "AUTHOR" is typed, the user should respond with one of the following formats. Last name, First Initial, Middle Initial (for field search) or

"ALL" (for entire data base) or

Last name only (for string search)

condition for more than one key word.

Key Word Union ("OR" condition) or Intersection? ("AND" condition)

Enter "UNION" or "INTERSECTION"

Continue?

Respond with "YES" for additional searches or "NO" for return to KGS data base main program segment.

4.10 STOP Mode

When finished operating the KGS data base system type: "STOP". The system will respond with the words "END OF TASK 0."

4.11 "SIGNOFF" Procedure

Upon completion of KGS data base operations, the operator should sign off the computer system. This is accomplished by entering the command:

SIGNOFF

The computer acknowledges the command "SIGNOFF" by printing the total elapsed time that the user was on-line. To start the system over see Section 4.1.

Considerations relating to implementation of the KGS data base software system are described in the following sections. Restrictions relating to computer system hardware and software availability will vary among different computing systems. Such factors as memory size and disk storage are critical and require careful consideration before implementation takes place. In situations involving Perkin-Elmer 32 bit computers, the implementation process involves little or no software modifications and less emphasis placed on memory requirements.

5.1 Minimum Hardware Resources

The amount of memory required to operate the KGS data base is twentythree thousand bytes. This takes into consideration the program overlay techniques used in the program design and development process. Memory requirements may increase by three to four times if no program segmentation (overlay) is employed. Disk storage capacity necessary to operate the KGS system is determined by the number of records in the data base. The calculation necessary to determine this is 372 times the maximum number of records to be stored in the data base.