Architecture of the BNL archive and dissemination system

Technical Report · Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7312813· OSTI ID:7312813

Heller, J

The Brookhaven National Laboratory Archive and Dissemination System (BNLADS) was designed to cope with logical accessing of sequential files, the dissemination of subsets of sequential files of data, the reformatting of sequential files of data, and the record keeping associated with these archiving and disseminating activities. The broad specifications and desires of the BNLADS are discussed from the point of view that eventually this system will operate in a nonhomogeneous computer network. Then the nature of sequential files as dealt with by the BNLADS is considered. A data definition language (DDL) is specified that is capable of describing the access sequence, formatting, and logical names of the fields of data. This DDL is used by the system for accessing sequential files and formatting data for output onto user specified files. The formal specification in Baccus Naur Form (BNF) is given with a discussion of the sematics of the DDL. The architecture of the BNLADS, i.e., the stratified organization, is examined next. The version used is an intersection of the PL/I which is common to all manufacturers considered. The architecture of the BNLADS requires a physical logical description (PLD) of sequential files of data. The BNF form of the PLD is presented. Finally, data accessing language (DAL) upon which the application programs (AP) are written is discussed. These DAL procedures are written in PL/I and can be used to write AP; three typical AP are explained. These AP are characteristic of utility programs and deal with constructing an ''archive type'' file, if desired, displaying the contents, selectively, of a file, and reformatting a sequential file. 7 figures (RWR)

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-02-0016
• OSTI ID: 7312813
• Report Number(s): BNL-22445
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
BNL
COMPUTER CODES
DATA
DESIGN
DOCUMENTATION
INFORMATION
LIBRARIES
PL-1 LANGUAGE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
US AEC
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
990300* - Information Handling
990200 - Mathematics & Computers