Re: Pre-relational, post-relational, 1968 CODASYL "Survey of Data Base Systems"

"Ken North" <knorth2_at_deletethis.yahoo.com> wrote in message news:c9b5lc$jb2$1_at_ngspool-d02.news.aol.com...
> > "Ken North" wrote in message
>
> > > Some Pick documents refer to GIRLS as originally conceived as a TRW
> > project. For example, this Pick corporate history is incorrect
(according to
> that old article):
> > >
> > > "In 1965, as part of a research and development project for the U.S.
Army,
> > > engineers at TRW Corp developed a software program
> > > called Generalized Information Retrieval Lanaguage and System." Or
GIRLS
> > for short."
>
> > > In "General Purpose Software" (Datamation), Donald H. Sundeen is
pretty
> > clear about the origin of GIRLS:
>
> "Dawn M. Wolthuis" wrote in message
> > There are detailed flow charts that Don Nelson prepared in the early
60's as
> the spec for GIRLS. I thought he did that while at TRW, with Pick joining
him
> later.
> Is Dwight Duettell still living?
>
>
> "Evolution of Data-Base Management Systems", (ACM Computing Survey, Vol 8,
> number 1, March 1976) by Fry and Sibley, discusses GIRLS as the forerunner
to
> Informatics MARK IV (not GIM).
>
> Under the section of references for 'DBMS prior to 1968", it includes
> "Generalized information retrieval and listing system" Datamation (Dec.
1962) by
> J.A. Postley and T.D. Buettell.
>
> So Dwight Buettell worked on GIRLS before he went to the TRW department
that
> created GIM.

VERY, VERY interesting! Thanks a bunch. I have interviewed many "old pickies" and went back to a couple of them to ask about your statement on the origin of GIRLS and no one has confirmed any knowledge of GIRLS pre-dating Don Nelson, although I'm waiting to talk with a few others. Do you know if either Postley or Buettell is still living? I have been told that Nelson apprenticed under someone before the GIRLS language was written at TRW, but did not have a name. Nelson and Pick are both deceased. Thanks. --dawn Received on Sun May 30 2004 - 02:48:13 CEST