NIPS(ID:5377/nip001)

for NMCS INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM


According to Sibley (1980) the very first such system to have special data types for lat/long.
"The ideas of NIPS (1969) included data types for latitude and longitude with operators like: "find the vehicles within X miles of vehicle Y". "



Places
Related languages
NAVCOS-SACT => NIPS   Adaptation of
References:
  • [IBM] NMCS INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM (NIPs),. IBM 1410, NMCS Support Center, Washington, D.C., 1964. view details
  • FRY, J. and GOSDEN, J. "Survey of Management Information Systems and Their Languages" in Critical Factors in Data Management, F, Gruenberger, (Ed.), McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1969, pp41-55. view details Extract: NIPS
    NATIONAL MILITARY COMMAND SYSTEM/NIPS
    Background. The NMCS Information Processing System (NIPS/360) is in essence the Formatted File System (FFS) converted to the IBM 360/50 computer system and operational under Operating System 360/Option 2. Historically, the FFSs began with the SAC 438L system on the IBM 7090 in 1961. The NIPS predecessor on the IBM 1410 was created in 1963 to satisfy the mission of a Naval Fleet Intelligence Center. Since then the system has been employed at several intelligence centers and commands throughout the world. Basically, the system has evolved in two separate communities: Command and Control, and Intelligence. The Intelligence system (IDHS FFS) has emphasized efficient processing capabilities and improved output options for their many volumed data sources. On the other hand, the Command and Control system (NIPS) has expanded logical file maintenance, improved the query language, and built an on-line retrieval mechanism. Both the second-generation FFS systems operate under the modified 1410 operating system OPSYS (1410-PR-155).
    The 1410 FFS is being converted to an S/360 model 50H (eight magnetic tape drives, two 2311 discs, one 2394 disc, 2260/1053, and associated card/read/punch printer equipment) in two primary phases. Phase I components include file structuring, file maintenance, retrieval and sort, output, remote inquiry processing, system formatted output, and necessary utilities. Included in Phase II are expanded file maintenance including multifile capabilities, file revision, on-line update, as well as additional components and utilities. The target date for the operational capabilities was January 1968, for Phase I and June 1968, for Phase II.
    Summary of Capabilities. NIPS/360 is a general-purpose file handling system operating under O/S 360 and performing the traditional functions of structuring, maintaining, revising, and retrieving from a set of data files. While maintaining a high degree of external compatibility with its 1410 predecessor, the internal processing methods have been modified to exploit the capabilities of the third-generation hardware S/360 and of operating system O/S 360. Adhering to the strict O/S 360 programming conventions for communication, base register usage, linkage, etc., the conversion is being done using the COBOL language down to the subroutine level of software. At the subroutine level, either COBOL or assembly language will be used depending on which is necessary to efficiently utilize O/S 360 software and S/360 hardware capabilities.
    Compatibility with the existing 1410 FFS system was a major design criterion which is being achieved through the ability to use existing FFS control cards, query and summary decks, file maintenance decks, and analyst's procedures.
    Specific Features. The new system does much to alleviate the physical restrictions of the old system. Specifically, the physical size restriction of a logical record to 2701 characters has been relieved by making each individual group instance a physical record. However, because of compatibility requirements, some of the logical shortcomings are still apparent in the system.
    In the new system, each File Format Table (FFT is the computer form of the data description or dictionary) will be stored with its file. Thus the NIPS files will be "self-describing" and no longer have a physical remote file description which can easily be misplaced or lost. This should be a major factor in making the transfer of data possible among various installations and is an important development. The S/360 NIPS is primarily a direct access oriented system utilizing the capabilities of the disk through the Index Sequential Access Method (ISAM) of O/S 360.
    The query language for NIPS, called RASP (Retrieval and Sort Processor) is a good example of its kind. Figure 1 shows the rules for the IF clause which illustrates the POL-like structure and the wide variety of alternatives possible.
  • [Defense Dept., Washington, D C.] "National Military Command System Information Processing System (NIPS)" M70-10144 view details Abstract: A generalized information handling system is provided which handles the entire spectrum of formatting requirements and which runs under an English-like control language. The system can accurately analyze large amounts of multi-source information; that is, it can collect, categorize and file the data in a manner that allows rapid selection and evaluation. The 360 Formatted File System offers the user an advanced tool for information management and analysis. Among its most noteworthy features are:
    (1) full exploitation of the S/360 hardware and its related Operating System, providing device independence;
    (2) the efficiency of disk-resident data files;
    (3) the flexibility of an open-ended record structure;
    (4) the simplicity of easy-to- use English-like control language; and
    (5) the power of more detailed control parameters available to the user who wishes to analyze a problem in depth.
          in Computer Program Abstracts Cumulative Issue July 15, 1969 -- July 15, 1971 view details
  • [Defense Dept., Washington, D C.] "National Military Command System Information Processing System (NIPS) Version 2" M70-10145 view details
          in Computer Program Abstracts Cumulative Issue July 15, 1969 -- July 15, 1971 view details
  • Fry, James P.; Sibley, Edgar H. "Evolution of Data-Base Management Systems" view details
          in [ACM] ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 8(1) March 1976 view details
    Resources
    • NARA | Research Room | Records relating to the [Vietnam Conflict] Operations Analysis (OPSANAL) System

      RECORD GROUP 330: RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF
      DEFENSE



      • Operations Analysis System (OPSANAL), 1963 - 1973 (5
        series, 22 data files, 161 doc. pages)

        America's military
        involvement in Southeast Asia demonstrates the first use of computers to provide
        large-scale quantitative analysis of military operations which aided executive
        decisions on the conduct of the war. Utilizing his experience in the corporate
        sector, Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara brought with him an expertise of
        statistical analysis and quantitative study which he applied to his management
        of the Department of Defense. Accordingly, the Operations Analysis System
        (OPSANAL) system was created during the Vietnam war by the Office of the
        Assistant Secretary of Defense for Program Analysis and Evaluation (ASDPAE) to
        provide a means of statistically analyzing the conduct of both friendly and
        enemy military operations in Southeast Asia.

        The Operations Analysis System (OPSANAL) created by the Department of Defense
        provides a perfect representation of the statistical analysis paradigm which
        dominated the Pentagon throughout the Vietnam era. The system was originally
        created in a software dependent structure, called the National Military Command
        System (NMCS) Information Processing System 360 Formatted File System (NIPS). In
        its native NIPS environment, the OPSANAL system formed an early relational
        database whose files interlinked, enabling analysts to input queries on a wide
        variety of parameters. See the ADDENDUM for a
        description of the NIPS format.

      external link
    • NIPS format at NARA
      ADDENDUM

      A description of the NIPS and de-NIPs file formats appears in National
      Archives Reference Information Paper 90: "American Prisoners of War and Missing
      in Action from the Vietnam War" (1995). The relevant paragraphs from Part III of
      that publication (Electronic Records) follows:


      III.3 Several of the data files in the Center for
      Electronic Records were created by the Department of Defense (DoD) using an
      early data base management system called the National Military Command System
      Information Processing System 360 Formatted File System, commonly known as NIPS.
      The data structure of NIPS files is hierarchical in that each data record is
      composed of fixed, non-repeating data with one level of subordinating data. Each
      record is of varying length and is usually organized into the following sets of
      data elements: a Control Set, in which a unique record identifier is found, such
      as operations report number; a Fixed Set, containing non-repetitive data; and
      one or more types of Periodic Sets. Each type of Periodic Set may occur one or
      more times. For instance, a military incident uniquely identified by an
      operations report number may have more than one result. Therefore, a Periodic
      Set named "Results" will occur more than one time in that specific record. In
      addition, NIPS files can include Variable Sets that appear only when data is
      present. These sets are usually "Comments" data in a free-text field of variable
      length.

      III.4 Some Vietnam-era files were
      transferred to the National Archives in the software-dependent NIPS format
      described above. The Center for Electronic Records has preserved a subset of
      them in their native format while others the Center has "de-NIPS'd," or
      reformatted to a zoned-decimal, flat-file format in standard IBM code, EBCDIC.
      The "de-NIPS'd" files are no longer dependent on the NIPS software with which
      they were created. Instead, as flat files, users can process and manipulate the
      files using widely-available software applications.

      external link