PEG(ID:709/)

Interactive maths system 

Interactive mathematical language developed by Smith at SLAC in 1969
Related languages
DATAN => PEG   Influence
References:
  • Smith, L B. "The use of man-machine interaction in data-fitting problems" PhD Dis., Comput Sci. Dept., Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif 1969 view details
  • Smith, Lyle B. "A Survey of Interactive Graphical Systems for Mathematics" view details Extract: PEG system
    PEG system
    At the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the author has developed the PEG (On-line Data-Fitting) system. The work was begun in the fall of 1967 on an IBM System 360/75 computer using an IBM 2250 II display unit with lightpen as the interactive console, Figure 11. The interactive program runs in a separate partition of memory with high priority. By the fall of 1968 a working system was available and was used by physicists for actual datafitting problems. By October 1968 the IBM 360/75 had been replaced by an IBM 360/91, and the PEG system was operational on that computer.
    As described in Smith (1969), the PEG
    system allows user'selection of:
    a) fitting function: user defined function, orthogonal polynomials, spline func- FIG 9 Photograph of IBM 2250screen during execution of Dixon's Time Serms Spectrum Estimation program. Note the light "buttons" at the bottom of the screen for lightpen selection of options
    b) data mode: data from cards, data of previous fit, residuals of previous fit, and keyboard entry; and
    c) display mode--after a fit has been computed there are seven different display modes.

    In addition to the above, PEG allows specification of degree, initial guesses for nonlinear problems, choice of minimization method (in some cases), and correction, subset selection, selective deletion, or transformation of data values.

    All user actions are either lightpen selections or numerical entries from the keyboard. This has been accomplished by anticipating in advance all possible (at least nearly all, hopefully) desires of a user and providing for on-line selection from the list of available options.

    The PEG System was partially inspired by the DATAN System, see Simonsen and Anketell (1966). Some other references of interest in the approximation and curvefitting areas are Conn and von Holdt (1965) and de Maine (1965). Pyle (1965) describes a system for on-line data input by question and answer which is related to the method employed by PEG to obtain input from the user. PEG in many cases asks multiple choice questions which can be answered with the lightpen.
          in [ACM] ACM Computing Surveys 2(4) Dec1970 view details