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Database hardware
At the CAM end of the spectrum there are a series of projects in various research laboratories and in industry which are coordinated for the MEMTRB by the ASP committee. These are aimed at using the information handling capabilities of computers to enable the economical manufacture and assembly of mechanical engineering components in smaller batches than would be economical under the existing manual control and supervision and/or using mechanically automated machines. The MEMTRB has also been supporting the development and installation of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) for the production of a wide family of turned
components. When this was announced early in 1979 by the 600 Group at their R and D Unit at Halstead it was to consist of a mixed range of NC and manually operated machine tools with workpieces automatically moving between machines on pallets on a conveyor; robots were to transfer the work from pallets to machines and back. The operation of the whole system was to be integrated under direct computer control. The operation of this system should be demonstrated next year. There is, therefore, much happening related to the development and application of vital portions of the CAD/CAM spectrum and some
Database hardware Bray, 0 H and Freeman, H A Data base computers, Lexington Books, D C Heath and Company, Lexington, MA, USA (1979) 179 pp, £13.50 This book is written in a simple style for students of DBMS (database management systems) and practitioners of computer science and computer engineering, especially those interested in the implementation of research on the DBC (database computer). A DBC is an attempt to implement DBMS software backend concepts in hardware which emphasizes the criteria which are of
higher concern to a DBMS professional than to the traditional computer architecture specialist. The book covers this broad area well for its size. The first third of the book discusses the requirements of a DBMS and contains an example to illustrate the points made in the rest of the book. This should encourage even a DBMS-beginner to read the book with ease. Both the Codasyl and relational architectures which have been proposed for a DBC are covered. The relational (and associative) approaches are emphasized. This reflects the trends in research.
Database conference Deen, S M and Hammersley, P (eds), Proceedings of the International Conference on Databases, Heyden and Son, London (1980) 300 pp £20.00 This book is a collection of 17 papers presented at a conference held at the University of Aberdeen, UK on 2 - 4 July 1980. It is intended for advanced researchers and college teachers in databases.
170
Topics include the role-model extensions to the entity-relationship model, a semantic extension to the relational model, the use of a data dictionary to generate query programs and a data model to handle the time dimension more consistently. Database design aids and performance monitoring are well-represented by practical papers on Codasyl systems. Optimization techniques for query evaluation and file allocation
attempts at complete CAD/CAM installations. The value of defining standard interfaces at key points in the CAD/CAM field is appreciated and there is a satisfactory degree of coordination to ensure that industrial needs are met. Adequate sources of information and demonstrations are being provided to encourage industry to adopt CAD/CAM as quickly as possible. Finally, there is provision to keep both the R and D work and its targets under review, avoiding the fatal R and D mistake of fixing the fine details of the R and D targets many years ahead.
W H P Leslie
Chapters 4 and 5 should be interesting to both technical and managerial people: they provide evaluation criteria and a classification framework for comparison of different DBS architectures. There is a detailed description of how a representative example of each DBC architecture would process a user request based on the example database of Chapter 3. The bibliography (13 pages) is comprehensive and up to date to mid-19-/9. The book is recommended for both graduate students and database professionals, as the first published book on a promising subiect.
Kris Moorthi, Computervision Corporation, Bedford, MA, USA
of distributed databases are discussed. Robust mechanisms are offered. Innovative physical database designs are discussed in the form of hybrid indexes and linear hashing for those who have problems with inverted files and b-trees, respectively. This set of papers (with their brief references) would be a welcome supplementary addition to any library catering to researchers in database management.
Kris Moorthi, Computervision Corporation, Bedford, MA, USA
computer-aided design
components. When this was announced early in 1979 by the 600 Group at their R and D Unit at Halstead it was to consist of a mixed range of NC and manually operated machine tools with workpieces automatically moving between machines on pallets on a conveyor; robots were to transfer the work from pallets to machines and back. The operation of the whole system was to be integrated under direct computer control. The operation of this system should be demonstrated next year. There is, therefore, much happening related to the development and application of vital portions of the CAD/CAM spectrum and some
Database hardware Bray, 0 H and Freeman, H A Data base computers, Lexington Books, D C Heath and Company, Lexington, MA, USA (1979) 179 pp, £13.50 This book is written in a simple style for students of DBMS (database management systems) and practitioners of computer science and computer engineering, especially those interested in the implementation of research on the DBC (database computer). A DBC is an attempt to implement DBMS software backend concepts in hardware which emphasizes the criteria which are of
higher concern to a DBMS professional than to the traditional computer architecture specialist. The book covers this broad area well for its size. The first third of the book discusses the requirements of a DBMS and contains an example to illustrate the points made in the rest of the book. This should encourage even a DBMS-beginner to read the book with ease. Both the Codasyl and relational architectures which have been proposed for a DBC are covered. The relational (and associative) approaches are emphasized. This reflects the trends in research.
Database conference Deen, S M and Hammersley, P (eds), Proceedings of the International Conference on Databases, Heyden and Son, London (1980) 300 pp £20.00 This book is a collection of 17 papers presented at a conference held at the University of Aberdeen, UK on 2 - 4 July 1980. It is intended for advanced researchers and college teachers in databases.
170
Topics include the role-model extensions to the entity-relationship model, a semantic extension to the relational model, the use of a data dictionary to generate query programs and a data model to handle the time dimension more consistently. Database design aids and performance monitoring are well-represented by practical papers on Codasyl systems. Optimization techniques for query evaluation and file allocation
attempts at complete CAD/CAM installations. The value of defining standard interfaces at key points in the CAD/CAM field is appreciated and there is a satisfactory degree of coordination to ensure that industrial needs are met. Adequate sources of information and demonstrations are being provided to encourage industry to adopt CAD/CAM as quickly as possible. Finally, there is provision to keep both the R and D work and its targets under review, avoiding the fatal R and D mistake of fixing the fine details of the R and D targets many years ahead.
W H P Leslie
Chapters 4 and 5 should be interesting to both technical and managerial people: they provide evaluation criteria and a classification framework for comparison of different DBS architectures. There is a detailed description of how a representative example of each DBC architecture would process a user request based on the example database of Chapter 3. The bibliography (13 pages) is comprehensive and up to date to mid-19-/9. The book is recommended for both graduate students and database professionals, as the first published book on a promising subiect.
Kris Moorthi, Computervision Corporation, Bedford, MA, USA
of distributed databases are discussed. Robust mechanisms are offered. Innovative physical database designs are discussed in the form of hybrid indexes and linear hashing for those who have problems with inverted files and b-trees, respectively. This set of papers (with their brief references) would be a welcome supplementary addition to any library catering to researchers in database management.
Kris Moorthi, Computervision Corporation, Bedford, MA, USA
computer-aided design