Jet Propulsion Laboratory Display Information System: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|File management program written in FORTRAN}}{{More citations needed|date=July 2025}}

{{More footnotes|date=December 2019}}

The '''Jet Propulsion Laboratory Display Information System''' (or '''JPLDIS''') is a file management program written in [[Fortran|FORTRAN]].

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In the late 1960s, Fred Thompson at the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) of the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) was using a [[Tymshare]] product named [[RETRIEVE]] to manage a database of electronic calculators. In 1971 Fred collaborated with Jack Hatfield, a programmer at JPL, to write an enhanced version of RETRIEVE which became the JPLDIS project.

JPLDIS evolved into a file management program written in [[Fortran|FORTRAN]], running on a [[UNIVAC 1108]] mainframe. Hatfield published two papers entitled "Jet Propulsion Laboratory Data Information System (JPLDIS)". The first paper was presented to the Univac Users Group in Dallas, TX (Feb. 1973) and the second paper was presented to the National Science Foundation conference on Data Storage and Retrieval Methods at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri (July 1973). Hatfield left JPL in 1974 and the JPLDIS project was assigned to Jeb Long, another programmer at JPL, who added many advanced features plus a programming language.

In 1978, while at JPL, [[Wayne Ratliff]] wrote a database program in assembly language for [[CP/M]] based microcomputers to help him win the football pool at the office. He based it on Jeb Long's JPLDIS and called it Vulcan, after Mr. Spock of Star Trek. In late 1980, George Tate, of [[Ashton-Tate]], entered into a marketing agreement with Wayne Ratliff. Vulcan was renamed to dBase, the price was raised from $50 to $695, and the software quickly became a huge success.

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<ref name="foxpro">{{cite web|access-date=December 21, 2010|url=http://www.foxprohistory.org/ashton_sues_fox.htm|title=The History of FoxPro - Ashton-Tate vs Fox Software|archive-url=https://webcitation.org/5v9ZFwblS?url=http://www.foxprohistory.org/ashton_sues_fox.htm|archive-date=21 December 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="data based advisor">{{cite journal|last=Hawkins|first=John L.|date=March 1991|title=dSTORY; how I really developed dBASE. (author of dBASE tells of the database management system's history)|journal=Data Based Advisor|volume=9|issue=3|page=93|publisher=Advisor Publications, Inc.|issn=1090-6436|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9229460_ITM|access-date=21 December 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="PC Week">{{cite journalmagazine|last=Moser|first=Karen D.|last2=Ould|first2=Andrew|date=17 December 1990|title=Court ruling turns table on A-T in dBASE battle. (Ashton-Tate's law suit against Fox Software Inc.)|journalmagazine=PC Week|volume=7|issue=50|page=1|publisher=Ziff Davis Enterprise|___location=New York, New York|issn=0740-1604|url=http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=AONE&docId=A9685703&source=gale&srcprod=AONE|access-date=21 December 2010}}</ref>

}}