Lacking Natural Simplicity (Posts about jenzabar px)https://tkurtbond.github.io/categories/jenzabar-px.atom2024-01-23T18:49:58ZT. Kurt BondNikolaPOISE DMS-PLus, a Descriptionhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2022/02/22/poise-dms-plus-a-description/2022-02-22T09:49:38-05:002022-02-22T09:49:38-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>Some time ago I <a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2014/11/23/poise-dms-plus/">linked</a> to a description of the POISE DMS-Plus, a Data
Management System that I've used extensively since the mid 1980s.
Last time I knew it was owned by Jenzabar. Since Jenzabar's
description of it (as part of Jenzabar PX) has vanished from their web
pages I thought it would be useful to have a description of it on my
blog.</p>
<p>I'll include <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060313120910/http://www2.esp-tulsa.com/products.htm#dmsplus">Jenzabar's description</a> of the POISE DMS-Plus here:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>DMS-Plus</strong></p>
<p>Each Jenzabar PX Administrative application module is built on
Jenzabar PX DMS-Plus®, a relational database management system (RDBMS)
using fourth-generation (4GL) language. DMS-Plus includes a powerful
report-writer, an information-retrieval system using multiple keys,
screen generation, and has multiple user levels: the operator,
intermediate user, advanced user, and application developers. It also
includes an Administrative Systems Query (ASQ or ask) language that is
designed to make the software easier to use for administrative
personnel. ASQ permits users to select, order, display, and print
information through simple English-like commands. In addition to ASQ,
another option for queries and reporting is QBF (Query By Form), a
point and select method which leads users through the data files and
query options.</p>
<p>The benefits of a DMS-Plus approach to administrative processing
include ease of use by nontechnical personnel, a greater flexibility,
and speed and simplicity when implementing changes. It includes a
powerful data management and information retrieval facility with
right-to-use source code available. DMS-Plus includes list processing
as well as interfaces to stand-alone word processing systems. Future
enhancement to DMS-Plus are provided as part of the ongoing
subscription services. DMS-Plus is the common language for all types
of users.</p>
<p><em>DMS-Plus Highlights</em></p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>DMS-Plus provides Report Generators for easy sorting, selecting, and
printing along with Screen Generators for easy data entry, update,
and review.</p></li>
<li><p>DMS-Plus utilizes data manipulation for inserting, updating and
deleting data in the database. In addition to data definition for
adding new elements to the database, data control is also available
for accessing data by persons who have been granted access.</p></li>
<li><p>DMS-Plus has a menu processor, import/export capability via ASCII
file formats, a WordPerfect interface, and SQL compliant.</p></li>
<li><p>DMS-Plus is a user-oriented system that operates in a multi-user
environment. Simple English-like language prompts and responses are
used to interact with the system. By utilizing the flexibility of
DMS-Plus, each user office can determine the information collected,
can regulate work flow, can set its own schedules for updating
files, and can produce its own reports without depending on
Information System services.</p></li>
<li><p>DMS-Plus supports multi-user access. These application systems use
many of the same functions and techniques that provide continuity
across user departments and also allows cross-utilization of
personnel.</p></li>
<li><p>Many applications for information management needs may be
implemented through the software provided with little or no
additional programming.</p></li>
<li><p>DMS-Plus provides an integrated base of information for
administrative data processing. Information introduced into the
system may be carried forward into all appropriate areas without
redundant entry.</p></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>While the above describes the POISE DMS-Plus as a “relational database
management system”, it isn't really. It does not use a relational
database. It comes from the time <strong>before</strong> relational databases.</p>
<p>To me, a database is a program that controls access to a collection of
data - you can’t get to the data without asking the database program
for it.</p>
<p>A data management system (the DMS in DMS-Plus) just lets you associate
related data together, and then multiple programs can access the
pieces, usually using a standard API implemented as a library.</p>
<p>Before the advent of Unix, files were often much more complicated that
just a stream of bytes. For instance, under VMS (where I've used the
POISE DMS-Plus the most) the <em>Record Management Services</em> (RMS)
provides sequential, relative, and indexed file organization, and
fixed-length and variable-length record formats, and allows you to
access records within these files sequentially, directly by key value,
directly by relative record number, or directly by record file
address. It was common practice for programs to each use their own
specific mix of these aspects of RMS, with the details directly coded
into the program.</p>
<p>The advantage of the POISE DMS-Plus is it provided a suite of programs
that worked together, allowing users to describe the format of the
files they wanted, enter and modify data in those files, sort and
select data, and produce nicely formatted reports, without having to
write any code. The programs were interactive, issuing a series of
prompts to the user for what they needed to do next, and were very
easy to learn. If a secretary wanted to keep track of the inventory
of their office, they would run <span class="command">DMS:DESCRIBE</span> to describe
the fields they wanted and allocate space for the file, then run
<span class="command">DMS:ADD</span> to add data, <span class="command">DMS:SEARCH</span> to search and
update it, <span class="command">DMS:SORT</span> to sort and select data, and
<span class="command">DMS:PRINT</span> to produce a nicely formatted report. If they
had to do a lot of data entry into the file, or it was large or
complicated, they could run <span class="command">DMS:SCREEN</span> to define a text
user interface screen format for interactive user input, arranging the
fields or subsets of the fields on the screen to make data entry easy,
and then run <span class="command">DMS:SCOPE</span> using that screen format to do data
entry. (I keep wishing for something as easy to use as
<span class="command">DMS:SCREEN</span> in the area of database backed web applications,
but haven't found it yet.)</p>
<p>POISE DMS-Plus files <em>were</em> relational in that it was possible for
fields in one file to refer to values in fields in another file,
similar to SQL <code class="docutils literal">JOIN</code>s and <code class="docutils literal">FOREIGN KEY</code> constraints. So, for
instance, it was possible to have a code field in one file, but on
reports include the description of the code by pulling it from a code
file, keyed by the code field.</p>
<p>All the POISE DMS-Plus programs used a documented API, the Support
Procedure Library, which programmers could use to write programs that
accessed POISE DMS-Plus files for applications that required
sophisticated, special purpose processing. Furthermore, they
documented the file structures they used, so it was possible to write
programs that accessed DMS-Plus files directly, if necessary.</p>
<p>POISE, by the way, stood for “People Oriented Interactive Software for
Education”, and it probably had its greatest success in systems for
education administration, but it was a general purpose tool and I have
worked on projects using it for many other areas, including local and
state government, real estate sales management, oil and gas royalty
management, and many others.</p>POISE DMS-PLushttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2014/11/23/poise-dms-plus/2014-11-23T01:48:58-05:002014-11-23T01:48:58-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>I found a <a class="reference external" href="http://www2.esp-tulsa.com/products.htm#dmsplus">web page</a> that lists all the POISE products, now known as the
Jenzabar PX Administrative Information Systems, including the POISE
DMS-Plus.</p>
<p><strong>2022-02-21 Update:</strong> The link above is broken, but <a class="reference external" href="https://archive.org/">archive.org</a> has <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060313120910/http://www2.esp-tulsa.com/products.htm#dmsplus">it</a>!</p>