Information Systems Technician Training Series

Transcription

1 NONRESIDENT TRAINING COURSE August 1997 Information Systems Technician Training Series Modue 2 Computer Systems NAVEDTRA NOTICE Any reference within this modue to Radioman or the former Radioman rating shoud be changed to Information Systems Technician and the Information Systems Technician (IT) rating. The subject matter presented reates to the occupationa standards for the IT rating. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for pubic reease; distribution is unimited.

2 Athough the words he, him, and his are used sparingy in this course to enhance communication, they are not intended to be gender driven or to affront or discriminate against anyone. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for pubic reease; distribution is unimited.

3 PREFACE By enroing in this sef-study course, you have demonstrated a desire to improve yoursef and the Navy. Remember, however, this sef-study course is ony one part of the tota Navy training program. Practica experience, schoos, seected reading, and your desire to succeed are aso necessary to successfuy round out a fuy meaningfu training program. COURSE OVERVIEW: In competing this nonresident training course, you wi demonstrate a knowedge of the subject matter by correcty answering questions on the foowing subjects: Computer Hardware Startup, Computer Center Operations, and Data Management. THE COURSE: This sef-study course is organized into subject matter areas, each containing earning objectives to hep you determine what you shoud earn aong with text and iustrations to hep you understand the information. The subject matter refects day-to-day requirements and experiences of personne in the rating or ski area. It aso refects guidance provided by Enisted Community Managers (ECMs) and other senior personne, technica references, instructions, etc., and either the occupationa or nava standards, which are isted in the Manua of Navy Enisted Manpower Personne Cassifications and Occupationa Standards, NAVPERS THE QUESTIONS: The questions that appear in this course are designed to hep you understand the materia in the text. VALUE: In competing this course, you wi improve your miitary and professiona knowedge. Importanty, it can aso hep you study for the Navy-wide advancement in rate examination. If you are studying and discover a reference in the text to another pubication for further information, ook it up Edition Prepared by DPC(SW) Water Shugar, Jr. and RMCS(SW/AW) Deborah Hearn. Pubished by NAVAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER NAVSUP Logistics Tracking Number 0504-LP i

4 Saior s Creed I am a United States Saior. I wi support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I wi obey the orders of those appointed over me. I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the word. I proudy serve my country s Navy combat team with honor, courage and commitment. I am committed to exceence and the fair treatment of a. ii

5 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. Computer Hardware Startup Computer Center Operations Data Management APPENDIX I. Gossary AI-1 II. Gossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations AII-1 III. References Used to Deveop the TRAMAN AIII-1 INDEX INDEX-1 NONRESIDENT TRAINING COURSE foows the index iii

6 CREDITS Trademark Credits Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation. iv

7 SUMMARY OF THE RADIOMAN TRAINING SERIES MODULE 1 Administration and Security This modue covers Radioman duties reating to administering AIS and communication systems. Procedures and guidance for handing of cassified information, messages, COMSEC materia and equipment, and AIS requirements are discussed. MODULE 2 Computer Systems This modue covers computer hardware startup, incuding periphera operations and system modification. Other topics discussed incude computer center operations, media ibrary functions, system operations, and troubeshooting techniques. Data fie processes, memory requirements, and database management are aso covered. MODULE 3 Network Communications This modue covers network administration, LAN hardware, and network troubeshooting. Reated areas discussed are network configuration and operations, components and connections, and communication ines and nodes. MODULE 4 Communications Hardware This modue covers various types of communications equipment, incuding sateites and antennas. Subjects discussed incude hardware setup procedures, COMSEC equipment requirements, distress communications equipment, troubeshooting equipment, sateite theory, and antenna seection and positioning. MODULE 5 Communications Center Operations This modue covers center operations, incuding transmit message systems, voice communications, center administration, quaity contro, and circuit setup/restorations. Guideines for setting EMCON and HERO conditions and cryptosecurity requirements are aso discussed.

8 INSTRUCTIONS FOR TAKING THE COURSE ASSIGNMENTS The text pages that you are to study are isted at the beginning of each assignment. Study these pages carefuy before attempting to answer the questions. Pay cose attention to tabes and iustrations and read the earning objectives. The earning objectives state what you shoud be abe to do after studying the materia. Answering the questions correcty heps you accompish the objectives. SELECTING YOUR ANSWERS Read each question carefuy, then seect the BEST answer. You may refer freey to the text. The answers must be the resut of your own work and decisions. You are prohibited from referring to or copying the answers of others and from giving answers to anyone ese taking the course. SUBMITTING YOUR ASSIGNMENTS To have your assignments graded, you must be enroed in the course with the Nonresident Training Course Administration Branch at the Nava Education and Training Professiona Deveopment and Technoogy Center (NETPDTC). Foowing enroment, there are two ways of having your assignments graded: (1) use the Internet to submit your assignments as you compete them, or (2) send a the assignments at one time by mai to NETPDTC. Grading on the Internet: Internet grading are: Advantages to you may submit your answers as soon as you compete an assignment, and you get your resuts faster; usuay by the next working day (approximatey 24 hours). In addition to receiving grade resuts for each assignment, you wi receive course competion confirmation once you have competed a the assignments. To submit your assignment answers via the Internet, go to: Grading by Mai: When you submit answer sheets by mai, send a of your assignments at one time. Do NOT submit individua answer sheets for grading. Mai a of your assignments in an enveope, which you either provide yoursef or obtain from your nearest Educationa Services Officer (ESO). Submit answer sheets to: COMMANDING OFFICER NETPDTC N SAUFLEY FIELD ROAD PENSACOLA FL Answer Sheets: A courses incude one scannabe answer sheet for each assignment. These answer sheets are preprinted with your SSN, name, assignment number, and course number. Expanations for competing the answer sheets are on the answer sheet. Do not use answer sheet reproductions: Use ony the origina answer sheets that we provide reproductions wi not work with our scanning equipment and cannot be processed. Foow the instructions for marking your answers on the answer sheet. Be sure that bocks 1, 2, and 3 are fied in correcty. This information is necessary for your course to be propery processed and for you to receive credit for your work. COMPLETION TIME Courses must be competed within 12 months from the date of enroment. This incudes time required to resubmit faied assignments. vi

9 PASS/FAIL ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURES If your overa course score is 3.2 or higher, you wi pass the course and wi not be required to resubmit assignments. Once your assignments have been graded you wi receive course competion confirmation. If you receive ess than a 3.2 on any assignment and your overa course score is beow 3.2, you wi be given the opportunity to resubmit faied assignments. You may resubmit faied assignments ony once. Internet students wi receive notification when they have faied an assignment--they may then resubmit faied assignments on the web site. Internet students may view and print resuts for faied assignments from the web site. Students who submit by mai wi receive a faiing resut etter and a new answer sheet for resubmission of each faied assignment. COMPLETION CONFIRMATION After successfuy competing this course, you wi receive a etter of competion. ERRATA Errata are used to correct minor errors or deete obsoete information in a course. Errata may aso be used to provide instructions to the student. If a course has an errata, it wi be incuded as the first page(s) after the front cover. Errata for a courses can be accessed and viewed/downoaded at: For subject matter questions: E-mai: [email protected] Phone: Comm: (850) DSN: FAX: (850) (Do not fax answer sheets.) Address: COMMANDING OFFICER NETPDTC N SAUFLEY FIELD ROAD PENSACOLA FL For enroment, shipping, grading, or competion etter questions E-mai: [email protected] Phone: To Free: Comm: (850) /1181/1859 DSN: /1181/1859 FAX: (850) (Do not fax answer sheets.) Address: COMMANDING OFFICER NETPDTC N SAUFLEY FIELD ROAD PENSACOLA FL NAVAL RESERVE RETIREMENT CREDIT If you are a member of the Nava Reserve, you may earn retirement points for successfuy competing this course, if authorized under current directives governing retirement of Nava Reserve personne. For Nava Reserve retirement, this course is evauated at 5 points. (Refer to Administrative Procedures for Nava Reservists on Inactive Duty, BUPERSINST , for more information about retirement points.) STUDENT FEEDBACK QUESTIONS We vaue your suggestions, questions, and criticisms on our courses. If you woud ike to communicate with us regarding this course, we encourage you, if possibe, to use e-mai. If you write or fax, pease use a copy of the Student Comment form that foows this page. vii

10

11 Student Comments Course Tite: Information Systems Technician Training Series Modue 2 Computer Systems NAVEDTRA: Date: We need some information about you: Rate/Rank and Name: SSN: Command/Unit Street Address: City: State/FPO: Zip Your comments, suggestions, etc.: Privacy Act Statement: Under authority of Tite 5, USC 301, information regarding your miitary status is requested in processing your comments and in preparing a repy. This information wi not be divuged without written authorization to anyone other than those within DOD for officia use in determining performance. NETPDTC 1550/41 (Rev 4-00 ix

12

13 CHAPTER 1 COMPUTER HARDWARE STARTUP LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon competing this chapter, you shoud be abe to do the foowing: Describe the different components of a computer system. Describe how to startup a computer system. Describe how to set parameters for operation and how to perform and interpret diagnostic tests. Expain what is invoved in inspecting components, running system checks and troubeshooting error conditions. Expain how to perform computer interface changes, CMOS changes and configuration changes. Describe how to inspect, repair and insta cabes. Expain how to insta computer equipment and prepare computers for shipment. We receive information in many different forms, from our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and even sensory nerves. Our brains receive and accept this information, work with it in some form or fashion, and then store it away somewhere in the back of our minds (memories) for future use. If what we are processing at the time requires immediate attention, our minds direct us to respond with words or actions. The computer s brain (the centra processing unit) is designed to do basicay the same thing. That is, it receives information (input data), works with this information (processes data), and transmits this information (output data) to some form of output media. This is often shown graphicay as: Computers do nothing more than what we instruct them to do. They simpy foow a set of internay stored instructions (caed a program or software) we provide and process the data we feed into them. The design of fifth-generation computers is such that they wi actuay earn from previous experiences and appy what they have earned. This is caed artificia inteigence. Artificia inteigence computers manipuate data more efficienty, with parae processing, and understand written and spoken human anguage. Utimatey, we may have a computer simiar to the human brain. COMPUTER SYSTEM HARDWARE A eectronic digita computer systems consist of a centra processing unit (CPU) and one or more periphera devices for inputting and outputting data and 1-1

14 programs. Figure 1-1 shows the CPU and the types of periphera (input and output [I/O]) devices you wi find in a computer system. The devices are interconnected by eectrica cabes thru a bus to aow communications between them. The CPU communicates with the periphera devices through input/output (I/O) channes. The brain of a computer system is the centra processing unit, which we refer to as the CPU. THE CPU IS THE COMPUTER. It receives the data transferred to it from one of the various I/O devices. It processes the data and transfers the intermediate or fina resuts to an I/O device for storage or distribution. The CPU executes stored programs and does a the processing and manipuating of data. It contains the circuits that contro and perform the execution of instructions using various types of memories. The I/O devices simpy aid the computer by providing and receiving data and programs. In this section, you earn about the contro unit, the arithmetic-ogic unit, primary storage, secondary storage, periphera devices, I/O channes, and modems. Figure 1-1. Units/devices of a computer system. 1-2

15 CONTROL UNIT The contro unit maintains order within the computer system and directs the fow of traffic (operations) and data. The fow of contro is indicated by the dotted arrows on figure 1-1. The contro unit seects one program statement at a time from the program storage area, interprets the statement, and sends the appropriate eectronic impuses to the arithmetic-ogic unit and storage section to cause them to carry out the instruction. The contro unit does not perform the actua processing operations on the data. Specificay, the contro unit manages the operations of the CPU, be it a singe-chip microprocessor or a fi-size mainframe. Like a traffic director, it decides when to start and stop (contro and timing), what to do (program instructions), where to keep information (memory), and with what devices to communicate (I/O). It contros the fow of a data entering and eaving the computer. It accompishes this by communicating or interfacing with the arithmetic-ogic unit, memory, and I/O areas. It provides the computer with the abiity to function under program contro. Depending on the design of the computer, the CPU can aso have the capabiity to function under manua contro through man/machine interfacing. The contro unit consists of severa basic ogicay defined areas. These ogicay defined areas work cosey with each other. Timing in a computer reguates the fow of signas that contro the operation of the computer. The instruction and contro portion makes up the decision-making and memory-type functions. Addressing is the process of ocating the operand (specific information) for a given operation. An interrupt is a break in the norma fow of operation of a computer (e.g., CTRL + ALT + DEL). Contro memory is a random-access memory (RAM) consisting of addressabe storage registers. Cache memory is a sma, high-speed RAM buffer ocated between the CPU and main memory; it can increase the speed of the PC. Read-ony memory (ROM) are chips with a set of software instructions suppied by the manufacturer buit into them that enabes the computer to perform its I/O operations. The contro unit is aso capabe of shutting down the computer when the power suppy detects abnorma conditions. ARITHMETIC-LOGIC UNIT The arithmetic-ogic unit (ALU) performs a arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, mutipication, and division) and ogic operations. Logic operations test various conditions encountered during processing and aow for different actions to be taken based on the resuts. The data required to perform the arithmetic and ogica functions are inputs from the designated CPU registers and operands. The ALU reies on basic items to perform its operations. These incude number systems, data routing circuits (adders/subtracters), timing, instructions, operands, and registers. Figure 1-2 shows a representative bock diagram of an ALU of a microcomputer. PRIMARY STORAGE (MAIN MEMORY) The primary storage section (aso caed interna storage, main storage, main memory, or just memory) serves four purposes:. To hod data transferred from an I/O device to the input storage area, where it remains unti the computer is ready to process it. This is indicated by the soid arrow on figure To hod both the data being processed and the intermediate resuts of the arithmetic-ogic operations. This is a working storage area within the storage section. It is sometimes referred to as a scratch pad memory.. To hod the processing resuts in an output storage area for transfer to an I/O device. Figure 1-2. Representative bock diagram of an ALU. 1-3

16 To hod the program statements transferred from an I/O device. This area is caed the program storage area. Pease note that the four areas (input, working, output, and program storage) are NOT fixed in size or ocation, but rather are determined by each individua program s requirements. About now, you re probaby wondering how the contro unit is abe to find these stored instructions and data items. To understand this, picture memory as a wa of post office boxes in a post office. Each box has a different number (address) and represents a specific storage ocation in memory, as shown in figure 1-3. Like the mai in a post office box, the contents of a storage ocation can change, but the number on the post office box or memory address does not change. In this manner, a particuar program instruction or data item that is hed in primary storage can be ocated by knowing its address. It is the responsibiity of the programmer to assign descriptive names to these data items. This enabes the computer program and the computer to keep track of the storage ocation address of each data item. Primary storage can be cassified by its physica or functiona characteristics. Memory Types by Physica Characteristics Primary storage devices may be cassified according to the type of magnetic or eectronic principe they use to store data. Some of the more common types are magnetic core storage, semiconductor storage, and bubbe storage. MAGNETIC CORE STORAGE. Magnetic core storage, athough not used as much as it used to be, provides an easy way to show the genera concepts of memories, incuding integrated semiconductor and bubbe types of memories. Magnetic core storage is made up of tiny doughnut-shaped rings made of ferrite (iron), which are strung on a grid of very thin wires. Because computers store data in binary form (covered in chapter 3), a two-state device is needed to represent the two binary digits (bits), 0 for OFF and 1 for ON. In core storage, each ferrite ring can represent a 0 bit or a 1 bit, depending on its magnetic state. If magnetized in one direction, it represents a 1 bit, and if magnetized in the opposite direction, it represents a 0 bit. These cores are magnetized by sending an eectric current through the wires on which the core is strung. It is this direction of current that determines the state of each core. Look at figure 1-4. Since the cores store data in the form of magnetic charges, core storage retains the data even when the power is off. This is caed nonvoatie storage. An exampe of nonvoatie storage is ROM. However, the process of reading from core is destructive. This means the data must be eectronicay regenerated after being read. SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE (SILICON CHIP). Semiconductor memory has hundreds of thousands of tiny eectronic circuits etched on a siicon chip. Each eectronic circuit, caed a bit ce, can represent a 0 bit or a 1 bit, depending on the current fow in that bit ce. An OFF state represents a 0 bit, and an ON state represents a 1 bit. Another name you hear used for semiconductor memory chips is integrated circuits (ICs). (See figure 1-5.) Technoogica deveopments have enabed even more circuits to be put on a singe chip, resuting in arge-scae integration (LSI) and very-arge-scae integration (VLSI). Figure 1-3. Memory ocations. Figure 1-4. Two-state principe of magnetic storage. 1-4

17 RAM. When you turn the power to the computer off, a the stored data is ost. Aso, when there is a power faiure and you do not have a backup power suppy, a the stored data is ost. As mentioned, this is not the case with magnetic core storage. With core storage, the data is retained even when there is a power faiure or breakdown, since data is stored in cores in the form of magnetic charges, not eectric current. Figure 1-5. Semiconductor memory chip exposed. Some of the advantages of semiconductor storage are fast interna processing speeds, high reiabiity, ow power consumption, high density (many circuits), and ow cost. However, a drawback to this type of storage is that it must have a constant power source. The term for this is voatie storage. An exampe of voatie storage is BUBBLE STORAGE. Bubbe memory is one of the newer storage technoogies, generay used in aptops. It consists of a very thin crysta made of semiconductor materia. The moecues of the crysta act as tiny magnets. Data is stored by changing the poarity of these moecues, caed magnetic domains. The magnetic domains can be switched in an opposite direction by passing a current through a contro circuit imprinted on top of the crysta. Like magnetic core storage, bubbe memory is nonvoatie. The data is retained even when the power is turned off or there is a power faiure. Unike magnetic storage, reading from bubbe memory is nondestructive. The data does not have to be regenerated; it is sti present after being read. If we were to view these magnetic domains under a microscope, they woud ook ike tiny bubbes; hence, the name, bubbe memory. (See figure 1-6.) Memory Types by Function Functionay, we can cassify memory by its operationa features: random-access memory (RAM), Figure 1-6. Bubbe memory. 1-5

18 read-ony memory (ROM), programmabe read-ony memory (PROM), and erasabe programmabe readony memory (EPROM). RANDOM-ACCESS MEMORY (RAM). RAM, aso caed read/write memory, is ike a chakboard. You can write notes, read them, and erase them when you no onger need them. In the computer, RAM is the working memory. Data can be read (retrieved) from or written (stored) into RAM just by giving the computer the address of the RAM ocation where the data is stored or is to be stored. When the data is no onger needed, you can simpy write over it. This aows you to use the storage again for something ese. Core, semiconductor, and bubbe storage have randomaccess memory (RAM) capabiities. READ-ONLY MEMORY (ROM). In most computers, it is usefu to have often used instructions, such as those used to bootstrap (initia system oad) the computer or other speciaized programs, permanenty stored inside the computer. The memory that enabes us to do this without the programs and data being ost even when the computer is powered down is read-ony memory (ROM). Ony the computer manufacturer can insta these programs into ROM, and, once instaed, they cannot be changed. Consequenty, you cannot put any of your own data or programs into ROM. Many compex functions, such as routines to cacuate square root, transators for high-eve programming anguages, and operating systems, can be stored into ROM. Because the instructions are permanenty stored, they are quicky performed with accuracy. Aso, your computer faciity can order programs designed for its needs and have them permanenty instaed into ROM by the manufacturer. To describe these permanenty instaed programs, the term microprogram, or firmware, is used. PROGRAMMABLE READ-ONLY MEMORY (PROM). Your computer faciity can aso buy programmabe read-ony memory (PROM) aready programmed by the manufacturer or in a bank state. Using a bank PROM and a device designed to write (burn) a program into PROM, you can enter any program into the memory. However, you cannot make any changes to the program once it has been written into PROM. But, PROM does provide fexibiity not avaiabe with ROM. Of course, you must be sure the program is error free before it is written into PROM. ERASABLE PROGRAMMABLE READ- ONLY MEMORY (EPROM). The erasabe programmabe read-ony memory (EPROM) was deveoped to overcome the drawback of PROM. Your faciity can buy bank EPROMs from the manufacturer, and you can write programs deveoped at your command/activity using a specia device. The big difference with EPROM is that you can erase it if and when the need arises. The data and programs can be retrieved many times. If you want to reprogram memory, you first erase the EPROM with a burst of utravioet ight. This not ony enabes you to reprogram when requirements change, but aso, you can erase and write the program again if a mistake is made whie programming the EPROM. In other words, a mistake is not fata, as it is when using PROM. You have the fexibiity to change programs to incude improvements or modifications in the future. SECONDARY STORAGE The ast type of memory we briefy introduce here is caed secondary storage or auxiiary storage. This is memory outside the main body of the computer where we store programs and data for future use. When the computer is ready to use these programs and data, it reads them into primary storage. Secondary (auxiiary) storage media extends the storage capabiities of the computer. We need secondary storage for two reasons. First, because the computer s working memory (primary storage) is finite and imited in size, it cannot aways hod a the data we need. Second, in secondary storage, data and programs do not disappear when power is turned off as they do when semiconductor memories are used. Secondary storage media are nonvoatie memories. This means the information is ost ony if you or the users intentionay erase it. The three types of secondary storage we most commony use are magnetic tape, magnetic disk/diskette, and magnetic drum. PERIPHERAL DEVICES Periphera devices incude a the I/O devices used with a computer system. When these devices are under contro of the CPU, we say they are onine. When they perform their functions independenty, not under direct contro of the CPU, we say they are offine. The periphera devices described in the foowing paragraphs are the ones we commony use: magnetic ink character readers, scanners, bar-code readers, keyto-onine data entry terminas, magnetic tape units, magnetic disk drive units, foppy disk drive units, 1-6

19 cathode-ray tube (CRT) terminas, printers, and potters. Key-to-Onine Data Entry Terminas Magnetic Ink Character Readers Magnetic ink character readers read magneticay inscribed information (ike on a bank check) and transate it to machine code. Scanners Using a key-to-onine data entry termina, a person enters input data into the computer directy from the point of origin. This eiminates the need for human intervention between source recording and the utimate processing by the computer. Magnetic Tape Units Scanners read text, drawings, and photographs and convert them into eectronic representations of the images. Bar-Code Readers Bar-code readers scan data encoded in specia bar codes using refective ight and transate them to machine code. Exampes are the code on the front of this manua and the codes on supermarket and department store products. Magnetic tape units move magnetic tape across read/write heads that read and write the information. Characters are recorded (written) on the tape in the form of magnetized spots aong the entire ength of the tape. On tape, data is stored in a sequentia manner. In sequentia processing, the CPU must begin searching at the beginning of the tape and check each record unti the desired data is found. 1-7

20 Magnetic Disk Drive Units Computer Consoes Magnetic disk drive units are storage devices that read and write information on the magnetized surfaces of rotating disks. The disks are made of thin meta, coated on each side so that data can be recorded in the form of magnetized spots. As the disks spin, characters can be stored on them or retrieved from them in a random (direct) manner. This direct accessing of data has a big advantage over the sequentia accessing of data. You can direct the disk drive to begin reading at any point. Computer consoes usuay incude at east a dispay and a keyboard. They may aso incude a printer. The main consoe is ocated near the CPU and is used by the computer operator to contro the operations of the computer system. Other consoes maybe used at the periphera devices to specify what media to mount, what forms to use in the printer, what aignment is required, and so on. They may aso be used by the periphera equipment operator to start and stop jobs, bring up other periphera devices, requeue jobs, and so on. Computer consoes are not normay used for keying data from source documents for production jobs. Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Terminas Foppy Disk Drive Units A cathode-ray tube (CRT) termina ooks ike a teevision with a typewriter-ike keyboard. It aows you, the operator, to enter programs and data directy to the computer. At the same time, it dispays the program or data on the dispay screen of the CRT. It can aso receive information directy from the computer and dispay it on the screen. You can add a printer, a modem, and adapters to the CRT termina to provide for printed output and communications through teephone ines. Printers Foppy disk drive units consist of a diskette drive (the mechanism within which the diskette rotates) and a controer containing the eectronic circuitry that feeds signas into and from the diskette. Diskettes are thin, fexibe patters (foppy disks) coated with magnetic materia so characters can be recorded on the surface in the form of magnetized spots. Just ike hard disks, as the disk spins, characters can be stored on them or retrieved from them in a random (direct) manner. Printers are widey used output devices that express coded characters as hard (paper document) copy. They print computer resuts as numbers, etters, words, 1-8

21 symbos, graphics, or drawings. Printers range from eectric typewriters to high-speed printers. Low-speed ine printers incude the dot-matrix printer commony used with persona computers. High-speed ine printers are normay used with arger computers to print suppy requisitions, paychecks, inventory, or financia reports at 10 ines per second and faster. Laser printers provide high quaity print and print a fu page at one time. They are used with a types of computers. Potters Potters are used with a computer to pot coordinate points in the form of a graph. Digita incrementa potters, in either onine or offine operation with a digita computer, provide a high-speed potting system of high versatiity and reiabiity. For onine operation, a sma adapter unit converts the computer output signas to a form suitabe for driving the potter. INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) CHANNELS The input/output (I/O) channes provide for communications between the CPU and a periphera devices. This is accompished by eectrica cabes that carry both data and contro information to and from the computer and periphera devices. Signas are transmitted and received through a cabe connecting the CPU and its onine devices. This cabe or ine provides a path for the signa to trave and is caed a channe. Not ony signas for monitoring but aso data are transmitted via channes. A channes between the CPU and the periphera devices are designated as I/O channes. An I/O channe may be used for data input, data output, or data input and output, depending on whether the periphera device handes input ony, output ony, or both input and output. simpex circuits are sedom used, because a return path is generay needed to send acknowedgment, contro information, or some type of error signas. DUPLEX CHANNELS. A dupex channe simpy means that within each cabe connection, there are two paths (ines) for the transmission of data. One path is for sending, and one is for receiving, simiar to your teephone. There are two types of dupex charnes, haf-dupex, and fi-dupex. A haf-dupex channe is capabe of transmitting and receiving signas, but ony in one direction at a time, simiar to citizens band (CB) radio transmissions. Therefore, it is necessary to check that the ine is cear (ide) before starting a transmission. A fu-dupex channe provides for simutaneous transmission in both directions, as in the use of the teephone. Data Transmission Methods Data may be transmitted over a channe in one of two ways, in either seria mode or parae mode. SERIAL MODE. In seria transmission, basicay ony three wires are needed: one to transmit data, one to receive data, and one to ground. The data is sent or received in the form of bits, one after another in seria fashion, as shown in figure 1-7. This type of transmission is highy desirabe whenever the computer system is inked to outside peripheras over a ong distance, such as remote terminas. PARALLEL MODE. Parae transmission is a itte more difficut to hookup than seria. It requires a the data bits in a byte to be transmitted at one time (batch mode); so you usuay have nine or ten wires going between the computer and the periphera devices. You have seven or eight ines for the data bits (figure 1-7) that make up a etter, number, or specia character; one ine to ground; and one or two ines caed handshake ines. The handshaking signas communicate information back and forth between the periphera device and the computer. This information ets the Channe Types I/O channes may be simpex or dupex. SIMPLEX CHANNELS. In simpex operations, communications are in one direction ony, such as a radio. If a device such as a termina were to be connected to such a circuit, it woud ony be capabe of sending or receiving data, but not both. For this reason, Figure 1-7. Seria and parae data transmission. 1-9

22 periphera device know when the computer is ready to accept another character and vice versa. This type of transmission is used when you want to have fast data transfer. Its drawback is that the computer cannot be too far away from the periphera device. MODEMS We said that both signas and data can be transmitted and received through cabes (communications ines), which we refer to as I/O charnes. When we transmit data directy to the computer over ong distances, it becomes necessary to add two other devices, one at each end of the communications ine. These devices are caed modems. The word modem is an acronym for MOduator-DEModuator. A modem converts the digita signa produced by your termina (or the computer) to an audio signa suitabe for transmission over the communications ine. The modem at the other end of the ine reconverts the audio signa back to a digita signa before it is suppied to the computer (or your termina). If this conversion were not carried out, the digita signa woud degenerate and become garbed during transmission. WORKING WITH MICROCOMPUTERS Microcomputers are everywhere. They stand aone. They communicate with minis and mainframes. They communicate with other micros through ocaarea networks. This communication is accompished by the use of software designed to make your computer system function. The operating system software enabes you to insta, seect, and execute a variety of programs. It does this through system/job contro anguages and/or commands. Microcomputer users are not often computer speciaists. They are end users in the functiona areas doing computer processing specific to their requirements. They need to know about the software: the operating system, the communication software, and the appications programs. They need to know about the hardware: the microcomputer, the hard disks and the foppies, the monitor, the keyboard, and the printer. You wi need to hep them configure (set up) the system, insta the operating system and/or appications program, and troubeshoot probems. You need to know more than just merey how to operate them if you are to become a communications speciaist. To be effective, you must keep up with the atest changes in microcomputer technoogy and terminoogy. You must have a good working knowedge of microcomputer hardware components (the computer, peripheras, and accessories). You shoud aso be abe to expain and demonstrate how to use the different types of systems and appications software to both computer and noncomputer personne. Last, but not east, you shoud know how to use the various types of documentation suppied by the manufacturer and software vendors. As a communications speciaist, you must be abe to set up, configure, upgrade, and initiaize microcomputer systems. You wi need to know how to insta appications software so it works with the system s unique configuration. It wi be your job to hep noncomputer users, end users, earn and understand everything they need to know to work in a microcomputer environment. This incudes how to interconnect various periphera devices (keyboard, monitor, printer) to the computer or system unit. It aso incudes how to taior the software for the operating system and the appications software to each user s unique hardware configuration. You need to teach them how to format and abe diskettes; how to propery manage, back up, cean up, and store their fies. You need to demonstrate routine operator maintenance and expain security procedures. When users are having probems with their micros, you may be caed upon to troubeshoot the systems using system diagnostics to hep isoate and determine whether the probem is hardware or software reated. You wi aso be expected to make recommendations and/or arrangements to have repairs made. There wi be times when you wi be expected to make repairs if spare parts are avaiabe. On microcomputers, you wi need to be famiiar with a types of productivity software the program packages (or packaged software). These incude word processing, spreadsheet, and database programs at a minimum. You aso need to earn how to use oca-area network software, communications programs, graphics programs, computer-aided design (CAD) programs, desktop pubishing programs, and so on. You, as a professiona data processor, may aso be invoved with the construction and modification of batch fies. This provides a convenient way to save numerous keystrokes for the user and aow the computer to run unattended for some periods of time. A of these software functions can and have been impemented on both arge and sma scae computers. On arge computer systems, you maybe executing programs through system/job contro anguage commands and processing jobs with muti-ree tape fies or fies that reside on disk packs. You wi be responsibe for ensuring that system contro commands 1-10

23 are correct for a job, seecting a utiity program to copy a fie or create a new fie by specifying the parameters, and working with an onine database management system that keeps up-to-date information on inventory management or personne. In ooking over these ast few paragraphs, possiby you see yoursef as a worker, a supervisor, a teacher, and a troubeshooter, and righty so. Microcomputers make up a significant part of your profession; and because of this, you wi be the person that others wi come to ooking for answers to their questions. The mere fact that you are a communications speciaist gives the outside word, the end users, the impression you know it a; that is, a there is to know about mainframes, minis, and particuary microcomputers. WORKING WITH HARDWARE Microcomputers come in many shapes and sizes with a variety of capabiities. A microcomputer can be designed to operate in a stand-aone configuration or as a component, an inteigent termina, a server for a compex oca-area network (LAN) or arge distributed system. In this chapter, we wi focus our attention on desktop microcomputers that operate in a stand-aone environment. Most stand-aone, desktop microcomputer systems contain at east five hardware components. They are as foows:. The computer or system unit, which normay houses the microcomputer (microprocessor chip[s]) aong with other hardware components and secondary storage devices;. Secondary storage devices (foppy disk drives, hard disk drives, and magnetic tape units), housed either in the system unit or separatey;. A monitor (standard output device);. A keyboard (standard input device); and. A printer (an additiona output device for hard copy). THE MICROCOMPUTER In this section, we wi examine the microcomputer with its individua hardware components. We wi examine it from the inside. You wi see how the components work and how they interface and interconnect with one another. There wi come a time when you maybe required to repace or add a board in a computer to upgrade or expand the capabiities of the system. A few exampes are as foows: You may need to insta an expanded memory board to increase the amount of RAM to accommodate arger appications. You may have to repace the enhanced graphics adapter (EGA) board with an video graphics array (VGA) board to upgrade the graphics capabiities of your system. You may need to insta a communications board. You may receive a new software reease that requires the presence (or absence) of certain boards to function propery. You do not want to find out too ate that your software is incompatibe with your hardware. You might have to answer questions such as the foowing: Wi the graphics software the user wants to order work with the graphics board currenty instaed in the system? Does the user s system have sufficient room to accommodate another hard disk drive? A diagnostics routine may indicate that the disk controer board needs to be repaced, and so on, and so on. For reasons such as these, you wi need to know a ot more about microccomputers (both inside and out) if you are to be effective and abe to hep others in your work environment. The Computer or System Unit The computer or system unit is the main part or heart of the tota microcomputer system. Inside this unit a data is processed, arithmetic and ogic functions are performed, and contro is maintained for the system. If you were to remove the outer cover from this unit (figure 1-8), you woud see a power suppy and as many Figure 1-8. A microcomputer system unit with the cover removed. 1-11

24 as two foppy disk drives and two hard disk drives or any combination thereof, depending upon the particuar configuration of your system. You woud aso see severa boards (aso referred to as cards). Some boards are used to contro the periphera devices of the system, whie other boards work in conjunction with the microprocessor that is ocated on the system or motherboard itsef. These boards provide the fexibiity to add a variety of capabiities to a basic system. Certain boards are required, such as the system board that contains the main microprocessor(s). Others you might add to contro a ight pen or mouse device, or to hande a communications interface. Looking inside the computer system unit (figure 1-8), you wi notice there are 5 avaiabe sots for board insertion. These various boards are pugged into what is caed the motherboard. The motherboard is a printed circuit board that transmits the power and eectronic signas between the other boards and periphera devices. It is mounted to the bottom of the chassis of the computer, as shown in figure 1-9. Memory chips, on the newer micros, caed singe in-ine memory modues (SIMMs), are ocated on the motherboard in a group of 4 or 8 sots. In oder micros the memory chips are ocated on a memory expansion board. Most microcomputers aso have a ithium battery instaed on the motherboard. It provides power to the rea-time cock when the system is turned off. The ife expectancy of this battery is 3 to 5 years. Other boards you are ikey to see in a typica microcomputer are the disk controer board, SCSI adapter board, and video dispay board (figure 1-9). We wi take a ook at each. SLOT A SCSI ADAPTER BOARD. The sma computer systems interface (SCSI) adapter board is used to contro periphera equipment, such as a CD- ROM drive. SLOTS B, D, E, F, AND H. Sots B, D, E, F, and H on this particuar micro are reserved for future use. SLOT C DISK CONTROLLER BOARD. Most disk controer boards are capabe of supporting two interna hard disk drives, two interna foppy drives, and one externa magnetic tape drive for tape backup. SLOT G-VIDEO DISPLAY BOARD. The video dispay board incudes graphics memory chips to provide the system with graphics capabiities. Most micros come from the factory set for VGA (video graphics array) settings. By now, you shoud have a pretty good idea of what you can expect to see inside the system unit in the way of microcomputer boards. Before instaing any interna components within the system unit, you must first carefuy remove the outer cover. Be sure you are authorized to make such changes before removing the cover. However, before you go ooking for a screwdriver, read the owner s manua very carefuy, paying particuar attention to the section on cover remova and the steps to foow. For exampe, the owner s manua might say: Once a cabinet screws have been removed, raise the cover, keeping it as high as Figure 1-9. Boards within the microcomputer system unit and their ocations. 1-12

25 possibe whie puing it forward for remova. This action ensures that none of the interna wires, cabes, or connectors are accidentay pued oose and avoids possibe damage to the components aready instaed inside the system unit. So that you wi have a better understanding and appreciation for this microcomputer, we wi take a coser ook at microprocessor chips and see how they differ from one another. We wi aso examine what a this means to you from a communications speciaist s standpoint. Microprocessor Chips A microcomputer systems are driven by one or more microprocessor chips. A microprocessor chip is made up of thousands of integrated circuits that contain a of the essentia eements of a centra processing unit (figure 1-10). These incude the contro ogic, instruction decoding, and arithmetic-processing circuitry. To be usefu, the microprocessor chip (which is no bigger than your fingernai) must be mounted onto what is caed a carrier package (figure 1-11). This carrier package aong with other chips-memory chips (RAM and ROM) and I/O integrated circuit chips are pugged into specific socket ocations on a circuit board caed the system board or the motherboard (figure 1-12). Figure A microprocessor being mounted onto the carrier package. Of a the boards in the microcomputer, the system board is the most important. But what are the functions of the microprocessor chip? Are a microprocessor chips designed to perform the same functions? Basicay, yes; but there are some significant differences in how they perform their functions. You shoud be aware of these differences, especiay if you wi be working with severa different types of micros. A chip, is a chip, is a chip, OR IS IT? Computer chips, ike everything ese in data processing, have some rather unique and unusua names; names ike Ziog Z-80A, Inte 80C88, MOS Technoogy 6502, Motoroa 68000, and so on. Some chip names contain etters and numbers. Others contain ony numbers. Having the right microprocessor chip in your computer Figure A typica microprocessor computer chip. Figure The system/motherboard showing pacement of the microprocessor, RAM, ROM, and integrated circuit chip. 1-13

26 system makes a the difference in the word in terms of interna processing speeds (33MHz, 66MHz, 120MHz, and so on), number of bits handed (8, 16, or 32 bits), memory size (640K, 4M, 16M, and up), and the appications software it wi run. Each microcomputer contains a specific microprocessor chip as its main processor. A microprocessor chip can typicay hande 8, 16, or 32 bits of information at once. Generay speaking, the more bits a computer can manipuate at one time, the faster it can process program instructions and data, and the arger the main or primary memory it can accommodate. The type of chip in your computer or system unit aso has a great effect on what you can do with your micro. For exampe, operating systems are written to serve a specific microprocessor chip, and appications programs that work under one operating system are not ikey to work under another uness the program is modified. Many appications programs come in severa versions to provide compatibiity with severa operating systems. These are just a few of the reasons why we say it is very important that you read a the documentation that comes with your microcomputer. The Navy uses many different types of microcomputers and microprocessor chips. To give you an idea of the variety, tabe 1-1 ists some of the microprocessor chips. Speciaized Processors Speciaized processor chips have been deveoped to shift some of the workoad from the main Tabe 1-1. Microcomputer Chips and Microcomputers microprocessor chip. For exampe, IBM uses an Inte 8048 chip on the keyboard to determine which keys are being depressed and aso to check to see that the keyboard is communicating propery with the microprocessor. In fact, most periphera devices have one or more speciaized processors embedded in them. Other speciaized processors are the Inte and the faster math coprocessor. These are specia-purpose programmabe microprocessors designed to perform arithmetic cacuations up to 100 times faster than the main microprocessor. A math coprocessor executes arithmetic instructions that woud normay be handed by the main microprocessor s arithmetic-ogic unit (ALU) as we as those the main microprocessor cannot perform because of register constraints. The and are companion chips to the Inte famiy of microprocessors. Computer systems using the 80 series of chips are capabe of very high-speed mathematica operations when the math coprocessor chip is pugged either into or aongside the system or motherboard. Math coprocessor chips are used in SX version computers. The SX denotes that the computer does not have a math coprocessor integrated into the cpu chip. A DX version computer has a math coprocessor integrated into the cpu chip. With the deveopment of the Pentium chip, math coprocessor chips were no onger required to perform arithmetic cacuations. INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES AND ACCESSORIES To the system unit we must add input/output devices to communicate between us and the computer. These incude the monitor, the keyboard, disk drives, and the printer. We wi ook at each of these devices in the foowing sections, aong with some of the more common accessories found on microcomputers, such as surge protectors, parae to seria converters and vice versa, nu modems, cabes, and switches used for sharing hardware. Monitors (Dispay Devices) Monitors are used as output devices on microcomputers. They are periphera devices that contain a dispay ike a teevision viewing screen. They are the principa ink between you and the microcomputer. Their soe purpose in ife is to aow the microcomputer to communicate its actions to you (the user), so you can act upon those actions to accompish whatever job you are doing. They dispay output from the computer. The monitor is one of the most important peripheras to a micro and is certainy the most visibe. 1-14

27 Quite often, the term monitor is used interchangeaby with such names as screen, dispay, dispay device, and cathode-ray tube (crt). Monitors can dispay information in either monochrome or coor, depending on their design. Monochrome dispays produce output images using a singe foreground coor, such as back, and a singe background coor, such as white. This provides you with back text on a white background. Using a technique known as reverse video (that is, reversing the coor of the pixes or dots on the screen), it is possibe to have white text on a back background. Monochrome dispays aso come in amber (a yeowish brown) and green. Amber and green are considered more peasing and ess stressfu to the eyes than back and white. Most coor dispays are of the red-green-bue (RGB) type. Depending upon the sophistication of the dispay device and the amount of RAM avaiabe with the microcomputer, you may be abe to dispay from 8 to 16,000,000 coors. Now, et s take a coser ook and discuss some of the more common features you are ikey to find on monitors. These incude brightness, contrast, and sizing. We wi aso discuss the various types of video dispay and graphics boards/cards that are used to support them. You use the brightness contro to vary the brightness of dispayed data. When adjusting this contro, you turn the dia unti the intensity is at the brightness eve desired. Use the contrast contro to vary the difference between the nonintensified coors and the intensified coors. Monitors with a sizing feature aow you to increase or decrease the physica size (the height and width) of the dispayed information on your screen. Some modes use contro knobs. Others use two-position switches. Depending on the type monitor you have, these contro knobs or switches coud be ocated just about anywhere; on the back, on the sides, or tucked away underneath the monitor to keep them from being accidentay hit, as shown in figure Located on the front of most monitors, generay beow the screen, you wi find some type of power on/off switch. It wi probaby have a green ightemitting diode (LED) indicator ight. When this ight is it, the monitor is on and power is suppied. At this point, it woud be hepfu for you to have a basic understanding of dispay technoogy, aong with the various types of dispay/graphics cards used to support dispay devices. Having a good working knowedge in this area wi put you in a better position to assist the end users in answering any technica questions they may have, as we as aid you in troubeshooting and diagnostics testing. A key characteristic of any dispay device is its resoution, which determines the sharpness and carity of the screen image. If you ook cosey at your dispay, you notice that images are formed by ighting up tiny dots on the screen. Resoution is measured by the number of these dots or pixes (short for picture eements) per square inch of screen. Whether you are working with text or graphic images, the more pixes used to form characters/images and the more pixes that can be packed per square inch of screen, the higher the resoution and the sharper the character/image. For exampe, a dispay resoution of 1280 by 1024 means that the screen consists of 1280 vertica coumns by 1024 horizonta rows of dots, or if you prefer = 1,310,720 pixes. The distance between the dots is caed dot pitch. Smaer pitch vaues indicate sharper images. The origina IBM PC coor monitor had a dot pitch of 0.43mm. The state-of-the-art dispays marketed today have a dot pitch of 0.28mm or ess. Most dispay devices are capabe of providing you with both text and graphics (pictures). Text output consists of etters, numbers, and specia characters ony. Text characters are created on the screen in the form of a Figure Monitor contros, switches, and indicators. 1-15

28 dot-matrix simiar to a dot-matrix printing device. Normay, it is the dispay device manufacturer who wi decide on a specific matrix size say, 7 by 12 (for a tota of 84 dots or pixes) to dispay each character of text (see figure 1-14). The more pixes used to form characters, the higher is the resoution. Most dispay devices use 25 rows of 80-character ines when dispaying text, and there are some that wi dispay 50 rows of 132- character ines in what is caed a compressed mode. Graphics output consists of compex picture images, which brings us to the term bit mapping. Bit mapped graphics use a technique whereby each dot or pixe on the screen can be addressed and individuay controed by the user. This aows you to create virtuay any type of image on the screen. Knowing this shoud give you abetter understanding and appreciation of why resoution is so important, especiay if you are viewing two documents on the screen at the same time, side-by-side, or working with three-dimensiona graphics. The type of monitor or dispay device you have on your microcomputer wi often dictate what type of dispay/graphics board you can pug into your system unit. The key word here is compatibiity. Some dispay devices can automaticay switch between any standard dispay/coor graphics card. Having such a dispay device or monitor aows you to upgrade the video/ graphics board in the system unit without having to upgrade the dispay unit. However, not a dispay devices are designed to accept the different types of video boards avaiabe primariy because of their resoution characteristics. It is important that you read a the documentation that comes with your micro to determine whether or NOT your dispay device wi be compatibe with the video/graphics board you want to insta. Keyboards Of a the components that make up a microcomputer, you wi become most famiiar with the keyboard. It wi probaby be your primary means for inputting programs and data on microcomputers. Keyboards come in many shapes and sizes, have different numbers and arrangements of keys, differ in respect to touch, and have specia keys to aow you to communicate specific software commands. Most manufacturers have designed their keyboards as separate devices so you can pace them wherever it is convenient. Other manufacturers have designed their keyboards into the dispay/monitor device or system unit. The important things you need to know about keyboards are the types of keys and the function and pacement of each. A keyboards have the aphabetic characters (upper and ower case), numbers, and some specia characters. In addition, keyboards have specia function keys and contro keys that are defined by the operating system or the program. We wi briefy describe an exampe keyboard and expain some of the more common keys you are ikey to use. LETTERS, NUMBERS, AND SPECIAL CHARACTER KEYS. The arrangement of etter, number, and specia character keys may vary. The QWERTY keyboard shown in figure 1-15 has the same format as the conventiona typewriter. Figure The etter L as formed within a 7- by 12-dot matrix. Figure QWERTY keyboard. 1-16

29 Figure Contro keys. CONTROL KEYS. In ooking at figure 1-16, you wi notice severa keys are outined in bod. These are some of the more common contro keys you can expect to use when working with just about any keyboard. Beginning in the top eft-hand corner, you see the ESC(ape) key, TAB key, CTRL (contro) key, SHIFT key, ALT (aternate) key, and to the immediate right are the SPACE BAR and the CAPS LOCK key. On the right-hand side of the keyboard are the BACK SPACE key and the ENTER/RETURN key. Depending on what program/software you are using, the keys may be assigned different functions. ESCape KEY The ESCAPE key usuay stops the execution of a program or function e TAB KEY The TAB key moves the cursor to the next tab stop position. CTRL KEY The CONTROL key performs specia functions within the system/program. It is used in combination with other keys to increase the number of functions you can specify to a system or program. For exampe, on most IBM compatibe systems, when used with the ALT and DEL keys, it reboots the operating system. SHIFT KEY The SHIFT key works in conjunction with other keys. When you hod down the shift key (or depress the CAPS LOCK key) and press a etter key, the etter wi be dispayed and stored in UPPER CASE. When you hod down the shift key with the number keys on the row above the aphabetic keys, the specia characters shown on the top of each key wi be dispayed and stored. The CAPS LOCK key on this particuar keyboard contains a ight within the key itsef. When it is it, you know the caps ock feature is on. ALT KEY The ALTERNATE key aso works in conjunction with other keys to increase the number of functions you can communicate to the system/program. SPACE BAR Press the SPACE BAR whenever you want to enter a bank character, a space. BACK SPACE KEY Pressing the BACK SPACE key moves the cursor one position to the eft, erasing the character that was previousy entered. ENTER/RETURN KEY By pressing the ENTER/RETURN key, you te the computer (microprocessor) you have entered data or instructions and are ready for processing. Depressing this key aso returns the cursor to the beginning of the next ine. SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS. If you ook at figure 1-17, you wi notice once again severa keys outined in bod. These are specia function keys you can expect to use. Located on the far eft side of the keyboard, you see 12 specia function keys abeed F1 through F12. On some keyboards you wi find these function keys have been paced across the top of the keyboard, above the etters and numbers. The number of these function keys may aso vary. To the right of the keyboard is another group of specia function keys. Figure Specia function keys. 1-17

30 These incude a 10 key (0-9) numeric keypad and the cursor contro keys. Aso, beginning on the top row at the right, you see the NUM(eric) LOCK key, SCROLL LOCK key, PAUSE key, and the PRT SC (print screen) key. Located on the bottom right-hand side of the keyboard are the INS(ert) and DEL(ete) keys. The purpose/function of each of these keys is as foows: FUNCTION KEYS F1-F12 These speciapurpose keys are used to communicate specia functions to the operating system, such as MS- DOS, or to appications software. The meaning of each is defined by the particuar software. This simpifies tasks that might otherwise require severa keystrokes. These keys can aso be used with other keys to increase the number of functions you can specify to a program. NUMERIC KEYPAD KEYS To activate the numeric keypad, press the NUM LOCK key. The NUM LOCK key may contain an indicator ight within the key to indicate when it is ON. Use the numeric keypad just ike a cacuator keypad to enter numbers you wi be using in mathematica functions. CURSOR CONTROL KEYS The CURSOR CONTROL keys are most important. They aow you to move the cursor from one pace to another on the dispay screen. Remember, the cursor is the indicator, the spot of ight on the screen, which ets the user know where the next entry wi be made. On the keyboard shown in figure 1-17, the cursor contro keys are ocated in two ocations, both on the numeric keypad and as a separate keypad. When the NUM LOCK key is OFF, you can use the arrows on keys 2,4,6, and 8 to contro cursor movement one ine up or down, or one position to the eft or right, as shown by the direction of the arrow. The remaining cursor contro keys on keys 1, 3, 7, and 9 are used to move the cursor to other parts of the screen or document/data (for exampe, the end of a ine [END key] or the top of the next page [PgDn key]). Some software packages use the cursor contro keys in combination with each other or with other keys to increase the number of ways and the speed with which you can move the cursor. Read the software documentation; the faster and more efficienty you are abe to move the cursor through a document or database, the faster and more efficienty you wi get the job done. Some keyboards have separate arrow keys for cursor contro. This is particuary hepfu when you are doing a ot of data entry of numbers. SCROLL LOCK KEY Appications software uses the SCROLL LOCK mode of the key to contro screen scroing. PAUSE KEY The PAUSE key is used to interrupt program execution. PRT SCreen KEY The PRT SCREEN key is activated by depressing it in conjunction with the SHIFT key depressed. This sends whatever is dispayed on the monitor s screen to the printer. INSert and DELete KEYS These keys aow you to insert or deete a character at the position of the cursor when neither the SHIFT nor the NUM LOCK keys are depressed. It is important to remember that any key or combination of keys can be assigned specia meaning by a program. Therefore, the keys may have different meanings and functions, depending on the program you are using. Once again, we remind you, read a the documentation that comes with each program and with the computer system. Disks and Disk Drives Magnetic disks, regardess of their type or size, are, without a doubt, the most important secondary storage medium used with microcomputers. Disks provide fast retrieva of information. The disk s physica characteristics, fat and round, aow the disk drive direct access to data. Put simpy, the processing unit goes directy to a designated disk drive, seeks out the specific ocation on the disk where the data is stored, and immediatey retrieves it. The disk drive does NOT have to read through a series of records before reaching the one desired, as is the case with magnetic tape units. The two forms of magnetic disk typicay used with microcomputers are the foppy disk (diskette) and the hard disk. Let s ook at the sizes and construction of each and at the disk drive devices that read from and write to them. DISKETTES AND THEIR DRIVES. A diskette is aso referred to as a foppy disk, or just pain foppy, because it is a round, fexibe patter. Physica Characteristics. The patter is encosed in a pastic jacket. At present, diskettes come in two sizes (diameters): 5 1/4 (5.25) inches and 3 1/2 1-18

31 (3.50) inches (see figure 1-18). The patter is made of a tough pastic that is coated with a magnetic oxide materia, aowing it to be magnetized. The inside of the pastic jacket is ined with a soft wiping materia that continuousy ceans the foppy disk as it spins within the jacket. Look at figure 1-19; you wi notice a hoe in the midde of the diskette. It is referred to as the center hub. The hub makes it possibe for the foppy disk drive s spinde to rotate the diskette inside the jacket. The recording window aows the read-write head mechanism of the foppy disk drive to come into contact with the diskette so it can read from or write data onto the diskette s surface. Located just to the right of the center hub is what we refer to as an index hoe. This index hoe (and corresponding hoe [or hoes] in the diskette), marks the first sector or starting point on the diskette. The sectors on a diskette are controed by timing. On a soft-sectored diskette, the timing is controed by the software; therefore, ony one timing hoe is needed on the diskette. On a hard-sectored diskette, the timing is controed by the hardware, and the diskette has severa timing hoes. Types of Foppies/Diskettes. The diskettes you wi be using must be compatibe with the foppy disk drives on your microcomputer system. Diskettes can be soft-sectored or hard- sectored. Depending upon the disk drive s characteristics, the disk drive can record data on one side of the diskette or both and can record data in one of severa bit densities, depending upon how the diskette is formatted. When you are working with a soft-sectored diskette, you must use your microcomputer and a utiity routine or program (in this case, a formatter program) to sector or format each diskette for you. On most microcomputer systems, using the FORMAT command wi automaticay sector the diskette for you. If you are working with hard-sectored diskettes, then you need not format them. They have aready been presectored by the manufacturer for your specific Figure A typica 5.25-inch diskette. microcomputer system. Foppy disk drives that use hard-sectored diskettes read and write data faster. However, the diskettes are more expensive and can ony be presectored (reformatted) for a specific system, such as an IBM compatibe or a Macintosh. Most diskettes sod today are soi-sectored because the wide range of microcomputers and their operating systems vary consideraby in respect to sectoring requirements. For now, the important thing to remember about sectoring is the fact that no matter what type of diskette you are working with (soft- or hard- sectored), it must be formatted before it is usabe for storing data. Storage Capacity. Athough diskettes are reativey sma in size, they can store a respectabe amount of data. Some diskettes are singe-sided, singe-density, whereas others are doube-sided, singe-density; doube-sided, doube-density; or doube-sided, quad-density. When we refer to a diskette as being doube-sided, doube-density, what are we reay saying? We are saying the foppy disk drive is abe to read from and write to both sides of the diskette (hence, the term doube-sided), and that each sector on the disk can store 512 bytes of information (instead of the 256 bytes that can be stored on a singe-density diskette); hence, the term doube-density. A diskette s capacity is aso affected by the number of tracks per side. Therefore, if you wanted to know the tota storage capacity of a doube-sided, doube-density diskette with 80 fifteensector tracks per side, then you woud use the foowing formua to cacuate the number of bytes: Figure Foppy disks/diskettes used on microcomputers. 1-19

32 To review, mutipy bytes (5 12) times sectors (15) times tracks (80) times sides (2). This gives the tota capacity of the diskette, 1.2M bytes. Write Protect Feature. Like a other media, foppy disks/diskettes must aso have a way of being protected from a user accidentay writing on them. This is accompished with a write-protect notch (or cut-out) ocated in the upper right-hand corner of the pastic jacket (see figure 1-19). Whether or not the write-protect notch is covered to protect the data on the diskette depends soey on the disk drive manufacturer. For exampe, on most systems using 5 1/4-inch diameter diskettes, covering the write-protect notch makes it impossibe to write on the disk s surface. However, the opposite is true on systems using 3 1/2- inch diameter diskettes. Uncovering the write-protect notch makes writing impossibe. In short, find out which is which on your particuar system before you accidentay wipe out an entire diskette s data. Foppy Disk Drives. Foppy disk drives are manufactured to read and write data in one of severa bit densities for both singe- and doube-sided diskettes. A singe-sided disk drive can ony read a singe-sided diskette. However, a doube-sided disk drive, ike the one shown in figure 1-20, can read both a singe-sided and a doube-sided diskette. HARD DISKS AND HARD DISK DRIVES. Athough most microcomputer systems you wi be working on use some type of foppy disk drive, you shoud aso be aware that a micros aso contain a sma seaed unit caed a Winchester disk or hard disk drive. Uness the disk drive is an externa type unit, you might never know it was there. Foppy disk drives are easy to spot; a you have to ook for is the drive s door, that open sot where you insert the diskette. Hard disk drives, on the other hand, are normay seaed Figure A foppy disk drive being removed from system unit. Figure Interna hard disk drive mounted on disk drive chassis. units that can be tucked away just about anywhere. Generay, you wi find them inside the system unit (figure 1-21) in the space occupied by one of the foppy drives. Hard disk drives provide you with many timesaving features not avaiabe nor possibe with the foppy disk drives. These incude increased access speeds, greater storage capacity (up to 8 gigabytes [GB] of storage), and overa convenience. Working with hard disk is much easier because you can quicky end one program and start another, a through the operating system. Hard disk units consist of rigid meta patters that are tiered or stacked. In most cases, the disks themseves are not removabe, and for this reason can be hermeticay seaed in the storage unit aong with the access mechanism that contains the read/write heads. Because this type of disk drive is competey seaed and free from air contamination, the read-write heads can be positioned to within 20 miionths of an inch from the surface of the disk. This aso aows the disk to be rotated at a high rate of speed-typicay, 3600 revoutions per minute. Hard disks aso comes in two sizes (diameters): 5.25 inches, and 3.50 inches, with 3.50 being the most popuar. Their storage capacities range from 500 megabytes to 8 gigabytes, with the majority in the 1.2- to 2-gigabyte range. As mentioned earier, hard disks can be paced internay within the system unit, ike the one shown in figure 1-21, or externay as a detachabe unit, as shown in figure You may have aso noticed that the disk drive shown in figure 1-22 is a portabe hard drive in that the hard disk is removabe. The hard disks and read/write mechanism are encosed within a rugged case. The resut is a sef-contained hard disk you can insert ike a foppy and remove for reasons of security. 1-20

33 containing ink partices, the ink adheres to the charges that form a pattern on the paper to deveop the character. This type of printer can be used for both printing and potting (dispaying graphic output), and can print up to 5,000 ines per minute. Figure Externa hard disk drive with removabe disk cartridge. Printers Most printers you are ikey to use whie working on microcomputers are the ow-speed varieties. They are abe to print text at rates of 200 to 800 characters per second and usuay output this information one character-at-a-time. After cose examination, you wi find that basicay the ony major difference between printers designed for micros and those used on arger mainframes is their size, and the speed at which they print. Other than that, they are very much aike in terms of setup, operation, and operationa features. Micro printers, ike mainframe printers, are either impact or nonimpact. At east six printing technoogies are used to produce hundreds of microcomputer printer modes. These technoogies incude dot-matrix (which forms characters using a series of dots), xerographic, eectrostatic, ink jet, and aser. DOT-MATRIX PRINTER. The dot-matrix printer uses a print head made up of pins. It creates the characters by using these pins to generate characters a dot-at-a-time. Dot-matrix printers have speeds that range from 60 to 350 cps. XEROGRAPHIC PRINTERS. Xerographic printers use a printing technique very simiar to the methods used in dupicating or copying machines. The printers can operate at speeds up to 4,000 ines per minute. ELECTROSTATIC PRINTERS. Eectrostatic printers use a specia photographic paper that aows characters to be etched onto the paper using a styus. The styus, made up of tiny wires, forms characters by pacing an eectrostatic charged image on the paper. Then, as the paper is moved through a toner soution INK JET PRINTERS. Ink jet printers empoy a technique very simiar to the way we use a can of spray paint and a stenci. A spray of eectricay charged ink is shot (under pressure) toward the paper. Before reaching the paper, the ink is passed through an eectrica fied, which forms the etters in a matrix form. The print resuting from this process consists of easy to read, high-quaity characters. Some manufacturers use arge dropets of ink for faster printing, whie others use sma dropets for better carity but with sighty reduced printing speeds. This type of printer can print up to 300 characters per second. LASER PRINTERS. Laser printers direct a beam of ight through a rotating disk containing the fu range of print characters. The appropriate character image is directed onto photographic paper, which is then put through a toner, deveoped, and used to make additiona copies. The print resuting from this process consists of sharp, cean images that are easy on the eyes. These printers can print up to 20,000 pus ines per minute. Many micro printers can print subscripts and superscripts, print in severa different coors, print graphic materia, and output text in severa different type styes (fonts). Some printers print in a singe direction ony, ike the conventiona typewriter, whereas others print in both directions (bidirectiona) to save on timeconsuming carriage returns. Many come with either a friction feed (for handing singe-sheet paper) or an adjustabe tractor feed (for handing continuous forms), and some even have both. You can initiate a wide range of printer functions either through the appications program you are working with or by using the contros ocated on the front of the printer s operating pane. These contros can be buttons, ights, and switches. With a simpe touch of a button, you can change such things as type stye, etter quaity, pitch, and spacing. It s that simpe. As mentioned, most printers are equipped with an operating contro pane that aows you to change various settings. For exampe, you can change the number of characters per ine or ines per inch, change fonts and type size, and switch from draft to etterquaity mode. You can choose any combination of 1-21

34 Figure Dot matrix printer showing operating contro pane. features quicky and easiy. The printer we are using as our exampe is a dot matrix printer (shown in figure 1-23). Dot matrix printers are widey used with microcomputers in the workspaces. You wi become very famiiar with their operation. PRINTER OPERATING CONTROL PANEL. The operating contro pane shown in figure 1-24 dispays the buttons that contro various functions aong with severa indicator and warning ights that show you what functions are currenty in operation. Listed beow are some of the more common CONTROL BUTTONS and INDICATOR/WARNING LIGHTS you are ikey to see and use on this type of printer. Contro Buttons. You can set up various functions and contro printing functions by manuay pushing contro buttons. To activate the buttons, you must first put the printer in an offine status. Normay, this is done by depressing the onine button. ONLINE BUTTON The onine button aows you to put the printer in either onine or offine status. When in onine status, the printer is under the contro of the operating system and appications program. When in offine status, the printer cannot receive data. LINE-FEED (LF) BUTTON The ine-feed button aows you to advance the printer paper one ine at a time every time you press it. On many printers, if you depress the ine-feed button for more than 5 seconds, the paper feeds continuousy ine by ine. Regardess of how this button is used, the interna ine counter is incremented accordingy; therefore, the top-ofform position is never changed. FORM-FEED (FF) BUTTON The form-feed button aows you to advance the printer paper to the top-of-form (TOF) position (the top of the next page). TOP-OF-FORM (TOF) BUTTON Pressing the TOF button wi advance the printer paper 1 1/2 inches and redefine the ocation of TOF on the paper. On this particuar printer, it wi not feed the paper to the TOF position, as it does on many of the high-speed printers you have operated. FONT BUTTON With the font button you can seect between fonts, depending upon job requirements. If no seection is made, the operating system normay defauts to the courier font. Figure Printer operating contro pane. PRINT MODE BUTTON The mode button aows you to seect the quaity of print. This 1-22

35 particuar printer has two settings: draft mode and etter-quaity (LQ) mode. PITCH BUTTON Use the pitch button to seect the number of characters to print per inch. This particuar printer has three settings: 10, 12, and 17 characters per inch. Indicator and Warning Lights. In ooking at figure 1-24, you wi notice indicator ights ocated above the contro buttons on the contro pane. They provide status information and show the functions or features currenty in effect. POWER INDICATOR The power ight ets you know that power is being suppied to the printer. TAPE DRIVE. You can use cartridge or cassette tapes to provide backup to the hard drive. The tape drive may be interna or externa to the system unit. A tape drive makes a good, reiabe backup system for the micro, since it hods 60MB or more of data. If a tape drive is not avaiabe, you can backup to foppy disks. ONLINE INDICATOR The onine indicator tes you that the printer is in onine status and is ready to receive output from the microprocessor. Whie it is in this status, normay, a other pane buttons are inoperative. ERROR INDICATOR The error indicator ight warns you that there is a probem of some sort that makes the printer inoperabe. This coud be caused by a cover eft open, the printer out of paper, an eectrica mafunction, a paper jam, or possiby the font cartridge is not in pace or is impropery seated. OPTICAL SCANNER. An optica scanner can be used to scan (read) graphic art or text directy into the microcomputer. This saves redrawing or retyping. FONT, PRINT MODE, AND PITCH INDICATOR LIGHTS The ights ocated above each button and next to each feature te you the current operating modes of the printer. The ights are it next to seected features. Accessories and Other Hardware In addition to monitors, disk drives, keyboards, and printers, you may find a number of other attachments to microcomputer systems. These might incude a mouse device, cassette tape drive, optica scanner, CD-ROM drive, switch box, modem, and so on. MOUSE DEVICE. You may have a mouse device attached to your micro. It aows you to freehand sketch or to seect items from menus on the dispay screen. As you move the mouse, the cursor moves to a corresponding ocation on the dispay screen. For exampe, if you are seecting an item from the menu, you move the cursor to the item and press a button on the mouse to seect the item. CD-ROM DRIVE. You may have a CD-ROM (compact disk-read ony memory) drive to read data stored on compact disks. CD-ROM technoogy is the same as that used for audio disks, except it incudes routines for detection and correction of data errors. The CD-ROM drive can be interna or externa to the system unit. Compact disks can hod a vast amount of information, 550MB or more. They are used when the same information is needed by many, and the information is fairy constant. For exampe, ibraries can put a the information they need about documents and pubications on a CD-ROM. On a CD-ROM, the 1-23

36 information, once recorded, cannot be erased or changed, but it can be read many times. The expression Write Once, Read Many (WORM) describes this type of technoogy. As you can see, a basic (ow-end) system is ony a beginning. As you become more famiiar with microcomputers and as technoogy changes, you wi find more and more capabiities and more uses for microcomputers. SWITCH BOXES. When you want to share printers, you can connect them through a switch or switch box. For exampe, two or more computers can use one printer, or one computer can use two or more printers. As you can see, you wi need a cabe between the switch box and each device. You then switch the setting, A or B, on the box to switch signa ines without disconnecting and reconnecting cabes. Switches range from this simpe, manuay operated switch box with two settings to switches that seect signa ines automaticay and provide buffering capabiity. Some aso provide for both parae and seria devices. SETTING UP AND OPERATING MICROCOMPUTERS Before you begin to set up or operate a microcomputer, know what you are going to do. THINK FIRST. Start with the documentation, NOT with the hardware and software. USING DOCUMENTATION The first thing you wi want to do when you insta or start using a system or a new software package is become famiiar with the documentation that comes with it. You wi aso want to see what other documentation and training materias are avaiabe. Don t get discouraged over the amount of reading materia provided to you. It takes time to earn something new, and it takes practice to become proficient. Spend time earning a you can about the software and hardware. Refer to manuas and other hep aides when you have probems. You may aso have inhouse user manuas to use. MODEMS. Modems provide communication between systems. Through them, your system can send or receive data over phone ines. You may aso use a nu modem cabe for communication between systems that are cose enough to each other to be connected by cabe. A nu modem cabe creates a communications ink that aows devices to communicate without using modems and phone ines. To make the systems and nu modem cabe fit together, you may need a gender connector or gender changer to bridge two ike connectors. 1-24

37 User/Owner Manuas User/owner manuas wi te you about the hardware and how to insta and configure it. Each device wi probaby have its own owner s manua. For exampe: the printer s manua wi te you how to connect the printer to the system, how to insert the paper and change a ribbon, how to use the tractor feed for continuous-form paper, what the ights mean, what settings you can change from the front operating pane, and so on. The owner s manua for the monitor wi te you whether the monitor is monochrome or coor, what buttons and dias you can use to adjust the dispay, and so on. The system owner s manua wi provide a system overview. It wi te you how to unpack and set up the system, how to power up the system, how to get the software running, and so on. Disk operating system and appications soft ware user manuas wi te you how to insta and use the programs. They wi aso specify the hardware requirements: processor type, memory size, hard disk needed, and so on. Most manuas that come with the system and software wi incude sections with names ike Getting Started, Instaation, Using the Software/ System/Commands, Reference, Error Messages, and Troubeshooting. A earning or sef-study section may aso be incuded. When you first begin, take the appropriate manua and ook at the headings in the tabe of contents. Then browse through the appendices, gossary, and index to become famiiar with what they contain. This wi give you an idea of what information you can find in the manua and how the information is organized. For exampe, are the commands isted in a reference section in aphabetic order, or are they grouped by function in severa sections? The more you know about where to find information when you need it, the more professiona and confident you wi be. One of the most frequenty used sections in the operators manua is the section that covers the parameters. This section incudes the factory settings, the other settings avaiabe, and how to change the settings. Training Materias and Aides Software packages often incude an onine tutoria on disk. If the package you are using has one, take time to go through it. It wi give you at east an overview of what the software can do and how it works. The system may aso have hypertext. Hypertext is an onine information system that can be incorporated into a software package, such as WordPerfect. It is a data management program that aows you to very quicky navigate through a sorts of information in connection with the appications program you are using. In this exampe, it woud be WordPerfect. An entire user s manua and appicabe documentation is readiy avaiabe to you with a coupe of keystrokes. Hypertext, which can incude text, graphics, video, and audio, is especiay usefu for users who do not have access to manuas or when documentation is stored out of reach. Video, audio, or other onine tutoria training materias may be avaiabe at your command. For disk operating systems that are in genera use and for many software packages, you can obtain text books, training manuas, and suppementary manuas written by peope other than the vendor. Loca bookstores and ibraries may have them. Hep Aides Other hep aides are hep screens, keyboard tempates, and quick reference cards. Hep screens are part of the program and can usuay be caed on to the dispay screen at any time whie the program is running. This means if you get stuck or confused about how to do some function when you are in the midde of a task, you can ca the hep screen function and have it dispay information reating to your probem. Reference cards usuay ist the features and the keystrokes that activate each feature. Keyboard tempates fit over or above the keys. They identify each feature and its associated keystrokes. These aides are very hepfu, especiay when you are jumping back and forth between a number of different programs that have assigned different meanings to the function keys. A quick ook at a tempate or a reference card, or a ca for a hep screen, may be a you need to remind you of how something works. This is especiay true once you have become an experienced user on a particuar software package. In-House User Manuas To impement your own command s poicy and procedures, you may have one or more in-house user manuas. These wi generay cover the use of microcomputers, what software is to be used, any speciay designed routines and programs authorized for use, standards for abeing diskettes and fies, 1-25

38 backup procedures, maintenance procedures, security procedures, and so on. Diagnostic/Troubeshooting Information For performing diagnostics and for troubeshooting probems, there may be separate manuas or the information may be incuded in an appendix of an owner/user manua. Become famiiar with the kinds of operator/user diagnostics you can perform. In this way, you may be abe to identify and isoate probems. Error messages aso provide information to hep you sove probems. Usuay, an appendix or specia section wi incude a ist with some expanation. Most of the hardware components have buit-in system checks that occur when the particuar piece of equipment is powered on. If an error condition occurs during the sef test, an error code or message is dispayed. You wi use this code or message to begin the troubeshooting. Get the manua and ook up the error, this wi give the cause of the probem and an action to take to fix the probem and cear the error condition. There are severa commercia troubeshooting and information software packages avaiabe to use in performing system checks, each of which wi incude an operating manua on how to run and interpret the resuts. Remember to use the associated manua for whatever troubeshooting that you do. INSPECTING THE COMPONENTS Once the computer components arrive, the first thing that needs to be done is to inspect the components. This is accompished in severa steps: Inspect the boxes for damage before opening them. After opening the box, check to be sure everything is there (e.g., operating instructions, cabes, and cords). Remove the components from the box, ooking for damage (e.g., cracks in the case, oose connections, missing parts). After checking over each component and making sure everything is there, it is time to begin connecting everything together. SETTING UP THE HARDWARE The first thing you must do when setting up the hardware is to read the instaation instructions. They wi te you what cabes beong to what equipment and how to hook up the equipment propery. In the foowing paragraphs, we wi give you an idea of what is invoved when instaing a microcomputer having a separate monitor, keyboard, and printer. Normay, each device comes with its own power ine cabe (except the keyboard, which gets its power from the system unit). You pug each into an eectrica outet. Be sure a power cabes are poarized, grounded, shieded, and have a three-conductor grounding pug. This brings us to another very important subject, power requirements. Power Requirements Most microcomputers can operate on votages in the range of 100 to 130 vots or 200 to 230 vots aternating current (at). They are abe to accommodate either votage through the use of a seectabe switch caed a votage or ine seect switch. The votage switch on our particuar microcomputer is ocated on the back pane of the system unit (see figure 1-25). CAUTION Changing the votage switch to a different setting, say from 115 vots to 230 vots, woud aso require that the power cabe be changed. Do NOT attempt to do this on your own; instead, have it done by a quaified eectrica technician. If you re not sure of the ine votage that is being suppied to the eectrica outets in your work space, have a quaified eectrician check them for you. Further, it is recommended that the outet you seect to support your system be used ony by the microcomputer system and its periphera devices. 1-26

39 Figure System unit (rear view). Figure Back pane of system unit showing votage/ine seect switch. Once you have determined that the type and amount of power are sufficient to meet the microcomputer s needs, you must attempt to prevent abnorma power fuctuations from damaging your microcomputer. With aternating current, you have what are caed peaks and vaeys. Vaeys (aso referred to as ow votage or brownouts) wi not harm the computer or any of its reated components. However, peaks (aso referred to as high votage or surges) can overoad and iteray burn up the computer s interna components. You can avoid these peaks/surges and protect the computer by using a surge protector, ike the one shown in figure This particuar surge protector has a power strip capabe of accommodating up to six components. It is advisabe to first pug the system unit and its supporting devices into the surge protector, and then pug the surge protector into the eectrica outet, as iustrated in figure This ets you turn a your equipment ON or OFF with the fick of a singe switch. There are many varieties of surge protectors, and there is probaby a particuar type aready in use in your workspaces. The System Unit In ooking at the back of the system unit shown in figure 1-27, you wi see a number of paces caed connector sots to attach cabes. Remember, this is just an exampe. Each computer is different; refer to the owners manua for exact ocations of the connector sots. You wi aso see the power cord connector. You wi need to connect the monitor, the keyboard, and the printer to the back of the system unit. Before making any type of eectrica connections, be sure the ON/OFF switch ocated on the surge protector is in the OFF position and that the pug is removed from the wa outet. This douby protects both you and the equipment; you from being eectrocuted, and the equipment from being damaged. Connecting the Monitor Located on the back of most monitors is an ac power cabe and a video input cabe. You may aso find a votage seection switch (for 115/220 vac operation). Most monitors are designed to operate at either 115 or 220 vots ac, depending upon the setting of the votage seection switch (shown in figure 1-28). Normay, they are preset at the factory for 115 vac operation. Shoud Figure Surge protector with computer and peripheras connected. Figure Back of monitor. 1-27

40 your monitor have such a seection switch, be sure it is set for the proper ine votage. Then, pug the power cord into one of the receptaces on the power strip. The video input cabe has a twenty-five pin seria connector. Pug it into SLOT H on the back pane of the system unit, where the video dispay board happens to be ocated on this particuar unit (see figure 1-28). Ensure that whenever you pug in a cabe that it is propery and firmy seated and tightened down if the connector comes with screws. Connecting the Keyboard On the end of the keyboards cabe is a five-pin connector. Pug this into the back of the system unit to aow for communication between the keyboard and the system unit (see figure 1-29). Connecting the Printer Like the monitor, the printer has its own power cabe and a data cabe for communicating with the system unit. Since most printers can operate in either seria or parae mode, it is important you ook at the data cabe to see what type of connector you are working with. Seria connectors are usuay smaer than parae connectors and contain fewer pins. After visuay inspecting the data cabe, connect it to the appropriate printer connector on the back of the printer (see figure 1-30). Shoud either the printer or data cabe connector have some type of ocking device (screws or cabe ocks), be sure to screw (or secure) them in pace. Then, connect the other end of the data cabe to the back of the system unit (sot D), as shown in figure Once you have made this connection, connect the power cabe to the back of the printer and pug it into the power strip. Figure Cabe connection from keyboard to system unit. Figure Cabe connections from printer to system unit and power strip. Configuring the System Once a of the hardware has been connected to the system unit and has power, you are ready to start configuring the system. In most cases, the system wi recognize the hardware that was connected and make the changes on its own, but you need to know how to go into the system configuration to make changes. Each system has its own procedures to foow; so get the manua and read about your system and how to make changes. To make changes you wi need to get into the system setup. Normay, this is accompished by pressing a key or series of keys when the system is booting up. From system setup, the foowing changes can be made:. Date and time. Memory size. Foppy drives Hard disk type A of this information is contained in the compementary meta oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip. Since this is a memory chip, it requires a constant source of power, a battery. The battery used most often is a non-rechargeabe ithium battery with a ife expectancy of 3 to 5 years. Inspecting and Repairing Cabes Athough inspecting and repairing computer cabes is not an everyday occurrence, you shoud know how to perform these tasks. When it comes to inspecting computer cabes, there are severa things to ook for. Some of these are: 1-28

41 Pinched cabes Cut/broken cabes Connectors/pugs pued apart Bent pins Loose connections Most of these probems can be avoided by taking your time when instaing the cabes, avoiding setting equipment on the cabe, not puing the cabes, and tightening the connectors down. The repairs that you wi be expected to perform most often are: Straightening bent pins Tightening the connections Repacing broken cabes You wi not be expected to repin a cabe, since the equipment to perform this operation is very expensive. It is cheaper and easier to just repace the cabe when it is determined that the cabe is bad. Preparing the Computer for Shipment From time to time, you wi be expected to prepare a computer for shipping out of the command. This occurs when a piece of equipment has to be returned to the manufacturer for some reason, or if the computer has to be sent to another command. In either case, the equipment must be packed up and shipped out. When possibe, use the origina packing materia, if avaiabe. Otherwise, make sure the equipment is wrapped and packed to avoid any damage. This can be accompished by using heavy cardboard boxes, bubbe wrap, and other cushioning packing materia. SUMMARY With the competion of this chapter, you shoud gain a basic understanding of how digita computer systems work. A computer system is composed of hardware and software. Eectronic digita computer systems consist of a centra processing unit (CPU) with its primary storage and input/output (I/O) devices. The arithmetic-ogic unit and contro unit process both data and program instructions. Computers use stored programs to process data and sove probems. This provides a powerfu method of automatic contro. In addition to operating microcomputer system, you shoud become proficient at setting up, configuring, upgrading, and initiaizing them. It is important that you become famiiar with computer system documentation, incuding user manuas and any software training materias and hep aides. Among the microcomputer-reated tasks you wi be expected to perform are: inspecting, repairing, and instaing cabes; running system checks; and troubeshooting error conditions. 1-29

42

43 CHAPTER 2 COMPUTER CENTER OPERATIONS LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon competing this chapter, you shoud be abe to do the foowing: Expain the use of troube reports. Describe how to output and inspect data from a computer system. Expain the importance of maintaining optima environmenta conditions. Expain how to use the computer consoe to query and monitor the system. Describe virus protection software. Expain the use of AIS requests. State the procedures used in the media ibrary to store and maintain media and transfer data. Identify procedures used for storage media destruction. Discuss administrative duties in a media ibrary. Expain how to create, modify, deete, backup, and restore system directories and data fies. Describe the system processes for performing system backups, executing appication utiity programs, and running batch jobs. You, as the computer operator, are an extremey important individua within your automated information system (AIS) organization. It is your efficiency (performing in the best possibe and east wastefu manner) and your knowedge (knowing and understanding the theory, principes, and facts, couped with experience) that hep ensure the overa effectiveness of the AIS instaation. You must be famiiar with the various methods of controing data and procedures. You must aso know the operating steps and procedures of your assigned computer system. Technica administration and support are important aspects of AIS faciity management. You wi be making hardware and software projection reports, software performance reports, hardware utiization reports, and troube reports. You wi be responsibe for impementing performance-tuning initiatives to improve computer system performance. You wi be evauating and maintaining user manuas. A these are technica functions needed to ensure the smooth operation of an AIS faciity. TROUBLE REPORTS You wi be responsibe for submitting troube reports, as discussed in chapter 1 of Modue 1. Troube reports are used in reporting any system probem invoving hardware or software that you cannot correct. Remember, the report must be as compete as possibe. 2-1

44 COMPUTER OUTPUT Output from computer processing, the work that has been competed, may take the form of a printed document, magnetic tape, or magnetic disk or diskette. In a cases, you are responsibe for and must ensure that a competed jobs run successfuy. In addition, you are responsibe for identifying and coordinating the various outputs for each job, and for initiating their correct distribution. OUTPUT PRODUCTS To determine whether a job (or system) ran successfuy (to a norma EOJ) and that a processing steps were propery performed, you may have to review the computer consoe printout. This printout indicates such things as the number of input records read, the various input fies updated, a error conditions (error messages) that the operator encountered during the run, and the resuting actions taken, the various output fies created, and so on. Most of the time, the computer consoe printout wi provide you with the answers you are ooking for when it comes to reconciing processing discrepancies. For exampe, it wi inform you of the reasons certain output products, tapes, diskettes, or report istings, were not produced. Possiby the operator seected an incorrect program option, or the input parameters were incorrect or incompete before starting the job. In short, you are responsibe and aso accountabe for every job you work on, from the time it is submitted by the user unti its deivery back to the user. When checking the user s output, you shoud once again refer to the run sheet and/or task foder to verify that a items requested were, in fact, produced. If the output is in the form of magnetic tape, disk, or diskette, be sure it is abeed propery, given the proper cassification, and it is on the appropriate media (magnetic media that has been designated for mai-out or distribution ony). When checking reports, make sure that they were run on the proper forms (size and type), that no pages are missing and the correct number of copies were printed, and that a print is egibe and ined up propery. Once it is competed, you then package each copy of the report, aong with any other output products and the origina input, pace it in the proper pickup area, and og the job out in the job contro og. You may need to notify the user when the job is ready. If, during the course of checking over the user s output, you happen to come across something unusua or you find an error, by a means pu (reject) the job immediatey, bring it to the attention of your superior, and notify the user of the deay. Even at this ate stage, it is better to reject a job to correct any probems or discrepancies rather than reease it, ony to have it returned for rerun ater. OPERATING ENVIRONMENT You work in air-conditioned environments that other AIS personne (programmers, anaysts, and so on) woud probaby consider intoerabe. The cooness of the computer room or center is a constant source of discomfort. Computer rooms have to be kept at a constant and fairy coo temperature to ensure idea operating conditions and prevent equipment faiures. The humidity must aso be controed, for the protection of the equipment and storage media. This is accompished by some sort of dehumidifier system. Athough the requirements usuay ca for 70 F to 74 F, temperatures often range from 65 F to 70 F, and the humidity ranges between 30 to 60 percent. Fortunatey for us, most minicomputers and microcomputers generate far ess heat and humidity than mainframes during operation and, as a resut, require ony a minima amount of coo air. You wi be using a hypothermagraph to monitor the temperature and humidity of the computer room. There are severa different modes and styes of hypothermagraphs, each with its own specific operating requirements. Check the operator s manua for the specifics of your equipment. The hypothermagraph uses a paper chart and marking pens to record the temperature and humidity. The chart is normay a 7-day graph showing the day and a number range. It uses two different coors, usuay red for humidity and bue for temperature, to show the temperature and humidity on the chart. COMPUTER CONSOLE OPERATION CPUs aren t the computers you may have seen in the movies with a the binking ights, athough their basic functiona units are sti the same. The CPU of today, regardess of its size, sti contains an arithmetic-ogic section, a contro section, and an interna storage (memory) section, as we discussed in chapter 1. However, today s CPU contains reativey fewer ights, switches, evers, and dias when compared to earier modes. So you may be thinking, but aren t a these 2-2

45 bes, whistes, and ights necessary so that I can communicate with the CPU and its periphera devices? They reay aren t. At one time, systems ike the IBM 360 series were characterized by dias, switches, and ights that fickered on and off. And athough most of the switches and ights were primariy used by the maintenance technician or customer engineer, an experienced computer operator coud te you the status of the system just by watching the movement of the ights. These operators were abe to detect when a program was in a oop, when a periphera device became disabed, or when the CPU went into await state. The operator used some switches to manipuate the ogic of the program or to enter data into the system; other switches and dias to dispay the contents of registers or data stored within main memory; and sti other switches to perform specia functions, such as singe-cycing the computer through the instructions of a program. Today, the communications mode between the operator and the CPU differs consideraby from those earier systems. We know the computer can communicate far more effectivey with the operator (that s YOU) through a CRT and consoe printer than it does through ights or dispay panes. Now, you are abe to communicate with the computer by entering the necessary responses through the keyboard of the consoe. CONSOLE OPERATIONS Depending on the size of the computer system you are assigned to, there may be one or more system consoes used to monitor the system. The consoes incude a CRT and a keyboard, and may have a consoe printer. As a consoe operator, you are utimatey responsibe for controing the entire system. You are responsibe for initia program oading (IPLing) or booting the system; starting jobs; monitoring jobs; responding to messages; and, most importanty, making decisions and taking care of any probems that may arise with regard to hardware and software. You are aso responsibe for directing the activities of periphera equipment operators to ensure accurate response to job/run stream requirements. You are constanty monitoring system operations to determine whether programs appear to be operating correcty. You must be famiiar with and know how to use the various types of contro anguages and statements that are used with computers. Each system has a anguage designed to interact with the user s appication program and the computer s operating system. These anguages consist of contro statements that are paced directy before the user s program to direct the operating system in its functions. The format of the contro anguage statements differs greaty from one system to another. You wi earn the specific contro anguage used on your computer on the job. In addition to consoe-reated functions, you must maintain records required to suppement the consoe og, incuding probem documentation and actions that were taken, computer utiization ogs, fie identification, and so on. Consoe Keyboard The standard keyboard has the same aphabetic key arrangement as a typewriter with a 10-key numeric keypad to the right, with specia function keys ocated on both sides of the aphabetic keyboard. The specia function keys differ, depending upon the consoe keyboard. The function keys are usuay a different coor from the aphabetic and numeric keys. By providing you with specia function keys, the manufacturer has made it easier and faster for you to perform routine functions. Depending upon the software being used, some consoe keyboards use the top row of keys (0-9) as command function keys. The command keys cause such functions as automatic skip, enter, update, move, copy, end of job (EOJ), deete. The operator s guide usuay provides documentation regarding each of the function keys. For the most part, consoe keyboard operations are reativey easy. Prompts are often dispayed to hep you in responding to messages, initiating jobs, and entering commands and data. Configuration Changes Computer system configuration changes take the form of both hardware and software changes. The addition of new hardware and software upgrades wi affect how you do your job. HARDWARE. Changes to system hardware incude the addition of new, the oss of existing, and the modification of existing periphera equipment. You, as the computer operator, may be invoved with heping to move the equipment, running cabes, or removing cabes, but the majority of the work is usuay performed by maintenance technicians. SOFTWARE. Changes to the software incude changing memory, buffer sizes, and hardware 2-3

46 addresses; and adding new appication software. Changes to memory, buffer size, and hardware addresses require changes to the operating system. In addition, you must foow the manufacturer s instructions. Memory and buffer size changes are done when system performance has dropped because of increased use or changes to peripheras. By increasing memory and buffer sizes, the throughput time of the system is improved and the user access time is shortened. Hardware addresses are changed when there is a change to hardware status, such as the addition or oss of a piece of equipment. The addition of new appication software wi cause the system to be unavaiabe to users during the impementation. When the software arrives, it wi incude the instaation instructions that are to be foowed. Powering Up the Computer The CPU is normay powered up first; then one by one, each of the I/O devices is turned on. This is done to prevent a sudden surge of power that might overoad the circuits. With the computer system powered up, you can then proceed to IPL the system. Booting the System Anytime the system oses power, is shut down, or becomes disabed because of a system crash, it usuay needs to be rebooted or initia program oaded (IPLed). A system crash is the resut of a hardware, software, or operation probem: a mafunction in the CPU, a programming error from which the operating system coud not recover, or an operator error caused by an incorrect response to a message. Booting most systems resets a status indicators and reoads the supervisor (the executive-system program aong with other resident routines) into the CPU memory. The manner in which the system is booted depends upon the computer system used and the software incuded in its operating system. Many of the arger mainframe computers store their operating systems on disk, and this disk is referred to as the SYStem RESident (SYSRES) pack. Once the disk unit with the SYSRES pack is in a ready status, you can then boot the system. Some systems are so simpe to boot that a you need do is depress the start (or oad) button on the CPU (or master consoe) and enter the date and time on the consoe keyboard. Some of the more compex systems may require you to take additiona steps assigning various I/O devices, partitioning (sectioning off) memory, and so on. It is because of these differences that boot procedures are we documented with each step expained to the point that anyone, even someone unfamiiar with the system, coud foow the step-by-step directions. Computer Diagnostics Computer diagnostics are of two types: those that are run when the computer is booted (caed interna diagnostics), and those that can be run from a periphera device (caed externa diagnostics). INTERNAL DIAGNOSTICS. Interna diagnostics are performed when the computer is booted and are designed to test the computer hardware. They return a pass/fai resut to the operator. Some of the interna diagnostics are designed to test a or seected sections of the computer. An exampe of an interna diagnostic test is the power on-sef test (POST), that checks the components upon power on. EXTERNAL DIAGNOSTICS. Externa diagnostics can be oaded into the computer from a periphera (disk or magnetic tape unit) but initiated and controed by the computer. These diagnostics are very thorough and offer the option of testing a or specific sections of a computer. They are more comprehensive than the interna diagnostics. RESPONDING TO MESSAGES Uness you respond correcty to a system- or program-generated message, CPU time can be ost, the wrong program options can be executed, and the system can even become disabed. As a consoe operator, you are the most important part of a team effort that makes computerized procedures successfu. It is true that whie compex operating systems make it easier for you to perform various tasks, correct responses to messages are just as critica. Never second-guess a response. Aways refer to the proper documentation to determine the response needed. Manuas provided by the manufacturer, operator s manuas, and error message manuas shoud be ocated as near to the consoe as possibe for your convenience. Basicay, you wi be concerned with two types of messages: system-generated messages and programgenerated messages. System-Generated Messages System messages are generated by the operating system software. To be more specific, it is the executive-program (the supervisor) that is responsibe for monitoring and aocating the resources of the 2-4

47 system, and aso for communicating with you, the operator. Whie carrying out the instructions of an appications program or a utiity program, the computer is in a program or probem state. Whie in this state, interrupts occur that return contro of the system resources to the supervisor. When this occurs, the computer is in the supervisor or contro state. When an interrupt occurs, a message to the consoe operator may be dispayed to indicate either a norma or abnorma condition. Some messages require a response on your part; others do not. Fie XXX now being oaded, or PAYROLL1 competed (EOJ) do not require a response. Other messages, ike Printer Not Ready, or No voume abe found on pack XXX999, or Insufficient memory aocated for job XXX do require a response on your part. You may be asking yoursef, how do I know what occurred, and how do I respond to a system-generated message? YOU FOLLOW PROCEDURES! Most messages are coded, and you use this code to ookup the meaning of the message dispayed. These types of messages are normay found in the software manuas suppied by the manufacturer. As you become more experienced, you wi quicky become famiiar with the different types of messages and be abe to determine the origin of the message just by ooking at the identifying codes. Program-Generated Messages Program-generated messages are those messages that are dispayed by the program as the resut of the programmer wanting to inform you of an avaiabe option or wanting you to suppy data. The program might dispay a message such as Enter expiration date, or Option 1 to edit data, Option 2 to update fie, or Load four-part paper in printer. Whenever a program message is dispayed that requires a response, the run book/sheet aong with the documentation (operator s manua, run manua) provided by the programmer shoud expain each and every response or option avaiabe and how you are to respond. STARTING JOBS As an operator, you wi be expected to run utiity programs and batch jobs. The start up procedures are simiar for both; refer to the operator s manuas and run foders for the specifics for each job you run. The most common appication utiity programs that you wi run wi be tape and disk copies, to make backup copies of appication fies. Whie batch jobs are more detaied when it comes to starting them, as ong as the run foder is foowed there wi be no probems. They wi have different inputs and outputs required than utiity programs. A of the fie names and media types wi be suppied by the user in the form of an AIS service request. Remember, before starting either an appication utiity or a batch job, ook at and foow the operator s manua and run foder for the job. DISPLAYING JOB STATUS Using the system consoe, you can dispay, by their assigned name, the status of a jobs that are currenty being executed. The job status aso indicates whether the job is active, stopped, terminated, or canceed but sti residing in the CPU; waiting for space in the work area or on disk; waiting for a printer or a communications ine; or waiting for you to respond to a message. You can aso dispay the status of the system s I/O devices to see whether or not they have been varied offine to the system. One of your primary responsibiities is to maintain an awareness of the jobs currenty undergoing processing within the system. Having the above information is extremey important to you, as it enabes you to provide services to the various jobs being processed. The jobs with the highest priorities usuay receive immediate attention. Jobs with ower but equa priorities are processed in the order they were entered (oaded) into the system (first-come first-served). Considering these operating constraints, it is easy to understand why the system is in a continuous state of change. Through the use of the dispay command, you are abe to get an immediate picture of the system s activities. Using this information as a frame of reference, you can determine what actions are necessary to maintain a continuous work fow. RESTARTING A JOB Unfortunatey for us, not a jobs processed come to a norma end of job (EOJ). Things ike program or machine interrupts, operator errors, bad input data, and incorrect responses to messages can cause a job to prematurey or abnormay terminate (ABORT). When this occurs, it is imperative that norma operations be resumed as quicky as possibe. Error recovery must be 2-5

48 accompished to maintain production schedues and minimize cost and ost computer time. By monitoring the consoe (CRT or consoe printer), you can determine whether a job aborted because of invaid data or during processing. On some systems, the operating system software wi dispay on the consoe the reason for the job s canceation or the point at which the abort of the program took pace. If the job aborted during the input phase, you may concude that bad input data was at faut. If the input data was accepted and processing begun, you may concude that a program mafunction was encountered (barring any hardware probems) and caused the job to be automaticay fushed (canceed) from the system. Regardess of why the job aborted, utimatey, you are responsibe for initiating recovery from the job canceation, using one of a number of methods. In many cases, the operator s manua or run manua wi provide you with the proper procedures necessary to recover or restart a job. One method is to rerun the entire job. However, this coud be very costy and time consuming, especiay if the master fie(s) had to be returned to its/their origina state. You might have to recreate fies from backup fies and rerun programs that added, changed, and deeted records. This probem is especiay true when working with disk fies. When the operating system supports checkpoint restart routines, a job can be restarted near the point where the probem occurred without having to rerun the entire job (or system). The ogica point to take a checkpoint is at the end of reading or writing a tape fie or after a predetermined number of records (say, 15,000) have been processed, or after so many minutes of processing (say, 30 minutes) have occurred. The programmer determines the points in the program at which the checkpoints are to occur. This way, if the program cances (aborts), it can be started again at the ast checkpoint. Even if the system provides for an automatic restart at the ast good checkpoint, you sti must authorize the restart. Usuay, a message wi appear on the consoe indicating the job (or task) to be executed and the checkpoint for restarting the job. It is then up to you to either restart the job, postpone the restart unti the cause of the probem can be determined, or indicate that the job is not to be restarted. Under no circumstances shoud the termination or canceation of a job interfere with the continuous fow of processing within the system. CANCELING A JOB Among the tasks you may be asked to initiate via the consoe is canceation of a job currenty running within the system. The purpose of the cance operation is to aow you to hat (stop) the processing of an appication program and remove it from the system. A program can be canceed by either the supervisor contro program or by you. Shoud the supervisor contro program determine that an appication program is not executabe, it automaticay directs the computer to cance the program and, thereby, hat its processing. There are times when you must intervene with norma processing and fush a job from the system even though the program being executed may not have an error in it. For exampe, you coud be instructed to process a higher priority job immediatey. Unabe to wait for the competion of the current program (job), you are, therefore, required to abort it. Don t become confused over the terms cance, fush, or abort; they a have the same meaning. You may aso be required to cance a job because it has entered a continuous oop, been running way beyond the aotted time, or because it is trying to access a restricted fie. You wi find that there are many such reasons for having to cance a program. There are times when you wi cance a program or a program wi abnormay terminate (ABEND). This wi require you to dump (print out) the contents of storage. This is known as a post-mortem dump. The system prints the contents of a the storage areas used by the program in the processing. This post-mortem dump is used as a debugging aid to hep the programmer anayze the program. Whenever a job is canceed or abnormay terminates, it is your responsibiity to make an entry in the error/troube og, giving the cause of the probem and as much detai as possibe. DOCUMENTATION Documentation, who needs it? In data processing, we a do: for without it, we woud quicky find ourseves in serious troube. As a computer operator, if you want to know how to run a particuar procedure, job, or system or earn more about a particuar procedure, job, or system, the operator s manua or run manua is a good pace to start. It can provide you with a weath of information. Exampes are a written overview of the system and systems fowchart, in-depth coverage pertaining to I/O requirements, fie specifications (ayouts), processing methods, job setup, error messages that might be generated, 2-6

49 recovery/restart procedures, and sampe reports. As the consoe operator, you are responsibe for running hundreds, possiby even thousands, of jobs on a reguar basis. Without using the avaiabe documentation, even an experienced operator cannot understand or be expected to remember exacty how each job is to be set up and run. The actua format of the operator s documentation differs, depending on your instaation s requirements and SOPS. In some instaations, you wi find that each procedure or job has its own foder or notebook. Other instaations may incude an entire system (severa jobs), such as personne or payro, in one arge notebook. Regardess of how the documentation is formatted, its basic objectives are to provide you with compete instructions and to serve as a ready reference. So take the time to read the documentation. You wi find that from knowedge comes the wisdom to make the right choice or the right decision every time. SHIFT OPERATIONS As you have probaby reaized by now, you have the prime responsibiity for keeping the computer in an operationa state. That is, you are responsibe for the continuous and efficient processing of a types of program appications. Knowing this, it is essentia that you acquaint yoursef with the status of the system before working on the shift, whether it be on the day shift, eve shift, or mid shift. Before you assume contro of the shift, you shoud be aware of its operationa state. Normay, this information is obtained from the operators currenty on duty, the shift supervisor, the various computer ogs and run schedues, and by monitoring the activities of the system. In essence, you must examine those indicators that can revea possibe troube spots or system mafunctions. For exampe, ask, what maintenance activities were accompished, if any, on the previous shift(s)? what devices (pieces of equipment) have been varied offine (those devices which are not avaiabe to the CPU)? what other devices have not been fuy operabe? what maintenance activities, if any, are schedued during your shift? and are any appications schedued that are normay troubesome, difficut to hande, or prone to producing errors? Then ask about the work to be done on your shift, what jobs are schedued to be run? are a the tapes, disks, documentation, and other various media and suppies present and accounted for? if not, have the appropriate personne or organizations been notified-the ibrarian, data entry, or scheduing to rectify the probem? This is important, for it ensures you that the next job to be processed wi be input to the computer system with minimum or no deay. In determining a these factors, you get a fee for what s going on and what is to take pace during the upcoming shift your shift. In a production environment, personne sometimes get too busy to finish a job or job step. Take that itte extra time to stay organized, especiay when it comes to the paperwork. Keep in mind and hep other personne understand the importance of being organized, and the probems that come from having too many things going on at one time. A misfied or misabeed tape can, at best, mean ost time either in ocating it or recreating it. At worst, it can mean ost data and an unrecoverabe probem. You wi find that most AIS instaations overap each of the shifts from 15 to 30 minutes. This aows you sufficient time to get acquainted with the jobs currenty being run and provides continuity between shifts and operators. Throughout this section, we have tried to make one point cear: you must earn to react quicky to situations that may affect the processing capabiities of the computer system. To accompish this task, you must have a working knowedge of the operationa aspects of your job. That is, you must understand what procedures to foow when specific errors arise, know where the operations manuas are kept and how to use them, know where the suppies to process jobs are stored (computer ribbons, paper, tape refectors, and so on), who to contact in the event of equipment or program faiures and errors, and what forms are used and for what purpose. Having a genera knowedge of what to do is particuary important to you as a new operator just reporting aboard. You must adjust yoursef to this new environment and earn where things are ocated as we as what shoud be done. Regardess of the system you are working on, you must know how to use a the avaiabe resources, which incude hardware, software, and peope. Operators who are aert to the requirements of the tota system and are abe to understand and use the avaiabe resources pay a vita roe in the overa efficiency of the system, the department, and the instaation. It is your performance as a computer operator that often determines the genera attitude of users toward your instaation. In deveoping a proper attitude toward your work, adhere to a code of ethics. 2-7

50 Job Monitoring Athough we woud ike to beieve a jobs run without error, there are occasions when a program prematurey or abnormay terminates. It does not process to norma end of job (EOJ). When this occurs, the operator is expected to take whatever corrective actions are necessary to get the job going again. More often than not, the operator is abe to recover a job by recreating a tape/disk fie, moving the fie to another device, or possiby ceaning the read/write mechanisms of the device prior to rerun. But, there are times when the operator wi notify the I/O contro cerk to assist in correcting the probem. Such woud be the case when the input parameters are in error, the user s input is bad, or the job aborted because of an unrecoverabe program error. In the event this happens, you maybe responsibe for coecting a the data, both input and output, aong with any memory dumps, and forwarding them a to the programmer. During the recovery phase of an operation, the operator may need you to provide certain input parameters or tape/disk fies before the job can be executed. Because of time constraints, a job that abnormay terminates may have to be reschedued. If so, you may be responsibe for seeing to it that the job gets reschedued and that the user is notified of any job deay. We coud go on and on, but by now you are beginning to get the picture. These exampes are just a few of the many things that can get in the way of achieving a norma EOJ. We bring them to your attention to make you aware of the types of probems that can and do arise, and the manner in which you are to respond. Hopefuy, you now know and are aware that monitoring a job means more than just caing up the operator to see how the job is progressing. It means you must oversee the job to its competion, doing whatever is necessary to hep keep the job (or system) on track. Virus Utiities Virus utiities keep out viruses (maicious ogic) that can attack computer system software. This type of software is normay designed to prevent both known and unknown viruses from invading a system, and detects and removes those aready present. What is a virus? you might ask. A virus is a sef repicating, maicious program segment that attaches itsef to an appication program or other executabe system component and eaves no obvious signs of its presence. And just ike any bacteria disease, it can spread from disk to disk. Viruses take advantage of the sequentia step-by-step process that the computer foows. The virus is read into the computer via a periphera device (tape drive, diskette drive, communication device, and soon) from a previousy infected software appication. The virus then inspects the first few instructions of each program unti it finds a program that does not begin with the same instructions as itsef. Then it attaches a copy of its own instruction set to the front of the program being examined. The spread of the virus comes from inspecting and dupicating itsef. Execution of programs may seem to appear norma unti the virus strikes. A virus can destroy data fies and programs, depending on its design. Be particuary carefu about putting new software on your computer; if it contains a virus, it can infect your other programs and data, giving you big probems. Your ISSO and Nava Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT) can assist you in the detection and eradication of the virus. Processing AIS Service Requests Your first task may be to receive jobs from users. Each job wi have an AIS service request of some type. A typica AIS service request is iustrated in chapter 1 of Modue 1 (figure 1-2). In ooking over this form, you wi notice that it provides you with a the information needed to run the job. LIBRARY FUNCTIONS As a ibrarian, your job encompasses many duties and tasks vita to the smooth operation within your instaation. Usuay, you wi find that there are instructions and/or standard operating procedures (SOPS) to hep guide you aong in different areas of ibrary procedure and toward estabishing a highy functiona ibrary. But what about you? What shoud you know or be aware of when working in the AIS media ibrary? The answer to that question is the topic of our discussion: ibrary functions. Put briefy, as a ibrarian, your job is to become as proficient as possibe in the different areas of ibrary management, by earning a the ins and outs, you might say. You wi need to know how to receive, hande, maintain (condition, cean, and retire), store, issue, and transfer magnetic media. You wi be working with a minimum of supervision and wi have to work we with other peope to provide the needed services in a timey manner. As the AIS ibrarian, you can be expected to perform any one, severa, or a of the foowing tasks: 2-8

51 . Keep an adequate suppy of magnetic media (scratch tapes, initiaized disk packs, diskettes, and cassettes) avaiabe in the ibrary and/or in the computer area ready for use.. Retrieve and fie magnetic media in accordance with command poicy. Maintain a current inventory of a magnetic media. Contro tapes (save tapes, work tapes, and scratch tapes) on a rotationa basis. Test tapes for quaity, and cean and degauss tapes and disks according to prearranged schedues or upon reease by programmers and in-house users.. Ensure that a magnetic media is accimated to the atmosphere in which it wi be used for at east 24 hours before reeasing it for use.. Inspect new tapes and insta BOT and EOT refectors if not provided by the manufacturer.. Fie newy created tapes after checking the identification tape ree number against the tape strap number (if used) and verifying that the security cassification on the abe matches that on the tape ree.. Refie previousy created tapes, being carefu to scrutinize each as if it were a newy created tape.. Strip tapes (by removing the first 100 feet) when the error rate increases and repace the beginning-oftape (BOT) refector. If a tape has damage to its end, remove the ast 100 feet and repace the end-of-tape (EOT) refector.. Keep a system condition at a times. tapes and disks in good Maintain a record of tapes and disks that have been ceaned by stamping the Juian date on a ceaning abe on the back surface of the tape ree or disk pack canister.. Cean disk pack covers according to schedue or as the need arises. Maintain and distribute tape and disk error and usage reports.. Maintain contro of certain required data fies, program fies, and various types of microforms (microfim/microfiche). Fie a ibrary materias in a neat, organized, and uniform manner.. Have a standard operating procedure (SOP) instruction manua, indicating a ibrary procedures, readiy avaiabe.. Have an adequate suppy of save (externa) abes and cassification abes avaiabe for the computer operators. Q Check a user submitted save abes with job/run request sheets to ensure they are correct.. Check save abes to ensure they indicate no more than a 90-day save request, and that ony one 90- day extension is granted before the tape is copied to another tape.. Ensure a users annotate, initia, and return their weeky copy of the reease report, indicating what tapes are to be scratched, ceaned, degaussed, stripped, or maied off-site; or any other action they deem necessary.. Coect a copy of the save abes from the operators for the tape ibrary tape/disk database fie (ony if the site has an automated tape ibrary contro system) and supported software.. Maintain off-site storage of tapes and disks for disaster recovery.. Maintain a current ist of a foreign (outside) tapes and disks received and return them on schedue.. Ensure fire-fighting equipment in the ibrary is maintained and inspected by appropriate personne (fire department, damage contro petty officer, and so on) in accordance with command poicy.. Update fire-fighting instructions as necessary... Maintain the correct temperature and humidity in the ibrary.. Maintain security requirements and access to the ibrary area.. Ensure unauthorized persons do not remove magnetic media or reated materias from the ibrary.. Prompty report any and a probems to your supervisor, eading chief, or other appropriate personne in accordance with standard operating procedures (SOPS). As you see by this ist, there is a ot to do. In anyone day, you may perform one or many of these tasks. 2-9

52 Practice being a good communicator, and adopt ordery work habits. RECEIPT OF MAGNETIC MEDIA One of your jobs wi be to receive magnetic media from the manufacturer (new tapes, disks, or diskettes). The first thing you shoud do is check the shipping container for obvious damage, such as crushed corners, hoes, and the ike, as shown in figure 2-1. If you find obvious damage, cosey examine the media to determine whether damage has occurred. In case of damage, the affected media must be disposed of in accordance with command poicy or contract specifications. Physicay check magnetic tapes for damage. Get in the habit of ooking for such things as broken or warped fanges and damage to the outer edges of the ree. Aso, check for damage to the wrap-around strap (see figure 2-2). Examine disk packs for broken or cracked dust covers (see figure 2-3). In addition, visuay inspect each and every disk surface for physica damage and warpage. Aso, check the air fiter ocated on the bottom spinde of the pack to ensure that it is in pace and correcty inserted (mounted). When you examine tapes, check to ensure that refective tape markers, the beginning-of-tape (BOT) marker, and end-of-tape (EOT) marker are physicay ocated and propery paced at the beginning and at the end of the tape. Shoud your command have a tape ceaner or tape ceaner/certifier simiar to the one shown in figure 2-4, by a means use it to check out the pacement of the refectors as we as to ensure that nothing is internay wrong with the tape. Remember, Figure 2-2. Damaged wrap-around strap. new does not necessariy mean good. If a tape ceaner or certifier is not avaiabe, you may be abe to use the computer to check out the tape. Some computer systems have software programs that wi aow you to test a tape whie it is on the tape drive. However, to use this method, you must be aocated computer processing time. Before reeasing magnetic media from the ibrary for use on the computer, you must ensure that the media has been propery abeed and prepared (prepped). LABELING MAGNETIC MEDIA We use two types of abes for magnetic media. The first type is paced on the outside of the media itsef and Figure 2-1. A damaged tape shipping container. Figure 2-3. Damaged disk dust cover. 2-10

53 Figure 2-4. Checking for BOT and EOT with read/write head. is referred to as an externa abe. Externa abes are the abes we are interested in. The second type is written directy onto the media and is referred to as an interna abe. Interna abes contain information that is needed by the executive contro programs (systems software) of the computer to aow for the proper functioning of appications programs. fies that are contained on the media. As the magnetic media ibrarian, you are responsibe for initiating and maintaining the first four types of externa abes: identification, certification, usage, and ceaning Externa Labes Externa abes are considered permanent or nonpermanent, depending on their purpose (see figure 2-5). The two types of permanent tape and disk abes are the identification abe, which indicates the number that has been assigned to the media; and the certification abe, which indicates the ast time the media was certified (tested for its reading and writing capabiity). Nonpermanent abes incude usage abes to te you how often the media has been used on the computer, ceaning abes to indicate when and how often the media has been ceaned, and save abes to indicate the fie or Figure 2-5. Exampes of media abes. 2-11

54 abes. The programmer, user, or contro cerk is responsibe for the save abe. PERMANENT LABELS. The permanent-type abe comes with a specia adhesive backing; and when appied to a surface such as the fange of a magnetic tape, it adheres permanenty. That is not to say this type of abe cannot be removed, but to remove it takes a considerabe amount of effort. Normay, you woud consider using this type of abe ony if it were to remain on the media throughout its ife cyce, as is the case with the identification number or certification abes. Identification Labe. The identification number (abe) contains a series of etters and/or numbers (usuay from 3 to 8 characters in ength) that te you where the magnetic media resides in the ibrary (see figure 2-5). It is a permanent home address, you might say. Your responsibiity is to ensure that whenever new tapes and disks are brought into the ibrary be propery numbered. If the tape or disk is a repacement for one that is no onger usabe, you must be sure to dispose of the od media and physicay remove the identification abe. Certification Labe. The certification abe is used to indicate the ast time a magnetic tape or disk underwent certification. Diskettes are not normay certified, but, instead, are disposed of upon receiving an unacceptabe number of unrecoverabe read/write errors. It has been found to be more cost effective to simpy repace this type of media with new rather than putting it through a refurbishing process. NONPERMANENT LABELS. The nonpermanent type abe has a specia adhesive backing of stick-on-type construction that can be appied to just about any kind of surface yet be removed with very itte effort. This type of abe is most usefu in appications where information regarding the media itsef, or what is written upon it, changes quite frequenty. Usage abes, ceaning abes, and save abes are usuay nonpermanent type abes. Usage Labe. The usage abe is used to determine how many times a tape has been read from or written to. It can be paced on either side of the tape ree. The usage abe is normay made up of severa boxes or circes (approximatey one-quarter inch in diameter), which are fied in (one at a time) by the computer operator each time a tape is used. Notice that we did not mention disks. Disks are normay sent outside of the command for ceaning. At that time, they are aso certified for use. However, magnetic tape is an entirey different story. After so many uses a tape must undergo a ceaning, and that is where you come in. Every time a tape is returned to the ibrary, you shoud make it a point to check the usage abe to see whether or not it requires ceaning. A magnetic tape maybe ceaned at any time. However, if the tape does contain ive data (data sti needed), try to be extra carefu not to damage the tape during the ceaning process. Norma operating conditions in the computer room require the read/write heads to be ceaned at east once every 4 hours of operation and the entire unit once every 8 hours uness usage is very heavy or as specified in the SOP. If this is done, a tape shoud be ceaned after every 5 uses, and the number of uses between ceanings shoud never exceed 10. Ceaning Labe. The ceaning abe is used to indicate when and how often a tape has been ceaned. This is important to know, for after a tape has undergone so many ceanings (usuay 10), it shoud be put through a certification process to determine its accuracy (reading and writing capabiity). Normay, you pace the ceaning abe on the backside of the tape, since the information it contains is usefu ony to you, the ibrarian. Save Labe. Whenever a tape is to be saved for a period of time, a save abe, such as the one shown in figure 2-6, is required for accountabiity. The save abe (aso referred to as a user abe) contains information that heps to identify the job/task number and the data fie(s) written on the media, aong with other reated information. This abe is paced on the front side of the media so it can be readiy seen by a. Each individua programmer, user, and, in some cases, the contro cerk (depending upon command poicy) has responsibiity for fiing out as much information on the save abe as possibe before job submission. He or she normay enters such information as: job or task number, fie identification, security cassification, purge date, and/or its period of retention (30,60, or 90 days). When the job Figure 2-6. Magnetic tape save abe for uncassified (UNCLAS), Privacy Act (PRIV), and For Officia Use Ony (FOUO). 2-12

55 is run, the operator inserts the remaining entries: ree sequence number(s), the creation date of the fie, the system on which the job was run, the magnetic tape unit (the drive #) that was used to create the tape, aong with his or her operator number or initias upon competion of the job. These newy created tapes are then forwarded to the ibrary, where you (the ibrarian) check to see that a required entries on the save abe have been made. If there are discrepancies, it is your responsibiity to notify the appropriate personne so that corrective action may be taken. Once you are satisfied that a abe entries are correct and compete, you can then proceed to og and fie (store) the media for future use. Whenever you are asked to pu (retrieve) magnetic media (input tapes, disks, diskettes), you shoud ensure that save abes accompany the job request for a outputs to be saved. Do this before reeasing the job to the computer operator. Interna Labes Before reeasing new magnetic media from the ibrary, you are sometimes required to put the media through what is caed an interna abeing or initiaization process. As the ibrarian, one of your many jobs may be to perform this abeing or initiaization process. Why? you might ask. Good question. Some computer systems require an interna abe of some sort to be physicay written on the magnetic media for vaidation (checking) purposes before the media can be accepted and processed by the system software and appications programs of the computer. When deaing with magnetic tape, the interna abe consists of two bocks of information written immediatey after the BOT marker. The first bock is normay reserved for the identification number, which is assigned by you at the time a new tape is added to the ibrary. This identification number never changes. The second bock identifies the information to be stored on the tape, aong with the fie ID. It may aso contain date information that is used by specia programs to further identify the tape and to protect the information from being destroyed prematurey. This type of information is normay provided by the programmer. You must schedue computer processing time to set up the interna abe. Like magnetic tape, whenever you introduce anew disk or diskette into the system, it, too, must undergo an interna abeing process known as initiaization. Initiaization is somewhat simiar to an initiation. If the disk pack (or diskette) passes a series of tests, then it gets to become a member of the ibrary. If not, then the media is normay boxed up and shipped back to the manufacturer. To initiaize a disk pack, you must have computer processing time at your disposa and a specia program caed a direct access storage device initiaization (DASDI) program. The initiaization procedure itsef is designed to accompish two things. First, during the DASDI procedure, an interna voume identification is recorded on track zero of the disk. Without this voume identification abe, the computer cannot access the disk. Second, for a new pack, a surface anaysis of the entire disk (or disk pack) is performed, defective tracks are fagged, and aternate tracks are assigned. In addition, a isting is produced that refects the overa operating condition of the pack. This isting is normay retained in the ibrary or in the technica support branch. As you trave from one command to another, you wi find that there are many DASDI programs avaiabe, under just as many names: INIT, FORMAT, and so on. The one you use wi depend upon the system s hardware and its executive software. DISASTER/OFF-SITE BACKUP Have you ever given any thought to how much time and money are invested in the ibrary? If you are not working in the ibrary at the moment, next time you visit one, ook around and try to imagine how much money it woud take to repace the equipment and the media, and how much time it woud take to recreate a the necessary fies if everything were totay ost because of fire or fooding. Depending on the size of the ibrary and the types of media it contained, it coud run into the miions of doars. Remember, data entry personne do not work for nothing. The oss of these media can have harmfu effects on your command s operations for quite some time. And, as we have aready noted, recreation of fies can be extremey costy. A systems software, master fies, and other critica entries and documentation shoud be dupicated as backup on a reguary schedued basis and stored in a protected area, as far away from the ibrary as possibe. In spite of the many precautions that can be taken to protect the security of the computer center and the media ibrary, the safest possibe means of protecting data and information of a vita nature is the off-site, back-up procedure. This is true because there is no totay fai-safe procedure to protect a computer room or the ibrary from the many dangers to which it is exposed. 2-13

56 It is up to the individua programming branch supervisors, operations supervisor, or division chief to ensure that a projects, systems, or jobs under their cognizance or contro be identified, dupicated, and stored off-site in accordance with oca Continuity of Operations (COOP) instructions. Off-site magnetic media shoud be changed each time the data/information is updated. In the case where daiy updates occur, backup fies shoud be minimized to once a week if at a possibe. As ibrarian, you shoud have an estabished standard operating procedure (SOP) to copy master fies for the various types of media, for use in the event the originas become damaged. Copies shoud be made each time a master fie is updated. These copies can be the actua COOP tapes/disks or dupicates, depending on the proximity of the COOP storage site and the deay in operations required to retrieve the copies. If the COOP site is distant from the operation, the COOP fies shoud be dupicated and the dupicates stored within the ibrary for fast recovery. SHIPMENT OF MEDIA Occasionay, you wi be expected to ship media to another site. The most important thing to remember to do before packaging a tape or disk up for shipment is to make a copy. There is nothing worse than maiing off a disk or tape and the recipient finding it bank when it arrives, and you don t have another copy. The foowing steps shoud be foowed to prepare media for shipment: Figure 2-7. Magnetic tape in a canister. hande a tape the possibiity of damage increases, especiay to the outer edges of the tape. Devices, such as canisters and wrap-around (tape) straps, hep protect the ree and tape during handing and storage. The canister tape sea shown in figure 2-7 offers the maximum protection against dust and physica abuse. Canisters provide a dust-free environment and support the tape ree by its hub. Canister tape seas are normay suppied by the manufacturer, uness your command specificay asks for another type such as the wrap-around strap. Some AIS instaations prefer to use wraparound straps, better known as tape straps, instead of canisters because they are far ess expensive and take up ess storage space in the ibrary, figure 2-8. Unfortunatey, tape straps do not provide the same degree of protection from dust or physica abuse as do the canisters. It is Pu media from the ibrary Copy the media, returning origina to ibrary Box media in shipping container Labe container Affix warning abes on a sides The warning abes shoud state that the package contains magnetic media; do not xray. CARE AND HANDLING OF MAGNETIC TAPE Whie it is inevitabe that computer tape eventuay acquires errors, you can hep minimize tape errors through proper handing techniques. Tapes shoud never be handed unnecessariy, because each time you Figure 2-8. Magnetic tape in a wrap-around (tape) strap. 2-14

57 possibe for a person to squeeze the ree fanges during handing even though a tape strap is propery in pace, as shown in figure 2-9. Handing tapes in this manner wi certainy resut in tape-edge damage. In addition, defective or improper size straps may defect (twist or warp) the ree fanges, causing tape-edge damage. Nonetheess, when handed with care, the wrap-around tape strap can bean effective method of tape protection. Anytime you are handing magnetic tape, regardess of how it is protected (by a canister or a tape strap), aways use good judgment and foow the appicabe safeguards, as foows: When a tape is not actuay being used, keep it in its protective container to avoid accidenta breakage and unnecessary contamination. Do NOT eave empty tape canisters open as this aows entry of dust or other tape contaminating matter. Hang wrap-around straps in a cean area whie the tape is in use. Whenever you return a tape to its respective canister, you must ensure that a cean stopper is used. NOTE: A stopper is a one-inch piece of foam rubber the same width as the ree (inside the fanges) and one-haf-inch thick. Stoppers are used to keep the tape from unraveing once inside the canister. Never use rubber stoppers with wrap-around straps. The extra thickness coud resut in the tape being embossed (eaving a permanent imprint). Whie working with tapes in canisters, canisters may be stacked for short periods of time. NOTE: Avoid stacking more than 10 canisters, since weight can cause the canisters on the bottom to crack. Avoid stacking tapes with wrap-around tape straps, because doing so can cause tape-edge damage. Store magnetic tapes in a vertica position. Aways hande tape rees by the center hub, never by the fanges. NOTE: If you happen to drop a tape ree, check it immediatey for cracked fanges and the tape itsef for possibe edge damage. Periodicay remove and check inside the fange and hub areas of take-up rees on tape ceaning and certifying equipment for dirt or other contamination. Aso check these rees (at the hub) periodicay for signs of warpage or cracks. Periodicay check the mounting hubs on your equipment to ensure they are tight (secure). This prevents a ree of tape from wobbing during a ceaning or certifying operation. When you mount a tape on a device, aways push in on the hub itsef, never on the outer fanges. Never touch or hande the recording surface of the tape. Never pace magnetic tape on top of equipment because of the heat generated by the equipment and because interna magnetic fieds within the device may scrambe recorded bits of information on the tape. Figure 2-9. Magnetic tape being hed improperythe fingers shoud go through the hub hoe without squeezing the fanges. Smoking shoud not be aowed in working spaces where magnetic tape is being used. Smoking is never permitted whie handing magnetic tape, attending to tape units, or working in the ibrary area. Ashes may contaminate tapes, and ive ashes may cause permanent damage if they come in contact with the tape. 2-15

58 And ast, but not east, aways foow the rues and procedures that have been estabished by your command or instaation. Check your SOP manua. Remember, anytime your ibrary personne are to hande magnetic media, whether it be issuing, receiving, fiing, scratching, inventorying, or maiing, they need to be on the ookout for certain things. They must ook for such things as tapes that are uneveny rewound, write rings that have not been removed from a newy created fie, cracked tape fanges, worn tape straps, broken or cracked tape canisters, faded or peeing fie identification or ree identification abes, mismatched tape ree number against tape strap number, and soon. Media with probems such as these shoud not be reeased for use or fied in the ibrary unti the probems are corrected. and storage cabinets on a reguar basis (at east once a week) to prevent dust buidup. It aso means you must examine disk pack fiters as often as possibe (preferaby after every use) to ensure there is no dust buidup or damage of any kind. If dust buidup or damage to the fiter exists, by a means, repace the fiter before it is to be used again. Be sure no foreign objects or notes are paced inside the disk pack covers. Foreign objects have a tendency to fy and, as a resut, coud sip between the disk patters and become undetectabe unti the disk pack is used. This woud certainy cause severe damage to the pack and drive and make your maintenance technician very unhappy. If, for any reason, you suspect a disk pack has been damaged or dropped, under no circumstances shoud you reease it from the ibrary unti it is checked out by a person using an authorized pack ceaner/certification device. Anytime you are retrieving, storing, or just pain handing a disk pack, aways carry it by the hande ocated on top of the cover, as iustrated in figure The hande is designed in such a manner that the pack is supported at its center by ocking the cover to the spinde on the pack. You must ensure that the bottom cover of the pack is firmy secured (attached), whie hoding the pack verticay by the hande. You shoud never set the pack down onto the bottom cover. The ocking knob, which is cone-shaped, coud puncture the pack s fiter or possiby bend the disk s ower patter. CARE AND HANDLING OF MAGNETIC DISKS As the ibrarian, you are primariy concerned with the care, handing, retrieving, storing, and abeing of magnetic media. When we care for magnetic media (especiay disks or diskettes), an important eement of that care is ceaniness. Disk packs, as we as diskettes, have a tendency to attract dust, smoke, oi, hair, you name it, and a disk pack wi attract it (or at east it seems that way). Because even tiny partices can cause probems, it is imperative that a AIS spaces (incuding the media ibrary) be as contamination-free as possibe. For you, that means a disk pack fie drawers must be kept cosed when not in use. Vacuum the disk pack covers Figure Magnetic disk shoud be carried eve, using the dust cover hande. 2-16

59 CLEANING AND RECERTIFYING MAGNETIC TAPE How important is tape ceaning and recertification? Let us answer that question by asking another question: When do you suppose tape faiures are most ikey to occur? If you answered, when the tape is being used on the computer system; then you are correct. Consider this exampe: an unrecoverabe tape error appears whie the operator is trying to read in ree four of an eight-ree master fie; the operator is about 3 hours into a very important job, and finds out there is no way to recover (restart) the job starting with ree three of the input. A faiure at this stage of the operation gets the operator and a good many other peope very upset, for we a know that reruns are costy in both time and money. Such faiures can be avoided if tapes are ceaned and recertified on a reguar basis. It is we worth the effort to propery care for tapes according to a reguar panned schedue; since this avoids upset and inconvenience and gives your users confidence that your AIS faciity is running smoothy. Carefu and panned maintenance of magnetic tapes can minimize and even possiby eiminate a ot of ost computer time. The first step in every magnetic tape maintenance program is, obviousy, carefu ceaning. Despite the many safeguards against contamination, you can beieve that magnetic tape wi eventuay acquire some contamination and cause read or write errors. You wi find the greatest number of tape errors normay occur in the first 100 feet of a ree. When this is the case, the appropriate action is to cut off the contaminated area, reocate the BOT refective marker, and continue to use the tape (see figure 2-11). In most cases, the reduced ength wi not detract from its usefuness. This procedure is known as stripping a tape. After a tape has been stripped five times, it shoud be reoaded (transferred) onto what we ca a mini-ree. A mini-ree is about haf the size of a standard ree of tape. If the errors continue throughout the ength of the tape, you shoud determine whether the errors are distortion errors or dirt errors. Distortion errors are usuay the resut of careess handing (abuse) of the tape and can rarey be corrected. Distortion errors can be seen as wrinkes, creases, turned-up edges, or a sight stretching of the tape. Dirt errors usuay resut from the accumuation of microscopic foreign matter on the tape surface and can be removed by carefu ceaning. To do this, you need to use a tape ceaner. Tape ceaning is the process of removing a foreign partices (known as residua buidup) and protruding debris from the oxide and back side (the shiny side) of the tape. This process does not destroy any of the data that has been previousy recorded on the tape. New tape has a tendency to shed oxide partices near the surface for approximatey the first six passes through the read/write heads of the magnetic tape unit. Uness the new tape is ceaned at east twice, increased tape unit head wear coud resut. You wi aso find that deterioration of the edges of the tape is the major cause of most tape-generated debris. Edge guides that hep to direct the tape aong the tape path aso cause a constant edge-scuffing. This resuts in a further breakdown of the oxide/base ayer interface of the tape. An effective Figure A 100 feet of contaminated tape being removed from ree (stripping). 2-17

60 process to cean a tape is to use a magnetic tape ceaner/certifier simiar to the one shown in figure Knives are used to remove any protrusions from the oxide surface. It is estimated that a maximum of 90% of a tape errors are removed in this manner. Most tape ceaners cean tape by wiping the oxide and back surface of the tape. Loosened dirt, oxide partices, and other debris are removed from the tape by wiping assembies. When the EOT marker is sensed by a photoeectric ce, the tape is automaticay reversed, and the wiping assembies cean the entire ength of tape in the opposite direction. The wiping tissue used is made of a specia textured fabric and is wound on a spoo. It is important to change the wiping materia frequenty at the point of contact with the tape. This is done to avoid entrapment and retention of abrasive dirt partices at the tape surface being wiped. Some tape ceaners, ike the one shown in figure 2-12, move the wiping materia aong automaticay. In addition, most tape ceaners repack the tape as it rewinds, using a buit-in machine programmed tension arm. This feature heps to reieve irreguar tape pack tension, thereby reducing the possibiity of tape deformation inside the tape ree. The repack tension arm is shown in figure Tape ceaning equipment that combines tape ceaning and recertification (figure 2-12) operates in the foowing manner. Any protrusions are removed by a knife edge during the first tape ceaning pass. At the same time, the ocation of every error that was not removed on the tape pass is indicated on a recording chart (figure 2-12, upper eft-hand corner). The ocation of each error is identified by its distance from the beginning-of-tape (BOT) refector. On the second pass, that is the return pass, the certifier stops at every unremoved error area and the operator, using a microscope, endeavors to remove the error with a sharp knife or scape. Upon competion, a recertification operation wi usuay restore the tape to a near errorfree condition. On a 2,400-foot tape ree, each recertification operation averages 15 minutes. A tapes scratch tapes, work tapes, save tapes, and data tapes shoud be ceaned after every 10 uses or every 90 days, whichever is more frequent. A tapes shoud have a ceaning abe attached to the back surface of the tape ree. Each time a tape is ceaned, you shoud og the Juian date and initia the ceaning abe. Some hepfu measurement criteria, used by severa of the AIS instaations for determining retention or disposa of magnetic tape, areas foows: ABSOLUTE-END-OF-LIFE The tape contains so many faws (errors) that it can not function at a. PRACTICAL-END-OF-LIFE The tape can produce usabe resuts, but because of cost and annoyance of faiures, it is impractica to use it any onger. LEVEL-OF-REJECTION This is a judgment ca and must be based on your past experience or expertise, you might say. Some ibrarians and management personne fee that after a tape is ceaned, if 15 write errors occur throughout the tape, then the tape has reached the threshod of rejection. Figure Tape ceaner/certifier. 2-18

61 TAPE-REPLACEMENT-LEVEL This is the point at which the number of errors exceeds the rejection eve. Maintaining Magnetic Media Maintaining media invoves using speciaized ibrary equipment to cean, certify, and degauss magnetic media. It aso invoves seeing that media is in usabe condition. The duties and responsibiities incude the foowing: Spicing eaders onto magnetic tapes Pacing BOT/EOT markers on magnetic tape Rotating tapes and disks Inspecting and changing disk pack fiters Setting up and operating tape ceaners, certifiers, and degaussers Mounting and dismounting magnetic tapes Performing ceaning, certifying, and degaussing functions Performing emergency shut-down/power-off procedures on equipment Setting Up, Operating, and Maintaining Equipment Be sure you and the head ibrarian know and can expain the steps invoved in setting up and operating equipment. Be abe to demonstrate the proper way to cean, certify, and degauss magnetic media. Be sure a ibrary personne know how to propery perform emergency shut-down/power-off procedures on the different types of equipment used in the ibrary (tape ceaner, certifier, degausser, and remote computer termina, if used). Like any area with equipment, some operator maintenance is required to assure proper functioning and aso to increase the usefu ife of the equipment. Operator maintenance on tape ceaners and certifiers shoud be performed on a reguar basis and incude the foowing tasks:. Removing and repacing ceaning bades. Removing and repacing wiping tissues. Removing dirt/dust from photoeectric ces. Ensuring tape pack whee is rotating freey Ensure that proper and reguar operator maintenance is performed on the ibrary s equipment. Keeping a og of when it was conducted and when it shoud be done again wi hep. Make sure outer cabinets are kept cean and free of dust. A dirt, oxide partices, and other debris shoud be removed from the capstans, turrets, tape pack whee, and ceaning bades. Ceaning bades shoud not be aowed to become nicked or du. Aso see that the wiping tissues are cean, and are rotating smoothy and automaticay. CLEANING AND RECERTIFYING MAGNETIC DISKS Today, the removabe and interchangeabe magnetic disk pack is one of the most frequenty used mass storage media. Not ony is it sma, fast, and reiabe, but with the proper care and handing, it has an amost indefinite ife span. Like magnetic tape, the main enemy of the disk pack is dirt. During the manufacturing of the disk packs, every precaution is taken to maintain a sterie environment and a contamination-free assemby of each component of the disk. However, these safeguards do not entirey prevent some contamination from occurring, and everyday operation continues to increase the contamination eve unti data checks (read/write errors) do occur. During norma computer use, three different types of errors are encountered on disk packs: temporary errors, permanent errors, and disastrous errors (head to disk contact or head crash). TEMPORARY ERRORS OR SOFT DATA CHECKS These temporary errors are the direct resut of a minor buidup of contaminants, such as dust, smoke, and oi. PERMANENT ERRORS OR HARD DATA CHECKS These permanent errors cause data to be ost because of an excessive buidup of contaminants. As a resut, the read/write heads are no onger abe to access this particuar area on the disk. HEAD TO DISK CONTACT OR HEAD CRASH These disastrous errors are caused when a read/write head of the disk drive unit comes into direct contact with the surface of a disk patter. Again, this is the resut of an excessive buidup of contaminants. These errors can be prevented by inspecting and ceaning the disk pack. Athough none of the major disk pack manufacturers recommend a reguar schedue for ceaning of disk packs, they do recommend that disks be ceaned and inspected when they have been exposed to 2-19

62 possibe moisture or contamination. The fact is, during operation, the disk pack is surrounded by dirt and grease partices that are circuated through the air by the cooing fans of the disk drive; consequenty, there is a definite need for a ceaning procedure, if not an actua schedue. If your instaation has a disk ceaner/certifier, earn how to use it, and you wi find fewer disk errors and a significant decrease in the number of computer reruns. A we-organized disk management program wi serve to eiminate head crashes caused by contaminants; decrease, if not eiminate, hard data checks; and decrease significanty the number of soft data checks encountered. DEGAUSSING MAGNETIC MEDIA Degaussing magnetic media tapes, disks, and drums-invoves a process in which you demagnetize the media itsef. This rearranges a the 0 and 1 bits, sort of mixing them up, you might say. Normay, the ony time you woud be required to perform such an operation is when you must decassify (remove the data from) the media before the media can be scratched for reuse. To remove a previousy recorded magnetic signa (a the 0 and 1 bits), use a concentrated magnetic fied to magneticay saturate the oxide coating of the media and randomy orient a the magnetic partices. Magnetic Tape Degaussing To degauss a magnetic tape, you must pass the entire tape through controed fieds of aternating current to reduce the signa eve of the magnetic tape s recordings to a eve which is beow the capabiity of ADP equipment to interpret. This requires that signa eve reduction be performed on the entire ree of magnetic tape, incuding the tape eader and tape traier. For a tape 1 inch or ess in width to be considered uncassified by the Nationa Security Agency (NSA) standards, the signa on the tape must be reduced a minimum of 90 db (decibes) beow saturation eve after degaussing. The manufacturer s recommended operating procedures shoud be foowed when degaussing a tape. Aso, the tape degausser shoud be checked at east quartery by technica personne to ensure proper operating eve specifications. Before degaussing a tape, you shoud remove the tape wrap-around strap to prevent the ree from jamming, and secure the end of the tape with a foam rubber stopper to prevent the tape from unwinding. The degaussing operation itsef takes no more than 2 minutes per ree for a magnetic tape with a maximum one-inch width. Magnetic Disk, Diskette, and Drum Degaussing Rigid magnetic media such as disk and drum storage, as we as diskettes (aso known as foppy disk), shoud be machine ceared (overwritten), using a speciay designed computer software program. Once the media has been overwritten, it shoud be verified (checked) to be sure the read mechanism cannot detect any traces of data information except the characters used in the overwrite procedure. Ony then can the media be considered as uncassified, and a cassification abes and markings identifying the subject matter be removed. You shoud aso ensure the computer operator checks out the computer and a reated components that are to be used immediatey before beginning the overwrite procedure. This is to et you know that mafunctions, which coud prevent the cassified information from being effectivey overwritten, do not occur. During the overwriting process, a storage ocations wi be overwritten a minimum of three times, once with the binary digit 1, once with the binary digit 0, and once with a singe numeric, aphabetic, or specia character (other than 0 or 1 ). The current used in overwriting must be equa to that used when the data was first recorded, but not so strong that it wi damage or impair the equipment. If the storage device fais in such a reamer that it cannot erase the data from the media, the media may be decassified by exposing the recording surface(s) to a permanent magnet having a fied strength at the recording surface of at east 1500 oersted. Care must be taken to ensure that the entire surface is wiped at east three times by a nonuniform motion of the magnet. Care must aso be taken to assure that a tracks are covered by the center of the magnet. A thin sheet of cear pastic (a 1-to-5-mi sheet) shoud be used to prevent any damage to the recording surfaces. MAGNETIC TAPE AND DISKETTE DESTRUCTION When it comes to the destruction of magnetic tape and diskettes, you wi use the same techniques as hard copy materia. Depending to the equipment avaiabe to you, you wi shred or burn the materia, depending on the cassification and the type of equipment. Because of their design, some of the shredders can not be used to shred magnetic tape or diskettes. Remember to use your oca standard operating procedures (SOPs) as guidance 2-20

63 for the destruction techniques that are used at your command. RELEASING (SCRATCHING) MAGNETIC MEDIA As ibrarian, one of your many tasks may be to reease (scratch) magnetic media; that is, make the media avaiabe to the computer operator for reuse. Before you reease or scratch media, there are severa things you shoud know. First, never remove a save abe from a tape, disk, or diskette without the permission of the user to whom the data on the media beongs. We, then you might ask, how does one go about getting the user s permission? There are severa ways this can be accompished: by phone, by way of an interoffice memo, or by contacting each individua in person; but the fastest and easiest way is to distribute a copy of the reease report on a weeky basis. The users can annotate the fies they want reeased and return the report to you. At that time, you can scratch the appropriate fies and make the magnetic media avaiabe for reuse. But wait, is the fie you are about to scratch the same fie that is isted on the reease report? Good question. Before you start removing save abes, be sure that a information written on the save abe agrees with what is isted on the reease report. There are times when the computer operator is in a hurry to get things roing and may accidentay pace the wrong wrap-around strap on a tape, disk pack cover on the wrong disk, or attach the wrong save abe to a newy created fie. By performing this check, you coud avoid hours of computer rerun time. Once you have determined the fie to be scratched agrees with the information on the reease report, you can remove the save abe. If the fie to be scratched contains cassified data, be sure the media is degaussed before its reease uness it is to be used again for the recording of cassified data of the same security eve. Next, examine the media thoroughy to be sure it is heathy (in good physica condition). Be on the ookout for the foowing probems: MAGNETIC TAPE Look for contaminants on inside and outside of fanges, tape uneveny rewound (take note of the tape unit it was created on), cracked or warped fanges, cracks around the center hub (if made of pastic), uneven tape packing (ook for rippes between the ayers of tape), and broken or deteriorated ocking mechanisms. MAGNETIC DISK Look for contaminants inside and outside of the disk pack covers, cracked or broken covers (top and bottom), and damaged or warped disk patters. Be sure the ocking mechanism is functioning propery. DISKETTES (foppy disk) Look for contaminants, primariy dust and oiy marks on the outside cover. Next, you shoud ook at the usage and certification abes to see whether or not the tape or disk needs to be ceaned or recertified; and if so, do it. Finay, be sure to pace (insert) a write ring in the sot provided on the back side of each scratch tape. Forward the magnetic media to the computer operations area. Do not forget to foow up on the paperwork. That is, update the ibrary master fie (or database) to refect atest status on the media. LIBRARY MANAGEMENT In addition to performing ibrary functions, you wi need to consider other areas of ibrary management. These incude protection and storage of media, maintaining a proper physica environment, management of cassified media and materias, magnetic media administrative duties, tape retention, and disaster/off-site backup. You wi earn about these management areas in this topic. STORAGE OF MAGNETIC MEDIA Data is one of your instaation s most vauabe assets, and, as the ibrarian, you are responsibe and accountabe for its protection. You must protect it from a number of things. The data that is recorded on magnetic media must be protected from theft, unauthorized access by individuas, destruction by fire, fooding, contamination, accidenta overwrite, and so on. The key words here are protection and security, not ony of the media but aso of the ibrary spaces as we. The ibrary must be theftproof. It shoud be of vaut-type construction, with no windows and with cypher ocks (or their equivaent) on the doors. Personne access must be cosey controed. You must foow proper procedures to ensure that materia entering or eaving the ibrary is controed. You shoud be aware of the fact that security means more than the oss of data through theft or sabotage. If the user cannot depend on the data, as recorded. on magnetic media and retrieved from the ibrary, then the entire ibrary becomes worthess. Regardess of the cassification of 2-21

64 the data your command processes (Uncassified, Confidentia, Secret, Top Secret), you must ensure that the ibrary is secure. Another security requirement is fire contro. Smoke and fire aarm systems are necessary. Sprinker systems that react immediatey to any threat of fire area must. Insuated vauts (safes) and storage cabinets ike the ones shown in figure 2-13 are extremey hepfu in preventing magnetic media and paper records from being destroyed in the eary moments of a fire before it can be put out. They can aso hep reduce the heat to which the storage media are exposed. Heat can be particuary harmfu and damage the data even if the medium itsef is not destroyed, because pastic mets, and meta warps. If the storage devices are insuated, this wi further protect against water damage, either from natura accidents, such as foods, the sprinker system, or personne putting out a fire. Some commands prefer to use an inert-gas extinguishing system, or chemica fire extinguishers rather than the conventiona water sprinkers. These hep to eiminate the damage and contamination that woud otherwise be caused by water. Another safety feature is the ead-strip vaut door hinge. The ead strip wi met at 150 F and automaticay cose the vaut door (see figure 2-14). LIBRARY ENVIRONMENT The ibrary is usuay ocated in the same functiona area as the computer room it is supporting. This is especiay true aboard ship. Magnetic tape, disk, and other media must be maintained within the same environment, or the same type environment, as the Figure A ead strip boted in the vaut door hinge. computer faciity. If not, the media shoud be paced in the proper environment for a minimum of 24 hours before using; otherwise, the operators may encounter probems using the media. Temperature and reative humidity toerances shoud be maintained within specified imits. In the absence of other instructions, maintaining a 30 to 60 percent reative humidity at 70 F to 80 F is considered an acceptabe environment. In the ibrary, especiay the tape ceaning area, the eimination of dust, int, and foreign matter on equipment is necessary for efficient operation. In short, the ceaniness of equipment, foors, and contact areas and the contro of humidity and temperature are essentia. Traffic in and out of the ibrary shoud be kept to a minimum. Smoking, eating, and drinking shoud be prohibited at a times. The ibrary shoud be vacuumed and/or ceaned with a damp mop. A dry mop, fox tai, or dust broom shoud never be used, as they tend to kick up more dust than they take up. Aerosos shoud never be used in the ibrary environment, because the oiy, dust-coecting moisture settes and eventuay finds its way onto the equipment as we as the surfaces of the media. Figure Media storage vaut and cabinet (with doors open). The use of air-conditioning fiters in the ibrary shoud be given specia attention, because fiber gass fiters often fai to prevent the penetration of fine sits and tend to deposit partices of fibergass on magnetic media. 2-22

65 MANAGEMENT OF CLASSIFIED MEDIA AND MATERIALS As the media ibrarian, you must ensure that a cassified magnetic media bear some type of externa markings or abes and interna notations. The markings must be sufficient to assure that any one receiving such media wi know that cassified information is invoved and what its specific cassification category is. The unique methods empoyed when handing, processing, storing, degaussing, transferring, or maiing this type of media require correspondingy unique security procedures, some of which you read about in Modue 1, Administration and Security. Additiona information regarding these and other areas reated to AIS security may be found in OPNAVINST , Automatic Data Processing Security Program, and OPNAVINST , Information and Personne Security Program Reguations. The rues, reguations, and procedures in the OPNAV instructions and oca command instructions are there for good reason. They provide you with the information needed to protect cassified materias and media, and their contents. It is up to you to carry out these procedures, without unduy compicating AIS operations. You are probaby asking yoursef, as a ibrarian charged with the responsibiity of handing cassified materias, how do I go about keeping everything uncompicated and on track? The answer is simpe: foow estabished command procedures, know where the materias are ocated, and keep track of cassified media and materias at a times, whether they are in or out of the ibrary. The keyword here is accountabiity. Every ree of magnetic tape, disk pack, and diskette that are to be used for recording cassified information shoud have a stick-on, pressure sensitive cassification abe, specifying the cassification of the highest eve of information ever recorded on this media. (See figure 2-15.) In addition, after recording has taken pace, you must ensure that the proper save abe has been paced on the face (front) side surface of the media. This abe shoud contain the highest cassification of information recorded on the media, the date the recording was performed, and other appropriate identification information required by your instaation. Magnetic media that is not the property of your AIS instaation, but which is on oan from another instaation, (known as foreign tapes, disks, and so on), shoud be isoated in the ibrary and separated according to security cassification. Cassified magnetic media received from other AIS instaations shoud be degaussed before you return it, uness the sending organization specificay requests the media not be degaussed. Before returning the degaussed media to its rightfu owner, a certificate of destruction shoud be fied out and retained in the ibrary. For reasons of security, Figure Cassification abes. 2-23

66 copies of the certificate of degaussing destruction shoud not accompany the media during transmitta. Performing Security Functions Security functions are very important in a magnetic media ibrary, not ony for cassified media but aso for any materia. Data has vaue, whatever its cassification or use: Top Secret, Secret, Confidentia, Privacy Act, For Officia Use Ony, or Uncassified. Appicabe security instructions and procedures must be foowed. Some of the tasks incude the foowing: Storing and safeguarding cassified media and materias Labeing magnetic media Estabishing and updating current and history fies Preparing ibrary istings and reports for distribution Maintaining security ogs and ibrary access ists Degaussing and/or destroying cassified media and materias Changing ock combinations on doors, safes, and vauts Ensure that a security procedures and measures reating to the ibrary are understood by everyone connected with the ibrary, especiay the ibrarians. See that procedures are enforced. This incudes controing entrance (access) to the ibrary spaces (both on-site and off-site storage areas), as we as providing physica and administrative contros of the media. The ibrarians must ensure proper security protection is provided for a magnetic media and materias in accordance with appicabe security instructions and procedures. This incudes issuing, receiving, shipping, decassification, destruction, and disposa. MAGNETIC MEDIA ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES Attention to administrative detai is a must. It wi hep assure that media are propery maintained and ready for use. Contro ogs, pass-down og, ibrary istings, and reports are a a part of the everyday administrative functions. Administrative duties and responsibiities incude the foowing:. Maintaining tape ceaning, verification, and degaussing ogs Checking magnetic media in and out, using appropriate ogs Making entries in tape and disk contro ogs Making entries in pass-down og To accompish this task requires a speciay designed program that is abe to read the interna abe information that is stored on the magnetic media. The program extracts whatever information it needs to buid a record onto the ibrary master fie (or database fie). Once a record is estabished, you can make changes or deetions as necessary. Most AIS instaations have incorporated or are capabe of instaing some type of automated tape ibrary contro (ATLC) program. Various manufacturers suppy these software programs for their computing systems. These programs provide an automated capabiity for preparing various user and management reports to assist in the operation and contro of your instaation s magnetic media ibrary. These reports refect the current status of each tape ree, disk pack, and diskette in the ibrary. You wi find that various manufacturers give different names to their ibrary accounting programs; however, the majority of these software systems accompish the same functions. The names may change, but the game is the same. For this chapter, we use ATLC. A good ATLC system shoud be capabe of providing you with the ibrary edit and error, ree master ist, appication, user/programmer, media to be reeased, ibrary maintenance, off-site storage, and history reports. 2-24

67 LIBRARY EDIT AND ERROR REPORT This report provides you with information and error-type messages pertaining to the ATLC system transactions; those submitted, rejected, and processed. MASTER LIST REPORT This report provides you with information pertaining to each type of media contained in the ATLC system. This report is normay isted in identification number sequence. APPLICATION REPORT This report provides you with information pertaining to media assigned to any particuar project (suppy, payro, and soon). This report is normay isted by project number and identification number. USER/PROGRAMMER REPORT This report provides you with information pertaining to media that is assigned to a particuar user or programmer. It shoud be in user/programmer number, reease date, and identification number sequence. MEDIA TO BE RELEASED REPORT This report provides you with information pertaining to the media that are schedued to be reeased (scratched according to purge date). It is normay isted in identification number and/or in fie-id sequence. LIBRARY MAINTENACE REPORT This report provides you with information regarding the media itsef, indicating when the media was ast ceaned, when it was ast stripped (magnetic tape ony), and recertified. This report is normay isted by media type (tape or disk) and identification number. OFF-SITE STORAGE REPORT This report provides you with information pertaining to the media that are stored off-site. This report is normay isted by media type, reease date, and identification number. HISTORY REPORT This report provides you with various information pertaining to a magnetic media cassified as history fies. This report shoud be isted in media type, reease date, and identification number sequence. A input, changes, and deetions to the ATLC systems database (master fie) shoud be accompished by the ibrarian to ensure database integrity. You shoud have up-to-date information on how to propery maintain the ATLC system so you can key-enter (via CRT) new records, make changes to existing records, or deete records entirey. You must aso know how to use input parameters and possiby SCL parameters to produce the appropriate output products. The main purpose of any ATLC system is to reieve you of having to maintain numerous ogs and ibrary fies by hand. So, if your AIS instaation has an automated ibrary contro system, take fu advantage of it; otherwise, you can ook forward to many, many hours of manua abor. You wi aso find that the number of tape and disk accountabiity probems wi be essened consideraby under an automated system. Using Remote Terminas Many tape ibraries use remote terminas connected to mainframes or minicomputers to hep manage their ibrary functions. The automated ibrary contro system (ALCS) is one use. Remote termina operation wi incude the foowing tasks: Performing og-on/og-off procedures Entering proper system passwords to assure security Inputting data to computer Retrieving data from computer Updating ibrary fies using ALCS Querying/searching ibrary fies using ALCS Requesting ibrary istings and reports Ensure that a ibrary personne are propery trained on how to use the ibrary s remote computer termina. A personne must have a good working knowedge of the features and functions of the keyboard. They must know how to propery ogon to the system and how to enter their access code. They must aso understand how to gain access to ibrary fies and how to input and retrieve data to and from the computer. They shoud know how to update and query the ibrary s database and how to request ibrary istings and reports. Knowing how to cose out fies they are 2-25

68 working with, and how to propery ogoff the system at the end of their work day are aso important parts of their job. TAPE RETENTION A restricted retention period has been estabished to prevent permanent physica damage to magnetic tapes, especiay tapes that are stored for ong periods of time, such as history tapes. This provides for a magnetic tapes to be ceaned, possiby certified, and repacked at prescribed time intervas. This procedure eiminates such probems as oxide sticking, debris embedment, and edge deformation caused by tape pack shifts inside the ree. Initiay, an on-site save tape retention period shoud be restricted to a maximum of 90 days, with ony one 90-day extension. After 180 days, you shoud notify the user indicating that the tape shoud be copied (and verified) onto a recenty ceaned tape, thus freeing the origina tape to be tested for accuracy. The retention period for off-site tapes shoud initiay be 180 days, with one 30-day extension. FILE AND DISK MANAGEMENT Fie and disk management are other areas where your knowedge wi hep users. They probaby don t know the agony of deete or the probems sometimes caused by very arge fies. Think about what you have earned regarding fie management. How to name fies. How to ceanup fies. How to back up fies. When to back up fies. Where and how to physicay store fies. How to protect fies. How to organize fies on disks. Let s examine some of the considerations for setting up fies and fie management procedures for microcomputers: naming fies, disk fie organization, and fie backup. We wi be using DOS as the operating system for the exampes in this section. Naming Fies Every newy created fie must be given a fie name if it is to be stored (written and given an address) on disk. When the operating system ooks for a fiename, it ooks up the address in its address book, the directory. The directory is maintained in a fixed ocation on every disk. Every operating system wi have a system for naming fies. In DOS, fie names have two parts. The first part, the primary fie name, names the fie and can be from one to eight characters in ength. The second part, caed the fie name extension, is optiona, and can be from one to three characters. Whie the extension is optiona, the primary part of the fie name is NOT. An extension cannot name a fie, it can ony be used to further quaify or describe a fie. If both parts are used, they must be separated by a period, for exampe, TELECOMM.TP7. To name a fie (incuding its extension), you may use any combination of the foowing characters: the etters A through Z (upper and ower case), the numbers 0 through 9, the foowing specia characters: $, #,!, %, ( ), -, { }, _, and the eft and right apostrophe. Why woud you want to use an extension? you might ask. Let s assume you created a fie that contains a E-4 evauations for the year 1997 and you named the fie DIV-EVAL. It s a perfecty good and vaid name under DOS. However, it is entirey possibe you woud want more than one fie caed DIV-EVAL, considering the years that foow. In this case, you might want to use the option of adding a fie name extension. For exampe, you coud abe the 1997 evas DIV-EVAL.97, the next year s DIV-EVAL.98, the foowing year s DIV- EVAL.99, and so on. In this case, the years 97,98, and 99 are the extensions. Some extensions have specia meanings in DOS and are either created by DOS or assume the fie contains a specia type of program or data. For this reason, use extreme caution and avoid using fie extensions defined by the program or operating system you are using. Exampes of extensions assigned by DOS are as foows: COM, EXE, SYS, BAT Fie extensions such as COM(mand), Executabe), SYS(tem), and BAT(ch) contain executabe code. That is, the code is actuay understood by the hardware when programs are run. BAK When opening a text fie, the DOS program automaticay makes a backup copy with the extension BAK. BAS BAS refers to a source program written in the BASIC anguage. COB COB refers to a source program written in COBOL. HEX HEX refers to a specia type fie where a information has been stored in HEXADECIMAL format. Various appications software packages automaticay add an extension. For exampe, ENABLE adds WPF, DBASE adds DBF, NDX, 2-26

69 FRM, and MEM, LOTUS adds WK1, PRN, and PIC. It is important to devise a naming scheme that is comfortabe for you. Your command may have aready addressed this area and come up with descriptive naming conventions. If so, of course, you wi use those. Whatever method you use, be sure that it is indeed a method and NOT just haphazard naming of fies. When working aongside the end users, be sure to pass aong what you have earned. When they go to the fiing cabinet, be sure they know exacty which fie drawer to open and which fie foder to retrieve from that drawer. Most peope are famiiar with organizing fie foders in the drawers of a fiing cabinet. You might want to use this anaogy as a starting point, expaining to the users how they can organize their disk fies in much the same manner. Expain how they can organize their work (fies) into groups of fies caed directories. Directories Fie directories, ike the foders that are fied away in drawers by category, or ike the yeow pages of the phone book, provide you a way to organize and find fies by category and name. Most operating systems give you the option of creating either singe or mutipe-fie directories, regardess of whether your system uses foppy or hard disk. Disks with ony one directory are said to be of the unstructured or fat type. Disks having more than one directory are said to be hierarchica or tree structured because they contain a root directory and severa subdirectories, each subdirectory containing fies with common subject matter. We use the term tree structure because this type of directory takes on the appearance of an upside down tree with the trunk of the tree or root directory ocated at the top and a the branches or subdirectories ocated beow. Let s assume you have a foppy disk that contains 50 fies with ony a main or root directory, as shown in figure Upon dispaying the directory (using the DIRectory command), you notice the fies are isted in random sequence, usuay in the order of their creation or when ast updated. We ca this an unstructured directory. Looking more cosey, you reaize a number of things. First, that better organization is needed. Second, that most of the fies isted can be grouped together by categories: suppy, 3-M, personne, disbursing, food services, and division management. Finay, you see that there are reay two types of Figure Unstructured disk fie directory. categories: fies that dea with user appications and those that dea stricty with division matters. Using the tree-structured approach, you can divide your disk into smaer units by subdirectories, as shown in figure In this exampe, E5 Christmas, as the primary user of these fies, decided to organize her fies by setting up a separate directory caed E5CHRISTMAS. Within the E5CHRISTMAS directory, she set up severa subdirectories. They are identified by <DIR> foowing the name and they have no extensions. Notice aso that some fies, those that reate to division matters, are incuded in the subdirectory aong with the subdirectories that reate to user fies. Because E5 Christmas uses the division fies frequenty, she wanted to be abe to access them directy from her directory. Subdirectories, ike other fies, appear as entries in the directory; however, you can t see a isting (or a dispay) of a the fies in a the subdirectories at one Figure Tree-structured disk fie directory. 2-27

70 time. Instead, you must ook at each subdirectory to see what is in that one. If E5 Christmas wants to see what fies are in the subdirectory SUPPLY, she woud use the DOS command to change the directory name to SUPPLY and then dispay its directory (figure 2-18, exampe A). As the number of fies on a disk increases, so does the need to have a disk that is we-organized. A weorganized disk can save you a considerabe amount of time and frustration in ocating fies. As computer speciaists, we know this is true and of great importance, but to the uninformed or new user who has not been propery trained, disk management may seem very cumbersome and time consuming. Some users may not even be aware that they can organize their fies on disk, and that s where you come in. How can you hep users create and use a tree-structured directory? you might ask. Whenever you format a disk, a singe directory caed a root directory is created. You can then instruct DOS to create or MaKe other DIRectories, using a command such as MKDIR or just pain MD. These are caed subdirectories. Further, a subdirectory can have other subdirectories. Directories, regardess of their eve, are given names just ike any other fies. DOS keeps track of each directory the same way it does your fies. Using various DOS fie handing commands, you can create (MKDIR or MD), change (CHDIR or CD), and remove (RMDIR or RD) directories and subdirectories. To move through the tree structure (UP or DOWN), you must issue commands that use a path name. A path name is a ist of the directory(ies) (which might end with a fie name) that DOS Figure Examp1es of fies in subdirectories. must foow to find a given directory/subdirectory or fie name. In exampe B in figure 2-18, to ocate the fie named DIN-MENU.DLY, the path is \CHRISTMAS\FOODSERV\DIN-MENU.DLY. Once you have grouped reated fies into a subdirectory, you can act on them as a unit. The DOS fie-handing commands can be appied to an entire subdirectory of fies in a singe stroke. For exampe, you can issue commands to copy, print, or deete a the fies in a subdirectory as easiy as you can for a singe fie. Other fies on the same disk, but in different directories go unused and undisturbed. Subdirectories are especiay hepfu when working with hard disks because of their arge storage capacities. To earn more about DOS directory structures and commands, read the DOS reference guide that accompanies the DOS software. Backing Up Fies You have heard it before, and you are going to hear it again here: BACKUP your programs and data fies. If you don t, you wi eventuay ose a or part of your data, and the ony person you can bame is yoursef. Data can be ost or damaged in a number of ways. Common causes of data oss are power surges and drops, power faiures, and user errors. User errors top the ist. Less common but potentiay disastrous are fire, theft, vandaism, and natura disasters. How often have you come cose to erasing a fie or formatting a foppy or hard disk by accident? Probaby more times than you care to admit. No matter how many precautions you take, you can t prevent a the potentia ways data can be ost. You can certainy reduce their adverse effects by backing up your fies on a reguar basis. When working with data fies, you wi want to back them up at east on a daiy basis either to tape, diskette, or to another hard disk. For our exampe, we wi use two diskettes. A technique referred to as the odd/even backup uses two diskettes. Labe one diskette as odd and the other as even. When you make your backups, use the odd diskette on odd days, and use the even diskette on even days. This pays off when you find that errors were inadvertenty made to a fie the day before, and you backed-up that fie onto your backup diskette. With this system, you can go back 2 days if needed. No matter how many backups you make (two, three, or one for everyday of the week) or what method you use to make them, they are worthess if they are 2-28

71 destroyed aong with your microcomputer. You need to make mutipe backups and store a set in a different area away from your working area or, at a minimum, in a data safe. This wi require some extra effort by you or the user, but it wi more than pay for itsef shoud you ever experience a data oss. Care, Handing, and Protection of Diskettes As communications speciaists, we know how sensitive diskettes are when it comes to rough handing, extreme heat and cod, high and ow humidity, static eectricity, and contaminants, such as dirt, dust, iquids, and grease. Unfortunatey, many end users do not. They may eave their diskettes ying around out of their protective enveopes, expose them to direct sunight, store them next to an eectric penci sharpener, and so on. It wi be your job to expain and demonstrate to new users how to propery manage and maintain their diskettes as we as other types of magnetic media. Because diskette mistreatment is usuay fata to data, it is important to have procedures to hep the end user better understand how to care for, hande, and protect diskettes. They must be made aware that once a diskette is damaged, there s itte chance of retrieving the data. If you were to cacuate the vaue of a singe diskette in terms of the data stored on it and the hours it took to input the data, then a $2 diskette might we be worth severa thousands of doars. If you can make the end users understand this, then maybe they wi treat diskettes more carefuy. Go over the fundamentas on how to care for, hande, and protect diskettes. Expain how to propery oad a diskette into a drive. CARING AND HANDLING OF DISKETTES. We know how important it is to keep diskettes away from cigarette smoke, greasy foods, and beverages that might be spied on them, but what about the end users? Do they know the negative effects these substances can have on their computer, the media, or their work? Probaby not, and that s where you come in. Never bend or fod diskettes. The diskette drive ony accepts a diskette that is absoutey fat. If it is bent or crinked, it may cause severe damage to the read/write heads as we as make the data unretrievabe. When preparing an externa fie abe, never use a penci or ba-point pen if the abe is aready affixed to the diskette s jacket. Instead, use a fet tip marker and be sure to press ighty. Uness abes are scarce, you woud do we to inform the user it is far better to prepare a new abe before pacing it on the diskette. Then, using extreme care, remove any abe on the diskette and pace the new one on. Never stack abes one on top of the other on a diskette. It may cause probems when you insert the diskette into the drive. Show end users how to hande and propery use diskettes. To be used, a diskette must be inserted into a disk drive. Sounds simpe enough; however, if you were to measure a 5.25-inch diskette, you woud find that each side measures 5.25 inches it is perfecty square. To the end users, inserting a diskette into a drive coud become a bit of a probem with eight possibe ways to insert it. We know a diskette goes into a drive correcty in ony one way. If the disk drive is the horizonta type, insert the diskette with the abe facing up and the recording window toward the drive door, as shown in figure Normay, if the disk drive is the vertica type, hod the diskette with the abe facing eft whie inserting it with the recording window toward the drive door. Once the diskette is propery inserted, cose the drive door by owering the drive atch. This positions the read/write heads and ocks the diskette in pace. This ocking step is necessary; otherwise, the system wi not be abe to access the diskette in the drive. PROTECTION OF DISKETTES. How many times have you read or heard the foowing Whenever diskettes are not being used, they shoud be stored in a protective enveope ; or Whenever a diskette is removed from its protective enveope, never touch any of the diskette s exposed parts ; a thousand times maybe? The same may not be true of individuas who have just been introduced to the word of computers. It wi be your job to assist and educate these new users through OJT in their working environment. Temperature and humidity are aso important. Never eave diskettes in direct sunight or in areas where humidity is extremey high or ow. High humidity can cause moisture to form on the diskette s surface or possiby warp the diskette s protective jacket. Low humidity makes conditions idea for the buidup of static eectricity, which you can transfer or discharge to a diskette, thereby destroying the data. Diskettes are designed to withstand temperatures from 50 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 to 52 degrees Cesius, and a Figure Inserting a diskette propery. 2-29

72 reative humidity of 8 to 80 percent. However, we in the computer community try to keep a magnetic media within a temperature range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and a reative humidity of 30 to 60 percent. Generay speaking, a temperature and humidity in which you are comfortabe wi aso be comfortabe for diskettes. The users must aso be made aware that they are to keep a types of magnetic media, incuding diskettes, at east one foot away from anything that generates a magnetic fied. This incudes magnets of any kind, such as those found in teephones, stereo speakers, and paper cip dispensers, as we as magnets on copyhoders and inside of printers. It aso incudes motors, such as those found in portabe fans and foor buffers and poishers. System Care and Operator/User Maintenance The fact that microcomputer systems are sma and out in the workspaces doesn t mean they don t need operator maintenance. They do. Dirt accumuates on diskettes, disk drives, printers, dispay screens, and keyboards. Static eectricity can aso be a major probem, especiay in areas where humidity is ow. Keep your system as cean as possibe. One way to do this is by using dust covers. This, of course, ony protects the system when it is not in use. You wi sti need to cean the components on a reguar basis. Cean the foppy disk drive heads with a head ceaning diskette. It is easy to do. Read the directions that come with the head ceaning kit. They may have you put fuid on the ceaning diskette. Then you insert the ceaning diskette in the drive and activate (ower) the heads for a few seconds. This heps reduce service cas, and you are ess ikey to ose data. How often you wi need to do this wi depend on how much the system is used and whether the area is very dusty and smokey. Some foppy disk drive manufacturers recommend ceaning the heads no more than twice a year. As your subject matter experts (SMEs), we recommend ceaning the heads after 40 to 50 hours of actua use. To cean keyboards, you can use speciay anged swabs with ceaning soution, and/or a portabe vacuum that has specia attachments to reach between keys. Vacuums of this type usuay have dua-fiter systems to keep from bowing dust and dirt back into the room. Utra soft, thin briste brushes are aso avaiabe for ceaning keyboards. We do not recommend you use ow-pressure air or canned air (a harmess gas under pressure), as this ceaning method has a tendency to bow dust and dirt into cracks, crevices, and eectrica components that coud eventuay cause you probems. The dispay screen needs routine ceaning. A dirty screen can be hard to read and may contribute to headaches and fatigue. You wi be abe to see the dirt, dust, and smoke buidup on the screen. The dust can cause static eectricity that may resut in ost data. You may use a iquid video spray ceaner, but do NOT spray it on the screen. Spray it on a int-free nonabrasive coth. A word of caution. Many commercia ceaning sovents contain acoho and other fammabe agents. If your dispay screen is on (energized) when it is ceaned with one of these fammabe fuids, combustion can occur. An energized dispay screen can discharge quite a bit of static eectricity- a sufficient amount to ignite acoho. So, if you intend to cean your screen, turn the monitor OFF first. Aso avaiabe are wet/dry toweettes. These are convenient to use because the ceaning soution is normay premeasured and they come in individua packets. To reduce static eectricity, specia antistatic sprays are avaiabe, or you can use antistatic pads or mats. Some ceaning soutions incude antistatic chemicas. An antistatic fiter for the dispay screen is another way to reduce static buidup. Antistatic dust covers may aso hep when the system is not being used. Printers create their own bits of paper and dust. To cean the printer, use a vacuum designed to cean computer components. These vacuums are usuay portabe, have a dua fitering system, and can cean in sma, hard to get paces. Ceaning soutions and speciay shaped brushes are avaiabe for ceaning patens. For ceaning the print heads, you can feed a speciay designed print sheet ceaner through the printer just ike you feed continuous-form paper. Laser printers have specia ceaning requirements. You use dry int-free cothes to wipe any residue of surfaces and a ceaning brush to cean the antistatic teeth. Operator/user maintenance is important for effective operation of computer systems. It heps prevent data oss and wi increase the ife of the computer system and its components. Estabish a schedue for routine operator/user maintenance. 2-30

73 Loading and Unoading Tapes When you are oading or unoading (mounting or dismounting) a magnetic tape, ook for tapes with irreguar windings and ree warpage. You wi see that as tape is wound on a ree, it is norma for some of its edges to protrude sighty. These irreguarities usuay resut from high-speed rewinding. The terrific speed at which tape moves during a high-speed rewind produces the sighty irreguar winding caused by air being trapped between adjacent ayers of tape. This, in itsef, wi not cause improper operation of the tape, but it does require you to use good judgment and extreme care when handing tapes. MOUNTING A TAPE. When you mount a tape, make sure the tape unit is not being used for another job. Check to make sure you are mounting the correct ree of tape according to job requirements. Tapes have externa abes that identify the data or programs on them. Remember, if the ree of tape is an input, be sure the fie protection ring is removed. If the tape is an output, be sure a fie protection ring is inserted. Then proceed to mount the tape. Have one of the more senior operators on the system show you how to perform this operation because mounting a tape and depressing the proper keys/buttons differ from one system to another. Basicay, you wi pace the ree on a hub and ock the ree in pace. Then you thread the tape through the read/write head assemby onto the machine take-up ree (uness the tape unit is a sef-oading tape unit). Once the tape is propery oaded, the ready ight comes on. If the tape is not propery seated on the tape unit s hub during use, it wi wobbe or appear to be warped. If the fie protection ring is not competey inserted, this, too, can produce the same effect. In either case, the ree behaves ike it is warped, and upon rewinding, the edges of the tape can become bady damaged. Sef-Loading Tapes. The use of sef-oading tapes makes tape oading much easier. Sef-oading tape units eiminate the need for you to manuay thread a tape between the read/write head assemby onto the machine take-up ree. A you need to do is to mount (pace) the ree of input or output tape on the fie ree hub and aow a sma strip of tape to extend from the ree (anywhere from 2 to 6 inches, depending on the type of tape unit). Then, by depressing the proper contro pane keys/buttons in the appropriate sequence, the tape unit automaticay threads the tape by using a vacuum to pu the tape into the vacuum coumn past the read/write head assemby onto the machine take-up ree and advances to the oad-point (BOT) marker. Tape Cartridges. Tape cartridges are even easier to oad. Tape cartridges consist of a ree of tape and a take-up ree encosed in a protective case simiar to the cassette tapes you are famiiar with, ony arger. Here, you simpy mount the entire tape cartridge on the tape unit and depress the proper keys/buttons. The tape automaticay oads. Your hands never come in contact with the tape. The cartridge type of tape unit aso works under vacuum contro and threads the tape in the same manner as sef-oading tape units. DISMOUNTING A TAPE. When a job finishes using a tape, the tape is normay rewound and unoaded automaticay. At that time, the ready ight goes off. This is an indication to you that the tape can be dismounted and paced in its proper storage rack or returned to the media ibrary. LABELING A TAPE. In some instaations, you may be required to prepare the externa tape abe for an output tape fie. On it, you wi indicate such information as the foowing: e The tape unit number (or drive number) where the tape fie was initiay created The date of creation The job name or number The identification or voume number The tape usage data and other pertinent information STORING TAPES. When not being used, tape rees shoud be propery supported. The pastic canister or tape strap is designed to fuy support the ree. A tape ree that is supported in any other manner may become warped. 2-31

74 LOADING AND UNLOADING PAPER FORMS. Many printers have a soundproof cover that you must raise to gain access to the forms tractors and other manua contros. By moving the print-unit reease ever toward you (figure 2-20, frame A), you unock the print unit assemby. This aows you to swing the unit out to the side and gain access to the upper and ower forms tractors (figure 2-20, frame B). You then open a four tractors to unoad or oad paper forms. Unoading Forms. To remove forms aready in the printer, tear off the form at the end of the report and et the unused portion fa back into the box. The printed portion wi normay foow on down into the printer s stacker. Now, you are ready to insert (oad) a new form. Loading Forms. Quite often, you wi find yoursef having to oad a form of a different width. To do this you wi have to adjust the tractors. When adjusting the tractors, it is a good practice (and sometimes a command poicy) to keep the eft-hand tractors in one permanent ocation. In this way, both you and the programmer aways know where print position 1 wi print on any given form. To adjust the right-hand tractors, you must use the tension contro (figure 2-21). This aows you to move the tractors to the desired ocation. As you become more experienced, you wi know where to position the tractors for a standard form widths. You then pace the form over the sprockets and cose the tractors. Now that the forms are in pace, you appy the proper amount of tension to the paper. To do this, use the tension contro (figure 2-21). By depressing the eft button, you move the right-hand tractor coser to the eft-hand tractor, thereby decreasing the amount of tension to the paper. By depressing the right button, you move the right-hand tractor farther away from the efthand tractor, thereby increasing the amount of tension to the paper. If there is not enough tension, the forms tend to feed impropery, and they may tear. If too much tension is appied, the tractor atching pins tend to rip out the sprocket hoes in the form and may cause the forms' tractors to open. Once the proper tension is appied, you can proceed to aign the forms so that the information wi print in the correct ocation, both verticay and horizontay. Figure Open the print unit to access the print unit and forms tractors. Figure Tractor and tension contro adjustments. 2-32

75 Aigning Forms. Most high-speed impact printers are designed with a ribbon shied. This ribbon shied protects the form from coming into contact with the printer ribbon, thus eiminating ink smears. It aso serves as a print ine indicator, which we use to aign the form. The ribbon shied swings in front of the form (figure 2-22, frame A). Once the ribbon shied is in position, it can be used as iustrated in figure 2-22, frame B, to hep in the adjustment of the form. Use the horizonta adjustment contro shown in figure 2-23, to side the entire print mechanism to the eft or right. When the eft margin of the form is even with the first rued ine on the ribbon shied print ine indicator (figure 2-22, frame B), reease the horizonta adjustment button. At this point, the horizonta printing is accurate to within one print position. Use the horizonta adjustment button (figure 2-23) for any additiona fine horizonta adjustments that may be necessary. This contro is especiay usefu when working with preprinted forms, such as your LES statement. Now that the form is positioned horizontay, you can make the necessary vertica adjustments. Again, using the ribbon shied print ine indicator as a guide, you can move the form up or down one ine at a time unti the form is verticay aigned by pushing the ine feed button. Use the vertica print adjustment button (figure 2-23) for any additiona fine vertica adjustments to aign the print ine to its proper position. Now that the form is verticay adjusted, cose the print mechanism and ock it into pace with the print-unit reease ever. Print forms not ony vary in size but in thickness as we. For this reason, you wi have to adjust the printer to accommodate for thickness differences. To do this, you move the form thickness contro knob (figure 2-23) either eft or right. This wi move the print unit mechanism coser to or farther away from the print hammers, thereby giving the forms sufficient cearance to pass between these two components. The paper Figure Using the ribbon shied for aignment. Figure Vertica and horizonta aignment contros used to adjust printer paper. 2-33

76 thickness contro knob has a direct effect on the printer s phasing (which has to do with the quaity of the printed character). For this reason, it is important that this be set propery. Once you become famiiar with the various buttons, evers, and contros of anyone of the many printers you may be working on, you wi quicky find that most forms are reativey easy to aign. For those that are not, such as preprinted forms, often the programmer wi assist you by printing out form aignment characters to aow for proper aignment before the actua printing of the job. OPERATOR MAINTENANCE. Athough a maintenance contract is usuay carried on the printer, you are sti responsibe for part of the routine maintenance. Keep the exterior and interior of the machine cean using a vacuum ceaner wherever possibe. Check the print mechanism for carbon and ink buidup that accumuates and eventuay causes probems. And most importanty of a, change the printer ribbon as often as needed. When the print starts to fade and adjustments to the form s thickness and print density contros do not seem to hep, then it is time to change the printer ribbon. It is a good practice to get into the habit of performing a test print before starting a job, especiay if the job is a engthy one. A test print is a routine designed to show you whether the printer is functioning propery: that each and every character is cear and sharp (not chopped or haved), that a characters are uniform throughout the entire print ine (not wavy), and that a print hammers are firing propery. You shoud now have a basic understanding of, how to remove, oad, and aign forms in the printer; setup the required print contros; be abe to respond to the various machine indicators; and perform routine operator maintenance functions. Reduce Fie Fragmentation Fie fragmentation occurs when you deete a fie, eaving, basicay, a hoe in the information on the hard disk, or when you add information to an existing fie when there is no contiguous space eft next to the fie. To correct fragmentation, you can make a backup, reformat the hard disk, and restore your fies. You can aso run a software program referred to as a defragmenter to reorganize the fies so the data in each fie is contiguous. Troubeshooting and Isoating Probems Probems wi range from simpe to disastrous. The printer may not be printing because it is out of paper. The disk drive may not be reading because the drive atch is not cosed. The printer maybe printing garbage because the incorrect printer definition is used. The hard drive may be having excessive read errors. The probems may be operator/user errors, software probems, or hardware mafunctions. Knowing which is sometimes easy. Under other conditions, it may be difficut to determine the source of the probem. TROUBLESHOOTING. Learn about common probems. For exampe, what does it mean if the monitor screen goes bank? Is the probem a simpe one, such as the monitor has an automatic function that turns off the screen when it hasn t been used in a specified amount of time? Pressing any key wi reactivate the screen. Or, have the brightness or contrast thumbwhees been turned, causing the screen to ook bank? A turn of a thumbwhee may bring the monitor screen back to ight. Has a cabe become disconnected? Has the power been turned off? Is the monitor or power strip unpugged? Or, is the power suppy no onger working? Has the operator hit a combination of keys by mistake that has caused the screen to go bank except for the status ines? Look at the status ines to see if they provide information. Whatever the symptoms, ook first for simpe ogica answers. Check a cabe and outet connections. Check to see that each component of the system is pugged in propery. Check to see that the proper options are seected. For exampe, on the printer, is it in a ready status? Are the proper dip switches set? Is the printer out of paper? Is the correct mode of operation seected, either through the buttons on the printer or through software? If the software and hardware aow using severa printers, is the correct one seected, and are any manua seections made when a switch box is used? We coud go on and on with exampes. The point is, earn from experience. Keep a ist of symptoms, probabe causes, and ways you can use to trace a probem to its cause. This wi hep you to diagnose and troubeshoot probems. You wi find users tend to make the same mistakes over and over, especiay whie earning. Hep them by teing them about common probems, the reasons for the probems, and ways to avoid having them happen to them. You wi soon earn the common errors, keep a menta ist of the sequence you use to start isoating a probem. You may want to deveop a checkist. For 2-34

77 exampe, ook at the ist in tabe 2-1. These area few exampes to get you thinking about probems. Look at the condition and try to determine possibe causes. Look in the documentation; it usuay has a section that ists conditions and possibe causes. Ask the users what program they are using. Ask the users what keys they depressed and in what sequence. Ask what they were trying to do. Aways check for error messages. Check any status information on the screen. You might want to deveop a separate ist for each component or for each software package. You might add to the ists in the documentation. Diagnostic routines can aso hep you find probems. DIAGNOSTIC ROUTINES. Most microcomputer systems come with onine diagnostic routines. These are tests you run from the keyboard. They are in addition to the diagnostic tests the system automaticay runs when you turn it on. Your system wi probaby provide a disk read test, a keyboard test, memory tests, and a power-up test. The diagnostic program wi te you what commands to use to perform each test, what to ook for, and how to stop each test. A major hardware faiure coud prevent the system from being abe to dispay error messages on the dispay screen. Shoud this happen, your microcomputer system unit may have diagnostic ight-emitting diodes (indicator ights) to hep isoate the probem. Foow the instructions in the owner/user manuas. Tabe 2-1. Checkist for Identifying Probems SUMMARY In this chapter on computer center operations, we covered troube reports, computer system output, environmenta conditions, consoe operations, virus protection software, AIS requests, and the media ibrary. This is but a samping of what wi be expected of you as you enter the computer center. You wi buid on this foundation with the skis you have and those you wi earn. 2-35

78

79 CHAPTER 3 DATA MANAGEMENT Upon competing this chapter, you shoud be abe to do the foowing: Expain how to convert, process, transfer, and verify data fies. Describe how to input and manipuate data on a computer system. Cacuate storage and memory requirements for computer systems and data. Expain how to perform software configurations and how to insta and upgrade software. Review I/O fie specifications and determine system I/O requirements. Expain how to anayze the requirements, review the structure, identify the probems and change the structures of databases. Data management incorporates many aspects of data manipuation and inputting, cacuating storage and memory requirements, and computer software. You wi need to know how to insta appications software so it works and be famiiar with a types of productivity software. Database management techniques wi aid you in understanding how databases are anayzed, how to review and change structures, and how to identify probems. DATA ADMINISTRATION Data administration is an ongoing concern of management. Data administration encompasses a the technica and management duties required for converting, processing, transferring, verifying, and inputting data. Over the years, data resources in the Navy have grown in size and compexity. It is apparent that not a of the data probems within the Navy are resoved with the use of software. Some are taken care of with hard work. DATA MANAGEMENT Data management programs or routines are concerned with reading and writing data, ocating data fies, controing I/O devices, handing I/O errors and requests, and providing space on output media for new fies. In short, data management routines oversee the ocating, accessing, outputting, and maintenance of data fies. Can you imagine yoursef trying to keep track of the ocation of a data fies, which disk pack each is on, and which disk pack is mounted on which onine disk drive. To try to do this woud be overwheming. Thanks to data management routines, you are reieved of this responsibiity. The converting, transferring, and verifying of data fies is eft up to the operator to perform. A of these processes are competed by the use of appication utiity programs. The transferring and verifying of data fies is accompished by using a copy utiity. Data fie conversion is accompished by a utiity of the software program being used, such as converting a WordPerfect fie into a Microsoft Word fie. There are severa different ways to accompish the inputting of data into the system. The odest technique is data entry, keying the data off of source documents straight into the system. The most common ways are inputting the data from a tape or disk fie. These fies are produced from another job or from another instaation, such as status of suppy parts. Once the data is inputted into the computer system, we have the capabiity of manipuating the data by copying, appending, deeting, and editing it. Copying and appending are used primariy for manipuating 3-1

80 entire data fies, whie deeting and editing are used for individua records in a data fie. COMPUTER SYSTEM SOFTWARE Up to now, we have been discussing computer hardware (the computer and its periphera devices) and the manner in which these devices work and are abe to tak (communicate) with each other. But what about this thing caed software? Do we reay need it? We most certainy do! Software pays a major roe in data processing; for without software, we coud not direct the computer to perform simpe addition. It s the software that makes everything happen. Or, putting it another way, it brings the computer to ife. At this point, we briefy describe the genera types of software used in computers. Software can be defined as a set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system. Basicay, there are two types of software: systems software and appications software. SYSTEMS SOFTWARE Systems software, often referred to as systems programs, consists of supervisory and support modues (programs) designed to coordinate the capabiities of the computer itsef. These incude programs such as operating systems, assembers, debug routines, text editors, compiers, ibrary maintenance routines, utiities, inkage editors, and I/O drivers. Operating Systems An operating system is a coection of many programs used by the computer to manage and contro its own resources and operations. These programs contro the execution of other programs. They schedue, assign resources, monitor, and contro the work of the computer, aowing it to carry out tasks independenty of most human intervention. Assembers and Compiers Both assembers and compiers are anguage transators. They are usuay designed for specific machines and specific anguages. They transate computer programs written in assemby anguage into machine anguage. A anguage transator for an assemby anguage is caed an assember program. Most high-eve anguage transators are caed compier programs. These transators are designed to convert the artificia anguages used by programmers, such as COBOL or FORTRAN, into a machine-usabe code after it is entered into the computer. Utiities Utiities are programs or routines that have genera appication. They may be separate programs or they may be routines or programs incuded with the operating system to further aid the user by performing standard functions. Sort, merge, and copy programs are typica exampes. Other exampes are text editors to aow programmers to enter, add, deete, or change program statements; inkage editors to put together compied programs and routines; and debug routines to hep programmers find errors. APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE Appications software consists of programs designed to sove specific casses or types of probems. For exampe, word processing programs hep us prepare correspondence, instructions, messages, and so on. Spreadsheet programs enabe us to store and manipuate numbers in numerica tabes. Database programs enabe us to store and retrieve arge amounts of data in various report formats. Some software is ready to use and may be purchased from retai stores and government contracts. This software is caed off-theshef software (COTS). If COTS is not avaiabe to sove Navywide or individua user probems, the Navy may write its own programs. Some programs are designed and written by one of the Navy s centra design agencies and distributed to AIS instaations for use. If no Navy-deveoped software wi sove an individua probem, you or your automated information system (AIS) instaation may write a program in one of the many programming anguages. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES Amost any type of appication you can think of can be programmed in one or more of the many programming anguages. Just as we humans speak in many different anguages, computers aso speak (use) many different anguages. We can divide programming anguages into three categories: machine anguages, assemby anguages, and high-eve anguages. Machine Languages A machine anguage consists of a combination of 0s and 1s that is used to indicate OFF and ON states of 3-2

81 eectricity. A data and instructions are represented (written) in a binary form. This is the ONLY form the computer is abe to understand. Each computer has its own machine anguage; therefore, a program written for one computer type cannot be transferred to another type of computer system. Writing programs in machine anguage code is time-consuming and requires the programmer to specify each operation code and the specific ocation for each piece of data and each instruction. Assemby Languages We use assemby anguages to avoid having to code directy into machine code (0s and 1s). Assemby anguages use symboic codes caed mnemonics to represent operations. For exampe, the etter A coud be used for add, and the etters ST coud be used for store. Athough assemby anguages are more user-oriented than machine anguages, they are sti quite compex to work with as a programmer. Assemby anguages are generay used by systems programmers to design and maintain operating systems and other systems software where speed of operation and conserving storage are more important than programmer time. High-Leve Languages A whoe host of high-eve programming anguages have been deveoped to sove one particuar cass of probems or another. High-eve anguages were deveoped to aow you, as a programmer, to work in a anguage that is cose to Engish or mathematica notation, thus improving overa efficiency and simpifying the communications process between you and the computer. These high-eve anguages aow us to be more concerned with the probems to be soved rather than with the detais of computer operation. Exampes of high-eve anguages incude COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC, Pasca, Ada, and C++. COBOL. COBOL was deveoped for business appications. It uses everyday Engish-ike statements and is good for handing arge data fies. COBOL is the acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language. FORTRAN. FORTRAN was deveoped for mathematica and scientific work. It is used by engineers, scientists, statisticians, and others in areas where mathematica operations are most important. FORTRAN is the acronym for FORmua TRANsator. BASIC. BASIC was designed as a teaching anguage to hep beginning programmers write programs. Therefore, it is a genera-purpose, introductory anguage that is fairy easy to earn and to use. With the increase in the use of microcomputers, BASIC has regained popuarity and is avaiabe on most microcomputer systems. BASIC is the acronym for Beginner s A-Purpose Symboic Instruction Code. PASCAL. Pasca is a anguage designed to teach programming. It is fairy easy to earn; yet it is a more powerfu anguage than BASIC. Athough Pasca is not yet a standardized anguage, it is sti used rather extensivey on microcomputers. It has greater programming capabiities on sma computers than are possibe with BASIC. It is used by many coeges and universities. It is named after Baise Pasca, a mathematician and the inventor of the first mechanica adding machine. ADA. Ada is a modern, genera-purpose anguage designed with the professiona programmer in mind. It has many unique features to aid in the impementation of arge-scae appications and reatime systems. Its deveopment was initiated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). It is named to honor the achievements of Ada Augusta Byron, Countess of Loveace, who was a supporter of and coaborator with Chares Babbage, the first person to propose the concept of the modern computer. She suggested using the binary system of storage instead of the decima system and deveoped the concept of a oop to execute repetitive instructions. Babbage is known as the father of the computer, and Ada Loveace is considered the first programmer. C++. C++ is a genera-purpose anguage that works we with microcomputers. It is usefu for writing both operating systems and database programs. The programs are portabe, which aows them to be run without change on a variety of computers. INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE Depending on the needs of the users, the software wi vary from command to command. But one thing is for sure, your system wi have a disk operating system to make the whoe thing work. Beyond that, you may have users who run ony wordprocessing, or ony database management appications. Maybe they use graphics and do desktop pubishing. Maybe a their appications are accounting, and they rey primariy on spreadsheet programs and speciaized accounting type programs. Some may even be writing their own programs in anguages such as PASCAL, BASIC, or COBOL. It may be your job to hep users insta, earn, 3-3

82 and effectivey use one or more software packages or programs. It may be your job to deveop speciaized programs or routines for your instaation or for users in their own work spaces. In the foowing sections, we wi discuss instaation and use of a few of the genera types of software we commony associate with microcomputers. sure you use a fet tip pen if you are writing on a abe aready attached to the diskette. Once you have the operating system copied and instaed, put the origina distribution disks in a safe pace. Now, you are ready to use the computer; or are you? Chances are you wi need more than the operating system. The operating system is great. It has many usefu commands ike COPY, DELETE, FORMAT, BACKUP, and soon. It wi even have an editor, usuay a ine editor, that aows you to create fies and edit them ine byine. However, its primary jobs are to manage the system and its resources (disks, printers, and soon), and to hep you communicate with the computer to use other programs (appications software). Operating System The operating system wi be the first program you wi need to know about because you must insta it before other programs. It manages the operation of the system. If the system has a hard (fixed) disk, you wi insta the operating system onto it. The first step wi be to partition the hard disk; that is, identify the hard disk to the operating system and create a partition for the operating system. Partitioning is the process of dividing the hard disk into smaer drives, which wi aow you to use different operating systems, such as DOS or UNIX. Next, you wi format the hard disk, prepare it so it can be used. The operating system wi ask a question simiar to, Are you sure you want to format the hard drive? before it proceeds with the format. Then, copy the operating system fies from the distribution disks onto the disk. You must foow the steps in the owner/user manua. It may te you to use a setup command that wi ead you through the process from the dispay screen. Once it is instaed, everytime you turn on the system, the operating system wi oad from this partition. If the system has ony foppy disk drives, you wi make copies of the distribution disks onto new diskettes. If the new diskettes are not formatted, you can use a command (such as DISKCOPY) that wi format and copy. Again, foow the instructions from the startup or getting started section of the owner/user manua. If there is a setup command, use it to ead you through the process. Be sure to prepare externa abes with the name of the operating system. Write the seria number if there is one, and write WORKING COPY. Be User/Appications Software When you insta a user/appication software package on a system, you need to provide the software with information about your microcomputer configuration. Because there are so many different software packages and programs avaiabe and each one has different requirements, we wi not go into a ot of detai. Remember, refer to the documentation, it shoud provide what you need to know. Many of the manuas ead you through step-by-step. The foowing exampe shoud give you a good idea of what is invoved. We have seected a wordprocessing program for our exampe because most instaations wi have a wordprocessing package. BACK UP DISTRIBUTION (ORIGINAL/ MASTER) DISKETTES. The first thing you shoud do is copy the fies from the distribution diskettes. Each software package may have severa diskettes. If you have a hard drive system, you may copy the fies from the distribution diskettes to the hard drive using the copy command in the operating system. First, setup the name of the directory in which you want to store the fies. Then, copy them to the hard disk. If your system has no hard drive, copy the fies to other diskettes. Most operating systems have a copy command that aows you to copy a fies on a diskette with a singe command. This is caed a wid card copy. The copies wi become your working copies. Prepare externa abes for the working copies. Store the distribution diskettes in a safe pace away from the microcomputer in case you need them in the future. SET UP/INSTALL THE SOFTWARE. Pace the user manua with instaation instructions next to the microcomputer and foow the step-by-step procedures. 3-4

83 Make sure you compete each task successfuy before going onto the next. The first step wi probaby be to execute the program from a setup disk or in a setup mode. You wi probaby execute a command that wi ead you through a series of prompts and menus on the dispay screen. This wi aow you to te the program about your system and make initia settings. These settings wi define your system and set the defauts. This means that everytime you execute the program, the settings wi be what you specified. You wi not have to reset them each time. For exampe, you might be asked whether you want the software to automaticay backup your data. If you enter yes(y), it wi ask you how often, every so many minutes. You enter the number. It may give you a choice of whether you want a beeper set to aert you to a given condition. For exampe, the system can be tod to beep when certain error conditions occur. If the software is a wordprocessing program, you wi want to specify the margin settings you normay want; for exampe, eft margin at position 10 and right margin at position 75. You might want to te it to automaticay right justify print and to format date as mm/dd/yy. You can te it whether the defaut setting for paper type shoud be continuous-form or singe sheet; and so on. Once you have estabished the defauts, you wi not have to change them uness you want something different. You may aso need to te the software what type of printer you wi be using. This wi enabe the program to send the proper signas to your particuar printer. You may be abe to define severa printers and seect the appropriate one when you use the software. Some software packages come with definitions for many printers, and it is a simpe matter to te it which you have by seecting the make and mode number from a menu. Occasionay, you wi need to upgrade the software that you have oaded onto the computer. To do this, you wi foow the same procedures that you did when the software was originay oaded. That is, read and foow the instructions incuded with the upgrade. Virus software is upgraded most frequenty, with the discovery of new viruses that are out there. WORKING WITH USERS End users, especiay first time users and noncomputer users, wi need your hep to operate their systems and their programs. They aso need to know how to care for and hande diskettes, manage disks and fies, take care of the system, and perform user/operator maintenance. Don t be surprised when you get your first ca for hep. As you have earned, computers seem to have minds of their own and can do strange things. Hep users by troubeshooting and identifying probems. Teach them what you know. Using Software Once you have the software instaed and set up so it works on your system, the system is ready for use. Simpe enough, you say so what shoud I do first? You shoud boot either from the hard drive or by inserting the diskette that contains the operating system. You can set up the system so it wi automaticay boot when power is turned onto the system. Next, te the operating system which program to use. Do this by entering the fie name of the program foowing a prompt given by the operating system. For exampe, if the program is named WPP (for wordprocessing program), enter WPP and press the ENTER (RETURN) key. If you are using a hard disk, be sure to specify the directory used when you instaed and set up the program. The operating system wi then oad the program into memory and the system is ready to do the work. From this point on, foow the instructions of the software package; in this exampe, a wordprocessing program. Refer to the user manua and any in-house user manuas that appy. When you have finished your processing, return to the operating system before turning off the power. Do this by saving your work and exiting the program propery. Each program wi have a procedure or command to end execution of the program and return to the operating system. If using diskettes, remove them from the drives, put them in protective jackets, and fie them in an appropriate pace. If using a hard disk drive, it is considered good practice to enter the operating system command to park the read/write heads. This wi move the heads away from data storage areas so data wi not be destroyed if the system is moved or accidentay bumped. Then turn the power OFF. WORKING WITH SOFTWARE PACKAGES When you work with packaged software, you wi be concerned with what it does, how it does it, and how you are to interact with it. For each different type of appication package, you wi be confronted with anew vocabuary. For exampe, the terms used with word processing come primariy from the office/cerica 3-5

84 environment (margins, tab sets, indenting, paragraphs, and so on). The terms used with desktop pubishing come from the printing industry (fonts, type styes, points, and soon). Spreadsheets bring us the vocabuary of an accountant or bookkeeper (worksheets, rows, coumns, data ces). Database terminoogy may ook the most famiiar to you, because many of the terms come from data processing (fies, records, fieds, keys, and indexes). First, we wi ook at the commonaities, then at the specifics of severa different types of software packages word processing, spreadsheet, database, desktop pubishing, and utiities. USING SOFTWARE PACKAGES Regardess of the type of software package you are using on your computer, at a minimum, you wi need to know how to conduct the foowing seven genera operations: Access and execute the packaged software from the operating system. Create a new fie or retrieve a previousy created fie on disk/diskette or tape. Save a fie onto disk/diskette or tape. Deete a fie stored on disk/diskette or tape. Print a fie. Indicate to the packaged software that you want to stop working on what you are currenty doing to do something on another fie. Terminate your work via the packaged software and return to the operating system. NOTE: Each software package wi have specific ways you are to perform these functions. A major consideration for a person working with packaged software is fie management. You wi need to know how fies are setup, coded, named, backed up, and accessed. You wi need to know who can access the fies, whether you can contro access by others, whether you can protect the data, and whether the data is encrypted. Learning About Software The first thing you wi earn is there is a ot to earn. You wi need to know what functions you can perform, what keys activate what functions, and how to save the work/fies you create. If a tutoria or earning section comes with the software, start with it. It wi give you an overview. Then begin by experimenting and practicing on something you cannot hurt or destroy. Don t start with the master copy of a arge database fie. Instead, create a few records in a test fie and practice on it. Try out each function, then try the functions in combination with other functions. Even make mistakes on purpose to see what happens. Did the software give you an error message? Can you recover? Does the software provide an undeete feature that ets you cance what you just did? How much protection from error is buit into the software? Does it give you a message such as: Do you reay want to deete this fie? Or, does it just assume when you hit the deete key you mean to? Most of the better software packages have buit-in safeguards to protect us from ourseves. Recovery from operator/user error is a very important feature of many software packages. Interacting with Software Packages Basicay there are ony a few ways to te software what to do. They are as foows: Direct commands You enter words/ characters via the keyboard to te the software what to do. These words and/or characters are predefined by the software to perform specific tasks. Menus You seect the function or command you want performed from a ist presented on the dispay screen by the software. Function keys You seect the function key (F1, F2, and so on) that is predefine to te the software what you want it to do. This enabes you to perform some of the more common commands without going through menus and with fewer keystrokes than required for direct commands. 3-6

85 Programs/macros You execute routines (a series of instructions/keystrokes) that have been deveoped and stored previousy. Which of these methods you wi use depends on the design of the software; not a software incudes a methods. Some software gives you a choice, and you can seect the method you prefer. When earning, it is usuay easier to use a menu because a the choices are presented. Once you have earned the software, you may prefer direct commands because you do not have to work your way through a series of menus to find the function or command you want. Programs/macros are most usefu for repetitive tasks. They enabe you to enter the sequence of keystrokes (steps) or characters you want to repeat. Once entered and stored, you can execute the entire sequence with one or two keystrokes a rea time saver. Becoming a Proficient User You wi aso earn that software does not do everything you want in the way you woud ike. The more you work with a package, the more you wi be abe to find ways around what you consider deficiencies. You wi aso earn you can compensate for these probems by writing and saving your own routines, programs, or macros to perform some of the more compex or awkward functions. Some packages enabe you to define your own function keys, change the function of a key, or store routines as macro instructions. These are a desirabe features for the more sophisticated users. This aso means routines can be deveoped by experienced, proficient users for use by other users. Do not hesitate to earn from others and do not imit your study. Ask others how they are using a package. What tricks have they earned and found usefu? What routines/macros have they designed to perform recurring functions? Buid on their knowedge and share yours. You might even institute a users group. It need not be formay organized-maybe during the noon time mea once a month. Let s take a more in-depth ook at some of the more commony used software packages word processing, spreadsheet, database management, and desktop pubishing software. enabe you to create, modify (insert, deete, rearrnge), save, copy, and print documents (see figure 3-1). The usua method of entering a document is to type it on a keyboard. Another method is to use a scanner to read a printed document and encode it into a digita fie for computer processing. You might aso receive a document that has been transmitted over a network or phone system. Creating and Modifying Documents To create a new document, you wi start by teing the system you want to create a document. In some packages this is the defaut option the option you get if you do not specify something ese. When you oad and execute the program, you are in the create mode and simpy start typing. The software wi probaby have a number of defauts that can be set up for your instaation. For exampe, you can probaby have defauts set to 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch paper, with a 1 1/2- inch margin at the top, a 1-inch margin at the bottom, and 1/2-inch margins eft and right. You may be abe to have tabs set as a defaut option for indenting paragraphs. Regardess of how the origina document is entered, eventuay, it ends up as a data fie on some type of secondary storage media that you can ater access and modify (add, change, or deete). To make changes, you WORD PROCESSING PACKAGES Word processing packages are readiy avaiabe for use in office environments on microcomputers. They Figure 3-1. Exampes of word processing program features. 3-7

86 must retrieve the fie into the computer s memory. The software dispays the document on the screen. You then make entries by moving the cursor to the paces in the document where you want to make changes. Two modes of operation are used typeover and insert. As the words impy, if you are in typeover mode, you wi repace what is presenty there. If you are in insert mode, the materia to the right of the cursor wi move to the right as you enter new materia. These, aong with other features, are shown in figure 3-2. Take a few minutes to study the figure. The basic features you wi use are as foows: Cursor movement keys Move the cursor up, down, right, eft, to top/bottom of document, to next/previous page/screen; search to find a character string or function code in the document. Insert mode To add etters/characters, words, sentences, and so on. Deete key To take out unwanted characters, words, sentences, and so on. Backspace key To erase words to the eft of the cursor one character at a time. (NOTE: In some packages this key may be defined differenty. For exampe, it may backspace without deeting.) Typeover mode To repace text by typing over it. Wordwrap As you enter text, words automaticay move to the next ine when the right margin is reached. You do not have to press the return key at the end of each ine as you do on a typewriter. Cut and paste function Aows you to move materia from one pace in a document to another. Function keys To underine, center, tab, indent; put text in bod; use subscripts/ superscripts. You can put text in coumns; add headers, footers, footnotes, page numbers, date, and so on. Specia Features Figure 3-2. Exampes of basic features found in word processing packages. Many word processing programs incude dictionaries and a thesaurus. These enabe you to check for correct speing and to ook for synonyms. Some of the dictionary routines even provide a ist of correcty speed words you might have meant. In this case, you can correct a mispeed (or is it misspeed) word by seecting the correcty speed word from the ist on the dispay screen. The same is true of the thesaurus, the software ists synonyms on the screen. You seect the one you want, and it repaces the origina word with the seected synonym. Some word processing programs have automatic paragraph numbering and outining features. Once you have created the outine or document, you can deete or add entries, and the software wi automaticay renumber/reetter the outine or paragraphs in the document. Some word processing programs have indexing capabiities. You can te the software which words/terms are to be incuded in an index. The software wi then automaticay create the index in aphabetica order, with the appropriate page numbers. 3-8

87 Some enabe you to create a tabe of contents or other types of ists. Some word processing programs even incude some of the features of a spreadsheet package. Whie they may not be as easy to use or as sophisticated, you can define coumns and rows and perform some arithmetic functions. For exampe, you coud tota a coumn or cacuate tota cost of an order by having the software mutipy the number of items by unit cost, and put the resut in another coumn. Some word processing programs enabe you to set up records with defined fieds. For exampe, you coud set up a fie of records with names and addresses. Let s say your organization sends a memo each month to the same ist of organizations. Using a feature of the word processing program, you coud create one etter and have the names and addresses inserted in (merged with) the etter automaticay in the proper paces. This is the same feature the sweepstakes companies use to insert your name throughout their etters to you to personaize them. This is sometimes caed the mai merge function. It is unike the merge function we think of in data processing in which the records in two or more ike fies are sorted in the same sequence by keys and then merged together into a singe fie. In mai merge, the variabe information (name, address, and so on) is inserted in predefined paces in a document and the document is printed. Some word processing programs incude many of the features of desktop pubishing. You can view a finished document on the screen as it wi appear on paper WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). You can scan art and insert it in the document. You can use a variety of type styes and sizes (fonts) if your printer can hande them. Capabiities are continuay being added and combined. You might have severa eectronic office toos a roed up into one package word processing with mai merge, database with report capabiity, spreadsheet with charting capabiity, and a communications package. How is that for an integrated software package! You wi be abe to use each too as a separate entity, or you can integrate them together to produce sophisticated reports by combining text, graphics, and images in reativey compex muticoumn ayouts. These packages wi aso incude a graphica user interface (GUI) or ists of options (menus) presented on the screen, rather than having you memorize numerous computer commands to get the persona computer (PC) to do what you want. SPREADSHEET PACKAGES Simpy defined, a spreadsheet eectronicay dupicates an accountant s or bookkeeper s toos, which normay consist of a edger pad, a penci (with an eraser), and a cacuator. When using spreadsheet software, you enter and change data (figures of various types) by typing on a keyboard rather than writing with a penci. You are abe to view your figures on the computer s monitor rather than having to read a edger pad. The data is presented as it woud appear on paper, in rows and coumns. Figure 3-3 is an exampe. Many everyday tasks can be managed with spreadsheet software. The computer can perform a variety of mathematica cacuations from simpe addition, subtraction, mutipication, and division to trigonometry, and statistica and business cacuations. Understanding Spreadsheets Before you can understand how a spreadsheet program works, you must first have an understanding of what the terms record, coumn, and data ce mean.. Record A record is represented by a ine (row) of data items of information on a spreadsheet. This is the horizonta component of a spreadsheet. Normay, a record contains information about one particuar item or topic, for exampe, a person or a piece of equipment. Spreadsheet rows are usuay identified by numbers (1, 2, 3, and so on). Figure 3-3. Exampe of a spreadsheet/worksheet. 3-9

88 Coumn A coumn is the vertica component of a spreadsheet. A record (or row) can have many associated coumns, such as base pay, FICA, state tax, federa tax, and so on. Each coumn contains one type of information and is normay abeed to identify the type it contains, such as base pay. The coumns are usuay identified by etters (A, B, C, D, and so on). Data ce A data ce contains one piece of information associated with a particuar record. Thus, a record/row that contains seven pieces of information wi have you guessed it seven data ces. A data ce is symboicay identified by using some type of common notation-usuay coumn, row. Therefore, if you have a spreadsheet with 20 records, each with 7 coumns of information, the rows wi be numbered from 1 through 20, and the 7 coumns wi be identified by the etters A through G. In this way, the fourth coumn, sixth row of the spreadsheet wi be data ce D6, which, in figure 3-3, contains the vaue The entire coection of data ces is often referred to as a matrix or an array. When entering data, it is not necessary to enter it in aphabetica or numerica order; the software package wi normay arrange the data in whatever sequence you desire. In ooking at figure 3-3, you wi notice each individua has ony one record, and each record/row contains seven coumns (or data ces) of information. There coud have just as easiy been 20, 50, or 75 coumns of information per record. The number of data ces is imited ony by the parameters of the spreadsheet software and by the amount of avaiabe RAM. To give you some idea of a spreadsheet s size, the worksheet you see in figure 3-3 might be ony a sma portion of the entire worksheet the amount that can be dispayed at one time. Athough there appear to be ony 20 rows and 7 coumns of information, depending upon the software package you are using, it coud conceivaby contain up to as many as 8,192 rows and 256 coumns of information totaing more than 2 miion data ces. A spreadsheet of this size woud be equivaent to a piece of paper approximatey 21 feet wide by 130 feet ong. Try spreading that out on a tabe! Interacting with Spreadsheet Software Like other software packages, you have cursor movement keys, function keys, and commands to te the software what to do. The foowing ist contains some of the more common ways you can expect to interact with a spreadsheet software package: Cursor movement (or arrow) keys You can move the cursor one ce at a time in one of four directions up, down, eft, or right. Other keys such as PgUp and PgDn move the cursor up or down one fu page; sti others, when used in conjunction with other keys, move the entire worksheet in a specific direction. Function keys You can use F1, F2, F3, and so on, to dispay HELP screens, edit entries, dispay range names, enter absoute formuas, move back and forth between screens or windows, perform range and goba recacuations, and so on. Spreadsheet commands You can use commands to te the software what to do. Features of Spreadsheet Software Spreadsheet software packages normay incude ways to do the foowing things: Enter abes (non-numeric data). Enter vaues (numeric data). Enter formuas (to perform cacuations, anayses, comparisons, and projections). Insert and deete coumns and rows. Copy and move ranges of data ces/records from one area of a worksheet to another. Erase part or a of a worksheet. Change the way vaues are represented on part or a of a worksheet. Spit the viewing screen to aow you to view two parts of a worksheet simutaneousy. Save, retrieve, rename, erase, and copy fies. Print a worksheet. Figure 3-4 is an exampe of a printed spreadsheet showing the abes and tites, aong with the vaues you entered (shown in itaics), and the vaues cacuated by the computer (shown in bod). Notice a the totas and subtotas were cacuated by the computer. By using spreadsheet software, you need ony enter a new price 3-10

89 Figure 3-4. Examp1e of a printed spreadsheet. when the price changes and direct the computer to recacuate the totas/subtotas. Many of the avaiabe spreadsheet software packages wi interact directy with other programs such as database and word processing appications. Some spreadsheet packages integrate (or combine) severa programs into one, such as a spreadsheet program, a graphics program, and a database management program. DATABASE PACKAGES Before we get too invoved in database packages, et us first define what a database is. The term database conjures up different images for different peope. However, the concept is about as nontechnica and easy to envision as a fiing cabinet fu of fie foders. The fiing cabinet and its contents are the database. The abiity to retrieve the data and cacuate statistics quicky and easiy without regard to which foder or drawer contains the information makes the database system much more powerfu than a comparabe fiing cabinet system. Let s consider a simpe database, one which contains information about a enisted personne at your command in paygrades E through E6, incuding their NECs. First, you must estabish a record in the database for each individua. Conceptuay, you can think of it as a fie foder containing information on one particuar individua. You have one fie foder, or record, for each individua in your database. In this case, we want to know the individua s name, rate, socia security number (SSN), division, and any NECs the individua currenty hods. Once you have defined the record, you then proceed to estabish fieds for each of the data eements. In this exampe the fieds are name, rate, SSN, division, and NECs. If you assume each individua can have a maximum of four NECs, you woud have a database containing eight fieds, as shown in figure 3-5. You now proceed to create the database by estabishing the fieds, specifying their size and the type of information (numeric, aphanumeric, or ogica) they can contain. Then, you enter the information for each individua into the appropriate fieds. Once it is created, you can arrange the database in some ogica order (by NAME, SSN, and so on). The database is normay stored on some type of secondary storage medium (usuay disk), where the information is simpy hed unti you need it. Now, suppose you wanted a ist of the E-5 and E-6 Storekeepers in the suppy department with an NEC of Under a manua system, you woud have to open and search through each individua s fie foder-there coud be hundreds! You woud ook at various entries; first, for rate (or the rate fied in your database fie); then, in order to see if this person is assigned to the suppy department (the division fied). You woud then check to see if this person has an NEC of 1234 (the four NEC fieds). Finay, you woud have a stack of foders for a E-5 and E-6 Storekeepers who are assigned to the suppy department and who have an NEC of You coud then ist the names from the fie foders (the records) seected. Depending upon the number of foders you have to ook through, the entire evoution coud take hours to compete. On the other hand, you coud use one of the many database packages avaiabe to obtain the same answer. The database appication program, by knowing the fieds in each record and the content of each fied, can easiy search for this information in a matter of seconds. You simpy specify the seection criteria and the report format; the software does the rest searches Figure 3-5. Exampe of a database record. 3-11

90 the database for the records that meet the criteria (SKI or SK2, Suppy Department, and NEC 1234). The computer then dispays or prints the requested information in the format specified. See figure 3-6. You do this through the query and report features of the database package. Doesn t that beat manuay searching through a drawer fu of foders, which coud take hours? A database is nothing more than a coection of data many fie foders or individua records containing severa fieds or data eements. The database is organized to aow you to retrieve, update, and have ready access to various information that can be formatted and printed as you desire. The database itsef doesn t do anything; it just hods information. Understanding Database Software To understand how a database program works, you first need to have an understanding of certain terms. Some of the terms you are aready famiiar with, whereas others you may not be. These incude database, record, fied, pointer, index, primary key, and secondary key. They are defined as foows:. Database A database hods information that is reated to a specific type of appication-payro, personne, suppy inventory, and so on. In this context, the term database is often considered synonymous with fie. This is especiay true when deaing with database fies. Record A record consists of a group of reated fieds, a pertaining to the same subject: a person, a thing, or an event. Fied A fied consists of one unit of information. A fied is aso referred to as a data item or a data eement. It maybe aphabetic, ike your name (John or Jane Doe); numeric, ike your ZIP Code (01234); aphanumeric, ike your post office box or street address (P. O. Box 669 or 1234 Main St.); or ogica (true/fase), ike on eave (true-on eave, fase-not on eave). Pointer A pointer is a data item in one record that identifies the storage ocation of another ogicay reated record. Index An index enabes you to access records in a database (aso referred to as database fie or fie) in the order of the index regardess of the physica sequence of the records in the database. You can think of indexing as sorting without having to sort. The index itsef is a fie. It contains a dupicate of the key fied (or fieds) such as account number, or name and security number, and a pointer to the actua disk record identified with this key in another permanent disk fie. For exampe, if there are 5,000 records in your database, and the key fied happens to be SSN, then the index woud aso contain 5,000 entries with each entry having an SSN. It is aso possibe for you to have one or more secondary indexes that contain other various secondary key fieds. Primary key The primary key in a database consists of a unique identifier for a particuar record and shoud ony point to a singe record in the database being indexed. Secondary key Data are normay arranged within a database in some type - of order, depending upon the contents of one or more fieds. Secondary keys aow you to access the database in different ways. For exampe, your database might be arranged in the order the records were entered. You can then set up a secondary index (or key) by the name fied, or by the socia security number fied. You may specify any number of secondary keys. You might index by more than one fied. For exampe, you coud index by ast name within rate, as shown in figure 3-6. Database Organization Methods/Structures Figure 3-6. Exampe of a database report. Databases can be ist, hierarchica, network, or reationa in structure. The major advantage of a 3-12

91 database is it permits the maintenance of a reated set of fies or tabes that can provide information to severa different users. So how do these database structures differ? you might ask. That s a good question. Read on and find out. LIST DATABASES. List databases ink records together through the use of pointers. The pointer is a data eement in one record (normay the master record) that points to the actua disk ocation of another ogicay reated record, as iustrated in figure 3-7. HIERARCHICAL DATABASES. Hierarchica databases consist of eements that act in a superiorsubordinate or parent-chid reationship. What this means is that one eement is inked to another eement in the database. The superior eement points to one or more subordinate eements. There can aso be a subordinate of a subordinate, which wi enabe many hundreds of eements to be connected. See figure 3-8. NETWORK DATABASES. Network databases are very simiar to hierarchica databases except that an eement can have one or more superiors. Network structure permits the connection of the nodes mutidirectionay. Each node may have severa owners (or eements) and may own any number of other data eements on the network (see figure 3-9). The database management software permits the extraction of needed information from such a structure to begin with any record in the fie. Athough network databases are more Figure 3-8. Exampe of a hierarchica database structure. fexibe than hierarchica databases, they sti have imitations. The networking scheme must be defined when the database is initiay created, and information retrieva is based soey on the predefined scheme. Figure 3-7. Exampe of a ist database structure. Figure 3-9. Exampe of a network database structure. 3-13

92 RELATIONAL DATABASES. Reationa databases have many advantages over network and hierarchica databases. They consist of one or more tabes in which data are stored in the form of rows and coumns. The main advantage is that reationships between the data can be estabished whenever you (the user) request information. For exampe, reation tabes coud be used to ink a person with his/her NECs, duty assignments, and any specia quaifications, as shown in figure Many other reations are, of course, possibe. Any reationa database package normay uses an index of some sort for faster access to the data. Reationa structures are a very popuar database structuring approach for both mainframe and microcomputer database packages. Using Database Software Some of the more common operations you can expect to perform when using a database software package are as foows:. Create databases.. Insert, update, and deete data in a database. Create and run forms and reports, design and print abes. Query the database for information. Create and run/execute appications programs. Import and export fies. You can use function keys F1, F2, and so on, to provide hep screens, to dispay ists of items, to design database fies, queries, reports, forms, and abes; to add fieds to a ayout, to move or copy seected data, to enarge/shrink fieds or condition boxes, to print a quick report, to access menus for the current screen, to access macros, and so on. Some database packages provide you with some type of contro screen ike the one shown in figure Using a contro screen aows you to access a number of features. This particuar contro screen has six panes, each corresponding to a different type of operation on your database. Dispayed across the top eft-hand corner of the contro screen you see three main menus Cataog, Toos, and Exit. Cataog provides you with options for managing cataogs and the fies contained in them. A cataog is a fie in itsef that contains the names of reated fies. Toos provide you with a variety of utiities for accessing the disk operating system (DOS), for importing and exporting fies, and for setting program parameters. Exit enabes you to eave the contro screen and go back to the disk operating system. Figure Exampe of a reationa database structure. Figure Typica contro screen used with database appications. 3-14

93 Most database packages provide you with some type of query anguage that aows you to query a database to obtain answers about the contents of the database, insert new data, update information in various tabes, and create views. By using various commands and contro statements, you can perform arithmetic, ogica, and comparison operations on the data you have seected. DESKTOP PUBLISHING PACKAGES Desktop pubishing (DTP) packages are used primariy for designing and pubishing professiona ooking documents. They offer you a wide variety of pubishing appications. Typica appications incude newsetters, advertisements, etterheads, reports, presentations, cataogs, books (such as this TRAMAN), brochures, or fyers, forms, business cards, contracts, magazines, and overhead dispays. Again, you wi see and hear new terms when you begin working with desktop pubishing software. These terms come primariy from the printing/pubishing industry. The features of desktop pubishing can be categorized as composition, ayout, and graphics. Let s take a ook at each area. Desktop Pubishing Composition Tabe 3-1. Tabe of Type Styes in Severa Fonts Composition incudes defining the sizes and styes of type to be used, the amount of space to aow between horizonta etters and vertica ines, and coding the text (copy) to meet these standards and definitions. You can enter and edit text directy or you can input text created using a word processing program. Documents created in word processing programs can be imported into the DTP software. Once they are imported, you can manipuate the text (copy) any way you want to satisfy your particuar pubication needs. The foowing are features and terms you need to become famiiar with: Type styes and sizes Type is cassified according to its stye of etter and size. You can choose a variety of type styes (typefaces) and sizes to create impressive forms, etterheads, brochures, fyers, and so on. Exampes of Courier and Roman-WP are shown in Tabe 3-1. Notice each is in a different size. Printers measurements are based on the point system. The point is approximatey 1/72 of an inch. When you hear someone say 8-point type, that simpy means that the body of the type measures 1/9 of an inch from top to bottom; 12-point type measures 1/16 of an inch, and so on. The typeface itsef is sedom as arge as the body, because a sma shouder or edge is eft beow the etter on most type. Type sizes range from 3- to 120-point. You wi aso see the term font used in connection with desktop pubishing and word processing. A font is a coection of characters of unified design the typeface and point size are needed to specify a font. However, the term font is often used interchangeaby with typeface. 3-15

94 . Letterspacing and eading You can adjust space both horizontay and verticay. Letterspacing refers to the addition of sma spaces between e t t e r s within a word. Leading refers to the space added between ines of materia. You can create an index or tabe of contents by marking specia words for an index or use headings and sideheadings to make a tabe of contents. Desktop Pubishing Layout Layout invoves arranging the text and graphics on the page. The text may fow from coumn to coumn on muticoumn documents ike the newspaper. You may have to move text from one part of a document to another using the eectronic pasting features. You can incorporate iustrations on a page with text. Borders may be drawn around text or iustrations. Iustrations may be sized (made smaer or arger), and additiona etter spacing and eading may be added to create a fu page. To ay out a peasing document requires experience and practice as we as a good eye for baance. You wi find the foowing features in most desktop pubishing packages: Lay out pages and edit page ayouts You can ay out pages eectronicay, rather than having to cut and paste using scissors and gue. Incorporate text and graphics Your text and graphics can be eectronicay merged together in the ayout. Mutipe coumns, coumn widths, and heights The software automaticay formats mutipe coumns on continued pages. You specify how many coumns are to be on a page and the amount of gutter space desired. Gutter space is the amount of space between coumns. Automatic page numbering You can have the software automaticay number the pages. Headers and footers You can aso have appropriate headers (tites) at the top of every page and footers at the bottom of every page. Headers or footers can usuay incude page numbers. Desktop Pubishing Graphics Desktop pubishing packages have the capabiity to scan or import iustrations/graphics either from hardcopy or from digita data. The foowing are graphics features you can expect to find in DTP packages: Graphic images You can add images, borders, ines, arrows, and so on, of various sizes to the text. Shrink/expand and edit images You can reduce or enarge images to fit in a desired space. If necessary, the images can be atered or edited. Accept images from scanners or other draw programs You can import images from a scanner or digitizer. These images can be in either text or graphic form. Images can aso be imported from either a paint or draw-type graphics package. Layered output for coor printing You can create camera-ready copy for coor separation work when an outside printing process is required. Coor work is done by creating up to as many as four fim negatives (one for each of the primary coors red, yeow, and bue) pus back. Each negative is used to create a separate printing pate for each coor. Then, as the coors are overprinted, the coor of the origina photograph is reproduced. Vertica/horizonta printing Materia can be printed either verticay or horizontay on a sheet of paper. Fit copy to page You can fit the copy to a page either by reducing the type size, increasing or decreasing borders or margins, and any other number of creative ways you can come up with-changing the size of an iustration, cutting off (cropping) an iustration, or even rewording some of the text. Hardware Requirements Unike the software packages previousy discussed, desktop pubishing packages (and graphics software packages) require a considerabe amount of resources. To give you a better idea of what we are taking about, the foowing are hardware requirements:. Microprocessor At a minimum, you wi need a 486 sixteen-bit microprocessor or equivaent. A Pentium or 586 (or equivaent) is even better. 3-16

95 Do not pan on using PCs based on 286 and 386 microprocessors. These machines simpy do not have enough computing power to hande DTP chores effcienty. Monitor You wi need a high-resoution 19- inch monitor. When doing desktop pubishing and design work, aying out pages on most standard 12-inch and 13-inch screens can be tiring and difficut. The monitor and associated graphics card shoud be at the IBM-standard video-graphics array (VGA) eve or better. Secondary storage Large hard disks are essentia for DTP work. Desktop pubishing fies tend to get very arge, and you wi soon accumuate many active fies on the computer s hard disk. A minimum of 500 megabytes of hard disk capacity is recommended. Hard drives with 850 megabytes to 2 gigabytes are even better. Mouse or trackba You wi aso need a mouse or trackba pointing device to move the cursor position on the monitor screen. Printer Athough the dot matrix printer is inexpensive and capabe of printing graphics and etter quaity text, it is insufficient for many DTP appications. A aser printer is the better choice when it comes to preparing quaity text and graphics. Scanner With desktop pubishing systems, you wi naturay want a desktop scanner to capture photographs, art work, cippings, and other forms of art work. More and more DTP functions are being added to word processing packages. For some appications, this wi eiminate the need for separate DTP packages. However, you wi sti need a scanner, a mouse, and a compatibe aser printer. UTILITIES Software utiities further enhance your computer s capabiities and make it run more efficienty, whether it be a mainframe, mini, or micro. Once a computer user ike yoursef becomes famiiar with the system and appications software you are working with, you want the system to do more and do it faster and more efficienty. Utiities can satisfy some of this need for more computer power, overa performance, interna security, fie and data management, and backup capabiities. Utiities strive to fi some of the voids eft by appications or operating system software. For the most part, utiities are meant to work in conjunction with your existing software. In the past, an individua had to be a technica expert when it came to setting up the necessary contro parameters for a particuar utiity program (a sort, merge, seective print, and so on). Quite often, they were compicated to run. Some of these utiities were stand-aone programs occupying a niche not fied by appications programs. The traditiona mainframe utiity programs, such as sort, merge, and print, have given way to desktop organizers and fie managers that are now geared for individua use on a persona computer. Today, most microcomputer users initiate a wide variety of software utiities and are not even aware they are doing so. Some of the more popuar utiities have been incorporated into the disk operating system as we as appications programs as commands. DOS incudes such utiities as COPY, SORT, FORMAT, BACKUP, RESTORE, TYPE (to print fies), DIR (to ist fies in directories), RENAME (to rename fies), CLS (to cear your monitor s screen), and many, many more. Utiities such as spe checkers, dictionaries, thesauruses, and grammar checkers are often incuded in word processing packages. Many appications programs incude keyboard enhancing programs that aow you to store frequenty used words and sentences you can then access with either a singe keystroke or combination of a few keystrokes (aso known as hot keys). Then, there are mouse utiities that aow you to program the right and midde mouse buttons for particuar tasks. Whie utiity programs are getting easier for us to use, seecting the best one to accompish a particuar task can be somewhat difficut. If you ook around to see what utiities are avaiabe, you wi find there are thousands of various types on the market to choose from. To introduce you to the types, we have organized the various utiity software/programs into eight categories: keyboard enhancement, desktop organizer, backup, fie management, fie maintenance, DOS she, printer, and virus utiities. Keyboard Enhancement Utiities Keyboard enhancers, as the name impies, enhance the function of the PC keyboard. These programs (which are usuay RAM resident programs) transate a singe keystroke into user-defined macro commands. A macro consists of one instruction that represents many instructions. For exampe, Ctr-At-C keystrokes 3-17

96 coud be simpified as the Esc key with a user-defined macro. Any string of keystrokes or characters can be stored as a macro. More importanty, once you have defined the macro, it can be stored as a fie for use with different appications. In short, by shortening commands and character strings, keystroke repetition is greaty reduced. Desktop Organizer Utiities Desktop organizers consist of programs that emuate such things as cacuators, notepads, phone directories, caendars, and appointment books. Most of these utiities are RAM resident. This means they can be accessed from within other appications programs. For exampe, you can ca up the cacuator utiity whie you are currenty working in a word processing appication. An image of a cacuator wi pop-up in a sma window on your monitor s screen. You then perform the necessary cacuations, and return to the word processing appication. Some desktop organizers aow you to take the resuting cacuation and pace it directy into the word processing document you are working on. This is refereed to as cut and paste. Most programs incuded in desktop organizers aso operate in this popup mode. Backup Utiities As computer speciaists, we shoud a be famiiar with backup utiities. Disk backup utiities provide us a cost effective way to backup a hard disk. Advanced features, such as automatic backup (backups taken at predescribed intervas), fie compression (which aows more data to be paced on a diskette), and automatic disk formatting, make disk backup utiities a good aternative to the backup utiities suppied with most operating systems. Backup utiities aso aow you to save your fies to tape, or even to another hard disk. Fie Management Utiities As the capacities of hard disks increase, so does the need for fie management utiities. Try keeping track of the fies on a 2Gb hard disk without any type of fie management utiity. It is next to impossibe. Adding to the probem can be a maze of subdirectories originay set up to keep order that can easiy hide a fie or two. Fie management utiities hep you avoid these probems by manipuating fies and directories. They perform tasks such as searching for fies, deeting fies, tagging fies (to aow for fie manipuation on groups of unreated fies), reocating fies, and setting fie attributes. In short, fie management utiities provide you with a convenient way to keep hard-disk directories, subdirectories, and the fies themseves organized and under contro. Fie Maintenance Utiities Fie maintenance utiities incude fie recovery utiities (incuding backup and restore) and programs that manipuate fies, such as data compression and fie security programs. Fie recovery utiities are designed to identify, diagnose, and repair every form of data and ow-eve format damage on standard DOS hard disks. One of the most critica areas of fie maintenance is fie recovery. If you shoud accidentay erase a fie, it can easiy be recovered (unerased) by using a recovery utiity. Compression utiities save disk space by reducing fie size by 40 to 60 percent. Encryption utiities are designed for fie security. Using one of severa encryption agorithms, these utiities wi encode a fie so that it is readabe ony by reversing the encryption process. Other utiities are designed to hide fies from the operating system; that is, the fie disappears from the operating system and is ony accessibe with a password. Sti others are designed to contro access to fies, programs, and communications devices. DOS Shes These utiities, caed DOS shes, hep transate DOS codes into Engish words, phrases, and diagrams. They act as a iaison between you and the operating system. They dispay disk and fie information, adding commands not avaiabe in DOS and tend to simpify the execution of standard fie management commands, such as DELETE, COPY, and PRINT. Printer Utiities Printer utiities provide software support for the enhanced fonts and graphics found in many printers. They aso provide such features as menu contro for printer functions, print spooing, and printing horizontay. Printer utiities aow you to use a printer that your appications software may not support. They aso aow you to make better use of your standard printer. Virus Utiities Virus utiities are designed to keep out the maicious ogic (unfriendy viruses) that attack 3-18

97 computer system software. This type of software is designed to prevent both known and unknown viruses from invading a system, and to detect and remove those aready present. Virus detection software (IBMAV) is avaiabe free to a DON activities from Nava Command, Contro and Ocean Surveiance Center In- Service Engineering, East Coast Division (NISEEAST), in Chareston, South Caroina. For more information concerning virus software, refer to chapter 2 in this modue. Utiities of the Future What can you expect to see in the fuure? More and more, you wi see vendors combining severa utiities into one package. These packages wi be difficut to categorize because they wi work with operating systems, appication programs, and peripheras. For exampe, a fie maintenance utiity may combine severa commony used programs such as disk diagnostic and recovery utiities, a DOS she, hard-disk backup, a desktop manager, and a disk optimizer (a compression utiity). So, how do you go about staying on top of the atest and greatest utiity packages avaiabe? That s easy! You can earn about utiity programs by reading trade magazines and software reviews. Let the experts do the eg-work of evauation for you. There are so many utiities avaiabe on the market that it woud be impossibe for you to do a good job of evauating them on your own. Vendors of appication software and oca computer cubs are other good sources of information. USER REQUIREMENTS To transate user requirements into technica terms, the first ski you wi need is the abiity to communicate with the users. Usuay, the users know what they want and need, but they do not aways know how to phrase it and put it into a ogica process. That is where you, the computer speciaist, come into pay. As communications speciaists, we have to be abe to transate their ideas into a ogica process. One effective method we can use is pseudocode because the code can be easiy read and understood by both users and communications speciaists (figure 3-12). After we determine the process and document it in pseudocode, we take the pseudocode to the users for their review to make sure we have covered a of their needs. After taking with the users, we make any necessary changes, then go back to the users again. As the programmer, it is your responsibiity to determine the necessity and feasibiity of the user s requirements to avoid unnecessary or even impossibe programming. We continue this process unti the users have no more changes and approve the pseudocode. The approva is required before moving on to the deveopment of the program requirements. Determine System Software Requirements When we start to determine the system software requirements, we ook at the pseudocode and the user s requested end product(s) to determine whether a commercia software package is avaiabe to accompish the job or if we wi need to deveop an inhouse program. Figure Pseudocode exampe. 3-19

98 To determine whether the job can be done with a commercia software package, you need to be aware of the different software packages avaiabe and their capabiities and features. If it appears you can use a commercia software package and your AIS faciity does not have it, start ooking at the different government contracts in effect to ocate the particuar software package you are interested in. If the software is not avaiabe on contract, you wi have to ook for outside sources. Once you ocate the software package and obtain approva for purchase, you can start the process of fiing out the paperwork to order the software. If you determine no commercia software is avaiabe to accompish the user s request, you need to ook at the expertise avaiabe in your AIS faciity and what programming software is avaiabe at your faciity to accompish the job. Powerfu software is avaiabe to mike the programmer s work easier. This software fas into one or more of the foowing categories: Query anguages. Aow records to be printed or dispayed in a specified format. Database anguages. Aow records to be added or retrieved and manipuated foowing set formats. Report generators. Aow reports to be created from retrieved data records. Appication generators. Aow the use of prewritten modues in creating a program. High-eve anguages. Aow the programmer to create a program from scratch. Generaized software. Directs certain interna computer functions. Determine System Hardware Requirements Once you determine the source of the program, whether a commercia or an in-house program, you need to ook at what type of hardware wi be required. Commercia software wi have the hardware requirements stated in the paperwork. The users may have certain hardware requirements dictated to them that wi have to be met. For exampe, a aser printer, a specific type of foppy drive, or a CD-ROM drive may be required. For in-house programs, it may be more difficut to determine the hardware needed unti the program specifications are compete. When additiona hardware is required, you shoud first determine if it is avaiabe at the faciity. You may find the hardware needed is not being used where it is ocated and you can move it to meet the new requirements. If the hardware is not avaiabe at the faciity, begin the acquisition process. This process is the same as for software, except, in most cases, the requirements wi have to go out on bids to severa companies. With this process, it may take a ong time to receive the hardware. You shoud pan accordingy. Cacuate Memory Requirements When transating user requirements into an appication, there are severa things to keep in mind. We have covered the system software and hardware requirements; now, we turn our attention to the memory requirements. Cacuate the memory requirements carefuy; it wi do no one any good to create a program that can not be run due to memory constraints of the system. Factors to be combined when cacuating memory requirements are:. the operating system, the program, and. the data to be input. By taking into consideration the memory requirements of each of these factors, there shoud be no probems (as far as memory goes) with running the programs. I/O AND PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS DEVELOPMENT Once you deveop the pseudocode and identify the software and hardware requirements, you can begin deveoping the I/O and program specifications. This is aso a good time to determine what type of fie organization method wi best suit the appication. The I/O specifications wi require the users interaction to further detai what they need as input data and output materia. They are your primary source for this information. To prepare the program specifications, you wi use the pseudocode and design the program to match. Aso, ook at the memory and storage requirements for the program. You may have to adjust the hardware requirements to match the program specifications. Be sure you are not going to overoad the computer system. Fie Organization Fie organization is the technique of physicay arranging the records of a fie on a storage media. When the programmer creates a subschema, a determination must be made on how the fie wi be accessed by the program. The three fie organizations methods used are: sequentia, indexed sequentia, and direct. 3-20

99 Sequentia fie organization. In sequentia fie organization, the records are in the same order as they were written to the fie. Indexed sequentia fie organization. In indexed sequentia fie organization, the records are stored in sequence according to a primary key and an index is created to aow random access of the fie. This type of organization aso aows the fie to be accessed sequentiay. Indexed sequentia is the most commony used type of fie organization. Direct fie organization. In direct fie organization, the records are stored and retrieved using a reative record number, which gives the position of the record in the fie. This type of organization aso aows the fie to be accessed sequentiay. DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (DBMS) A database management system (DBMS) is a software package that provides an integrated source of data for mutipe users, whie presenting different views of that data to different users. It can be characterized as generaized software that provides a singe fexibe faciity for accommodating different data fies and operations, whie demanding ess programming effort than conventiona programming anguages. It features easy access to the data; it faciitates the storage and maintenance of arge voumes of data; and, most importanty, it provides the capabiity for sharing the data resources among different types of users. Database management systems range from eementary systems with singe record structures, providing rudimentary report formatting faciities, to very eaborate systems. The very eaborate systems hande severa fies with hierarchica or reationa structures, perform functions in an onine mode, and have sophisticated query and report writing capabiities. DBMSs are being used on a wide variety of computers in the Navy. Because of this, no one DBMS by any singe manufacturers discussed in this chapter. Most of the probems with DBMSs in Navy computer systems are the same as in the civiian workpace. A few of these probem areas are noted beow:. Users do not want to share their data with others in the database.. Data representation is inadequate.. Privacy and safeguarding of proprietary information are not sufficient.. Different views of data are needed by technica and nontechnica DBMS users.. Data structures are not taiored to individua user requirements. The wide use of DBMSs in the Navy indicates that a or most future operating systems wi be oriented primariy toward DBMS. Sowy, but surey, the DBMS probems in the preceding ist are being eiminated through better and more sophisticated software, couped with advanced training of users on such software usage. Take a ook at the changes that have been made from the conventiona system fie structure to the database management system structure. As shown in figure 3-13, a conventiona system is many appication Figure A conventiona system. 3-21

100 programs or systems using different databases and fies. These databases and fies are systems that are either onine or offine; at any rate, they must be onine at execution time. Under a conventiona system, when the same data was needed in SYSTEM A and in SYSTEM B, it was usuay dupicated. This redundancy of data is not acceptabe to the AIS community. The foowing probems are just a few of those that exist when redundancy of data is required: Excess storage is required. An excessive number of personne is required to hande and manipuate the data. predecessor, the fie management system. DBMS software evoved from many different software improvements, from many different manufacturers. None of the many DBMSs function exacty aike. Regardess of the manufacturer s software instaed at a particuar AIS faciity, a basic DBMS can be conceptuay depicted as shown in figure Take a few minutes to study the figure and refer to it as you study this section. You need to understand the concepts before we pictoriay depict a DBMS execution event. The concepts incude schemas, definition anguage (DDL), and anguage (DML). subschemas, data data manipuation A greater chance of error is possibe when updating a the common data in different databases and fies. Schema Excessive funds are expended for report production for management. Excessive CPU time is expended when coecting data for reporting. Data integrity is harder to maintain because of the greater chance of error. To overcome these probems, many Navy AIS faciity are using a DBMS. This has produced a better record in operations and productivity than its A schema is a compete description of a database, and consists of data definition anguage (DDL) entries. It incudes the names and descriptions of a of the areas, set types, record types, and associated data items and data aggregates as they exist in the database and are known to the DBMS. In other words, it is the overa ogica database description or framework into which vaues of data items can be fitted. A schema can be viewed ike the bins in a storage house hoding suppies. The schema wi not change, but the data vaues wi. Figure A database management system (DBMS). 3-22

101 Subschemas A subschema is the appications programmer s view of the data within the database pertinent to the specific appication. A subschema has access to those areas, set types, record types, data items, and data aggregates of interest in the pertinent appication to which it was designed. Naturay, a software system usuay has more than one programmer assigned and incudes more than one appication. This means there are usuay many different subschemas for each schema. The foowing are a few of the many reasons subschemas are used: Subschemas provide different views of the data to the user and the programmer, who do not need to know a the data contained in the entire database. Subschemas enhance security factors and prohibit data compromise. Subschemas aid the DBA whie assuring data integrity. Each data item incuded in the subschema wi be assigned a ocation in the user working area (UWA). The UWA is conceptuay a oading and unoading zone, where a data provided by the DBMS in response to a CALL for data is deivered. It is aso where a data to be picked up by the DBMS must be paced. Schema Data Definition Language (DDL) The schema data definition anguage (DDL) is used for describing a database, which maybe shared by many programs written in many anguages. This description is in terms of the names and characteristics of the data items, data aggregates, records, areas, and sets incuded in the database, and the reationships that exist and must be maintained between occurrences of those eements in the database. Data item. A data item is an occurrence of the smaest unit of named data. It is represented in a database by a vaue. Data aggregate. A data aggregate is an occurrence of a named coection of data items within a record. There are two kinds-vectors and repeating groups. A vector is a one-dimensiona sequence of data items, a of which have identica characteristics. A repeating group is a coection of data that occurs a number of times within a record occurrence. The coection may consist of data items, vectors, and repeating groups. Record. A record is an occurrence of a named coection of zero, one, or more data items or data aggregates. This coection is specified in the schema DDL by means of a record entry. Each record entry in the schema for a database determines a type of record, of which there may be an arbitrary number of record occurrences (records) in the database. For exampe, there woud be one occurrence of a PAYROLL- RECORD type of record for each empoyee. A database key is a unique vaue that identifies a record in the database to a run unit (program(s)). The vaue is made avaiabe to the run unit when a record is seected or stored and maybe used by the run unit to reseect the same record.. Set. A set is an occurrence of a named coection of records. The coection is specified in the schema DDL by means of a set entry. Each set entry in the schema for a database determines a type of set, of which there may be an arbitrary number of set occurrences (sets) in the database. Each type of set specified in the schema may have one type of record decared as its owner type of record, and one or more types of records decared as its member type of record. Each set occurrence (set) must contain one occurrence of its defined owner type of record and may contain an arbitrary number of occurrences of each of its defined member type of record types. For exampe, if a set type QUALIFICATIONS was defined as having owner record type EMPLOYEE and member record types JOB and SKILL, each occurrence of set type QUALIFICATIONS must contain one occurrence of record type EMPLOYEE, and may contain an arbitrary number of occurrences of record types JOB and SKILL. Area. An area is a named coection of records that need not preserve owner/member reationships. An area may contain occurrences of one or more record types, and a record type may have occurrences in more than one area. A particuar record is assigned to a singe area and may not migrate between areas. Database. A database consists of a the records, sets, and areas that are controed by a specific schema. If a faciity has mutipe databases, there must be a separate schema for each database. Furthermore, the content of each database is assumed to be independent. Program. A program is a set or group of instructions in a host anguage such as COBOL or 3-23

102 FORTRAN. For the purpose of this chapter, a run unit is an execution of one or more programs. Data Manipuation Languages (DMLs) A data manipuation anguage (DML) is a anguage used to cause data to be transferred between a run unit and the database. A DML is not a compete anguage by itsef. It is caed a query anguage by some manufacturers. It reies on a host anguage to provide a framework for it and to provide the procedura capabiities required to manipuate data. DBMS Events To depict DBMS events, we seected the READ function. The sequence depicted in figure 3-15 provides a conceptua exampe of an appication Figure A conceptua view of the events that take pace when an appication program reads a record in a system interfaced with a DBMS. program of a particuar software system reading a record. It is intended as a conceptua training aid for instructiona purposes ony. The numbered arrows in figure 3-15 trace a ca for data by appication Program 1 of System A. (Cas for data by other programs maybe handed concurrenty by the DBMS, but this is not depicted in the figure.) The foowing events (numbered to correspond with figure 3-15) take pace, depending on the software system in use, when a program attempts to read a record: 1. DML Program 1 of System A makes a ca for data from Database (A) to the DBMS. 2. The DBMS anayzes the ca and suppements the arguments provided in the ca itsef with information provided by the schema for Database (A), and the subschema referenced by Program The DBMS obtains the subschema used for System A and retrieves the description of the data in question. 4. The DBMS examines the database physica description and keys the actua physica record to read. 5. On the basis of the ca for its services and the information obtained from the schema and subschema, the DBMS requests physica I/O operations, as required to execute the ca, from the operating system. 6. The operating system (OS) interacts with the storage media containing the database. 7. The operating system then deivers the requested data from the actua database to the system buffers. 8. The DBMS transfers data, as required to fufi the ca, between the system buffers and the user work area (UWA) of Program 1, which originated the ca. Any required data transformations between the representation of the data as it appears in the database (as decared in the schema) and the representation of the data as it appears in a program s UWA (as decared by the subschema) are handed by the DBMS. The DBMS provides status information to program 1 based on the outcome of its ca, for exampe, error indications. The data in Program 1 s UWA may be manipuated as required, using the faciities in the host anguage. The system buffers are shared by a programs serviced by the DBMS. Remember, programs interact with the system buffers entirey through the DBMS. 3-24

103 Schema DDL and Hardware A schema DDL entry does not incude references to a physica device or media space. Thus, a schema written using a DDL is a description of a database that is not affected by the devices or media used to store the data. The database may, therefore, be stored on any combination of storage media that is supported in a particuar DBMS. Because of their sequentia nature, some devices, such as magnetic tape, may not take fu advantage of the faciities incuded in a DDL. Such devices are not precuded, however, and may be perfecty adequate for some of the data. Chances are the DDL you are using wi foow the guideines created by the Conference on Data Systems Languages (CODASYL) and their subcommittee, Data Base Task Group (DBTG). These guideines have infuenced the deveopment of database systems, particuary those for the arger computer systems. Because of space imitations, the format specifications for a DML and a schema DDL are not presented. The syntax rues for a data description anguage are simiar to those for COBOL and are too technicay extensive to incude in this chapter. For exampe, a DDL has a character set, words (programmer suppied), reserved words, key words, names, itera and nonnumeric itera formatting, and many other quaification rues. Schema/Subschema Data Conversion Since data description in the subschema is host anguage oriented, the syntax used in the subschema to describe the characteristics of data items may differ from that in the schema or storage schema. This means that data types that turn out to have the same representation in a given impementation may be described differenty in the schema and storage schema than in the subschema. Aso, there maybe data types defined in the subschema that have characteristics and representations different from those of any schema type, and vice versa. However, any data item description is eigibe for incusion in a subschema for a particuar host anguage subschema data description entry if one of the foowing conditions is satisfied in the impementation invoved: The data item has the same representation both in the database and in the UWA in that impementation, A conversion procedure has been provided by the impementor, or. A conversion procedure has been provided by the database administrator. The impementor is responsibe for defining the correspondence between the schema data types and specifications and the sub schema data types and specifications, in terms of the representation of these respective data types in the impementation. An exampe of a correspondence that might be estabished by an impementor woud be correspondence between coded arithmetic data in the schema and COMPUTATIONAL data in the COBOL subschema. The impementor might provide specia conversion procedures in addition to those in the DBMS for impementing the conversion rues. An exampe of a case where the impementor might provide a specia conversion procedure woud be in the interface between the DBMS and database procedures written in particuar host anguages. If the DBMS suppies a standard parameter ist to database procedures, the representation of some of the parameter vaues might not match that of any data type in a particuar host anguage. In this case, the impementor might wish to provide a standard conversion procedure to aow the host anguage to correcty access such vaues. Deveopers of host anguage database faciities may provide rues defining the intended correspondence between data types aowed in their host anguage subschema DDL and the data types in the schema DDL. Such rues may be specified directy, naming characteristics of subschema data types so that they can be matched with the characteristics of schema data types. Different host anguages may define their rues for intended data type correspondence in terms of the cosest schema equivaents; for exampe, FORTRAN referring to schema TYPE specifications and COBOL referring to schema PICTURE specifications. In this case, the conversion rues specified as part of the schema DDL may be used in determining appropriate conversions invoving data types not expicity mentioned in the host anguage s defined rues. For exampe, the COBOL database faciity might specify the intended correspondence between its subschema PICTURE specifications and schema PICTURE specifications. With the correspondence between schema and subschema PICTURES estabished, subschema PICTURE specifications may be interpreted as if they were schema PICTURE specifications. The schema DDL defined conversion rues (which define conversions between schema PICTURES and other schema data types) can then be used to determine appropriate 3-25

104 conversions between subschema PICTURES and any schema data type. Schema DDL and DML The reationship between a schema DDL and a DML is the reationship between decaration and procedure. The DDL decarations impose a discipine over the executabe code and are to some extent substitutes for procedures written in the DML and the host anguage. To specify the reationship between DDL decarations and DML commands, a set of basic data manipuation functions must be defined that is independent of the DML and the host anguage. Specific commands provided by a particuar DML must be resoved into those basic functions. The resoution is defined by the impementor of the DML. The basic data manipuation functions assumed in these specifications incude the functions required to:. Seect records Present records to the run unit. Add new records and reationships. Change existing records and reationships. Remove existing records and reationships Schema and Storage Schema The concept of separate schema and storage schema aows the separation of the ogica description of the entire database from the storage description of the same. This concept is significant from the foowing points of view: 1. A database administrator may design a schema structure consisting of ogica record reationships that sensiby match the totaity of appications under impementation or ikey to be impemented. 2. Efficiency considerations are separated from the ogica description by specifying the storage environment and schema to storage schema mappings in the storage schema. Tuning may be carried out by changing the storage schema without ateration to the schema, subschemas, and programs. The storage schema describes the representation of stored data in device independent terms. The database may, therefore, be stored on any combination of storage media that is supported by a particuar impementation. The database administrator may aocate media and devices with differing characteristics to suit the command s operationa requirements, without ateration to the storage schema. Database Management System Seection When seecting a DBMS, the primary consideration shoud be to seect a technoogy that wi support the ong-term DBMS needs. The work of identifying the needs of the command shoud be done in a very carefu and thorough manner. The utimate goa is to make the best choice for the command. One of the best ways of identifying the needs of the command is to conduct interviews with the users. The resuts of the interviews wi identify areas of concern to them, such as:. How fast can data be accessed?. How easy is it to retrieve and manipuate the data?. How fast and easy is it to deveop quaity appications? Wi the redundancy of data be reduced?. Wi it provide for the management and accurate identity of a the data eements? Once the needs of the command have been identified, it is time to prepare the presentation for management. A first step in the preparation of the presentation is to describe how the needs of the command wi be addressed by the DBMS. Deveop specific exampes to iustrate how each item identified woud be handed in the database environment. After receiving permission from management to continue, you can start the seection process. Since a DBMS software is not the same, you must ook at the quaity of the product and the abiity of the vendor to continue to enhance the product in the future. A of the decisions shoud be based on the features currenty avaiabe or in a beta testing environment. The goa is not to find the perfect DBMS, but to identify and recommend the best of those avaiabe that wi meet the command s needs. This seection criteria appies whether the DBMS is going to be used on a mainframe computer or a microcomputer system. However, the microcomputer system has a few added concerns that must be met. The most important of these concerns are: 3-26

105 The capabiity of receiving downoaded data from a mainframe or another microcomputer The abiity to be used on a network The abiity to enabe quick and easy setup of screen formats The abiity to hande a maximum number of records, fieds, tabes, and so on, and the size of each The abiity of the software to accept fies in mutipe formats and to transport fies and records out to other microcomputer packages LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF A DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM To decide on the ogica structure to use with a DBMS, you wi need to first perform a comprehensive review of the data. Determine what data is needed, where the data comes from, and how the data wi be used. Look at the reports needed. Find out what transactions and dispays are most appropriate for coecting and manipuating the data. At this point, you can determine what programs and queries wi need to be deveoped and decide on the best organization for the data. The programmer wi be the one to decide the organization of the database and to define the physica structures of the database management system. Programs to process the transactions and to generate the anticipated management information and decision support reports are mapped out, using the pseudocode and fowcharts. Once the programs are mapped out, they are written, tested, and impemented, creating the database management system. SUMMARY As a communications speciaist, you need to know a ot more about computers than just how to operate them. You must have a good working knowedge of computer software. You shoud be abe to expain and demonstrate how to use systems and appications software to both communications speciaists and enduser personne. You wi need to interact with the users to determine their requirements and needs. We covered how to determine system software and hardware requirements and the importance of cacuating memory requirements. We discussed the parts of a database management system (DBMS) and the seection process for a DBMS, incuding those for persona computers. 3-27

106

107 APPENDIX I GLOSSARY A ABORT Procedure for terminating a program when a mistake, mafunction, or error occurs. Ada A high-eve programming anguage designed by the Department of Defense. ADDRESSING Locating a required piece of data by specific techniques. ARITHMETIC-LOGIC UNIT The part of the cpu that contains the ogic capabiity and performs a the arithmetic functions (addition, subtraction, mutipication, and division). ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The capabiity of a machine to perform human-ike inteigence functions, such as earning, adapting, reasoning, and sef-correction. ASSEMBLER A computer program that transates assemby anguage programs into machine anguage (object) programs. B BASIC (Beginners A-Purpose Symboic Instruction Code) A high-eve, generapurpose programming anguage used primariy on microcomputers. BIT MAPPING A data structure that describes a bit image being hed in computer storage. BUBBLE MEMORY Method by which information is stored as magnetized dots (bubbes) that rest on a thin fim of semiconductor materia. C C++ An object-oriented version of the C programming anguage. CACHE MEMORY A faster memory in which parts of the information in the main (sower) memory or disk are copied. CARRIER PACKAGE The portion of the microprocessor chip that pugs into the motherboard. CERTIFIER The piece of equipment that is used to certify magnetic tape and check for errors. COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language) A high-eve programming anguage designed for business-type appications. COMPILER A program that transates a source program written in a high-eve programming anguage into machine anguage. CONTROL MEMORY RAM consisting of addressabe storage registers, primariy used in mini- and mainframe computers. D DEGAUSSER Device used to erase information from magneticay recorded media, such as a foppy disk or magnetic tape. DIAGNOSTIC LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES Indicator ights used to hep isoate a hardware faiure. DIAGNOSTIC ROUTINE Routine designed to ocate a mafunction in the centra processing unit or a periphera device. DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM A computer system designed to operate as a communications network with a1 its terminas inked to a remotey ocated centra processing unit. DUPLEX Pertaining to a communications system or equipment capabe of transmission in both directions. E EXTERNAL DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostics that can be run from a periphera device. F FILE FRAGMENTATION Fies that are spit into many noncontiguous areas on the disk. FINITE To have imits, an end, or a ast number. AI-1

108 FIVE-PIN CONNECTOR A connector that has five pins, usuay used to connect a keyboard to the CPU. FORTRAN (FORmua TRANsator) A high--eve programming anguage for scientific and mathematica appications. H HARD-SECTORED Wedge-shaped storage division on a foppy disk from time of manufacture. HIERARCHICAL DIRECTORY A term used to refer to the organizationa method of arranging fies either in a DOS tree structure or in the fie-andfoder method. HUB The center part of the tape ree that attaches to the tape drive. HYPERTEXT A document retrieva network having ti-text fies and dynamic indexes for inks among documents. HYPOTHERMAGRAPH A piece of equipment that is used to record the temperature and humidity in a computer room. I INSTRUCTION AND CONTROL The portion of the contro section that incudes the combinationa and sequentia circuits that make up the decisionmaking and memory-type functions. INTEGRATED CIRCUIT A miniaturized chip in which semiconductor components and other such technoogy combine the functions of a number of conventiona components (such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, and diodes). INTERNAL DIAGNOSTICS Diagnostics that are run when the computer is started. IPL (Initia Program Load ) A set of instructions that cause other instructions (the operating system) to be oaded into the main memory of the computer. This must be done each time the computer is turned on. J JULIAN DATE Form of caendar representation within a computer system, indicating the year and the number of eapsed days in the year. L LETTER-QUALITY MODE The mode that produces high--quaity printed output from a printer. LIBRARIAN Person responsibe for the safekeeping of a computer fies, such as diskettes, disk packs, and magnetic tapes. LOCAL-AREA NETWORK A network that normay operates within a we-defined and generay sef-encosed area. The communication stations or terminas are inked by cabe. M MAGNETIC CORE STORAGE System of storage in which data is represented in binary form by means of directiona fow of magnetic fieds in tiny, doughnut-shaped arrays of magnetic cores. MAGNETIC DOMAINS The data that is stored by changing the poarity of the magnetized dots (bubbes). MAINFRAME COMPUTERS This term is usuay used to designate arge-scae computer systems, athough the precise definition of mainframe is the cpu and the contro eements of any computer system. MATRIX Ordery array of symbos by rows and coumns. MINICOMPUTERS Midsize computers that are smaer than arge-scae systems but with the same components. They are ess expensive and have ess strict environmenta requirements. MODEM A device that converts data from digita to anaog format for transmission on anaog transmission ines, and aso converts data in anaog format to digita format for computer processing. MULTIPLE-FILE DIRECTORIES An option of the operating system that aows for severa fies to be contained in a directory. N NONVOLATILE STORAGE Storage medium that retains its data in the absence of power. AI-2

109 O OXIDE A ferrous materia that can be magnetized; aso, the recording side of the magnetic tape (du side). P PARALLEL PROCESSING Handing a the eements of a word or message simutaneousy. PASCAL High-eve structured programming anguage that has gained wide acceptance as a too for both appications programming and system deveopment. PENTIUM CHIP A processor chip that can execute many instructions at the rate of two instructions per cock cyce. PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT Equipment used for data entry, storage, or retrieva, but which is not part of the centra processing unit. Peripheras incude crt dispays, terminas, printers, and mass storage (tape, disk, and drum) devices. PHOTOELECTRIC CELL A mechanism that when activated by a ight source emits an eectrica impuse. Q QUERY To make a request for information from a database system. R RECONCILING Refers to the correcting of processing discrepancies. RELATIONAL DATABASE A database organization scheme that treats fies as tabes of data in which the rows represent fixed-ength records and coumns represent fieds. RIGID Refers to the hard meta patters (usuay constructed of auminum or gass) that comprise a hard disk. S SCHEMA Structure for organizing knowedge reative to context or expectations. SCRATCHING MAGNETIC MEDIA Making the magnetic media avaiabe to the computer operator for reuse. SCSI ADAPTER A genera purpose parae interface designed for connecting one or more computers and one or more peripheras. A tota of 8 devices may be connected to one bus. SEMICONDUCTOR A crystaine substance that conducts eectricity when it is doped with chemica impurities. SERIAL Pertaining to the sequentia occurrence of two or more reated activities in a singe device. SILICON CHIP Tiny portion of a siicon wafer with thousands of eectronic components and circuit patterns etched on its surface. SIMPLEX A mode of data transmission in which data can trave in ony one direction on the ine. When a termina is connected to such a circuit, it can be used to either receive or send data to the cpu but not do both. SINGLE-FILE DIRECTORIES An option of the operating system that aows for ony one fie to be contained in a directory. SOFT-SECTORED Method of marking sectors or sections on a disk by using information written on the disk. SPECIAL FUNCTION KEY Key on a keyboard to contro a mechanica function, initiate a specific computer operation, or transmit a signa that woud otherwise require mutipe key strokes. STAND-ALONE Sef-contained computer system that can work independenty, not connected to or under the contro of another computer system. STRIPPING The removing of the first 100 feet of the magnetic tape. This is the portion that becomes contaminated and causes the most errors. SUBSCHEMA Logica organization of data required for a particuar program. SURGE PROTECTOR Device that protects eectrica equipment from being damaged by short surges of high votage by fitering them out. T TIMING The reguation of the fow of signas that contro the operation of the computer. TREE STRUCTURED DIRECTORY A disk containing a root directory and severa subdirectories. AI-3

110 TWENTY-FIVE PIN SERIAL CONNECTOR A seria connector that has twenty-five pins, usuay used for connecting a printer or monitor to the CPU. U UNIX An operating system that has many high-eve utiity programs; it is capabe of running a number of jobs at once. UNSTRUCTURED DIRECTORY A disk with ony one directory contained on it. V VIRUS A computer program which can wreak havoc on a system, either by destroying data or simpy changing and sowing up the processing of the system. AI-4

111 APPENDIX II GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS A L ABEND Abnorma end of job. ALCS Automated ibrary contro system. ALU Arithmetic/Logic unit. ATLC Automated tape ibrary contro. C CAD Computer-aided design CMOS Compementary meta oxide semiconductor. CODASYL Conference on data systems anguages. COOP Continuity of operations. CPU Centra processing unit. D DASDI Direct access storage device initiaization. DBMS Database management system. DBTG Database task group. DDL Data definition anguage. DML Data manipuation anguage. DOS Disk operating system. DTP Desktop pubishing. E EPROM Erasabe programmabe read-ony memory. I IC Integrated circuits. IPL Initia program oading. LAN Loca--area network. LQ Letter quaity. LSI Large-scae integration. M MODEM Moduator-demoduator. P PROM Programmabe read-ony memory. Q QWERTY Refers to the etter sequence QWERTY on the keyboard. R RAM Random-access memory. ROM Read-ony memory. S SOP Standard operating procedure. SYSRES System resident. U UWA User work area. V VLSI Very-arge-scae integration. W WORM Write once, read many. WYSIWYG What you see is what you get. AII-1

112

113 APPENDIX III REFERENCES USED TO DEVELOP THIS TRAMAN NOTE: The foowing references were current at the time this TRAMAN was pubished, but you shoud be sure you have the current editions. American Nationa Dictionary for Information Processing Systems, Federa Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Pubication 11-3, U.S. Department of Commerce, Nationa Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC, Banks, Michae, The Modem Reference, Second Edition, Brady Pubishing, New York, NY, Cannon, Don L., Gerad Luecke, Understanding Microprocessors, Howard W. Sams and Co., Indianapois, IN, Mueer, Scott, Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Fifth Edition, Que Corporation, Indianapois, IN, Norton, Peter, and Robert Jourdian, The Hard Disk Companion, Simon&Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, O Leary, Timothy and Linda, Microcomputing, Annua Edition , McGraw-Hi, Inc., New York, NY, Prasad, Naur, Jeffrey Savit, IBM Mainframes Architecture and Design, Second Edition, McGraw-Hi, Inc., New York, NY, Simon, Aan R., The Computer Professiona s Surviva Guide, McGraw Hi, Inc., New York, NY, Spencer, Donad D., Ph. D., Computer Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Cameot Pubishing, Co., Ormond Beach, FL, Wang, W. E., Joe Kraynak, The First Book of Persona Computing, Second Edition, SAMS, Prentice Ha Computer Pubishing, Carme, IN, AIII-1

114

115 INDEX A AIS service requests, 2-8 Appications software, 3-2 Arithmetic-ogic unit, 1-2, 1-3 Auxiiary storage, 1-6 B Bit mapping, 1-16 C Cabes, 1-28 Computer output, 2-2 Consoe operations, 2-2 booting the system, 2-4 computer diagnostics, 2-4 consoe keyboards, 2-3 configuration changes, 2-3 powering up the system, 2-4 Contro keys, 1-17 Contro pane, 1-22 Contro unit, 1-3 D Data management, 3-1 Data transmission methods, 1-9 parae, 1-9 seria, 1-9 Database management systems (DBMS), 3-21 data manipuation anguages (DMLs), 3-24 DBMS events, 3-24 schema, 3-22 schema data definition anguage (DDL), 3-23 subschema, 3-23 Database management system seection, 3-26 Database organization methods, 3-12 hierarchica, 3-13 ist, 3-13 network, 3-13 reationa, 3-14 Diagnostic/troubeshooting, 1-26 Diskettes, 1-19 care, 2-29 Documentation, 1-24,2-6 Dupex, 1-9 fi-dupex, 1-9 haf-dupex, 1-9 E Externa abes, 2-11 nonpermanent, 2-12 permanent, 2-12 F Fie and disk management, 2-26 Fie fragmentation, 2-34 Fie organization, 3-20 direct, 3-20 indexed sequentia, 3-20 sequentia, 3-20 Foppies, 1-19 H Hard disks, 1-20 Hep aides, 1-25 High-eve anguages, 3-3 ADA, 3-3 BASIC, 3-3 C++, 3-3 INDEX-1

116 High-eve anguages Continued COBOL, 3-3 FORTRAN, 3-3 PASCAL, 3-3 Hypothermagraph, 2-2 I Input/ouput (I/O) channes, 1-9 dupex, 1-9 simpex, 1-9 Input/output devices, 1-14 CD-ROM drive, 1-23 disk drives, 1-18 keyboards, 1-16, 1-28 modems, 1-24 monitors, 1-14, 1-27 mouse, 1-23 optica scanner, 1-23 printers, 1-21, 1-28 switch boxes, 1-24 tape drive, 1-23 I/O and program specifications, 3-20 J Jobs, 2-5 canceing, 2-6 dispaying, 2-5 monitoring, 2-8 restarting, 2-5 starting, 2-5 L Labes, 2-10 externa, 2-11 interna, 2-13 Library environment, 2-22 Library functions, 2-8 care and handing, 2-14, 2-16 ceaning and recertifying, 2-17, 2-19 degaussing, 2-20 destruction, 2-20 disaster/off-site backup, 2-13 abeing magnetic media, 2-10 receipt of magnetic media, 2-10 reeasing magnetic media, 2-21 shipment, 2-14 storage, 2-21 Loading and unoading tapes, 2-31 M paper forms, 2-32 tapes, 2-31 Magnetic disk, 2-16 care and handing, 2-16 ceaning and recertifying, 2-19 Magnetic media administrative duties, 2-24 Magnetic tape, 2-14 care and handing, 2-14 ceaning and recertifying, 2-17 Main memory, 1-3 Management of cassified media, 2-23 Memory cassifications, 1-5 erasabe programmabe read-ony memory (EPROM), 1-6 programmabe read-ony memory (PROM), 1-6 random-access memory (RAM), 1-6 read-ony memory (ROM), 1-6 Memory types, 1-4 bubbe storage, 1-5 magnetic core storage, 1-4 semiconductor storage, 1-4 Messages, 2-4 program-generated, 2-5 system-generated, 2-4 INDEX-2

117 Microprocessor chip, 1-13 Modems, 1-10 Motherboard, 1-12 N Naming fies, Operating environment, 2-2 P Periphera devices, 1-6 bar-code readers, 1-7 cathode-ray tube (CRT) terminas, 1-8 computer consoes, 1-8 foppy disk drive units, 1-8 key-to-onine data entry terminas, 1-7 magnetic disk drive units, 1-8 magnetic ink character readers, 1-7 magnetic tape units, 1-7 potters, 1-9 printers, 1-8 scanners, 1-7 Power requirements, 1-26 Primary storage, 1-3 Programming anguages, 3-2 assemby anguages, 3-3 high-eve anguages, 3-3 machine anguages, 3-2 R Resoution, 1-15 S Secondary storage, 1-6 Shift operations, 2-7 Software, 3-3 database, 3-11 desktop pubishing, 3-15 Software Continued spreadsheet, 3-9 utiities, 3-17 word processing, 3-7 Software instaation, 3-3 appication, 3-3 operating system, 3-3 Software packages, 3-5 Specia function keys, 1-17 Speciaized processors, 1-14 Storage area, 1-3 input, 1-3 output, 1-3 program, 1-3 working, 1-3 Storage capacity, 1-19 Surge protector, 1-27 System care, 2-30 System configuration, 1-28 System software, 3-2 assembers and compiers, 3-2 operating systems, 3-2 utiities, 3-2 System unit, 1-11, 1-27 T Tape retention, 2-26 Troube reports, 2-1 Troubeshooting, 2-34 U User requirements, 3-19 hardware, 3-19 memory, 3-19 software, 3-19 Users, 3-5 User/owner manuas, 1-25 INDEX-3

118 Utiities, 3-17 backup, 3-18 desktop organization, 3-18 DOS shes, 3-18 fie maintenance, 3-18 Utiities Continued fie management, 3-18 keyboard enhancement, 3-17 printer, 3-18 virus, 2-8, 3-18 INDEX-4

119 Assignment Questions Information: The text pages that you are to study are provided at the beginning of the assignment questions.

120

121 ASSIGNMENT 1 Textbook Assignment: Computer Hardware Startup, chapter 1, pages 1-1 through The centra processing unit of a digita computer is made up of a centra contro section and work areas that are needed to perform cacuations and manipuate data. What are the names of the sections within the CPU? 1. Contro, interna storage, and arithmetic-ogic 2. Contro, working storage, and programming storage 3. Interna storage, arithmetic-ogic, and working-storage 4. Arithmetic-ogic, input/output storage, and interna storage 1-2. Within the CPU, what section maintains order and directs the fow of operations and data? 1. Logic 2. Contro 3. Program storage 4. Interna storage 1-3. Within the CPU, the interna storage section normay contains which of the foowing storage areas? 1. Input and output ony 2. Output and program ony 3. Input, program, and working ony 4. Input, output, program, and working 1-4. What type of memory aows you to read data from or write data into it just by giving the computer the address of the ocation where the data is stored or is to be stored? 1. ROM 2. RAM 3. PROM 4. EPROM 1-5. Most computers can permanenty store often used instructions, such as those used to boot-strap the computer, in memory. What type of memory makes this possibe? 1. Permanent 2. Read-ony 3. Inaccessibe 4. Programmabe 1-6. What type of storage (memory) aows you to enter any program you desire, but once the memory has been written into, it can never be atered or changed? 1. ROM 2. RAM 3. PROM 4. EPROM 1

122 1-7. Which of the foowing types of storage is normay outside the main body of the computer and is used to store programs and data for future use? 1. Map storage 2. Hyper storage 3. Secondary storage 4. Periphera storage 1-8. Anytime an input or output device is under the direct contro of the CPU, we say the device is in what mode? 1. Onine 2. Offine 3. Stand-by 4. Parae 1-9. Which of the foowing components is NOT considered an input/output (I/O) device? 1. Computer termina 2. Scanners 3. Foppy disks 4. Magnetic tape unit Whether an I/O channe is input ony, output ony, or both input and output is determined by what person or primary factor? An I/O channe that is capabe of communicating in both directions but in ony one direction at a time is what type of channe? 1. Haf-dupex 2. Fu-dupex 3. Haf-simpex 4. Simpex Under fu-dupex I/O channe operations, communications are possibe in which of the foowing directions? 1. From the computer to the termina ony 2. From the termina to the computer ony 3. In both directions simutaneousy 4. In both directions, one direction at a time When data is transmitted over a communications channe in a seria fashion, the data is sent or received in which of the foowing forms? 1. Bits 2. Words 3. Records 4. Characters The systems anayst The maintenance programmer The design of the CPU itsef The specific type of periphera device Which of the foowing devices is used to convert a digita signa produced by your termina to an audio signa suitabe for transmission over a communication ine? 1. A ine conditioner 2. A signa generator 3. A moduator-demoduator 4. An anaog-to-digita simuator 2

123 What microcomputer unit processes the data, performs arithmetic and ogic functions, and maintains contro of the system? RAM System unit 3. Dispay unit 4. Hard disk drive The disk controer board, video board, and input/output boards are pugged into what board? 1. Memory 2. System 3. Mother 4. Seria/parae Microprocessor chips contain what three types of circuitry? Memory, contro ogic, and instruction decoding Memory, instruction decoding, and arithmetic-processing Operating system, contro ogic, and arithmetic-processing Contro ogic, instruction decoding, and arithmetic-processing The system board (mother board) contains which of the foowing types of chips? 1. RAM and ROM ony 2. RAM, ROM, and I/O integrated chips ony 3. I/O integrated circuit chips and microprocessor chip(s) ony 4. RAM, ROM, I/O integrated chips, and microprocessor chip(s) Compared with a computer that processes 8 bits at a time, a computer that handes 32 bits at a time has which of the foowing advantages? 1. Processes program instructions faster 2. Can accommodate a arger primary memory 3. Both 1 and 2 above 4. Can accommodate a modem IN ANSWERING QUESTIONS 1-20 THROUGH 1-22, SELECT THE DESCRIPTION IN COLUMN B THAT MATCHES THE MICROCHIP LISTED IN COLUMN A. A. CHIPS B. DESCRIPTIONS bit bit DX bit 4. Hybrid 3

124 1-23. What type of chip is the 80287? 1. RAM 2. DOS 3. I/O circuit 4. Math coprocessor Which of the foowing terms is NOT used interchangeaby with the term monitor? 1. Dispay 2. System unit 3. Dispay device 4. Cathode-ray tube Most coor monitors are of the RGB type. What does RGB mean? 1. Red-green-bue 2. Red-god-bue 3. Raster gauge beam 4. Registered goba beam Depending on the amount of RAM avaiabe, coor monitors can dispay what range of coors? 1. 8 to to to 16,000, to 16,000, Most monitors wi have an LED indicator ight. What does LED mean? 1. Light-emitting diode 2. Light-enhancing diode 3. Low-emitting device 4. Low-enhancing device What characteristic determines the sharpness of the monitor screen image? 1. Coor 2. Resoution 3. Refraction 4. Screen size The number of dots or pixes per square inch of screen measures what characteristic? 1. Coor 2. Refraction 3. Resoution 4. Screen size A screen with a resoution of 1280 by 1024 has what tota number of pixes? 1. 1, , , ,310, By what means are characters created on the screen? 1. Dot-matrix 2. Dot mapping 3. Line drawings 4. Opaque images To individuay contro each dot or pixe on a dispay screen, what technique can be used? 1. Dot dispay 2. Bit dispay 3. Dot mapping 4. Bit mapping 4

125 1-33. Having a dispay device that can automaticay switch to any standard graphics card aows you to take which of the foowing actions? Upgrade the graphics board without upgrading the dispay unit Use any graphics package regardess of operating system Perform system and dispay diagnostics more rapidy Each of the above What is the function of the keyboard? 1. To receive output from the microcomputer 2. To input data into the microcomputer ony 3. To input programs into the microcomputer ony 4. To input data and programs into the microcomputer In addition to aphabetic characters, numbers, and specia characters, keyboards have what other types of keys? 1. Contro ony 2. Function ony 3. Contro and function 4. Operation What key usuay stops the execution of an operation or function? Keys can be combined to perform specia functions. For exampe, pressing the CTRL, ALT, and DEL keys at the same time on most IBM compatibe persona computer systems woud have what resut? 1. Reboot the operating system 2. Load a new appications program 3. Dispay a hep screen 4. Store the fie dispayed on the screen To te the computer you have entered data or instructions and are ready to have them processed, you shoud press what key(s)? 1. Tab ony 2. Ctr and Tab 3. Ctr and At 4. Enter/return Function keys F1-F10 are specificay designed for what purpose? To provide standard information to a programs To contro cursor pacement on the screen To be defined by each program for its own use To aow changing the size of the characters dispayed on the screen 1. Escape 2. Deete 3. Return 4. Contro 5

126 1-40. What are the functions of the eft and right arrow keys? Diskettes are aso known by which of the foowing terms? To move the cursor one position eft or right, respectivey To move the cursor one ine up or down, respectivey To insert a character to the eft or right of the position of the cursor, respectivey To deete the character to the eft or right of the cursor, respectivey Foppy disk 2. Read-ony disk 3. Write-ony disk 4. Hard disk Diskettes come in which of the foowing sizes, in inches? 1. 3 and /4 and and 5 1/ /2 and 5 1/ Which of the foowing types of keys are exampes of contro keys? The index hoe on a diskette serves which of the foowing purposes, if any? 1. F1 through F10 2. Print screen, deete, and insert 3. Numbers and specia characters 4. Aternate, space bar, and enter/return 1. Marks the first sector of the diskette 2. Indicates the front side of the diskette 3. Indicates the back side of the diskette 4. None Which of the foowing types of keys are exampes of specia function keys? 1. Cursor contro 2. Tab and contro 3. Letters and numbers 4. Space bar and back space Which of the foowing properties is NOT a characteristic of a disk? 1. Fat 2. Round 3. Direct access 4. Sequentia access When software contros sector timing of diskettes, (a) what sector type is being used, and (b) which of the foowing numbers of timing hoes are required on the diskette? 1. (a) Hard-sectored (b) One ony 2. (a) Hard-sectored (b) Severa 3. (a) Soft-sectored (b) One ony 4. (a) Soft-sectored (b) Severa 6

127 1-48. What is the purpose of a formatter program, routine, or command? 1. To sector a soft-sectored diskette 2. To create fie abes on a diskette 3. To estabish a naming pattern for writing fies on a diskette 4. To set up a routine to be used to read a diskette that aready contains fies A diskette that can be written on both sides and can hod 512 bytes of information in each sector is what type of diskette? 1. Dua-sided, singe-density 2. Dua-sided, doube-density 3. Doube-sided, singe-density 4. Doube-sided, doube-density You want to prevent data from being written on a diskette. What shoud you usuay do to the write-protect notch if you are using a (a) 5 /4-inch diskette and a (b) 3 /2-inch diskette? 1. (a) Cover it (b) cover it 2. (a) Cover it (b) uncover it 3. (a) Uncover it (b) cover it 4. (a) Uncover it (b) uncover it Rigid meta patters contained in a sma seaed unit either within the system unit or externa to it are caed what type of disk drive? 1. Cot 2. Winchester ony 3. Hard disk ony 4. Winchester or hard disk Speed, arge storage capacities, and convenience are a advantages of which of the foowing storage media? 1. Diskettes 2. Hard disks 3. Paper tape 4. Magnetic tapes Printers used with microcomputers usuay have which of the foowing speeds and print characters in what manner? 1. Low speed, one character at a time 2. Low speed, one ine at a time 3. High speed, one character at a time 4. High speed, one ine at a time Which of the foowing types of nonimpact printers can be used for both printing and potting? 1. Laser 2. Ink jet 3. Eectrostatic 4. Eectrosensitive 7

128 1-55. Contro panes aow you to seect various settings on a printer. What is the purpose of a form-feed button? 1. TO eject paper from the printer 2. To advance the paper to the top of the next form 3. To aow you to seect reprinted forms 4. To advance the paper 1 1/2 inches Before a printer can print, the indicator ights must be in which of the foowing conditions? The power ight on, the onine ight off, and the error ight off 2. The power ight on, the offine ight on, and the error ight on 3. The power ight on, the onine ight on, and the error ight off 4. The power ight on, the offine ight on, and the error ight off To freehand sketch or to seect items from menus on a dispay screen, you use what device? 1. Cat 2. Mouse 3. Modem 4. Optica scanner CD-ROM uses a caed WORM. mean? technoogy What does WORM 1. Write or read many 2. Write once, read many 3. Write or read memory 4. Write once, read memory A cabe that aows devices to communicate without modems and phones ines is caed a 1. convert cabe 2. phone cabe 3. nu modem cabe 4. connector cabe To find out how to insta or configure a piece of hardware, you shoud use what reference source? 1. User/owner s manua 2. Diagnostics manua 3. Training manua 4. Textbook Which of the foowing sections is NOT contained in the manuas that come with a system or the software? 1. Reference 2. Error messages 3. Troubeshooting 4. Standard operating procedures 8

129 1-62. You shoud ook at the headings in the tabe of contents and browse the appendices, gossary, and index of a manua for which of the foowing reasons? 1. To get an idea of what information the manua contains ony 2. To see how the information is organized ony 3. To get an idea of what information the manua contains and how it is organized 4. To decide whether to buy additiona copies Onine tutorias that come with software packages usuay have which of the foowing purposes? To teach a the commands of the software To give you an overview of what the software can do and how it works To dri you in keying the correct information for specific appications To hep you memorize a the functions and specia commands Keyboard tempates and reference cards are usefu because they provide which of the foowing information? Detaied instructions about each feature Identification of features and associated keystrokes Keyboard schematic with a detaied description of each key and a its functions Keyboard schematic with the ASCII coding associated with each key In-house user manuas have which of the foowing functions? To impement command poicy ony To impement command procedures ony To impement command poicy and procedures To impement security reguations ony 9

130 ASSIGNMENT 2 Textbook Assignment: Computer Hardware Startup (continued), chapter 1, pages 1-26 through 1-29; Computer Center Operations, chapter 2, pages 2-1 through 2-35; Data Management, chapter 3, pages 3-1 through Which of the foowing devices,if any, gets its power suppy from the system unit rather than through its own power ine cabe? 1. Printer 2. Keyboard 3. Monitor 4. None 2-2. High votage can overoad and iteray burn up the computer s interna components. To avoid high votage peaks, you shoud use what device? 1. Mouse 2. Fuse box 3. Surge protector 4. Gender changer 2-3. What device has a cabe with a twenty-five pin seria connector to connect it to the system unit? 1. Monitor 2. Keyboard 3. Printer 4. Surge protector 2-4. Which of the foowing types of devices can usuay operate in either a seria or a parae mode? 1. Keyboards 2. Monitors 3. Printers 4. Surge protectors 2-5. What is the criteria for submitting a troube report? 1. There is a probem with hardware that you cannot correct 2. There is a probem with software that you cannot correct 3. Both 1 and 2 above 4. The system is competey down 2-6. Computer rooms preset temperatures to prevent equipment faiures. Regardess of temperature requirements, which of the foowing temperature ranges is most often maintained in computer rooms? F - 65 F F - 70 F F - 75 F F - 80 F 2-7. What instrument is used to monitor both temperature and humidity in a computer space? 1. Hygrometer 2. Barometer 3. Thermometer 4. Hypothermagraph 2-8. What type of distinctive function keys, provided by the manufacturer, provide faster and easier performance of routine functions? 1. Specia 2. Command 3. Programmabe 4. Atypica 10

131 2-9. When powering up a computer you shoud power up the CPU first, then each piece of equipment individuay for which of the foowing reasons? 1. To save time 2. To save power 3. To prevent a surge of power 4. To verify a the indicator ights are working As a computer consoe operator, you normay have to reboot (IPL) the computer system after each of the foowing conditions except which one? 1. The system has ost power 2. The system has gone into a wait state 3. The system is shut down for repairs 4. The system is disabed due to a system crash Some mainframe computers use a disk to store their operating system. This disk is known by which of the foowing names? 1. DISKMAIN 2. MAINSYS 3. PACSYS 4. SYSRES What are the two types of computer diagnostics? 1. Interna and externa 2. Interna and booted 3. Externa and periphera 4. Externa and seected As a computer consoe operator, you are responsibe for responding to messages from the computer. Basicay, you are concerned with what two types of messages? 1. Program and contro 2. User and appications 3. System and conditiona 4. Operating system and program generated As a computer consoe operator, you can determine if a job is active, stopped, terminated, or waiting for printer by performing which of the foowing consoe functions? 1. Initiating job og 2. Dispaying job status 3. Querying job queue 4. Dispaying master scheduer Normay, the programmer determines the points in a program where a job can be restarted without having to rerun the entire job. Thes points are known by what term? 1. Program checks 2. Checkpoints 3. Branchpoints 4. Cutoff points When a program is canceed or terminates abnormay, i is said to have 1. ABENDED 2. ABANDONED 3. ERROR STOPPED 4. JOB HALTED/STOPPED 11

132 2-17. When a program abnormay terminates, you wi normay be required to dump the contents of storage for which of the foowing reasons? To save space on the storage media To aow for reconstruction of the input data To hep the programmer anayze the program To cear out the probem area that caused the abnorma termination What is/are the main reason(s) for reieving a shift 15 to 30 minutes eary? 1. Get acquainted with the jobs running 2. Provide constancy between shifts 3. Provide continuity between operators 4. A of the above If a job terminates before going to a norma EOJ, you, as the I/O contro cerk, may be required to coect which of the foowing data/information? 1. Output data and memory dump ony 2. Input data and SCL statements ony 3. Input data, output data, and memory dump 4. Output data, consoe printout, and SCL statements What makes up a basic virus? 1. A maicious program segment that eaves no obvious signs of its presence 2. Compex instructions that have been designed to stop your computer system from booting up 3. A maicious program segment that creates obvious signs of its presence 4. Compex instructions that cause the periphera devices to og on and off by themseves Magnetic tape must be accimated to the atmosphere in which it wi be used for what minimum period of time? 1. 6 hours hours hours hours A media ibrarian is NOT expected to perform which of the foowing tasks? Maintain off-site storage tapes and disks for disaster recovery Maintain contro of data fies, program fies, and various types of microforms Fie a ibrary materias in a neat, organized, and uniform manner Make necessary SCL program changes prior to reeasing jobs from the ibrary 12

133 2-23. What is the tota number of 90-day extensions that may be granted before the tape is copied to another tape? 1. One 2. Two 3. Three 4. Four What person is responsibe for updating fire-fighting instructions and ensuring fire-fighting equipment is maintained in the magnetic media ibrary? 1. Media ibrarian 2. Loca fire marsha 3. Damage contro petty officer 4. Computer operations supervisor As media ibrarian, you have just removed a new tape from the shipping container. Which of the foowing factors or actions ensures that nothing is internay wrong with the tape? 1. The protective covering is sti on the tape 2. The warranty of the manufacturer is in effect 3. Verification of the tape with a tape ceaner/certifier 4. Visua inspection of the shipping container, ooking for physica damage What are the two types of abes used for magnetic media? 1. Interna and EOF 2. Interna and externa 3. Externa and media 4. Externa and BOF As media ibrarian, you are NOT responsibe for the initia preparation of which of the foowing tape abes? 1. Save 2. Usage 3. Certification 4. Identification Which of the foowing abes remains on a magnetic tape throughout its ife cyce? 1. Save 2. Usage 3. Program 4. Identification On magnetic tape, what is the purpose of the usage abe? 1. It indicates how often a tape is to be certified 2. It heps to identify what has been previousy written on the media 3. It contains information that heps to identify the job or task number 4. It indicates the number of times a tape has been read from or written to When using interna abeing, how many bocks of information, if any, are written immediatey after the BOT marker? 1. Five 2. Two 3. Six 4. None 13

134 2-31. Which of the foowing is a good tape handing practice? 1. Store magnetic tape in a horizonta position 2. Stack tapes with wrap-around straps in stacks of Carry magnetic tape by the center hub, never the fanges 4. Using both hands, mount tape by appying an even amount of pressure to the outer fange Whenever you are retrieving, storing, or handing a disk pack, you shoud aways carry it in which of the foowing ways? 1. By the hande ocated on the top cover 2. By the hande ocated on the bottom cover 3. By pacing both hands on the bottom cover 4. Under your arm, so it wi not get away from you When you are working with magnetic tape, the greatest number of tape errors are normay found in what area of the tape? 1. Within feet the first Within the ast 100 feet 3. In the midde of the tape 4. On the edges of the tape A new tape shoud be ceaned (a) a minimum of how many times, and (b) for what reason? 1. (a) One (b) 2. (a) (b) 3. (a) (b) 4. (a) (b) to reieve tape packing One to hep prevent head wear Two to reieve tape packing Two to hep prevent head wear When you are ceaning a tape, (a) what is used to remove protrusions from the oxide surface, and (b) what is the maximum percentage of tape errors that are removed? 1. (a) Knives (b) 75% 2. (a) Wiping assembies (b) 75% 3. (a) Knives (b) 90% 4. (a) Wiping assembies (b) 90% Soft data checks caed what type 1. Permanent 2. Temporary 3. Hard parity 4. Head-to-disk are of aso errors? contact 14

135 What action does the degaussing of magnetic media accompish? Sorts out individua bits Rearranges a aphabetic and numeric characters Magneticay saturates the oxide coating and rearranges a 0 and 1 bits Demagnetizes the media and then repaces EOT and BOT markers with up-to-date abes for reuse What guideines, if any, do you use to destroy magnetic tape and diskettes? 1. Loca SOPS 2. OPNAVINST SECNAVINST None Most AIS instaations have incorporated or are capabe of instaing an automated tape ibrary contro (ATLC) system. Which of the foowing processes takes pace in an ATLC system? Under an ATLC system, what report indicates the tapes that are to be scratched or reeased? 1. The ibrary maintenance report 2. The media to be reeased report 3. The user/programmer report 4. The appications report The diskette shoud be inserted in a horizonta diskette drive with (a) the abe and (b) the recording window facing in which of the foowing directions? 1. (a) (b) 2. (a) (b) 3. (a) (b) 4. (a) (b) Up toward the drive door Up away from the drive door Down toward the drive door Down away from the drive door What is the extension of a fie named DIAG-A.89? Save abes are automaticay scanned by an optica reader Storage, handing, and retrieva of magnetic media are done automaticay Tape/disk fies are automaticay saved, retained, and scratched, based on purge dates Information needed to buid an ATLC master record is automaticay extracted from the media s interna abe 1. DIAG 2. A A When you dispay a tree-structured directory on a monitor screen, what notation identifies subdirectories? 1. <DIR> 2. <B/S> 3. <BDIR/S> 4. SUB as an extension 15

136 2-44. What command instruct DOS directory? 1. CD 2. CHDIR 3. DIR 4. MKDIR is used to to create a To move through a tree-structured directory, you must issue commands that use what name? 1. Branch name 2. Trunk name 3. Path name 4. Leaf name You run the risk of osing data and programs stored on disk if you do not take which of the foowing actions? 1. Make backup copies 2. Enter security codes in the fie name 3. Assign a voume number and name to each disk 4. Use subdirectories to store simiar data and programs Which of the foowing actions, if any, can you take to hep prevent data oss and extend the ife of foppy disk drives? Perform diagnostic routines periodicay to see if there are any probems Cean foppy disk drives with a head ceaning diskette Cean the foppy disk drives with a ceaning soution on a soft coth None When you oad or unoad a tape from a tape drive, which of the foowing conditions shoud you ook for? 1. Ree warpage 2. Tape protruding 3. Irreguar winding 4. A of the above Assume you have mounted a tape on tape unit 2 and notice that during the oading phase the tape is wobbing. Which of the foowing conditions coud cause this probem? 1. The tape tension is uneven 2. The drive capstans are not propery aigned 3. The fie protect ring is not competey inserted 4. The voume of air in the vacuum coumns is ow When you adjust the tractors on a printer, it is good practice to keep which of the foowing tractors in one permanent ocation? 1. Upper tractors 2. Lower tractors 3. Left-hand tractors 4. Right-hand tractors On a printer, the paper thickness contro knob has a direct effect on which of the foowing printer functions? 1. Forms stacking 2. Quaity of print 3. Aignment of preprinted forms 4. Line-by-ine movement of paper 16

137 2-52. Your system wi probaby provide a read disk test, a keyboard test, and a power-up test. These types tests are characterized by what term? 1. Offine routines 2. Diagnostic routines 3. Operator maintenance 4. Corrective maintenance Software that is specificay designed to coordinate the capabiities of the computer itsef is caed what type of software? 1. Systems 2. Computer 3. Scheduing 4. Operations Programs that are designed to sove individua user probems are caed what type of programs? 1. CDA 2. Genera 3. Privieged 4. Appications When you write a program, which of the programming anguage categories isted beow woud be the most time consuming? 1. COBOL 2. FORTRAN 3. Machine 4. Assemby There are a whoe host of high-eve programming anguages. Which of the foowing anguages was designed with the professiona programmer in mind? NOTE : Ada is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Defense A microcomputer systems wi have at east what type of software? 1. A window program 2. An operating system 3. A word processing package 4. A data base management system Which of the foowing types of information must you provide to an appications software package when you insta it on a microcomputer system? 1. Microcomputer configuration information 2. Exampes of the work that wi be performed 3. Lists of outputs you want on a schedued basis 4. A of the above To make a microcomputer system easier for the user to start each day, you shoud take what action? 1. Give the user a written ist of specific instructions to foow 2. Set the system to automaticay boot when the user turns on the power 3. Go to each system each morning and boot the system for the user 4. Make arrangements for one person in each functiona area to boot a the systems each day 1. Ada 2. C++ 3. COBOL 4. FORTRAN 17

138 2-60. Before turning the power off on a microcomputer system, the user shoud take which of the foowing actions? 1. Save his/her work 2. Exit the program to return to the operating system 3. Park the read/write heads if using a hard drive 4. Deenergize the system Packaged software does NOT incude which of the foowing software? 1. Database 2. Word processing 3. Job contro 4. Spreadsheet Regardess of the software package you are using, it is NOT mandatory that you be capabe of executing which of the foowing operations? 1. Access and execute the software 2. Save fies 3. Deete fies 4. Run diagnostics To perform fie management functions effectivey, you must know which of the foowing facts about fies? 1. How they are set up and coded 2. How they are named 3. How they are backed up 4. A of the above When you are earning how to use a software package, you shoud NOT take which of the foowing actions? Take the tutoria/study the earning section Create a test fie and practice on it Practice on the master data fie Make mistakes on purpose to see how the software handes operator/user errors Commands composed of words and/or characters predefined by the software to perform specific tasks are what type of commands? 1. Direct 2. Indirect 3. Execute 4. Job Function keys have which of the foowing purposes? To perform user defined functions ony To perform commony used commands without the user having to type the command To provide user status information ony To enter data and program information 18

139 ASSIGNMENT 3 Textbook Assignment: Data Management (continued), chapter 3, pages 3-6 through When you are earning a new software package, what method of interfacing with the software is usuay the easiest? 1. Menu 2. Direct commands 3. Function keys 4. Programs/macros 3-2. Use of what feature(s) enabes you to enter and save a series of keystrokes for ater use? Function keys System commands Job anguages Macro capabiity 3-3. Macros can be deveoped and stored to perform which of the foowing types of tasks? 1. Repetitive ony 2. Compex ony 3. Awkward ony 4. Repetitive, compex, and awkward 3-4. What type of software package is designed primariy to work with documents? 1. Word processing 2. Spreadsheet 3. Graphics 4. Database 3-5. What is the usua method of entering a document? 1. Type it on a keyboard 2. Receive it over a network 3. Input it through a scanner 4. Import it from a desktop pubishing program 3-6. Once entered, a document is normay stored as a data fie in what way, if at a? 1. In RAM 2. In ROM 3. On a secondary storage medium 4. None; documents are ony printed, not stored 3-7. You are using a word processing program and want to add new materia to a document. What mode of operation shoud you use? 1. New 2. Add 3. Insert 4. Typeover 3-8. What feature of word processing enabes you to continue typing without regard for where a ine ends? 1. Word wrap 2. Hyphenation 3. End around 4. Automatic return 19

140 To underine or center materia, you shoud use what feature? 1. Cursor movement key 2. Direct command 3. Function key 4. Macro Usuay, a dictionary is incuded with which of the foowing software? 1. Database 2. Spreadsheet 3. Word processing 4. Desktop pubishing The vaues in the tota coumn are cacuated by the software by the user specifying a formua to perform what cacuation, if any? 1. Coumn B 2. Coumn B 3. Coumn C 4. None times coumn C pus coumn C squared If you need to change the quantity of tapes and recacuate the cost, which data ces woud you have to change from the keyboard? What type of software package works in coumns and rows? 1. Database 2. Spreadsheet 3. Graphics 4. Desktop pubishing A B c D 1 ITEM QUANTITY COST TOTAL$ 2 Tapes Disks Figure 3A IN ANSWERING QUESTIONS 3-12 THROUGH 3-16, REFER TO FIGURE 3A What tota number of data ces are shown? B2 ony 2. B2 and C2 ony 3. B2 and D2 ony 4. B2, C2, and D In the spreadsheet, (a) what term is used to describe the entries in coumn A, and (b) what type of data does coumn A contain? 1. (a) Labes 2. (b) numeric (a) Labes (b) nonnumeric 3. (a) Vaues 4. (b) numeric (a) Vaues (b) nonnumeric Which of the foowing names is/are aso used to describe a spreadsheet? 1. Array ony 2. Matrix ony 3. Worksheet ony 4. Array, matrix, and worksheet What vaue is shown in data ce B3?

141 3-18. What type of software packages work primariy with records, fieds, indexes, pointers, and keys? With database software, what name is given to the type of anguage used to retrieve information from a database? 1. Graphics 2. Database 3. Spreadsheet 4. Word processing 1. Query 2. System 3. Information 4. Report generator To access records in a database in a sequence other than the sequence in which they are stored, you can use which of the foowing techniques? When you want to produce a high quaity printed document with a variety of type sizes and styes, what type of software package woud be best to use? 1. Indexes 2. Pointers 3. Directories 4. Key searches 1. Word processing 2. Desktop pubishing 3. Graphics 4. Database List databases use what technique to ink records? 1. Indexes 2. Pointers 3. Cataogs 4. Directories What type(s) of database structure ink(s) reated data eements by using superior-subordinate reationships? 1. Network ony 2. Hierarchica ony 3. Hierarchica and network 4. Reationa What type of database structure enabes the user to estabish reationships when requesting information rather than requiring reationships be estabished at the time the structure is defined? When you want to use desktop pubishing software to process a document you created with word processing software, you wi have to take what action? 1. Import the document fie 2. Rekeystroke the document 3. Reformat the document fie using a stand-aone utiity program 4. Transate the document fie using a stand-aone utiity program Which of the foowing is NOT a function of desktop pubishing software? 1. Composition 2. Cacuations 3. Graphics 4. Layout 1. List 2. Network 3. Reationa 4. Hierarchica 21

142 Layout invoves which of foowing tasks? the 1. Arranging text ony 2. Drawing borders ony 3. Incorporating iustrations ony 4. Arranging text, drawing borders, and incorporating iustrations The space added between ines of materia is known by what term? 1. Letter spacing 2. Gutter spacing 3. Cipping 4. Leading You can expect to find which of the foowing capabiities reating to graphics in a desktop pubishing program? 1. Resizing ony 2. Importing ony 3. Coor ayering ony 4. Resizing, importing, and coor ayering At a minimum, to effectivey use desktop pubishing software requires which of the foowing processors? 1. A bit 2. A bit 3. A bit 4. A Pentium 32-bit The monitor to use with desktop pubishing software shoud have (a) what resoution and (b) at east what size screen? What type of printer is best to use with desktop pubishing? 1. Daisy whee 2. Dot-matrix 3. Laser 4. Band Software utiities can NOT enhance your computer s capabiities fi some of the voids eft by operating systems and appications software repace the need for appication software to perform tasks ike word processing and database make your computer more efficient Software utiities can be categorized into which of the foowing groups? Fie maintenance and fie management ony Keyboard enhancers, DOS she, and backup utiities ony Desktop organizers, printer utiities, and virus utiities ony Fie management, fie maintenance, keyboard enhancers, DOS she, backup utiities, desktop organizers, printer utiities, and virus utiities What type of utiity usuay incudes a cacuator, notepad, phone directory, and appointment book? 1. (a) High 2. (a) High 3. (a) Low 4. (a) Low (b) 13-inch (b) 19-inch (b) 13-inch (b) 19-inch 1. Fie management 2. Fie maintenance 3. Desktop organizer 4. Printer 22

143 3-36. Fie compression routines are often a feature of backup utiities. They have which of the foowing advantages? 1. Make data easier to read 2. Aow more data to be paced on a diskette 3. Require fewer data fies for data storage 4. Each of the above Fie management utiities perform which of the foowing functions? 1. Manipuate fies ony 2. Manipuate directories ony 3. Manipuate fies and directories 4. Provide fie recovery Fie maintenance utiities are NOT designed to perform which of the foowing tasks? 1. Encrypt data 2. Repair ow-eve format damage on hard disks 3. Contro access to resources and fies 4. Organize fies and set fie attributes What person is the primary source in determining the input data and output materia? 1. User 2. Programmer 3. I/O contro cerk 4. Technica administrator How a fie wi be accessed by the program is determined at which of the foowing times? 1. When the DBMS is seected 2. During the creation of the schema 3. During the creation of the subschema 4. When the fie is downoaded Which of the foowing is the most commony used fie organization method? 1. Sequentia 2. Indexed sequentia 3. Direct Of the foowing features of a DBMS, which one, if any, is more important than the others? 1. Easy access to the data 2. Storage and maintenance of arge voumes of data 3. Capabiity for sharing the data resources 4. None; a are equay important In a DBMS environment, users do not want to share their data with other users of the database. 1. True 2. Fase Technica and nontechnica DBMS users need different views of data. 1. True 2. Fase 23

144 A conventiona computer system has few appication programs or systems using different databases and fies. 1. True 2. Fase Which of the foowing defines a DBMS schema? 1. The actua data in the database framework 2. The software description of the operating system 3. An overa ogica database description or framework 4. A data aggregate of owner-type records Which of the foowing items enhances security factors and heps prohibit data compromise? 1. A schema 2. A subschema 3. A subroutine 4. A data converter A data provided by the DBMS in response to a CALL for data is deivered to what is conceptuay a oading and unoading zone caed a 1. system buffer 2. I/O contro area 3. user working area 4. DBMS waiting buffer A data item can be described as an occurrence of which of the foowing eements? 1. A bit in a database 2. The argest unit of named data 3. The smaest unit of named data 4. A byte in a database A data aggregate is an occurrence of a named coection of data items within a 1. byte 2. fie 3. record 4. system A vector is which of the foowing (a) sequences of data items that have which of the foowing (b) characteristics? 1. (a) One-dimensiona (b) different 2. (a) One-dimensiona (b) identica 3. (a) Two-dimensiona (b) different 4. (a) Two-dimensiona (b) identica Which of the foowing is a unique vaue that identifies a record in the database to a run unit? 1. A sort key 2. A search key 3. An actua key 4. A database key An occurrence of a named coection of records is caed a 1. key 2. set 3. mark 4. keyword Each set occurrence must contain what minimum number of occurrences if it is defined as an owner type of record? 1. One 2. Two 3. Three 4. Four 24

145 A named coection of records that need not preserve owner/member reationships is caed a/an 1. set 2. area 3. data item 4. database key A database consists of a of the foowing items controed by a specific schema except which one? 1. Sets 2. Areas 3. Fies 4. Records The data manipuation anguage reies on which of the foowing anguage types to provide the procedura capabiities required to manipuate data? 1. Host 2. Query 3. Appication 4. DDL After the database physica description has been examined, which of the foowing items keys the actua physica record to be read? 1. DDL 2. DBMS 3. The object program 4. The consoe operator When data has been requested by a DBMS, to which of the foowing areas does the operating system deiver the requested data from the database? 1. User work area (UWA) 2. System buffers 3. DBMS 4. DMS After the operating system has transferred data to the system buffer area, where does the DBMS deiver the data to be used by a source program? 1. To a system work disk 2. To a system work tape 3. To the user work area (UWA) 4. To system buffer areas 1 and A schema data definition anguage (DDL) entry incudes references to a physica device or media space. 1. True 2. Fase Which of the foowing items is/are contained in a DDL? 1. Litera formatting ony 2. Key words ony 3. Reserved words ony 4. Litera formatting, key words, and reserved words To specify the reationship between DDL decarations and DML commands, a set of basic data manipuation functions must be defined that is independent of which of the foowing anguages? 1. DML ony 2. Host anguage ony 3. DML and the host anguage 4. DDL 25

146 3-64. When seecting a DBMS, the When a DBMS is seected for primary consideration shoud a microcomputer system, be to seect a technoogy which of the foowing that wi meet which of the is/are (an) important foowing criteria? additiona concern(s)? Be the owest cost 1. Be the easiest to use Require the shortest 2. impementation time Support the ong-term 3. DBMS needs 4. Capabiity of receiving downoaded data Abiity to be used on a network Abiity to enabe quick and easy screen formats A of the above 26