The term "Pick system" has also come to be used as the general name of alloperating environments which employ this multivalued database and have some implementation of Pick/BASIC andENGLISH/Access queries. Although Pick started on a variety ofminicomputers, the system and its various implementations eventually spread to a large assortment ofmicrocomputers, personal computers,[3] andmainframe computers.[4]
The Pick Operating System is an integrated computing platform with a database, query and procedural operation languages, peripheral and multi-user management, andBASIC programming capabilities. Its database utilizes a hash-file system, enabling efficient data storage and retrieval by organizing data into dynamic associative arrays managed by associative files.
Data within the Pick system is organized into a hierarchical structure of accounts, dictionaries, files, and sub-files based on ahash-table model with linear probing. This structure comprises variable-length records, fields, and sub-fields, with unique naming conventions that reflect its multivalued database characteristics. Records are identified by unique keys that facilitate direct access to their storage locations.[5]
Initially constrained by the era's technological limitations, the Pick system's capacity has expanded over time, removing earlier record-size limits and introducing dynamic file allocation andB-tree indexing to enhance data management capabilities.
The Pick database operates without explicitdata types,[5] treating all data as character strings, which places the onus of data integrity on the applications developed for the system. This flexibility allows Pick to store data innon-first-normal-form, avoiding the need forjoin operations by containing all related data within single records. This approach can optimize storage and retrieval efficiency for specific kinds of datasets.
Pick was originally implemented as theGeneralized Information Retrieval Language System (GIRLS) on anIBM System/360 in 1965 by Don Nelson and Dick Pick atTRW, whose government contract for the Cheyenne Helicopter project required developing a database.[4] It was supposed to be used by theU.S. Army to control the inventory ofCheyenne helicopter parts.[6]
The first Microdata implementation, called the Reality, came only with a procedural language (PROC), and a query language (ENGLISH). In 1975, Ken Simms of Pick Systems created an implementation of DartmouthBASIC for the Reality, with numerous syntax extensions forsmart terminal interface and database operations, and it was called Data/BASIC. At or near the same time, SMI of Chicago, created an extended procedural language and called it RPL.
PROC, the procedure language was provided for executingscripts. ASQL-style language called ENGLISH allowed database retrieval and reporting, but not updates (although later, the ENGLISH command "REFORMAT" allowed updates on a batch basis). ENGLISH did not fully allow manipulating the 3-dimensional multivalued structure of data records. Nor did it directly provide commonrelational capabilities such asjoins. This was because powerfuldata dictionary redefinitions for a field allowed joins via the execution of a calculated lookup in another file. The system included aspooler. A simpletext editor for file-system records was provided, but the editor was only suitable[5] for system maintenance, and could not lock records, so most applications were written with the other tools such as Batch, RPL, or the BASIC language so as to ensure data validation and allowrecord locking.
By the early 1980s observers saw the Pick Operating System as a strong competitor toUnix,[9] another portable, sophisticated, multitasking, multiuser operating system created in the early 1970s with devoted fans.[10]BYTE in 1985 stated that "Pick is simple and powerful, and it seems to be efficient and reliable, too ... because it works well as a multiuser system, it's probably the most cost-effective way to use anXT".[11] The typical customer by then was a small- or medium-size company in specific industry verticals, with asupermicro orminicomputer and eight to ten terminals purchased through avalue-added reseller. Pick is much easier to use and administer than Unix; many customers reportedly did not have asysadmin.[10]
Dick Pick founded Pick & Associates, later renamed Pick Systems, then Raining Data, then (as of 2011[update]) TigerLogic, and finally Rocket Software. He licensed "Pick" to a large variety of manufacturers and vendors who have produced different "flavors" of Pick. The database flavors sold by TigerLogic were D3, mvBase, and mv Enterprise. Those previously sold byIBM under the "U2" umbrella are known as UniData and UniVerse.Rocket Software purchased IBM's U2 family of products in 2010 and Tiger Logic's D3 and mvBase family of products in 2014. In 2021, Rocket acquired OpenQM and jBASE as well.
One disadvantage of Pick, an analyst said, was that compared to Unix, "second-tier companies" licensed and resold the operating system.[7] By then many predicted that—with Unix already an industry standard and AT&T and other vendors' enormous marketing budgets—Pick would become only a database running as part of a Unix system, and not standalone; by 1986, Revelation for the IBM PC was the largest source of Pick licenses. Even happy Pick users wondered why the operating system did not see more marketing and customer adoption;[10] Pick Systems often became tangled in licensing litigation, and devoted relatively little effort to marketing[7][12] and improving its software. Subsequent ports of Pick to other platforms generally offered the same tools and capabilities for many years, usually with relatively minor improvements and simply renamed (for example, Data/BASIC became Pick/BASIC and ENGLISH becameACCESS).[5] Licensees often developed proprietary variations and enhancements; for example, Microdata created an input processor called ScreenPro.
Dick Pick died at age 56 due to stroke complications in October 1994.[13][14]
The Pick database was licensed to roughly three dozen licensees between 1978 and 1984. Application-compatible implementations evolved into derivatives and also inspired similar systems.
Reality – The first implementation of the Pick database was on a Microdata platform using firmware and calledReality. The first commercial release was in 1973. Microdata acquired CMC Ltd. in the early 80s and were based in Hemel Hempstead, England. The Microdata implementations ran infirmware, so each upgrade had to be accompanied by a new configuration chip. Microdata itself was eventually bought byMcDonnell Douglas Information Systems. Pick and Microdata sued each other for the right to market the database, the final judgment being that they both had the right. In addition to the Reality Sequoia and Pegasus series of computers, Microdata and CMC Ltd. sold the Sequel (Sequoia) series which was a much larger class able to handle over 1000 simultaneous users. The earlier Reality minicomputers were known to handle well over 200 simultaneous users, although performance was slow and it was above the official limit. Pegasus systems superseded Sequoia and could handle even more simultaneous users than its predecessors.
Although Reality began as a Pick licensee, after the end of the Pick Systems-Microdata relationship in the mid-1970s, it was no longer based on licensed Pick technology or source code and became a compatible operating system.[10]
The modern version of this original Pick implementation is owned and distributed by Northgate Information Solutions Reality.
Ultimate – The second implementation of the Pick database was developed in about 1978 by an American company called The Ultimate Corp, run by Ted Sabarese. Like the earlier Microdata port, this was a firmware implementation, with the Pick instruction set in firmware and the monitor in assembly code on aHoneywell Level 6 machine. The system had dual personalities in that the monitor/kernel functions (mostly hardware I/O and scheduling) were executed by the native Honeywell Level 6 instruction set. When the monitor "select next user" for activation control was passed to the Honeywell WCS (writable control store) to execute Pick assembler code (implemented in microcode) for the selected process. When the user's time slice expired control was passed back to the kernel running the native Level 6 instruction set.
Ultimate took this concept further with the DEC LSI/11 family of products by implementing a co-processor in hardware (bit-slice, firmware driven). Instead of a single processor with a WCS microcode enhanced instruction set, this configuration used two independent but cooperating CPUs. The LSI11 CPU executed the monitor functions and the co-processor executed the Pick assembler instruction set. The efficiencies of this approach resulted in a 2× performance improvement. The co-processor concept was used again to create a 5×, 7×, and dual-7× versions for Honeywell Level 6 systems. Dual ported memory with private busses to the co-processors were used to increase performance of the LSI11 and Level 6 systems.
Another version used a DECLSI-11 for the IOP and a 7X board. Ultimate enjoyed moderate success during the 1980s, and even included an implementation running as a layer on top of DEC VAX systems, the 750, 780, 785, and later theMicroVAX. Ultimate also had versions of the Ultimate Operating System running on IBM 370 series systems (under VM and native) and also the 9370 series computers. Ultimate was renamed Allerion, Inc., before liquidation of its assets. Most assets were acquired byGroupe Bull, and consisted of mostly maintaining extant hardware. Bull had its own problems and in approximately 1994 the US maintenance operation was sold toWang.
Prime INFORMATION – Another compatible workalike, not licensed by Pick Systems.[10] Devcom, a Microdata reseller, wrote a Pick-style database system called INFORMATION inFORTRAN and assembler in 1979 to run onPrime Computer 50-series systems. It was then sold to Prime Computer and renamed Prime INFORMATION.[citation needed] In 1985 25% of Prime systems shipped with INFORMATION, accounting for $7 million in software revenue.[10] It was subsequently sold toVMark Software Inc. This was the first of the guest operating environment implementations. INFO/BASIC, a variant ofDartmouth BASIC,[5] was used for database applications.
Applied Digital Data Systems (ADDS) – First developed in 1981. This was the first implementation to be done in software only, so upgrades were accomplished by a tape load, rather than a new chip. The "Mentor" line was initially based on the Zilog Z-8000 chipset and this port set off a flurry of other software implementations across a wide array of processors with a large emphasis on theMotorola 68000.
UniVerse – Another implementation of the system, calledUniVerse, was created by VMark Software and operated underUnix andMicrosoft Windows. This was the first one to incorporate the ability to emulate other implementations of the system, such as Microdata's Reality Operating System, and Prime INFORMATION. Originally running on Unix, it was later also made available for Windows. It now is owned by Rocket Software. (The systems developed by Prime Computer and VMark are now owned by Rocket Software and referred to as "U2".)
UniData – Very similar to UniVerse, butUniData had facilities to interact with other Windows applications. It is also owned and distributed by Rocket Software.
PI/open – Prime Computer rewrote Prime INFORMATION in C for the Unix-based systems it was selling, calling it PI+. It was then ported to other Unix systems offered by other hardware vendors and renamed PI/open.
Fujitsu Microsystems of America – Another software implementation, existing in the late 1980s. Fujitsu Microsystems of America was acquired by Alpha Microsystems on October 28, 1989.[15][16]
Pyramid – Another software implementation in the 1980s
General Automation "Zebra" – Another software implementation in the 1980s
Altos – A software implementation on an 8086 chipset platform launched around 1983.
Wicat/Pick – Another software implementation existing in the 1980s
Sequoia – Another software implementation, existing from 1984. Sequoia was most well known for its fault-tolerant multi-processor model,[17][18] which could be dialed into with the user's permission and his switching terminal zero to remote with the key on the system console. He could watch what was done by the support person who had dialed on his terminal 0, a printer with a keyboard. Pegasus came out in 1987. The Enterprise Systems business unit (which was the unit that sold Pick), was sold to General Automation in 1996/1997.[19]
Revelation – In 1984, Cosmos released Revelation, a database for theIBM PC.[20] It is a single-user implementation of Pick running onDOS.[11] By 1986 Revelation was the single largest source of Pick licenses.[10] Advanced Revelation is now owned by Revelation Technologies, which publishes a GUI-enabled version called OpenInsight.
jBASE – jBASE was released in 1991 by a small company of the same name inHemel Hempstead, England. Written by former Microdata engineers, jBASE emulates all implementations of the system to some degree. jBASE compiles applications to native machine code form, rather than to an intermediate byte code. In 2015, cloud solutions provider Zumasys[21] in Irvine, California, acquired the jBASE distribution rights from Mpower1 as well as the intellectual property fromTemenos Group.[22] On 14 Oct 2021, Zumasys announced they had sold their databases and tools, including jBASE, to Rocket Software.[23]
UniVision – UniVision was a Pick-style database designed as a replacement for the Mentor version, but with extended features, released in 1992 by EDP inSheffield, England.
OpenQM – The onlyMultiValue database product available both as a fully supported non-open source commercial product and in open source form under theGeneral Public License. OpenQM was available from its exclusive worldwide distributor, Zumasys.[24] On 14 Oct 2021, Zumasys announced it had sold its databases and tools, including OpenQM, to Rocket Software.[25]
Caché – In 2005InterSystems, the maker ofCaché database, announced support for a broad set ofMultiValue extensions, Caché for MultiValue.[26]
ONware – ONware equips MultiValue applications with the ability to use common databases such asOracle andSQL Server. Using ONware, MultiValue applications can be integrated with relational, object, and object-relational applications.
D3 – Pick Systems ported the Pick Operating System to run as a database product utilizing hostoperating systems such as Unix, Linux, or Windows servers, with the data stored within the file system of the host operating system. Previous Unix or Windows versions had to run in a separate partition, which made interfacing with other applications difficult. The D3 releases opened the possibility of integrating internet access to the database or interfacing to popular word processing and spreadsheet applications, which has been successfully demonstrated by a number of users. The D3 family of databases and related tools is owned and distributed by Rocket Software.
Through the implementations above, and others, Pick-like systems became available as database, programming, and emulation environments running under many Unix variants, Linux distributions, and versions of Microsoft Windows.
^Elleray, Dick (July 16, 1986).Project Management Bulletin 1986/09 – "The Reality Operating System Revealed. 1986/09. Project Management Group, McDonnell Douglas Informations Systems Group.
The Pick Perspective; Ian Jeffrey Sandler; Blue Ridge Summit, PA; TAB Professional and Reference Books; 1989.OCLC18521562 Part of The Pick Library Series, Edited by Jonathan E. Sisk
Le systeme PICK : mode d'emploi d'un nouveau standard informatique; Michel Lallement, Jeanne-Françoise Beltzer; Aulnay-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis; Relais Informatique International, 1987.OCLC20877971
The Pick operating system : a practical guide; Roger J Bourdon; Wokingham, England; Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley, 1987.OCLC13945808
Le Système d'éxploitation : réalités et perspectives; Bernard de Coux; Paris : Afnor, 1988.OCLC20078135
Pick BASIC : A Programmer's Guide; Jonathan E Sisk;Blue Ridge Summit, PA : TAB Professional and Reference Books, 1987.OCLC16355134 Part of The Pick Library Series, Edited by Jonathan E. Sisk
Pick BASIC : a reference guide; Linda Mui; Sebastopol, CA : O'Reilly & Associates, 1990.OCLC22147353
