The Formatted File System (FFS) is the name of a series of
Database Management Systems (DBMS) developed for military use and designed to run on IBM mainframe computers.
The period from 1964 to 1968 saw the transition from isolated DBMS development efforts to the development of DBMS families. The Formatted File System is one such family. Others included General Electric's
IDS
IDS may refer to:
Computing
* IBM Informix Dynamic Server, a relational database management system
* Ideographic Description Sequence, describing a Unihan character as a combination of other characters
* Integrated Data Store, one of the first da ...
family, and the
Mark IV series developed by
Informatics Inc. (later acquired by
Sterling Software
Sterling Software was an American software company founded in Dallas, Texas in 1981 by Sterling Williams and brothers Sam and Charles Wyly. The company was acquired by Computer Associates International in 2000 in a stock-for-stock transaction ...
). These families were developed across organizations and branches of government, spreading and evolving with their primary developers. Beginning around 1968, industry DBMS development became increasingly proprietary.
Family Members
*IRS(DTMB), 1958, IBM 704
**Information Retrieval System (
David Taylor Model Basin
The David Taylor Model Basin (DTMB) is one of the largest ship model basins—test facilities for the development of ship design—in the world. DTMB is a field activity of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
Hist ...
)
*TUFF/TUG(DTMB), 1959, IBM 704/9
**Tape Update for Formatted Files / Tape Updater and Generator (David Taylor Model Basin)
*FFS(SAC), 1961, IBM 7090
**Formatted File System (
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
)
*FFS(IDHS), 1963, IBM 1401
**Formatted File System (Intelligence Data-Handling System)
*FFS(FICEUR), 1963, IBM 1410
**Formatted File System (Naval Fleet Intelligence Center in Europe)
*FFS(DIA-IDHS), 1965, IBM 1410
**Formatted File System (Defense Intelligence Agency - Intelligence Data-Handling System)
*GIS, 1965, IBM SYSTEM/360
**Generalized Information System
*NIPS, 1965, IBM 1410
**NMCS (National Military Command System) Information Processing System
*NIPS, 1968, IBM SYSTEM/360
**NMCS (National Military Command System) Information Processing System
*CDMS, 1968, IBM SYSTEM/360
**Cobol Data Management System
References
*
*
Proprietary database management systems
IBM mainframe software
{{database-software-stub