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From ICE to vPQL

From ICE to vPQL. A look back at Eighteen years of SiR and SiR conferences (1983 – 2001). Changes in the appearance of SiR. The user interface has changed beyond all recognition 1983 - character based 2001 - GUI The style and content of the conference has changed as well

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From ICE to vPQL

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  1. From ICE to vPQL A look back at Eighteen years of SiR andSiR conferences(1983 – 2001)

  2. Changes in the appearance of SiR • The user interface has changed beyond all recognition • 1983 - character based • 2001 - GUI • The style and content of the conference has changed as well • 1983 – Handwritten slides and JCL/PQL listings • 2001 - Powerpoint and WWW

  3. 1983 – Goldsmiths College – London • Two days • First day for ICL user / convertor meeting • Second day for the rest of the users • No published proceedings • No real memory of the event except • Hard to get to • Hard seats • ICL convertor ‘bashing’ extended to day 2

  4. 1984 – Royal Hotel – London • European two day event • Key note speech in which SiR was almost dismissed out of hand and relational praised • One paper had 16 pages of schema listings • Another talked of HOPP – Host Pre-Processor which generated SiR/HOST • Almost all papers were either typewritten or fixed pitch fonts – nothing fancy !

  5. 1984 – Royal Hotel – London • SiR enhancements • Concurrent SiR/FORMS updating • Double key entry in SiR/FORMS • SQL+ SAVE TABLE in SiR/DBMS • New SiR products • SiR/GRAPH • PC versions of SiR/DBMS

  6. 1984 – Royal Hotel – London • Highlights • Hand written slides • Hard to see screen due to layout of room • Appalling time keeping by session chairmen • Names and Papers to note • Kathy Brooks of Pinpoint mentioned in one paper • Bernie Enlander on the ‘Relational model & SiR’ • John Lemon on ‘Cows in Cairo’

  7. 1985 – Hotel Russell – London • Two day UK only event – 77 attendees • Keynotes speech indicated the way ahead was ‘Intelligent Knowledge Based Systems’ • Relied heavily on PROLOG • ‘SQL is not enough’ by Barry Robinson outlined pitfalls in SQL • Highly readable • Still relevant today

  8. 1985 – Hotel Russell – London • Papers were both technical and user applications • ‘Missing Values in SiR’ by Catherine Ellis • ‘Menu driven systems in SiR by K. Brooks and B. Enlander • ‘The UK Family expenditure Survey’ by M. Janes • ‘Pancreatic Cancer in North East Scotland’ by ..

  9. 1985 – Hotel Russell – London • SiR Inc announcements • Read / Write external files • Access SQL tabfiles from PQL • Indexes on TABFILES • MODIFY SCHEMA command • Improved journalling including UPLOAD / DOWNLOAD • SQL updating • FORMS runs on IBM 327x terminals

  10. 1985 – Hotel Russell – London • SiR Inc announcements • Full screen data base definition – SCHEMA • eSQL+ - embedded SQL for FORTRAN • SIR/PC • 512K RAM • 10 Mbytes disc • Maths co-processor • SIR/GRAPH – create data set from DBMS or SQL – then ‘edit’

  11. 1985 – Hotel Russell – London • SiR Inc announcements for version 3 • File system spanning devices • Full concurrency over all modules • Transaction COMMIT processing • Automatic ‘roll-back’ recovery • Improved integration of modules • Improved and integrated security across all modules

  12. 1985 – Hotel Russell – London • Highlights • Barry Robinson's paper on SQL • The ‘upbeat’ sales pitch for version 3 • The lack of anything ‘outwith’ the conference • And was this the place where the ‘Blue-tacked’ posters demolished the plasterwork ?

  13. 1986 – Old Swan Hotel - Harrogate • Fourth conference and first outside London • Hotel was where Agatha Christie ‘disappeared’ • Much better atmosphere • People talked instead of going home • Special Interest Groups – SIGs • ICL • SQL • Nothing on paper about SiR’s plans for next version

  14. 1986 – Old Swan Hotel - Harrogate • Papers and proceedings • had less code • More diagrams • Overheads were getting better • ‘The use of SiR/DBMS as a teaching tool’ – Elizabeth Frondigoun • ‘Generating Personalised Mail from a SiR data base’ – Linda Croxford

  15. 1986 – Old Swan Hotel - Harrogate • User enhancement poll • Checkpoint on retrievals • SPSSx SAVE FILE • Better integration of modules • Saving summary file for re-processing • Better performance • FORMS enhancements • Full screen editor support • Transaction processing –COMMIT / ROLLBACK

  16. 1987 – Pomme D’Or - Jersey • Longest conference ever • Tuesday arrival – Friday departure • SIGs • ICL (still ) and now SIR/PC • SQL or Large data bases • Still a bit of Oracle ‘bashing’ • ISI & USIR were promising wonderful things

  17. 1987 – Pomme D’Or - Jersey • USIR report • SIR/GRAPH – PC based using summary file • SIR/LAN • SIR/ENGINE – 3 x 80386 processors • SIR/FORMS to be replaced with ICE system • Internal restructure of SiR files • Record instead of case based • Would allow partial backups and restores • How much of this have we seen ?

  18. 1987 – Pomme D’Or - Jersey • Papers • A comparison of SiR and Oracle - Barry Robinson • The relevance of Relation Theory to Today’s SiR user – Trevor Simpson • SiR Medians – Steve Flack • SiR – 5 years on and a Little bit wiser – Fred Johnston • Storing historical data – Dave Doulton

  19. 1987 – Pomme D’Or - Jersey • Highlights • the FOOD !!! • Gestapo headquarters • the FOOD !!! !!! • Travel arrangements • the FOOD !!! !!! !!! • Island tour • the FOOD !!! !!! !!! !!!!

  20. 1988 – Viking Hotel - York • Proceedings getting thinner • Papers from one-day Edinburgh meeting • Less ‘waffle’ / listings in papers • Harder to get presenters to produce paper versions • Time • Effort • More ( and better overheads ) • Talk on York and it’s history – now becoming a ‘feature’

  21. 1988 – Viking Hotel - York • Papers included • Retrieval Procedures Generation via Forms Menus – Carmen Lopez • SiR data base in haste, with no previous experience – Phillip Mullock • Customised Data Dictionary Reports using SiR/SQL+ - Bernie Enlander • Confessions of a none-to-experience SiR user – Dave Stone

  22. 1988 – Viking Hotel - York • SIGs • Statistics or SiR/PC • SQL+ / ICL • SiR/EASY • Highlights • My opening remarks • Still causing ‘discussions’ on last day • The view from the windows • The Caribbean dinner

  23. 1989 – Great Danes – Maidstone • Yet more new owners of SiR • Mo and Tony Reardon • Papers showed moves • From Batch to Interactive mode • Word processing instead of typewriters • Towards user papers • Fewer technical • Just copies of overhead slides

  24. 1989 – Great Danes – Maidstone • SiGs were now for all • Technical • PQL • Data Base design • Question and Answer session • Detailed explanation of 2.3 features

  25. 1989 – Great Danes – Maidstone • Highlights • Access to the hotel • No taxis • Walk over the M2 (?) motorway construction site • Talk on ‘Kent Past and Present’ • Tour of Leeds Castle • Conference dinner in a mediaeval banqueting hall

  26. 1990 - Stafford • Very thin proceedings – combined with 1991 • Papers included • SiR towards the year 2000 – Wally Gazdzik • House Doctor Allocation to Posts – Dave Doulton • Looking at an Alternative to SiR – Katherine Ellis • Panel session – Hints & Tips • Optional training session on first day

  27. 1990 - Stafford • Highlights

  28. 1991 - Portsmouth • First afternoon – optional training session on 3.0 • Talk on Portsmouth – back again • Themed sessions • SiR on PCs • SiR under UNIX • SiR and Tabfiles • Version 3 and the future

  29. 1991 - Portsmouth • Highlights

  30. 1992 – Viking Hotel - York • Afternoon training • PQL subroutines • SiR debugger • Railways and York talk • No SIGs • Panel discussion • News of 3.2

  31. 1992 – Viking Hotel - York • Hints and Tips sessions • Concurrency • Monitoring retrievals • Design • Papers • ‘Yes SiR, No SiR’ - should CES keep SiR • ‘The Case for Caselessness, when less means more’ – the move away from hierarchical ?

  32. 1992 – Viking Hotel - York • More papers in proceedings • Most were word processed • Many included good overheads • No conference summary in proceedings • Published in Reporter instead

  33. 1993 – London • Data Base designs training session – Tony Reardon & Heather Goldsmith • Experimented with a number of 15 minute papers to encourage some ‘new blood’ • Lots of Tips & Tricks and training type papers • Question & Answer session • Panel discussion

  34. 1993 – London • Memories • No indication as to where in London • Could have been North west ? • Late starts to accommodate ‘day delegates’ • Proceedings were nearly all word processed but still some PQL and schema listings appeared

  35. 1994 – Periquito Hotel – London • International conference • Speakers from 3 continents • Delegates from 6 countries • Papers covered • Applications design • Esoterics of SiR/Host • A screen painter in PQL • Statistics in SiR • Is SiR the best ?

  36. 1994 – Periquito Hotel – London • Highlights • Rabbit warren of a hotel • The partial loss of interaction due to day delegates • Last set of published proceeding

  37. 1995 – 1998 • 1995 Edinburgh June (one day) Kenilworth November • 1996 Bremen March London June (one day) Edinburgh November (one day) • 1997 Sydney January London June (one day) Edinburgh November (one day) • 1998 Florida April London June (one day)

  38. 1999 – Grassmarket - Edinburgh • First time electronic presentations outweighed paper • Highlights • First real sight of SiR 2000 • The ‘ghost tour’ of Edinburgh • The view from the hotel windows

  39. 2000 – Old Mill - Colchester • Speakers had to provide electronic version of paper before conference • Not for publication but to be loaded on PC • Highlights • Really a one day conference • Preceded by two days of training • Is this the way of the future to encourage attendance

  40. What changes have we seen • No published proceedings • Less JCL / PQL • PowerPoint presentations • More emphasis on web • Fewer attendees • Much more training • Now look at the changes in SiR • NOT a ‘Blue Peter’ approach – ‘live’ demos

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