System and method for storing and managing information
First Claim
1. An information storage system which is connectable to an input interface means and an output interface means, the information storage system comprising a computer, the computer having a memory, the memory of the computer having a plurality of nodes stored therein, each node having a unique identifier within the memory, the memory of the computer including means defining pointers between pairs of said nodes, the pointers comprising only identifiers of other nodes, the pointers having been assigned by the input interface means in response to transmission of input data to the input interface means by a user, wherein each node contains no application data elements other than pointers, wherein information to be stored is stored only as a pattern of said pointers, and wherein said stored pattern is convertible by the output interface means into data recognizable by the user.
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Abstract
This invention is an information storage system which provides a self-contained environment for database management. Data are stored in the system not as conventional entries in memory locations, but instead as a group of connections between database sets. Procedures are also encoded as database set connections, and not in conventional form. Data and procedure cannot exist independently, in the present invention; instead, they are grouped together, into constructs called Contexts. Because the connections themselves are the data, the system is substantially independent of the particular hardware on which the system is implemented. The environment includes an editor which uses an icon-based syntax to create and manipulate data and procedure structures according to the invention. The present invention greatly reduces the time required to develop and maintain a database management system or other computer program. The system is not limited by the size of data variables. Also, a change in a data value, in one location, automatically changes that value throughout the system. Programs designed with the environment of the present invention are easier to code than conventional programs, and are generally self-documenting.
143 Citations
21 Claims
- 1. An information storage system which is connectable to an input interface means and an output interface means, the information storage system comprising a computer, the computer having a memory, the memory of the computer having a plurality of nodes stored therein, each node having a unique identifier within the memory, the memory of the computer including means defining pointers between pairs of said nodes, the pointers comprising only identifiers of other nodes, the pointers having been assigned by the input interface means in response to transmission of input data to the input interface means by a user, wherein each node contains no application data elements other than pointers, wherein information to be stored is stored only as a pattern of said pointers, and wherein said stored pattern is convertible by the output interface means into data recognizable by the user.
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11. A method of storing information in a computer, the computer having a memory, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) defining a plurality of nodes stored in the memory of the computer, each node having a unique identifier within the memory, b) accepting at least one item of information from a user, and c) storing within each node at least one pointer, each pointer comprising only an identifier of another node, wherein each node contains no application data elements other than said pointers, wherein the information to be stored is stored only as a pattern of said pointers. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An interface device for storing information in a computer, the computer having a memory, the memory comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a unique identifier within the memory, the interface device comprising means for receiving information from a user and means for storing information in the memory of the computer, the information storing means comprising means for converting information received from the user into a pattern of pointers stored in the memory, each pointer being stored in a node and comprising only the identifier of another node, wherein each node contains no application data elements other than pointers, wherein the information stored by the storing means is stored only as a pattern of said pointers.
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21. An interface device for retrieving information stored in a computer, the computer having a memory, the memory comprising a plurality of nodes, each node having a unique identifier within the memory, the information being stored in the memory of the computer only as a pattern of pointers, each pointer being stored in a node and comprising only the identifier of another node, each node containing no application data elements other than pointers, the interface device comprising means for interpreting said pattern of pointers and for converting said pattern into information recognizable by a user.
Specification