Airlines Control Program
Encyclopedia
IBM Airline Control Program, or ACP, was an operating system
developed by IBM
beginning about 1965. In contrast to previous airline
transaction processing system
s, the most notable aspect of ACP is that it was designed to run on most models of the IBM
System/360
mainframe computer family. This departed from the earlier model in which each airline would have a different, machine-specific transaction system.
Development began with SABRE
(Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment), Deltamatic, and PANAMAC. From these Programmed Airline Reservations System (PARS) was developed. In 1969 the control program, ACP was separated from PARS; PARS keeping the functions for processing airline
reservations and related data.
In December 1979, ACP became known as ACP/TPF and then just TPF
(Transaction Processing Facility) as the transaction operating system became more widely implemented by businesses other than the major airlines, such as online credit card processing, hotel and rental car reservations, police emergency response systems, and package delivery systems.
See also IBM Airline Control System (ALCS)
, a variant of TPF specially designed to provide all the benefits of TPF (very high speed, high volume, high availability transaction processing) but with the advantages such as easier integration into the data center offered by running on a standard IBM operating system platform.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
developed by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
beginning about 1965. In contrast to previous airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
transaction processing system
Transaction Processing System
A transaction processing system is a type of information system. TPSs collect, store, modify, and retrieve the transactions of an organization. A transaction is an event that generates or modifies data that is eventually stored in an information system. To be considered a transaction processing...
s, the most notable aspect of ACP is that it was designed to run on most models of the IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
System/360
System/360
The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...
mainframe computer family. This departed from the earlier model in which each airline would have a different, machine-specific transaction system.
Development began with SABRE
Sabre (computer system)
Sabre Global Distribution System , owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 55,000 travel agencies around the world with more than 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines...
(Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment), Deltamatic, and PANAMAC. From these Programmed Airline Reservations System (PARS) was developed. In 1969 the control program, ACP was separated from PARS; PARS keeping the functions for processing airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
reservations and related data.
In December 1979, ACP became known as ACP/TPF and then just TPF
Transaction Processing Facility
TPF is an IBM real-time operating system for mainframes descended from the IBM System/360 family, including zSeries and System z9. The name is an initialism for Transaction Processing Facility....
(Transaction Processing Facility) as the transaction operating system became more widely implemented by businesses other than the major airlines, such as online credit card processing, hotel and rental car reservations, police emergency response systems, and package delivery systems.
See also IBM Airline Control System (ALCS)
ALCS transaction monitor
ALCS, which stands for Airline Control System, is an application server that provides industrial-strength, online transaction management for mission-critical applications....
, a variant of TPF specially designed to provide all the benefits of TPF (very high speed, high volume, high availability transaction processing) but with the advantages such as easier integration into the data center offered by running on a standard IBM operating system platform.
External links
- Official IBM TPF website
- TPF Minds (TPF Professionals Forum)