Nomad software
Encyclopedia
Nomad Software is a relational database
and fourth-generation language (4GL), originally developed in the 70s by time-sharing
vendor National CSS, Inc.
While it is still in use today, its widest use was in the 70s and 80s.
Nomad provides both interactive and batch environments for data management
and application development, including commands for database definition, data manipulation, and reporting. All components are accessible by and integrated through a database-oriented programming language. Unlike many tools for managing mainframe data , which are geared to the needs of professional programmers in MIS departments, Nomad is particularly designed for (and sold to) application end-users in large corporations. End-users employ Nomad in batch production cycles and in Web-enabled applications, as well as for reporting and distribution via the Web or PC desktop.
Nomad's language was designed to simplify the application development process, especially for reporting applications. Where possible, common requirements were addressed by intuitive nonprocedural syntax elements, to avoid traditional programming. The heart of the system was the LIST command, which created report output.
In this example, database fields STATE, CUST_ID, NAME, PHONE, STATUS, and BALANCE are laid out on a grid, with two sort breaks (via BY), generated columns based on data values (via ACROSS), and data selection (via WHERE). Additional keywords could control subtotals, titles, footers, table lookup, and myriad reporting details.
The LIST command is somewhat analogous to the SQL
SELECT statement, but incorporates formatting, totaling, and other elements helpful for tailoring output to a business requirement. The SELECT statement, in contrast, is essentially a data query tool: its results would be processed or formatted as required using other mechanisms. This distinction is highlighted by SQL's classification as a 'Data Sublanguage' (DSL): SQL is a powerful formalism for controlling data retrieval. The LIST command is a comprehensive report writer addressing broader functionality.
Another example of Nomad's power is illustrated by Nicholas Rawlings in his comments for the Computer History Museum about NCSS (see citation below). He reports that James Martin
asked Rawlings for a Nomad solution to a standard problem Martin called the Engineer's Problem: "give 6% raises to engineers whose job ratings had an average of 7 or better." Martin provided a "dozen pages of COBOL, and then just a page or two of Mark IV
, from Informatics
." Rawlings offered the following single statement, performing a set-at-a-time operation, to show how trivial this problem was with Nomad:
Rawlings continues: "[Martin] decided to drop the idea [of showing alternative solutions to the problem]. [The Nomad solution] was too unbelievable for him. He published his book in 1982 [sic: 1981], with many fine examples of NOMAD, most of which look silly today, for they don't reflect what NOMAD was really used for in the years since: serious, mission critical applications. I used Martin's Engineer's Problem in hundreds of NOMAD classes, as I forced people to think in terms of sets of data, instead of record-at-a-time, which is how they'd been taught."
, at the time in Stamford, Connecticut
(later Wilton
), by a small team launched in 1973. It was developed to supplant RAMIS
, previously a major NCSS offering. The corporate view of Nomad's importance at the time – and of tensions with the owners of RAMIS – can be deduced from the original NOMAD acronym: NCSS Owned, Maintained, And Developed. Another RAMIS successor was FOCUS
, which evolved in competition with Nomad. These and other 4GL platforms such as Oracle
competed for many of the same customers, all trying to solve end-user information problems without recourse to traditional 3GL programming.
Nomad was officially released in October 1975 (although customer usage began in May 1975). The Nomad customer base expanded rapidly, as new categories of users adopted time-sharing data management tools to solve problems they previously could not tackle. Nomad competed principally with Focus and Ramis for this expanding market.
Nomad was claimed to be the first commercial product to incorporate relational database concepts. This seems to be borne out by the launch dates of the well-known early RDBMS vendors, which first emerged in the late 70s and early 80s – such as Oracle
(1977), Informix
(1980), and Unify
(1980). The seminal non-commercial research project into RDBMS concepts was IBM's System R
, first installed at IBM locations in 1977. System R included and tested the original SQL
implementation. The early RDBMS vendors were able to learn from numerous papers describing System R in the late 70s and early 80s.
Nomad was released before these industry events, and thus, like System R, Nomad drew on earlier academic work by relational database pioneers such as E. F. Codd. Early Nomad development was in particular inspired by C. J. Date's
influential An Introduction to Database Systems, itself first published in 1975. This book was an important source of technical ideas about the relational database model, and included a brief mention of SEQUEL
(later SQL
). Later editions of the book included Nomad itself, and Date's approval of Nomad's support of the relational database model.
At the time, relational database concepts were new; most database systems utilized hierarchical, network, or other data models. Adding relational features to Nomad's original hierarchical design was evidently a bold move for NCSS. Training materials, such as Dan McCracken's book (cited below), focused on these relational database features, and their use in rapid application development. A simple methodology letting end-users design effective, normalized
relational databases was soon added to the curriculum – and was later taught on campuses throughout the country, in the ACM Lectureship Series, by NCSS emeritus Lawrence Smith. NCSS can thus be seen as an early advocate of relational methods; but this position was soon eclipsed as SQL-based vendors burst onto the scene.
NCSS and its time-sharing
competitors primarily sold services to large corporations, at a time when most MIS departments were bogged down on huge COBOL
implementation projects (see Brooks's famous The Mythical Man-Month
for the contemporary mind-set). Because of development backlogs, outside services like NCSS became attractive. Tools like Nomad made end-users self-sufficient: If they had discretionary budgets, and could get the necessary raw data from their MIS departments, then they could solve their own information problems. Many users were content to answer seemingly simple aggregate reporting questions that baffled the MIS departments of the day – like "rank departments by profitability." Other end-users went beyond basic reporting to build large, mission-critical applications, either by learning the necessary skills, or by hiring their own technicians who didn't report through the MIS hierarchy. NCSS developed a large support infrastructure, including training, consulting, and other services, to foster end-user independence. (Dissatisfaction with traditional MIS methods and resources would later also fuel the personal computer
revolution, which in turn would displace time-sharing
vendors like NCSS.) [More citations are needed to illustrate: MIS departments of the 70s and 80s; the "Information Center" concept and end-user empowerment in the 80s; the timesharing industry and its role in enabling what became known as "Agile Companies" capable of using information as a competitive advantage. These topics were widely discussed in books and media of the day.]
In the late 70s, NCSS developed a 'mini-370' product called the NCSS 3200, primarily intended as an in-house platform for running Nomad under the NCSS operating system VP/CSS
(see below). The small, low-cost system was sold as an end-user 'database machine' or 'information warehouse' for extracting and analyzing corporate datasets – analogous to the dedicated mainframes installed at some of NCSS's larger customer sites. Despite limited success, the company lost interest in the 3200 venture, which was scrapped along with the VP/CSS operating system.
This changed, marking the start of a new era when Nomad was made available as a separate product under VM in 1982 and under MVS in 1983. It is still available today for the latest versions of z/VM
and z/OS
. In the late 1980s, Nomad’s presence expanded to the PC when PC Nomad was released to run under DOS.
, Front & Center, was released in 1993. New versions of Nomad for Unix
and VAX
were also released, with access to Oracle
and SQL Server
data. Report Painter, a graphical user interface tool for writing reports, was added to the Front & Center product line. RP/Server was also released in the 1990s for accessing mainframe databases as remote databases from a variety of clients, including Report Painter, Front & Center applications, and DDE
-enabled Microsoft Windows applications, such as Microsoft Excel
. ODB/Server was introduced for transparent access to ODBC-compliant databases from Front & Center.
On the mainframe front, Nomad added double-byte character support and ran under the Fujitsu
operating system. QLIST was added to the mainframe product line, providing a user-friendly environment for developing sophisticated reports without extensive knowledge of Nomad syntax. Nomad remains an extremely stable product that is enhanced to keep up with contemporary needs, such as access to Oracle and SQL Server data on mid-tier platforms, full e-mail support and additional types of output formatted in HTML, XML, and PDF.
A new line of products began later in the 1990s, starting with RP/Web. This was the precursor to UltraQuest Applications, giving users the ability to Web-enable their mainframe Nomad applications. The UltraQuest Reporter product was added to this line-up late in the 1990s, for easy reporting from the Web or from a PC of mainframe data via Nomad. The experience gained from developing and supporting the QLIST and Report Painter products was applied to the development of UltraQuest Reporter. Their influence is clearly visible in UltraQuest Reporter, but Reporter uses Java and HTML technology to create a more user-friendly environment and provide more services.
The basic philosophy of the Nomad language, to simplify the application development and reporting processes with an intuitive and powerful syntax, is carried forward into the UltraQuest products. UltraQuest Reporter applies a layer on top of the 4GL to make report-building even easier, without writing any syntax at all, employing an intuitive and powerful graphical user interface. Other features and services make reporting applications and data securely available through the Web to any employee’s PC.
acquired National CSS in 1979 and rebranded it as D&B Computing Services or DBCS. In 1986 the NOMAD related assets of DBCS were sold to Must Software International of Norwalk, Connecticut
(a wholly -owned subsidiary of Thomson-CSF
) which became part of Thomson Software Products
in 1995 and part of Aonix
in 1996. Nomad is sold and maintained by Select Business Solutions in Trumbull, Connecticut
.
product – rather than a licensed software product – had a major impact on its initial design, enhancement, sales, training, and support. The first Nomad customers were inextricably linked to National CSS's service offerings, and to the unique capabilities of VP/CSS
and the NCSS network.
and Nytel. (A few large users like Bank of America
and SOCAL, i.e. Standard Oil of California, had previously negotiated site licenses for their own VP/CSS
datacenters, most of which ran Nomad. Most VP/CSS
sites eventually migrated to the VM platform.) Abbott Laboratories
, American Express
. Boeing
, First Chicago, and Motorola
were also customers. Other later customers who were new to the product included ICI
and Royal Insurance
. With a limited client base came an opportunity for niche suppliers to provide independent application development and support. In the UK this market was filled by BSL International
, RCMS, and Rex Software. RCMS became the UK vendors of Nomad while BSL operated throughout Europe and the US.
Nomad continues to be used by large corporations and distributors, especially in the financial and health vertical markets.
Relational database
A relational database is a database that conforms to relational model theory. The software used in a relational database is called a relational database management system . Colloquial use of the term "relational database" may refer to the RDBMS software, or the relational database itself...
and fourth-generation language (4GL), originally developed in the 70s by time-sharing
Time-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
vendor National CSS, Inc.
National CSS
National CSS, Inc. was a time-sharing firm in the 1960-80s, until its acquisition by Dun & Bradstreet in 1979. NCSS was originally headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, but relocated to Wilton in 1978. Sales offices, data centers, and development facilities were located at various sites...
While it is still in use today, its widest use was in the 70s and 80s.
Nomad provides both interactive and batch environments for data management
Data management
Data management comprises all the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource.- Overview :The official definition provided by DAMA International, the professional organization for those in the data management profession, is: "Data Resource Management is the development and execution...
and application development, including commands for database definition, data manipulation, and reporting. All components are accessible by and integrated through a database-oriented programming language. Unlike many tools for managing mainframe data , which are geared to the needs of professional programmers in MIS departments, Nomad is particularly designed for (and sold to) application end-users in large corporations. End-users employ Nomad in batch production cycles and in Web-enabled applications, as well as for reporting and distribution via the Web or PC desktop.
Capabilities
Nomad is distinguished by five characteristics:- An intuitive database-oriented 4GLFourth-generation programming languageA fourth-generation programming language is a programming language or programming environment designed with a specific purpose in mind, such as the development of commercial business software. In the history of computer science, the 4GL followed the 3GL in an upward trend toward higher...
for creating databases, managing data, and writing applications - An interactive environment in which any 4GLFourth-generation programming languageA fourth-generation programming language is a programming language or programming environment designed with a specific purpose in mind, such as the development of commercial business software. In the history of computer science, the 4GL followed the 3GL in an upward trend toward higher...
statement may be typed and immediately processed (comparable to interactive tools like PHP or Perl) - Relational databaseRelational databaseA relational database is a database that conforms to relational model theory. The software used in a relational database is called a relational database management system . Colloquial use of the term "relational database" may refer to the RDBMS software, or the relational database itself...
features, supporting lookup tables and the other elements of a normalizedDatabase normalizationIn the design of a relational database management system , the process of organizing data to minimize redundancy is called normalization. The goal of database normalization is to decompose relations with anomalies in order to produce smaller, well-structured relations...
relational database - Powerful set-at-a-time operations under the control of simple imperative commands
- Accesses data from many sources, such as VSAM, IMS, IDMSIDMSIDMS is primarily a network database management system for mainframes. It was first developed at B.F. Goodrich and later marketed by Cullinane Database Systems...
, DB2IBM DB2The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition is a relational model database server developed by IBM. It primarily runs on Unix , Linux, IBM i , z/OS and Windows servers. DB2 also powers the different IBM InfoSphere Warehouse editions...
, OracleOracle DatabaseThe Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
, and SQL ServerSQL ServerSQL Server may refer to:* Any database server that implements the Structured Query Language* Microsoft SQL Server, a relational database server from Microsoft* Sybase SQL Server, a relational database server developed by Sybase...
Nomad's language was designed to simplify the application development process, especially for reporting applications. Where possible, common requirements were addressed by intuitive nonprocedural syntax elements, to avoid traditional programming. The heart of the system was the LIST command, which created report output.
LIST BY STATE BY CUST_ID NAME PHONE ACROSS STATUS BALANCE WHERE STATE AMONG('CT','NY')
State Customer ID Name Phone Active Inactive New
----- ----------- ----------------- ------------ -------- -------- ---------
CT 1001 ABC Co. 203-555-1212 1200 0 0
1012 DEF Co. 203-555-1313 0 50 900
NY 1305 GHI Co. 212-555-1414 2650 0 0
In this example, database fields STATE, CUST_ID, NAME, PHONE, STATUS, and BALANCE are laid out on a grid, with two sort breaks (via BY), generated columns based on data values (via ACROSS), and data selection (via WHERE). Additional keywords could control subtotals, titles, footers, table lookup, and myriad reporting details.
The LIST command is somewhat analogous to the SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
SELECT statement, but incorporates formatting, totaling, and other elements helpful for tailoring output to a business requirement. The SELECT statement, in contrast, is essentially a data query tool: its results would be processed or formatted as required using other mechanisms. This distinction is highlighted by SQL's classification as a 'Data Sublanguage' (DSL): SQL is a powerful formalism for controlling data retrieval. The LIST command is a comprehensive report writer addressing broader functionality.
Another example of Nomad's power is illustrated by Nicholas Rawlings in his comments for the Computer History Museum about NCSS (see citation below). He reports that James Martin
James Martin (author)
James Martin is a British Information Technology consultant and author, who was nominated for a Pulitzer prize for his book, The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow .- Biography :...
asked Rawlings for a Nomad solution to a standard problem Martin called the Engineer's Problem: "give 6% raises to engineers whose job ratings had an average of 7 or better." Martin provided a "dozen pages of COBOL, and then just a page or two of Mark IV
MARK-IV (Software)
MARK-IV is a Fourth-generation programming language that was created by Informatics, Inc. in the 1960s. Informatics, Inc. took advantage of IBM's decision to unbundle their software; MARK-IV was the first "software product to have cumulative sales of $10 million".MARK-IV is now part of the product...
, from Informatics
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 worth $3.3 billion.Computer Associates sold Sterling...
." Rawlings offered the following single statement, performing a set-at-a-time operation, to show how trivial this problem was with Nomad:
CHANGE ALL SALARY=SALARY*1.06 WHERE POSITION='ENG' AND AVG(INSTANCE(RATING)) GE 7
Rawlings continues: "[Martin] decided to drop the idea [of showing alternative solutions to the problem]. [The Nomad solution] was too unbelievable for him. He published his book in 1982 [sic: 1981], with many fine examples of NOMAD, most of which look silly today, for they don't reflect what NOMAD was really used for in the years since: serious, mission critical applications. I used Martin's Engineer's Problem in hundreds of NOMAD classes, as I forced people to think in terms of sets of data, instead of record-at-a-time, which is how they'd been taught."
Early development
Nomad was developed by National CSS, Inc.National CSS
National CSS, Inc. was a time-sharing firm in the 1960-80s, until its acquisition by Dun & Bradstreet in 1979. NCSS was originally headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, but relocated to Wilton in 1978. Sales offices, data centers, and development facilities were located at various sites...
, at the time in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
(later Wilton
Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a town nestled in the Norwalk River Valley in southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It is located in Fairfield County. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 18,062. In 2007, it was voted as one of CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" in the United States.Located along...
), by a small team launched in 1973. It was developed to supplant RAMIS
Ramis software
RAMIS Software is a fourth-generation programming language capable of generating reports using simple language and many fewer lines of code than previous third-generation programing languages such as COBOL...
, previously a major NCSS offering. The corporate view of Nomad's importance at the time – and of tensions with the owners of RAMIS – can be deduced from the original NOMAD acronym: NCSS Owned, Maintained, And Developed. Another RAMIS successor was FOCUS
FOCUS
FOCUS is a computer programming language. It is a database query building language, regarded as a fourth-generation programming language. produced by Information Builders Inc...
, which evolved in competition with Nomad. These and other 4GL platforms such as Oracle
Oracle database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
competed for many of the same customers, all trying to solve end-user information problems without recourse to traditional 3GL programming.
Nomad was officially released in October 1975 (although customer usage began in May 1975). The Nomad customer base expanded rapidly, as new categories of users adopted time-sharing data management tools to solve problems they previously could not tackle. Nomad competed principally with Focus and Ramis for this expanding market.
Nomad was claimed to be the first commercial product to incorporate relational database concepts. This seems to be borne out by the launch dates of the well-known early RDBMS vendors, which first emerged in the late 70s and early 80s – such as Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
(1977), Informix
Informix
IBM Informix is a family of relational database management system developed by IBM. It is positioned as IBM's flagship data server for online transaction processing as well as integrated solutions...
(1980), and Unify
Unify Corporation
Unify Corporation , one of the early developers of database management systems and tools for database development, was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Roseville, California...
(1980). The seminal non-commercial research project into RDBMS concepts was IBM's System R
System R
IBM System R is a database system built as a research project at IBM San Jose Research in the 1970s. System R was a seminal project: it was a precursor of SQL, which has since become the standard relational data query language...
, first installed at IBM locations in 1977. System R included and tested the original SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
implementation. The early RDBMS vendors were able to learn from numerous papers describing System R in the late 70s and early 80s.
Nomad was released before these industry events, and thus, like System R, Nomad drew on earlier academic work by relational database pioneers such as E. F. Codd. Early Nomad development was in particular inspired by C. J. Date's
Christopher J. Date
Chris Date is an independent author, lecturer, researcher, and consultant, specializing in relational database theory.-Biography:Chris Date attended High Wycombe Royal Grammar School from 1951 to 1958 and received his BA in Mathematics from Cambridge University in 1962. He entered the computer...
influential An Introduction to Database Systems, itself first published in 1975. This book was an important source of technical ideas about the relational database model, and included a brief mention of SEQUEL
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
(later SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
). Later editions of the book included Nomad itself, and Date's approval of Nomad's support of the relational database model.
At the time, relational database concepts were new; most database systems utilized hierarchical, network, or other data models. Adding relational features to Nomad's original hierarchical design was evidently a bold move for NCSS. Training materials, such as Dan McCracken's book (cited below), focused on these relational database features, and their use in rapid application development. A simple methodology letting end-users design effective, normalized
Database normalization
In the design of a relational database management system , the process of organizing data to minimize redundancy is called normalization. The goal of database normalization is to decompose relations with anomalies in order to produce smaller, well-structured relations...
relational databases was soon added to the curriculum – and was later taught on campuses throughout the country, in the ACM Lectureship Series, by NCSS emeritus Lawrence Smith. NCSS can thus be seen as an early advocate of relational methods; but this position was soon eclipsed as SQL-based vendors burst onto the scene.
Development: Late 1970's
Nomad was the flagship NCSS product during the firm's years of rapid growth, going through a series of releases and receiving a major share of this (publicly-traded) company's R&D, sales, support, and other resources.NCSS and its time-sharing
Time-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
competitors primarily sold services to large corporations, at a time when most MIS departments were bogged down on huge COBOL
COBOL
COBOL is one of the oldest programming languages. Its name is an acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments....
implementation projects (see Brooks's famous The Mythical Man-Month
The Mythical Man-Month
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering is a book on software engineering and project management by Fred Brooks, whose central theme is that "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later"...
for the contemporary mind-set). Because of development backlogs, outside services like NCSS became attractive. Tools like Nomad made end-users self-sufficient: If they had discretionary budgets, and could get the necessary raw data from their MIS departments, then they could solve their own information problems. Many users were content to answer seemingly simple aggregate reporting questions that baffled the MIS departments of the day – like "rank departments by profitability." Other end-users went beyond basic reporting to build large, mission-critical applications, either by learning the necessary skills, or by hiring their own technicians who didn't report through the MIS hierarchy. NCSS developed a large support infrastructure, including training, consulting, and other services, to foster end-user independence. (Dissatisfaction with traditional MIS methods and resources would later also fuel the personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
revolution, which in turn would displace time-sharing
Time-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
vendors like NCSS.) [More citations are needed to illustrate: MIS departments of the 70s and 80s; the "Information Center" concept and end-user empowerment in the 80s; the timesharing industry and its role in enabling what became known as "Agile Companies" capable of using information as a competitive advantage. These topics were widely discussed in books and media of the day.]
In the late 70s, NCSS developed a 'mini-370' product called the NCSS 3200, primarily intended as an in-house platform for running Nomad under the NCSS operating system VP/CSS
VP/CSS
VP/CSS was a time-sharing operating system developed by National CSS. It began life in 1968 as a copy of IBM's CP/CMS, which at the time was distributed to IBM customers at no charge, in source code form, without support, as part of the IBM Type-III Library...
(see below). The small, low-cost system was sold as an end-user 'database machine' or 'information warehouse' for extracting and analyzing corporate datasets – analogous to the dedicated mainframes installed at some of NCSS's larger customer sites. Despite limited success, the company lost interest in the 3200 venture, which was scrapped along with the VP/CSS operating system.
Development: 1980's
Until 1982, Nomad was available only on NCSS's proprietary time-sharing system VP/CSS. During this period, with a few exceptions, Nomad was used only by interactive time-sharing customers via pay-as-you-go dial-up access.This changed, marking the start of a new era when Nomad was made available as a separate product under VM in 1982 and under MVS in 1983. It is still available today for the latest versions of z/VM
Z/VM
z/VM is the current version in IBM's VM family of virtual machine operating systems. z/VM was first released in October 2000 and remains in active use and development . It is directly based on technology and concepts dating back to the 1960s, with IBM's CP/CMS on the IBM System/360-67...
and z/OS
Z/OS
z/OS is a 64-bit operating system for mainframe computers, produced by IBM. It derives from and is the successor to OS/390, which in turn followed a string of MVS versions.Starting with earliest:*OS/VS2 Release 2 through Release 3.8...
. In the late 1980s, Nomad’s presence expanded to the PC when PC Nomad was released to run under DOS.
Development: 1990 to Present
Nomad products continued to develop along multiple product lines in the 1990s with support for more sources of data and more operating systems. A new version of Nomad for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Front & Center, was released in 1993. New versions of Nomad for Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and VAX
VAX
VAX was an instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1970s. A 32-bit complex instruction set computer ISA, it was designed to extend or replace DEC's various Programmed Data Processor ISAs...
were also released, with access to Oracle
Oracle database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
and SQL Server
SQL Server
SQL Server may refer to:* Any database server that implements the Structured Query Language* Microsoft SQL Server, a relational database server from Microsoft* Sybase SQL Server, a relational database server developed by Sybase...
data. Report Painter, a graphical user interface tool for writing reports, was added to the Front & Center product line. RP/Server was also released in the 1990s for accessing mainframe databases as remote databases from a variety of clients, including Report Painter, Front & Center applications, and DDE
Dynamic Data Exchange
Dynamic Data Exchange is a technology for interprocess communication under Microsoft Windows or OS/2.- Overview :Dynamic Data Exchange was first introduced in 1987 with the release of Windows 2.0 as a method of interprocess communication so that one program can communicate with or control another...
-enabled Microsoft Windows applications, such as Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
. ODB/Server was introduced for transparent access to ODBC-compliant databases from Front & Center.
On the mainframe front, Nomad added double-byte character support and ran under the Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
operating system. QLIST was added to the mainframe product line, providing a user-friendly environment for developing sophisticated reports without extensive knowledge of Nomad syntax. Nomad remains an extremely stable product that is enhanced to keep up with contemporary needs, such as access to Oracle and SQL Server data on mid-tier platforms, full e-mail support and additional types of output formatted in HTML, XML, and PDF.
A new line of products began later in the 1990s, starting with RP/Web. This was the precursor to UltraQuest Applications, giving users the ability to Web-enable their mainframe Nomad applications. The UltraQuest Reporter product was added to this line-up late in the 1990s, for easy reporting from the Web or from a PC of mainframe data via Nomad. The experience gained from developing and supporting the QLIST and Report Painter products was applied to the development of UltraQuest Reporter. Their influence is clearly visible in UltraQuest Reporter, but Reporter uses Java and HTML technology to create a more user-friendly environment and provide more services.
The basic philosophy of the Nomad language, to simplify the application development and reporting processes with an intuitive and powerful syntax, is carried forward into the UltraQuest products. UltraQuest Reporter applies a layer on top of the 4GL to make report-building even easier, without writing any syntax at all, employing an intuitive and powerful graphical user interface. Other features and services make reporting applications and data securely available through the Web to any employee’s PC.
Ownership
Dun & BradstreetDun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet is a Fortune 500 public company headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA that provides information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, B2B marketing and supply chain management...
acquired National CSS in 1979 and rebranded it as D&B Computing Services or DBCS. In 1986 the NOMAD related assets of DBCS were sold to Must Software International of Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
(a wholly -owned subsidiary of Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and defence contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group.-History:In 1879 Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston formed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in the United States....
) which became part of Thomson Software Products
Thomson Software Products
Thomson Software Products was a software development corporation based in Norwalk, Connecticut with engineering and support facilities in Norwalk and San Diego, California...
in 1995 and part of Aonix
Aonix
In January 2010, Aonix and Artisan Software Tools agreed to merge, forming a new company to be called Atego.Atego is a software development corporation headquartered in the USA and the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in France, Germany, and the Italy.- Aonix history :Aonix was formed in November...
in 1996. Nomad is sold and maintained by Select Business Solutions in Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull, a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut in the New England region of the United States, is bordered by the towns of Monroe, Shelton, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Easton along Connecticut's Gold Coast. The population was 36,018 according to the 2010 census.Family Circle magazine...
.
NCSS's VP/CSS platform
Nomad's primary status as a time-sharingTime-sharing
Time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking. Its introduction in the 1960s, and emergence as the prominent model of computing in the 1970s, represents a major technological shift in the history of computing.By allowing a large...
product – rather than a licensed software product – had a major impact on its initial design, enhancement, sales, training, and support. The first Nomad customers were inextricably linked to National CSS's service offerings, and to the unique capabilities of VP/CSS
VP/CSS
VP/CSS was a time-sharing operating system developed by National CSS. It began life in 1968 as a copy of IBM's CP/CMS, which at the time was distributed to IBM customers at no charge, in source code form, without support, as part of the IBM Type-III Library...
and the NCSS network.
User base
When Nomad was released as a licensed software product it was acquired by some of the large corporations that had been using the time-sharing service. These included ExxonExxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
and Nytel. (A few large users like Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
and SOCAL, i.e. Standard Oil of California, had previously negotiated site licenses for their own VP/CSS
VP/CSS
VP/CSS was a time-sharing operating system developed by National CSS. It began life in 1968 as a copy of IBM's CP/CMS, which at the time was distributed to IBM customers at no charge, in source code form, without support, as part of the IBM Type-III Library...
datacenters, most of which ran Nomad. Most VP/CSS
VP/CSS
VP/CSS was a time-sharing operating system developed by National CSS. It began life in 1968 as a copy of IBM's CP/CMS, which at the time was distributed to IBM customers at no charge, in source code form, without support, as part of the IBM Type-III Library...
sites eventually migrated to the VM platform.) Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....
, American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
. Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, First Chicago, and Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
were also customers. Other later customers who were new to the product included ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
and Royal Insurance
Royal & SunAlliance
RSA Insurance Group plc , commonly known as RSA, is a global general insurance company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has over 20 million customers in 36 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and South America....
. With a limited client base came an opportunity for niche suppliers to provide independent application development and support. In the UK this market was filled by BSL International
BSL International
BSL International was a United Kingdom software development house that developed the Fourth-generation programming language market through its concentration on Nomad, FOCUS, and Ramis throughout the 1980s....
, RCMS, and Rex Software. RCMS became the UK vendors of Nomad while BSL operated throughout Europe and the US.
Nomad continues to be used by large corporations and distributors, especially in the financial and health vertical markets.