An Approach to Data Description and Conversion
Abstract
Currently, the structure of stored data is determined implicitly by the software which accesses and processes it. This data structuring technology has given rise to two outstanding problems in data processing. First, there is the communication of the exact structure of data to users and machines, and secondly, the interchange of the data itself. This work contributes to overcoming these problems by developing a technique for describing the structure of data explicitly and independently of machines and software. This aim is to understand data structures by developing a model which not only characterizes current data organizational techniques, but also provides a framework within which new data structures can be defined, to use this model to develop a language which can explicitly describe the organizatin of data, and to use this model to study how data can be converted from one structure to another, with a view towards developing a method for describing data conversions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0737264
Entities
People
- Diane P. Smith
Organizations
- Moore School of Electrical Engineering