<s>
NOMAD	O
is	O
a	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
and	O
fourth-generation	B-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
4GL	B-Language
)	O
,	O
originally	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
by	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
vendor	O
National	O
CSS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
supports	O
both	O
the	O
relational	O
and	O
hierarchical	B-General_Concept
database	I-General_Concept
models	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
provides	O
both	O
interactive	O
and	O
batch	O
environments	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
and	O
application	O
development	O
,	O
including	O
commands	O
for	O
database	O
definition	O
,	O
data	O
manipulation	O
,	O
and	O
reporting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accesses	O
data	O
from	O
many	O
sources	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
VSAM	O
,	O
IMS	B-Application
,	O
IDMS	B-Application
,	O
DB2	B-Application
,	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
SQL	B-Application
Server	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
LIST	O
command	O
is	O
somewhat	O
analogous	O
to	O
the	O
SQL	B-Language
SELECT	O
statement	O
,	O
but	O
incorporates	O
formatting	O
,	O
totaling	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
elements	O
helpful	O
for	O
tailoring	O
output	O
to	O
a	O
business	O
requirement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
distinction	O
is	O
highlighted	O
by	O
SQL	B-Language
's	O
classification	O
as	O
a	O
'	O
Data	O
Sublanguage	O
 '	O
(	O
DSL	O
)	O
:	O
SQL	B-Language
is	O
a	O
powerful	O
formalism	O
for	O
controlling	O
data	O
retrieval	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Martin	O
provided	O
a	O
"	O
dozen	O
pages	O
of	O
COBOL	B-Application
,	O
and	O
then	O
just	O
a	O
page	O
or	O
two	O
of	O
Mark	B-Language
IV	I-Language
,	O
from	O
Informatics.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
developed	O
to	O
supplant	O
RAMIS	B-Language
,	O
previously	O
a	O
major	O
NCSS	O
offering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
corporate	O
view	O
of	O
NOMAD	O
's	O
importance	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
and	O
of	O
tensions	O
with	O
the	O
owners	O
of	O
RAMIS	B-Language
can	O
be	O
deduced	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
NOMAD	O
acronym	O
:	O
NCSS	O
Owned	O
,	O
Maintained	O
,	O
And	O
Developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
RAMIS	B-Language
,	O
which	O
was	O
largely	O
written	O
in	O
FORTRAN	B-Application
,	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
was	O
written	O
entirely	O
in	O
Assembler	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
RAMIS	B-Language
successor	O
was	O
FOCUS	O
,	O
which	O
evolved	O
in	O
competition	O
with	O
NOMAD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
and	O
other	O
4GL	B-Language
platforms	O
such	O
as	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
competed	O
for	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
customers	O
,	O
all	O
trying	O
to	O
solve	O
end-user	O
information	O
problems	O
without	O
recourse	O
to	O
traditional	O
3GL	O
programming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NOMAD	O
customer	O
base	O
expanded	O
rapidly	O
,	O
as	O
new	O
categories	O
of	O
users	O
adopted	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
tools	O
to	O
solve	O
problems	O
they	O
previously	O
could	O
not	O
tackle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
competed	O
principally	O
with	O
Focus	O
and	O
Ramis	B-Language
for	O
this	O
expanding	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
was	O
claimed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
first	O
commercial	O
product	O
to	O
incorporate	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
concepts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
seems	O
to	O
be	O
borne	O
out	O
by	O
the	O
launch	O
dates	O
of	O
the	O
well-known	O
early	O
RDBMS	O
vendors	O
,	O
which	O
first	O
emerged	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
and	O
early	O
80s	O
such	O
as	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
(	O
1977	O
)	O
,	O
Informix	B-Application
(	O
1980	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Unify	O
(	O
1980	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
seminal	O
non-commercial	O
research	O
project	O
into	O
RDBMS	O
concepts	O
was	O
IBM	B-Application
System	I-Application
R	I-Application
,	O
first	O
installed	O
at	O
IBM	O
locations	O
in	O
1977	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	O
R	O
included	O
and	O
tested	O
the	O
original	O
SQL	B-Language
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
was	O
released	O
before	O
these	O
industry	O
events	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
,	O
like	O
System	O
R	O
,	O
NOMAD	O
drew	O
on	O
earlier	O
academic	O
work	O
by	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
pioneers	O
such	O
as	O
E	O
.	O
F	O
.	O
Codd	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
book	O
had	O
technical	O
ideas	O
about	O
the	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
model	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
brief	O
mention	O
of	O
SEQUEL	B-Language
(	O
later	O
SQL	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
editions	O
of	O
the	O
book	O
included	O
NOMAD	O
itself	O
,	O
and	O
Date	O
's	O
approval	O
of	O
NOMAD	O
's	O
support	O
of	O
the	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
concepts	O
were	O
new	O
;	O
most	O
database	O
systems	O
utilized	O
hierarchical	O
,	O
network	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
data	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Training	O
materials	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Daniel	O
McCracken	O
's	O
book	O
(	O
cited	O
below	O
)	O
,	O
focused	O
on	O
these	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
features	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
use	O
in	O
rapid	O
application	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
simple	O
methodology	O
letting	O
end-users	O
design	O
effective	O
,	O
normalized	B-Application
relational	B-Application
databases	I-Application
was	O
soon	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
curriculum	O
and	O
was	O
later	O
taught	O
on	O
campuses	O
throughout	O
the	O
country	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
ACM	O
Lectureship	O
Series	O
,	O
by	O
NCSS	O
emeritus	O
Lawrence	O
Smith	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NCSS	O
can	O
thus	O
be	O
seen	O
as	O
an	O
early	O
advocate	O
of	O
relational	O
methods	O
;	O
but	O
this	O
position	O
was	O
soon	O
eclipsed	O
as	O
SQL-based	O
vendors	O
burst	O
onto	O
the	O
scene	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NCSS	O
and	O
its	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
competitors	O
primarily	O
sold	O
services	O
to	O
large	O
corporations	O
,	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
most	O
MIS	O
departments	O
were	O
bogged	O
down	O
on	O
huge	O
COBOL	B-Application
implementation	O
projects	O
(	O
see	O
Brooks	O
's	O
famous	O
The	O
Mythical	O
Man-Month	O
for	O
the	O
contemporary	O
mind-set	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Dissatisfaction	O
with	O
traditional	O
MIS	O
methods	O
and	O
resources	O
would	O
later	O
also	O
fuel	O
the	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
revolution	O
,	O
which	O
in	O
turn	O
would	O
displace	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
vendors	O
like	O
NCSS	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
[	O
More	O
citations	O
are	O
needed	O
to	O
illustrate	O
:	O
MIS	O
departments	O
of	O
the	O
70s	O
and	O
80s	O
;	O
the	O
"	O
Information	O
Center	O
"	O
concept	O
and	O
end-user	O
empowerment	O
in	O
the	O
80s	O
;	O
the	O
timesharing	B-General_Concept
industry	O
and	O
its	O
role	O
in	O
enabling	O
what	O
became	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Agile	O
Companies	O
"	O
capable	O
of	O
using	O
information	O
as	O
a	O
competitive	O
advantage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
,	O
NCSS	O
developed	O
a	O
'	O
mini-370	O
'	O
product	O
called	O
the	O
NCSS	O
3200	O
,	O
primarily	O
intended	O
as	O
an	O
in-house	O
platform	O
for	O
running	O
NOMAD	O
under	O
the	O
NCSS	O
operating	O
system	O
VP/CSS	B-Application
(	O
see	O
below	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
limited	O
success	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
lost	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
3200	O
venture	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
scrapped	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
VP/CSS	B-Application
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
1982	O
,	O
NOMAD	O
was	O
available	O
only	O
on	O
NCSS	O
's	O
proprietary	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
VP/CSS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
period	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
few	O
exceptions	O
,	O
NOMAD	O
was	O
used	O
only	O
by	O
interactive	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
customers	O
via	O
pay-as-you-go	O
dial-up	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
's	O
primary	O
status	O
as	O
a	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
product	O
–	O
rather	O
than	O
a	O
licensed	O
software	O
product	O
–	O
had	O
a	O
major	O
impact	O
on	O
its	O
initial	O
design	O
,	O
enhancement	O
,	O
sales	O
,	O
training	O
,	O
and	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
NOMAD	O
customers	O
were	O
inextricably	O
linked	O
to	O
National	O
CSS	O
's	O
service	O
offerings	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
the	O
capabilities	O
of	O
VP/CSS	B-Application
and	O
the	O
NCSS	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
still	O
available	O
today	O
for	O
the	O
latest	O
versions	O
of	O
z/VM	B-Application
and	O
z/OS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
NOMAD	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
Front	O
&	O
Center	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
versions	O
of	O
NOMAD	O
for	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
VAX	B-Device
were	O
also	O
released	O
,	O
with	O
access	O
to	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
and	O
SQL	B-Application
server	I-Application
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RP/Server	O
was	O
also	O
released	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
for	O
accessing	O
mainframe	O
databases	O
as	O
remote	O
databases	O
from	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
clients	O
,	O
including	O
Report	O
Painter	O
,	O
Front	O
&	O
Center	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
DDE-enabled	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
applications	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	O
remains	O
an	O
extremely	O
stable	O
product	O
that	O
is	O
enhanced	O
to	O
keep	O
up	O
with	O
contemporary	O
needs	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
access	O
to	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
and	O
SQL	B-Application
Server	I-Application
data	O
on	O
mid-tier	O
platforms	O
,	O
full	O
e-mail	O
support	O
and	O
additional	O
types	O
of	O
output	O
formatted	O
in	O
HTML	O
,	O
XML	O
,	O
and	O
PDF	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UltraQuest	O
Reporter	O
applies	O
a	O
layer	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
4GL	B-Language
to	O
make	O
report-building	O
even	O
easier	O
,	O
without	O
writing	O
any	O
syntax	O
at	O
all	O
,	O
employing	O
an	O
intuitive	O
and	O
powerful	O
graphical	O
user	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
NOMAD	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
licensed	O
software	O
product	O
it	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
large	O
corporations	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
using	O
the	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
A	O
few	O
large	O
users	O
like	O
Bank	O
of	O
America	O
and	O
Standard	O
Oil	O
of	O
California	O
(	O
SOCAL	O
)	O
,	O
had	O
previously	O
negotiated	O
site	O
licenses	O
for	O
their	O
own	O
VP/CSS	B-Application
datacenters	O
,	O
most	O
of	O
which	O
ran	O
NOMAD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
VP/CSS	B-Application
sites	O
eventually	O
migrated	O
to	O
the	O
VM	O
platform	O
)	O
Abbott	O
Laboratories	O
,	O
American	O
Express	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
UK	O
this	O
market	O
was	O
filled	O
by	O
BSL	O
International	O
,	O
RCMS	O
,	O
and	O
Rex	B-Language
Software	I-Language
.	O
</s>
