DATATRIEVE

<h2 id="overview">Overview</h2>
<p>DATATRIEVE works against flat files, indexed files, and databases. Such data files are delimited using record definitions stored in the Common <a href="/facts/Data_dictionary/GyQLYd7j">Data Dictionary</a> (CDD), or in RMS files. DATATRIEVE is used at many <a href="/facts/OpenVMS/rAnHAgpD">OpenVMS</a> installations.
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<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>DATATRIEVE was developed in the late 1970s<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> and early 1980s by a team of software engineers at <a href="/facts/Digital_Equipment_Corporation/ztxs6keA">DEC's</a> Central Commercial Engineering facilities in Merrimack and <a href="/facts/Nashua%2c_New_Hampshire/9kChMaoU">Nashua, New Hampshire</a>, under database architect <a href="/facts/Jim_Starkey/3je0PwPp">Jim Starkey</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Many of the project's engineers went on to highly visible careers in database management and other software disciplines.
</p><p>Version 1 for the PDP-11 was released in 1977; VAX DATATRIEVE was released in 1981 as part of the VAX Information Architecture.
</p><p>DATATRIEVE adopted the <a href="/facts/Wombat/AX2X0Q3r">wombat</a> as its notional mascot; the program's help file responded to “HELP WOMBAT” with factual information about real world wombats.
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<h2 id="examples-of-datatrieve-usage">Examples of DATATRIEVE usage</h2>
<p>DATATRIEVE queries and commands approach plain English sentence structure, though would not be considered natural language, since a precise sentence structure must be used:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
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DTR> FOR FAMILIES WITH NUMBER_KIDS = 2

CON> PRINT KID_NAME, AGE OF KIDS WITH AGE GT 20

<p>DATATRIEVE can also be used to modify data:
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DTR> FOR FAMILIES MODIFY EACH_KID OF FIRST 1 KIDS

<p>Enter KID_NAME:
</p><p>DATATRIEVE can also cross multiple datasets, creating joined data views:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
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DTR> PRINT NAME, TYPE, PRICE OF

CON> YACHTS CROSS OWNERS OVER TYPE

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://vmssoftware.com/products/datatrieve/">"DATATRIEVE"</a>. VSI. March 2017. Retrieved 2021-01-16.</li>
<li>Joe H. Gallagher. <a href="http://dtrwiz.home.netcom.com">"The DATATRIEVE Programmer"</a>. Retrieved 2013-09-02.</li>
<li>Martin P.J. Zinser. <a href="http://www.ibphoenix.com/resources/documents/history/doc_295">"Datatrieve and Wombats"</a>. IBPhoenix. Retrieved 2013-09-02.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Digital introduces Datatrieve". Computerworld. March 27, 1978. p. 53. <a href="/wiki/Computerworld" target="_blank">/wiki/Computerworld</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"IEEE Computer Society and GBC/ACM". IEEE.org. Retrieved December 7, 2012. <a href="https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/starkeytalk.html" target="_blank">https://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/starkeytalk.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"DATATRIEVE Users Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2019-04-30. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201204201536/http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/odl/axplp/databases/dtr073/AA_K080G_TE.PDF" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20201204201536/http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/odl/axplp/databases/dtr073/AA_K080G_TE.PDF</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"DEC's 'Datatrieve' Upgrade Enables Cross-File Views". Computerworld. July 21, 1980. p. 44. <a href="/wiki/Computerworld" target="_blank">/wiki/Computerworld</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

DATATRIEVE open-in-new

DATATRIEVE