> > Has anyone heard of the "MUMPS" operating system or programming environment?
> > Any info would be appreciated!
>
> Yes, but you're really taxing the depths of my memory.  Multi-User
> Medical Programming System if I recall rightly.  Developed around
> a group of medicos with a computer-science bent at--I may be wrong
> here--Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  There was a connexion
> with MIT but I can't remember any details.  It was (is?) a sort of
> early SQL-type environment--but the criticisms I heard were about
> very unforgiving syntax and very proprietary.
 
I have a buddy who works as a health safety auditor at nuke plants during
maintenance outages.  A good deal of the docemeter (sp?) reading and logging
software is written in MUMPs.
 
He claims MUMPs is a string oriented language, and is poor at processing
binary data.  Thus when automation of docemeter gear arived, it had to be
spiced into an existing MUMPs environment (i.e., feed raw data from devices
into string and parse/cut out the results).  Ugly.
 =======================================================================
Guy Smith                                Voice:  804-527-4000 ext 6664
Circuit City Stores, Inc.                  FAX:  804-527-4008
9950 Mayland Drive                      E-Mail:  [log in to unmask]
Richmond, VA 23233-1464         Private E-Mail:  [log in to unmask]
 
The thoughts expressed herein are mine and do not reflect those of my
employer, or anyone with common sense.