SherbyNet - /page/wikibook/entry.mu

Micron Document

<!DOCTYPE html>

<title>RAMIS (software)</title>

</head>

<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">RAMIS (software)</span></span>

</h1>

</header>

<p><b>RAMIS</b> ("Rapid Access Management Information System") is a <a href="Fourth-generation_programming_language" title="Fourth-generation programming language">fourth-generation programming language</a> (4GL) capable of creating and maintaining databases consisting of named files containing both numeric and alphabetic fields and subsequently producing detailed simple or complex reports using a very simple English like language. As such it is easily mastered by non-programmers. A typical program - either to create or maintain a database or to create quite complex reports - would normally consist of a handful of lines of code which could be written or understood by non-professional programmers. "End users" as they became known. Such end users could be trained to use RAMIS in a matter of days and so large companies would often have several hundred such users scattered throughout the company.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p>RAMIS was initially developed in the mid 1960s by the company <a href="Mathematica_Inc._(1968%E2%80%931986)#Mathematica_Products_Group" title="Mathematica Inc. (1968–1986)">Mathematica</a> on a consulting contract for a marketing study by a team headed by Gerald Cohen<sup id="cite_ref-MATH.times_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MATH.times-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-rdbmsearlyyearsoh20070612_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-rdbmsearlyyearsoh20070612-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and subsequently further developed and marketed as a general purpose data management and analysis tool. In the late 1960s Cohen fell out with the management of Mathematica and left to form his own company. Shortly thereafter his new company released a new product called <a href="FOCUS" title="FOCUS">FOCUS</a> which was very similar to RAMIS: "the same bugs and the same misspelled error messages."<sup id="cite_ref-ConfCall_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ConfCall-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><a href="National_CSS" title="National CSS">National CSS</a> (NCSS), a <a href="Time-sharing" title="Time-sharing">Time-sharing</a> vendor, licensed rights to make RAMIS available on its <a href="VP/CSS" title="VP/CSS">VP/CSS</a> system.<sup id="cite_ref-ConfCall_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ConfCall-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>At some point Mathematica changed its licensing price.<sup id="cite_ref-IEEE.Change_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-IEEE.Change-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>The interested parties were:<sup id="cite_ref-ConfCall_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ConfCall-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<ul><li>NCSS, which was marketing RAMIS (and other products) for use on their time-sharing system</li>

<li>Mathematica, owner of RAMIS</li>

<li>Key developers/programmers of RAMIS

<ul><li>some stayed with Mathematica</li>

<li>others left to form the company that became Information Builders, known for their FOCUS product</li></ul></li></ul>

<p>Most of the programming team remained with Mathematica as did almost all the sales force. By this time RAMIS had double digits of client companies in both the US and a European division headquartered in London and so Mathematica decided to create a new division called Mathematica Products Group and rename the product RAMIS II.<sup id="cite_ref-MATH.times_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MATH.times-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> At the same time, the company decided to recall Frank Fish - originally a Mathematica consultant who had been assigned to lead a European consulting team and had subsequently formed the European RAMIS group - to head up the RAMIS II design team and International Sales.

</p><p>Sales of both RAMIS II and FOCUS continued to grow through the 1980s throughout the western world with RAMIS II generally outselling FOCUS on mainframes though no detailed figures are available. RAMIS II was eventually installed in some 40 countries worldwide.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Purchased_by_Martin_Marietta">Purchased by Martin Marietta</h3></div>

<p>MPG itself eventually grew to more than 500 staff with roughly 200 involved with RAMIS II. The company was largely owned by a group of professors in Mathematics and Economics at Princeton University and, as this group aged, they opted to cash out by selling to <a href="Martin_Marietta_Corporation" class="mw-redirect" title="Martin Marietta Corporation">Martin Marietta Corporation</a> (subsequently <a href="Lockheed_Martin" title="Lockheed Martin">Lockheed Martin</a>) in 1983.<sup id="cite_ref-MartMar_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MartMar-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>RAMIS II continued to grow for another 4 years until most of the top people in RAMIS II design and sales quit in reaction to policy changes imposed by Lockheed Martin. Roughly 2 years later Lockheed Martin sold the RAMIS II group to another software firm whose background and culture was so different from Mathematica that they were unable to make a success of the product and they in turn sold the product to another company for its maintenance revenue.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Three-way_split">Three-way split</h3></div>

<p>In 1987<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> RAMIS was sold to <a href="On-Line_Software_International" title="On-Line Software International">On-Line Software International</a>

until it was acquired by its current owners, <a href="Computer_Associates" class="mw-redirect" title="Computer Associates">Computer Associates</a>.

</p><p>By the time the company was about to be purchased by Computer Associates (CA Technologies), the results were

</p>

<ul><li>NCSS, with its own database software, <a href="NOMAD_(software)" title="NOMAD (software)">NOMAD</a></li></ul>

<dl><dd><dl><dd>("We’ve got to replace RAMIS, and we’re going to build our own product.")<sup id="cite_ref-ConfCall_3-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ConfCall-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd></dl></dd></dl>

<ul><li>Mathematica, with its RAMIS offering</li>

<li>Information Builders, with its <a href="FOCUS" title="FOCUS">FOCUS</a> offering</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="RAMIS_syntax">RAMIS syntax</h2></div>

<p>The RAMIS syntax has been described as

</p>

<ul><li>"allows you to use English-like commands to prepare reports and graphs from your RAMIS files."<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li>

<li>"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 <a href="COBOL" title="COBOL">COBOL</a>."</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Market_acceptance">Market acceptance</h2></div>

<p>While the initial timesharing/mainframe product was positively accepted, the initial PC version didn't get the same reception:

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Less_positive">Less positive</h3></div>

<ul><li>"Ramis is a compromise 4GL relational database management system. It lacks SQL, a full programming language, good tech support, and the brute-force capabilities and sophistication of its competition. But it's remarkably easy to learn and use, comes with decent documentation, and performs the database basics."<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Less_negative">Less negative</h3></div>

<ul><li>"In Short: Ramis is an easy-to-use, pop-up menu database query and reporting tool for end users. However, its lack of a sophisticated applications development environment will preclude its use for more complicated demands."<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><div class="reflist">

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("./mw/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("./mw/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("./mw/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("./mw/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/22/business/mathematica-s-shift-into-software-field.html">"MATHEMATICA'S SHIFT INTO SOFTWARE FIELD"</a>. <i><a href="The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a></i>. February 22, 1983. <q>Mathematica developed its Ramis system in doing a project for a large industrial company in 1969. MPG recognized that Ramis - for Rapid Access Management Information System - could have a broad market. Ramis II is now the mainstay of one of Mathematica's three divisions.</q></cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-rdbmsearlyyearsoh20070612-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-rdbmsearlyyearsoh20070612_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation interview cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102702562-05-01-acc.pdf">"RDBMS Plenary 1: Early Years"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> (Interview). Interviewed by Burton Grad. Computer History Museum. 2007-06-12<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2025-05-30</span></span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-ConfCall-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-ConfCall_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ConfCall_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ConfCall_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ConfCall_3-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/RAMIS_and_NOMAD/RAMIS_and_NOMAD.National_CSS.oral_history.2005.102658182.pdf">"RAMIS and NOMAD--National CSS"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. May 20, 2005.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-IEEE.Change-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-IEEE.Change_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFNick_Rawlings2014" class="citation journal cs1">Nick Rawlings (March 17, 2014). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6774378">"The History of NOMAD: A Fourth Generation Language"</a></span>. <i>IEEE Annals of the History of Computing</i>. <b>36</b>: <span class="nowrap">30–</span>38. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1109%2FMAHC.2014.10">10.1109/MAHC.2014.10</a>. <a href="S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:19419272">19419272</a>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TB1HBCE9xiUC">"RAMIS II English-like nonprocedural"</a>. <i><a href="Computerworld" title="Computerworld">Computerworld</a></i>. September 10, 1979. p. 20.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-MartMar-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-MartMar_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fzlfAWYHBpQC">"RAMIS II, PC Unison"</a>. <i>Computerworld</i>. September 9, 1985. p. 6.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"In 1983, Martin Marietta acquired Mathematica Products Group, developer of Ramis II."</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Announced as a "has just acquired" late 1986 in a competitive marketing letter:

<cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=VMJcvUyoqJcC">"RAMIS Information System acquired"</a>. <i>Computerworld</i>. December 1, 1986. p. 90.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Ns3aAAAAMAAJ">"RAMIS II - Basic Reporting"</a>. June 17, 1985.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation magazine cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5j4EAAAAMBAJ">"Ramis"</a>. <i>InfoWorld</i>. April 18, 1988.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation magazine cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hpmavHER2VIC">"Ramis"</a>. <i>PC Magazine</i>. <a href="Ziff_Davis" title="Ziff Davis">Ziff Davis</a>. May 28, 1991.</cite></span>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://support.ca.com/us/knowledge-base-articles.TEC476280.html">Response to "In CA Ramis, how can I produce a report, comparing the earliest date in one file to a date in another file with matching keys?"</a></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-07-29" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=RAMIS_(software)&oldid=1303178132">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

</div>

</div></div>

</div>

</main>

</div>

</body></html>