☜	Foreword 1977 Version of ANSI Standard					☞

Foreword

(This Foreword is not a Part of American National Standard MUMPS Language Standard X11.1–7977.)

MUMPS, an acronym for Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System, is a high-level, interactive computer programming language developed for use in complex data handling operations. The MUMPS Development Committee, prompted by a desire to limit the promulgation of divergent MUMPS dialects, initiated the spec ification of this standard in early 1973. The specification was completed in 1975 as a result of a cooperative effort on the part of the MUMPS Development Committee, chaired by R. Peter Ericson of the Institute of Living, its Subcommittee on Standard Specifications and Language Development, chaired by David A. Bridger of Artronix, Inc., and the Subcommittee’s Task Group on MUMPS Standardization, chaired by Jack Bowie of the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Part I of this Standard, the MUMPS Language Specification, MDC/28, was prepared by Melvin E. Conway under Contract No. 5–35770 with the National Bureau of Standards. Part I contains the narrative description of the MUMPS language. It was adopted and approved for publication as a Type A release of the MUMPS Development Committee on March 12, 1975; it superseded both the Partial MUMPS Language Standard, MDC/25, of October 14, 1974 and the more recent marked proposal, entitled Interim MUMPS Language Specification, MDC 1/8, of February 10, 1975.

Part II, the MUMPS Transition Diagrams, MDC/33, was prepared by David D. Sherertz and Anthony 1. Wasserman under Contract No. 4–35840 with the National Bureau of Standards. Part 11 consists of a formal definition of the language described in Part 1. It was adopted and approved for publication as a Type A release of the MUMPS Development Committee on September 17, 1975; it superseded two earlier publications with the same title, numbered MDC 1/9 and dated March 12, 1975 and August 8, 1975.

Part III, the MUMPS Portability Requirements, MDC/34, was prepared by Edward A. Gardner and Carl B. Lazarus under Purchase Order Nos. 409767 and 512576, respectively, from the National Bureau of Standards. Part III identifies constraints on MUMPS programs and implementations required for portability of MUMPS application code. It was adopted and approved for publication as a Type A release of the MUMPS Development Committee on September 17, 1975; it superseded the earlier draft proposal. with the same title, numbered MDC 1 /10 and dated May 23, 1975.

Document preparation was authorized under the terms of an interagency agreement between the National Center for Health Services Research, Health Resources Administration; U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology, National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce.

A preliminary version of this document was published as National Bureau of Standards Handbook 118, dated January 1976 and revised March 9, 1976. The MUMPS Language Standard was submitted to ANSI for processing via the canvass method on May 17, 1976. Approval was granted on September 15, 1977.

Suggestions for improvement of this standard will be welcome. They should be sent to the American National Standards Institute, 1430 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10018.

At the time of the initial language specification, the MUMPS Development Committee included the following members:

Copyright © Standard Documents; 1977-2024 MUMPS Development Committee;
Copyright © Examples: 1995-2024 Ed de Moel;
Copyright © Annotations: 2003-2008 Jacquard Systems Research
Copyright © Annotations: 2008-2024 Ed de Moel.

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