RIM (Relational Information Management) is a relational database management package, originally written in FORTRAN 66 for CDC Cyber, UNIVAC, DEC VAX, and PRIME. This version of RIM is a descendent of the Boeing Computer Services (BCS) program of the same name that was developed in 1978 as part of the IPAD project for NASA (NAS1-14700):
The IPAD project objective is to improve engineering productivity through better use of computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology. It focuses on development of technology and associated software for integrated company-wide management of engineering information.
— IPAD: Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (NASA Conference Publication 2143, 1980)
Despite being essentially public domain software, the package was also sold as a commercial product (BCS RIM) for various operating systems, with interfaces to FORTRAN, COBOL, Pascal, BASIC, and PL/I. The source code was given to the University of Washington and further developed as UWRIM for the CDC Cyber mainframe. UWRIM was later rewritten in FORTRAN 77 and ported to UNIX, while the command language has been extended to be more like SQL.
The source code was last updated by Marco Valagussa and Jacques Bouchard in 1998, who added corrections and compatibility with AIX, 4.3BSD, VAX/VMS, SunOS, and Linux.
The UWRIM database management system features:
- SQL-like querying language.
- Multiple data types: integer, real, double (scalar, vector, matrix); text; date; time.
- Relational table algebra (
union,intersect,substract,join,project). - Password-protected databases.
- Macros.
- Report generation.
- RIM-to-RIM data transfer (
unload,load). - FORTRAN 77 interface.
RIM consists of the following files:
| File | Description |
|---|---|
rim |
The main program. |
rime |
The database editor. |
rimh |
Builds the help database. |
librim.a |
The program interface library. |
Databases have the file endings .rimdb1, .rimdb2, and .rimdb3.
Use f2c and an appropriate C compiler (clang,
gcc, …) to build RIM. The original Makefile has been updated to be
compatible with modern GNU make and BSD make. On FreeBSD, run:
$ cp LINUX-DGUX/*.[cdf] src/
$ cd src/
$ make
On Linux, add the make argument PREFIX=/usr.
The compilation outputs the programs rim, rime, and rimh, as well as the
static library librim.a.
The “RIM Installers Manual” (rimint.pdf) and the “RIM Users Manual”
(rimref.pdf) seem to be the only documentation available. The file
rimdoc.txt contains the VAX/VMS user’s guide of the commercial BCS RIM-5.
RIM implements a relational database model that consists of a collection of one or more tables. These tables (or relations) are defined with a fixed number and sequence of columns (attributes) to store tuples of data as rows.
Databases can be accessed either from the interactive RIM program, by executing programs written in the RIM command language, or through the FORTRAN 77 interface.
The following program in the RIM command language creates a new database
schema sample using the define statement block. Then, columns are declared
with their respective data type, size, and output format. In the tables
section, we define the table techs, containing the columns id, name,
position, and status. The define statement is closed with end.
*(newdb.rim)
*(Creates a new RIM database schema `sample`,)
*(and loads values into table `techs`.)
echo
define sample
columns
id int format i5
name text var format a12
position text 8
status text 1
tables
techs with id name position status
end
load techs
5 'Alice Jones' 'Tech 1' A
22 'Carol Smith' 'Tech 2' A
35 'Heidi Jackson' 'Tech 1' B
end
build key for name in techs
echo off
close
exit
Initial values are added through a load block. Adding a key to a column will
speed up “equals” type of searches, but slows down updates. Keys should be
added after a table is loaded.
Store the program as newdb.rim, and then run:
$ ./rim newdb.rim
UW RIM (V.1.24 08/03/90)
define sample
Begin definitions for new database: sample
columns
id int format i5
name text var format a12
position text 8
status text 1
tables
techs with id name position status
end
Database definitions completed.
load techs
Loading table 'techs'
5 'Alice Jones' 'Tech 1' A
22 'Carol Smith' 'Tech 2' A
35 'Heidi Jackson' 'Tech 1' B
end
End data loading
build key for name in techs
Build key completed.
echo off
End rim execution 06/27/** 21:55:57
RIM will create the database files sample.rimdb1, sample.rimdb2, and
sample.rimdb3.
Start the interactive RIM interpreter and open the database sample:
$ ./rim
UW RIM (V.1.24 08/03/90)
Rim: open 'sample'
Database 'sample' is open.
We can list all tables of the database with list:
Rim: list
list
Table name rows last modified
---------------- ------ ------------
techs 3 06/27/**
The select query returns the rows:
Rim: select * from techs
select * from techs
Table: techs
id name position status
----- ------------ --------- -------
5 Alice Jones Tech 1 A
22 Carol Smith Tech 2 A
35 Heidi Tech 1 B
Jackson
3 rows selected.
For sorted output, add the sort clause to the select query:
Rim: select * from techs sort by position
Table: techs
id name position status
----- ------------ --------- -------
5 Alice Jones Tech 1 A
35 Heidi Tech 1 B
Jackson
22 Carol Smith Tech 2 A
3 rows selected.
Furthermore, specific rows can be selected by adding a where clause. The label
of the column is given with the % operator:
Rim: select name%'Tech Name' from techs where id < 30
Table: techs
Tech Name
------------
Alice Jones
Carol Smith
2 rows selected.
The delete command removes rows from a table:
Rim: delete rows from techs where id = 5
1 rows were deleted.
Close the database with close and quit the RIM program with exit.
The example program example.f uses the database schema sample that was
declared above:
C *****************************************************************
C FORTRAN 77 EXAMPLE PROGRAM FOR RIM DATABASE ACCESS.
C *****************************************************************
PROGRAM MAIN
EXTERNAL ERROR, STRASC
LOGICAL RIM, RIMDM
CHARACTER*16 STRING
INTEGER TUPLE(32)
INTEGER RMSTAT
COMMON /RIMCOM/ RMSTAT
PRINT *, 'FORTRAN 77 INTERFACE TO RIM'
PRINT *, '***************************'
IF (RMSTAT .NE. 0) CALL ERROR(RMSTAT)
IF (.NOT. RIM(1, 'open sample')) CALL ERROR(RMSTAT)
IF (.NOT. RIM(1, 'select from techs sort by name'))
& CALL ERROR(RMSTAT)
PRINT *, 'NAMES:'
10 IF (RIMDM(1, 'GET', TUPLE)) THEN
CALL STRASC(STRING, TUPLE(8), 16)
PRINT *, STRING
GOTO 10
END IF
END
C *****************************************************************
SUBROUTINE ERROR(RMSTAT)
INTEGER RMSTAT
PRINT 100, 'ERROR: ', RMSTAT
100 FORMAT (A, I1)
STOP
END
C *****************************************************************
Compile the example program with:
$ f2c example.f
$ cc -I/usr/local/include/ -L/usr/local/lib/ \
-o example example.c librim.a /usr/local/lib/libf2c.a -lm -lf2c
Make sure that the RIM database files sample.rimdb1, sample.rimdb2, and
sample.rimdb3 are in the same directory as the executable. Then, simply run:
$ ./example
FORTRAN 77 INTERFACE TO RIM
***************************
NAMES:
Alice Jones
Carol Smith
Heidi Jackson
- Biser, A. O.: A Method for Data Base Management and Analysis for Wind-Tunnel Data. NASA Technical Memorandum 89038, 1987
- Comfort, D. L.; Erikson, W. J.: RIM: A Prototype for a Relational Information Management System. In: NASA Conference Publication 2055. Engineering and Scientific Data Management. Proc. of Conf. held at Hampton, Va., 18 – 19 May 1978
- Fox, J.: RIM Users Manual. University Computing Services, University of Washington, 1990
- Johnson, H. R.; Bernhardt, D. L.: Engineering Data Management Activities Within the IPAD Project. In: Bulletin of the Technical Committee on Data Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 2. IEEE Computer Society, June 1982
Public Domain