Teradyne's Semiconductor Test Division has developed a suite of tools and test equipment used by VLSI and memory device manufacturers. Jobs run on this equipment are driven by executable code, databases and vector files. The databases are binary files created by compiling an ASCII Database Representation (ADR) file which is then loaded into shared memory. A suite of tools, including graphical editors, interacts directly with this shared memory image. When modifications are made to the database, the changes are reflected in shared memory and ultimately in the binary files. These binary files were formerly translated back into the ADR format with a loss of all formatting. Instead, it would be much more intuitive if the ADR files were the "masters" of the suite of utilities, meaning that if the binary database files were removed from the system and the ADR files were loaded directly into shared memory. This would allow the modifications to the shared memory to be translated back into the ADR files with faithful preservation of formatting. The end user could then inspect the modified ADR files with a simple text editor and easily observe/modify the changes made by the utilities. The project researched, designed, and prototyped a maintenance system to fulfill these needs.

The goals for this project were to develop a conceptual model for the graphical formulation of queries and to develop a system to display the results for the JPL Cartographic Applications Group. The team developed a prototype demonstrating the feasibility of such a system.

An electronic patient chart is an alternative to the physical chart. It has advantages of allowing instantaneous access by multiple physicians, compact storage, and provision of automation tools. Previous attempts at designing electronic patient charts have had similar shortcomings. A significant obstacle is physician acceptance: If the product does not function intuitively, it will not get used. The other major problem is that previous systems have been configured so that easy access is available only within the originating physician's office and not on a network. This project remedied these problems in the following ways: First, chart access is via a network, so that the database can be accessed from any site. Secondly, instead of concentrating on a single user interface, a series of tools was developed to enable a programmer to easily construct an interface to a physician's specifications.