Fundamentals of Computer Processing 1

Computer Sizes Mainframes -- the first Supercomputers -- the largest Minicomputers -- the first effort to achieve reduced size Microcomputers -- made possible by microprocessor PC -- used by one person, or by a few people in the same area Workstations, lap tops, notebooks, and palmtops 2

The Computer Schematic Processor = Control unit + ALU The computer is a closed-loop system 3

Central Processing Unit The Computer Schematic Central Processing Unit (CPU) Control Unit Primary Storage Unit Output Information Input Data Arithmetic and Logic Unit Secondary Storage Unit 4

Computer History Prior to 1950s Keydriven machines (some were called bookkeeping machines) Punched card machines 5

Computer History (continued) 1951 -- first commercial computer (a UNIVAC I) installed at the Census Burea 1954 -- first computer installed in a business (another UNIVAC I at GE) Early 1970s -- minicomputers Late 1970s -- microcomputers (TRS-80, Commodore PET) 1982 -- IBM PC 6

Primary Storage Evolution in storage media: Magnetic drums Magnetic cores Integrated circuits (1964) 7

Bits and Bytes (KB, MB) RAM and ROM Cache memory One kilobyte (1KB) is 210 bytes (1,024) One megabyte (1MB) is 220 bytes (1,048,576) 8

Input Devices Keyboard Ergonomic considerations (human engineering, human factor considerations) QWERTY keyboard vs. Dvorak keyboard 9

Pointing Devices Mouse Trackball Touch screen Light pen Remote control device 10

Source Data Automation (SDA) Input bottleneck Optical character recognition (OCR) is big in retailing Supermarket scanners Point of sale (POS) terminals Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) was big for banks starting in the late 1950s 11

Technologies used for POS Terminals Mark readers Barcode readers Character readers Handprint readers 12

Speech Recognition Speaker dependent Speaker independent 13

Output Devices Displayed Printed Speech (audio response unit) CRT, VDT Flat-panel Printed Speed Quality Speech (audio response unit) digitized or playback 14

Means of Producing Computer Output Computer Displayed Output Devices Printers ABC123 Computer Speech Output Devices Plotters Microfilm 15

Printers Impact Nonimpact Line Character Page Ink jet Laser Dot matrix Daisy wheel 16

Output Devices (continued) Plotters Flatbed Drum Microform Microfilm (roll) Microfiche (sheet) Tabular versus graphical versus narrative 17

Software Input and output devices communicate directly with the manager and are considered to have a direct role Source data automation devices play an indirect role Two main types of software -- system and application 18

System Software Three main types: operating system translators utilities 19

Operating System Basic functions Schedule jobs Manage hardware and software resources Maintain system security Provide for multiprogramming Handle interrupts Maintain usage records 20

Language Translators Software Generations First -- machine language Second -- assemblers Third -- compilers and interpreters Procedure-oriented language Problem-oriented language Fourth -- natural language (4GL) Nonprocedural Types of 4GLs (example: FOCUS) 21

1 2 The Program is Translated Before the Data is Processed Source Input Data Object Program Output 22

Database Query Language Fourth-generation Languages Offer Unique Combinations of Power and User Friendliness Much Very high-level languages Modeling languages Database Query Language Report writers DSS power Application generators Graph generators Little Friendly Unfriendly User friendliness 23

FOCUS Instructions to Prepare a Report DEFINE FILE SALES REGION/A12=DECODE REGION(NE ‘NORTH EAST’ SE ‘SOUTH EAST’ MW ‘MID WEST’ MA ‘MID-ATLANTIC’); END TABLE FILE SALES HEADING CENTER “PRODUCT UNIT SALES ANALYSIS </1” SUM UNITS AND ROW-TOTAL AND COLUMN-TOTAL ACROSS REGION BY PRODNUM AS ‘PRODUCT NUMBER’

Application Software Custom programming versus prewritten packages Four categories of prewritten packages 1. General business 2. Industry-specific 3. Organizational productivity GDSS, E-mail, project management, forecasting, stat packages 25

Application Software (continued) 4. Personal productivity (or application development software) Word processing Spreadsheets Graphics desktop publishing, etc. Direct versus indirect roles of software 26

Application Software C B I S Software Type DP MIS DSS OA ES General Business Industry-specific Organizational productivity Personal productivity 27

User Friendliness Guided dialog Context sensitive help Menus Form-filling Context sensitive help Help screen or help messages Graphic user interface (GUI) Icons, buttons, toolbars, and others 28

Error Control Error prevention Error detection Error correction Protected format Error detection Edit routines Error correction Edit commands 29

Multimedia Combines different forms of computer output, allows richer communication Began in late 1980s Multimedia in business accounting information systems (documedia) MIS and DSS via graphs, three-dimensional graphics and animation office automation; workgroup computing, desktop video knowledge-based systems

Information Specialists The Multimedia System Development Process Communications Professionals Information Specialists User Step 1 Define the problem Step 2 Design the concept Step 3 Design the content Step 4 Write the script Step 5 Design the graphics Step 6 Produce the system Step 7 Conduct user tests Use the system Step 8 Step 9 Maintain the system