History of MV-DBMS

The multi-valued database model was conceived in 1965, as part of a research and development project for the US Army. Engineers at TRW Corporation developed a software program called the Generalized Information Retrieval Language and System (GIRLS), capable of associating elements with dissimilar language content into related logical content (e.g. quarter and 1/4 have the same "meaning").

Shortly after the concept was conceived, Dick Pick met Don Nelson and soon they sought to commercialize Nelson’s ideas to capitalize on what both saw as a coming information technology revolution.

In 1972, Pick started his own company and formed one of the industry’s first commercial software/hardware alliances with Microdata Corp. This partnership proved to be a forerunner, as the two companies offered customers what is now taken for granted—an extensive reseller network and application bundling that combined the best available hardware, DBMS and application software in an affordable value-added package.

The MV-DBMS industry generally descends from this pairing, and as a result often refers to itself as selling "Pick," then "Pick Operating System," or the "Pick database model." You can read about Pick Systems, the company founded by Dick Pick, at www.picksys.com. However, there are several other companies who use the same model, and who have roots deriving from other, similar, technologies.

While the core technologies of multidimensionality, highly flexible and user-friendly query and applications languages, and a fundamental focus on simplicity of use have remained core components of the MV-DBMS industry for virtually all of its life, all suppliers are continually expanding capabilities at the edges, to enhance interface with graphical technologies, the Internet, and other database models. Thus, what was once thought of as an "operating system" has become a highly sophisticated database engine running in most "open" operating systems, including Linux, most flavors of UNIX, and Windows NT.