Formatted File System


The Formatted File System is the name of a series of Database Management Systems (DBMS) developed for military use and designed to run on IBM mainframe computers.
The period from 1964 to 1968 saw the transition from isolated DBMS development efforts to the development of DBMS families. The Formatted File System is one such family. Others included General Electric's IDS family, and the Mark IV series developed by Informatics Inc.. These families were developed across organizations and branches of government, spreading and evolving with their primary developers. Beginning around 1968, industry DBMS development became increasingly proprietary.

Family Members

  • IRS, 1958, IBM 704
  • *Information Retrieval System
  • TUFF/TUG, 1959, IBM 704/9
  • *Tape Update for Formatted Files / Tape Updater and Generator
  • FFS, 1961, IBM 7090
  • *Formatted File System
  • FFS, 1963, IBM 1401
  • *Formatted File System
  • FFS, 1963, IBM 1410
  • *Formatted File System
  • FFS, 1965, IBM 1410
  • *Formatted File System
  • GIS, 1965, IBM SYSTEM/360
  • *Generalized Information System
  • NIPS, 1965, IBM 1410
  • *NMCS Information Processing System
  • NIPS, 1968, IBM SYSTEM/360
  • *NMCS Information Processing System
  • CDMS, 1968, IBM SYSTEM/360
  • *Cobol Data Management System