Sipal
Information System to Assist Aquaculture
Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean Reference Manual (continue)

4.7.2.3. Support Data Dictionary for the Reference Sector Codes

This field contains categories which allows the identification of product (flesh or seed) origins in the statistics. Therefore selection facility should be the same as that used during most of the culture process, to obtain the final product

This field contains categories which allows the identification of product (flesh or seed) origins in the statistics databases. Therefore selecting facility should be the same as that used for the culture process [see point (E)].

5. SYSTEM MANAGEMENT

5.1. Data Management Process - Configuration of National Centers

The national centers will manage the flow of the data between the various national sources of data and themselves and will be responsible for the interfacing procedures (installation, training, setting-up, etc…) to the Regional Module.

To this end the national coordinators can operate with the data collection mechanisms already in existence in their countries taking into account three major aspects:

In the first instance, they have to build up an automatic and routine quality data control associated with verification of the input data. This process, which is of fundamental importance should be exerted with the assistance of the various colleagues operating in the field because they are closer to the source and can better intervene to correct any major discrepancies. Participation of these persons, apart from the typical data collection and data transfer, should be more and more oriented toward an active role in the quality control and validation of the source of databases on their specific subject/area of competence. The second step in the data collection and compilation process lies with the National Centers where all the national data will be conveyed. The responsible people will therefore evaluate the quality of the data received by classifying them into: data not reliable (therefore to be either revised or rejected), data reliable but confidential (therefore they cannot be distributed) and, data reliable that can be sent to the regional center. It is clear that these three categories cannot be considered as fixed. It is only a way of underlining the importance of the national centers vis-à-vis the question of data certification.

In the second instance, it is necessary to establish a data transmission interval for the constant collating and distribution of national data. This aspect is of primary importance in respect to the integration of national data within the regional contest since the different databases will follow different updating logic. It is suggested that the merging of national data and therefore downloading to regional databases follow a strict pattern, agreed to on a regional basis, and that each time, regardless which database was updated, to distribute the whole regional module.

In the third instance, the knowledge and experience of the national coordinators may be exploited to improve the interest around Sipal. It may be possible that in the first period of implementation, the system requires more data or categories than are currently available to the fishery and aquaculture department in a country. In this case, its contribution to Sipal could reduced. A capillary action of the various fishery and aquaculture officers, together with local producers and experts who constitute a consistent portion of the end users, may influence in the short and medium term expansion of the data collection both in terms of coverage and in data elements.

As discussed during the presentation of the Sipal Prototype, and during the training given to the national coordinators, although the National Module is supplied with all the necessary software, each country is free to use its own software or databases. It is the responsibility of the System Manager to request all countries to send the updated files according to a given time schedule, and regardless of where such data are resident (Sipal Databases or National Databases). It will be the responsibility of the national coordinators to recompile the data from the national database to the regional structure of each database, and send them to the Regional Center.

The updating process in Sipal was conceived in a way as not to charge the National coordinator with extra workload due to their functions in this process. The first phase in this process is built at the national level, where the country may decide to use the software support provide within Sipal, or access their own databases in local or remote mode. In the two cases the operator will make use of a simple mechanism to extract national data for the regional database from a Sipal application (which consists of an automated routine within Sipal) or develop an interfacing routine that may automatically capture the necessary data elements from their own databases, transform them, normalize, standardize and store them in a given structure to be merged with other similar data of the Region. However it is clear that if a country or an institution does not collate and send the data to the Regional center, the regional database will not contain the data of such a country.

In Figure 4, the various routes are given for a better understanding of the data flow in the different situations.

Figure 4. Data Flow - Phase 1

The second and third phases of the data flow intervene at regional level (Figure 5): each country aliments the regional center with their data which are temporarily parked in a directory called “National”. Subsequently each database is “filtered”, through a severe verification process and is transferred to the regional database. Periodically the Regional module will be distributed to the participating countries.

For those countries that will use the Sipal standard software the uploading process will simply be transferring an updated copy of the national database to the Regional Center or, extracting a sub set from the national database. This is the case of countries where, as we strongly supported more “national only” data elements to its databases were added to better respond to their needs. All these date sets will be sent to the regional center to contribute to the regional database. This is one of the main tasks of the Data Manager who has to carefully control all the data coming from the various countries. In this context the introduction of a regional codification system will definitely improve the consistency of the information. For those countries that intend to use their own databases which may reside in a directory different to that given by Sipal, or which is located remotely, the national coordinator must change the content of one or more batch files.

Figure 5. Data Flow - Phase 2 and 3

In fact, in order to keep the hierarchical structure fixed and similar throughout the network, the user interface (menu) was developed in such a way that selecting an application, Sipal invokes a batch file to launch a job that basically contains the following:

• resetting the system parameters (if needed);
• give the directory where the software resides;
• messages (if any);

• resetting the system parameters (if needed).

The Sipal Regional Center, together with the FAO Fishery Department (as backstopping) will assist those countries which require some assistance to introduce those modification to make Sipal work in harmony within their own context

The batch files are all stored in the Directory D:\SIPALJOB, they cover all the menu selections and are organised in the following manner.

(*) This software is owned by the National Centers.

Sipal at the moment of development was equipped with the following commercial software activated by the associated batch files.

In order to use any commercial software in the place of that listed above, the users must edit the associated batch files by replacing the directory name and the startup name of the software.

Throughout the development phase, the above strategy was considered as the best way to maintain a rigid cohesion of the system with the flexibility to use different applications and commercial software.

5.2. Cost Analysis

In this section the various options and associated costs for follow up of the development and improvement of Sipal after the disengagement of FAO are discussed. Two scenarios are presented in which the tasks as well as the running charges of the country/institution that will host the network are considered.

As far as the continuation of Sipal is concerned, it is worth mentioning that the First Regional Round Table on Sipal organized by Aquila II Project recommended the formulation of a Regional TCP (Technical Cooperation Program) Project to support the dissemination and expansion of Sipal in the Region during its first year of independent life.

5.2.1. Scenario 1 - Management of the Regional Center Based on The Present Sipal Structure.

In this first scenario, required resources to be made available by the National Center that will host the regional center are considered. In this option, the present structure of Sipal with the five countries involved in the development of the network (Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago).

The functioning of such a Regional Center will consist of a series of activities to be carried out systematically at a given time interval, as follows:

1. Collection of the data sent by the five countries on magnetic media on a monthly basis.

2. Collating the data and recompilation into the Regional Module using established routines.

3. Preparation of multiple copies of the updated Regional Module and forwarding it to the five countries.

Some additional tasks such as must also be foreseen:

1. Quick response to requests coming from the participating countries on data resident on remote databases (Globefish for instance).

2. Immediate response to technical assistance to participating countries for problems concerning the functioning and maintenance of the system.

3. Immediate response to other countries in the Region which may intend to join Sipal, despatch of a complete package of the system and provision of any assistance they may require.

In support to the last two tasks the organization of a regional Seminar and the preparation of a Demo to be distributed to all countries in the Region was considered.

For the above implications the following annual resources must be considered:

• 2 man/months of a Senior Officer.

• 4 man/months of an executive secretary or a Junior Officer.

The costs associated to the physical location and the logistics of the system that should include electricity, an office and its maintenance should also be taken into consideration. These costs should be covered by the hosting department which also manages the national center, and should include some additional occasional costs for computer expertise (1 man/month) to maintain Sipal.

A summarization is given in the following table.

¹ 2 m/m of a Senior Officer (2,000 US$/month), 4 m/m of an executive secretary (800 US$/month), 1 m/m of a computer expert (1,500 US$/month).

² This element contains the costs for the maintenance of the office where the regional center will be located. It represents the costs additional to those to be budgeted for the national center.

³ In this element the despatching cost (DHL and Others) for the magnetic media as well as for the despatch of the system as a whole and the demo are included. Also are included the physical costs of diskettes, ribbons etc…, for the production of the material to be disseminated.

⁴ Cost for the organization of a seminar on Sipal to be attended by the national coordinators. It is assumed that their respective offices cover the costs of their participants.

⁵ Costs to cover consumable items and distribution.

It was agreed that transferring the Regional Center to a national institution would also imply the transfer of all the computer equipment and the associated software of Aquila II used for Sipal (estimated cost US$10,000) as well as of all the available technical documentation produced. At the same time FAO, according to its resources, will ensure the necessary technical assistance for those problems that may occur at the regional center.

5.2.2. Scenario 2 - Management of the Regional Center After the Association to Sipal of The Other Countries of the Region

The costs considered under this sections are those that Sipal will require once a significant number of other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean join the network and the national coordinators are appropriately trained. It is hoped that this situation be achieved as soon as possible and through a regional cooperation program. Therefore, this scenario might be considered to be mature by the end of 1995. In this situation, the routine monthly work to be carried out is more or less the same as described in the previous section (scenario 1) but of course serving a higher number of users.

As a consequence, the requirements in terms of Human and other resources has to be re-considered accordingly. Specifically:

• 4 man/months of a senior.

• 7 man/months of an executive secretary or a juior officer.

At the same time, there will be a reduction in the occasional costs mainly due to promotion and installation of the system, which at mat time should have been completed and carried out under the TCP. The costs given in the next table are considered as the running costs of the system not connected to the network and without any further development.

¹ 4 m/m of a Senior Officer (2,000 US$/month), 7 m/h of an executive secretary (800 US$/month), 1.5 of a computer expert (1,500 US$/month).

² This element contains the costs for the maintenance of the office where the regional center will be located. It represents the costs additional to those to be budgeted for the national center.

³ In this element the despatching cost (DHL and Others) for the magnetic media as well as for the despatch of the system as a whole and the demo are included. Also it is included the physical costs of diskettes, ribbons etc…, for the production of the material to be disseminated.

5.2.3. Development and Networking Costs

In the case that the countries participating in Sipal wish to structure the system into a network to have the information material distributed through electronic mail, an additional financial resource of some US$10,000 must be envisaged. This amount will cover the software for and programming of the interface between Sipal and the electronic mail (US$3,500) and the connection to the network carrier of the countries involved(US$6,50Q). It must be emphasized that this cost is a fixed one whose breakdown between the countries must be estimated. However it will result in a high improvement of the system in terms of data/information transmission against a small amount of annual fees for using the, network carrier which also produces a drastic reduction in telephone, fax and postal fees.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 - PARTICIPANTS IN SIPAL DEVELOPMENT

Chile

Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, IFOP
Av. José Domingo Cañas 2277
Santiago de Chile
Tel: (+562)2256325
Fax: (+562)2254632
Av. Portales 1540
Puerto Montt, Chile
Tel: (+5665)259995,250085
Fax: (+5665)259995

• Cristian Jélvez-Flores
  Jefe Unidad Técnica Cultivo y
  Repoblación de Peces
• Pablo Cádiz
  Jefe Departamento de Informática
• Patricio Vera
  Analista-Programador

Colombia

Instituto Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura, INPA
Diagonal 27 No. 15-09
Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia
Tel: (+571) 2879190,2879309
Fax: (+571)2876107

• Carlos Barreto-Reyes
  Jefe Div. de Sistematización y Estadísticas
• Oscar Mauricio Gonzalez-Castro
  Director Regional Continental

Cuba

Ministerio de la Industria Pesquera
5ta. y 248, Barlovento, Santa Fe
Municipio Playa, La Habana, Cuba
Tel: (+537) 227586, 227514

• Juana María Castiñeiras-García
  Director Sistemas Automatizados

México

Instituto Nacional de Pesca, INP
Calle Chilpancingo No. 70
Col. Condesa
06170 México, D.F.
Tel: (+525) 2111141,2563645
Fax: (+525)2861149

• Irma López López
  Jefe de Departamento
• Alejandro Liedo-Galindo
  Investigador
• Gabriela Morales-García
  Investigador

Dirección General de Acuacultura, DGA
Privada de Trini No. 10
Col. San Jerónimo Lídice
10200 México, D.F.
Tel: (+525) 6837022, 6837476,6830541
Fax: (+525)5952704

• Víctor Ríos-Arias
  Jefe de Departamento

Trinidad & Tobago

Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources
St. Clair Circle
Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Tel: (+1809) 6258757, 6255332
Fax: (+1809)6258761

• Boris Fabres
  Fisheries Officer

FAO-GCP/RLA/102/lTA
Aquila II Project
Privada de Trini No. 10
Col. San Jerónimo Lídice
10200 México, D.F.
Tel: (+525) 6837022 Ext. 102, 6817866
Fax: (+525)6817866

• Claudio Gregorio
  Project Director
• Enrico Varsi
  Sipal Data Manager
• José Martínez-Santamaría
  Analyst-Programmer

FAO Headquarters
Fisheries Department
Via delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Roma, Italia
Tel: (+396)52253034
Fax: (+396)52253020

• S. Rino Coppola
  Fishery Resources Officer, FIRM
• Mario Pedini
  Senior Adviser (Aquaculture Development), FIRI

APPENDIX 2 - DATABASES DEFINITON PROCESS

1. Introduction

Following the principle of high interaction with the primary users, the contents of the databases will be decided based on the following methodology.

The DB Matrix presented at the end of this section has been created to explain and guide the approach to be followed for the database definition process in Sipal. The reason the DB Matrix was de-fined and its use encouraged was to assist in the definition of the size and structure of the databases to be included in Sipal in conformity with what was agreed at the conceptual level:

«[…] The first qualifying characteristic of the proposed system is the basic role of the end user in its design and implementation. It is emphasized that the system will be mainly designed by the users themselves, based on their concrete needs […], countries will not be burdened with requests for additional Data Collection Operations to feed this System […] Only data of common interest to Aquaculture in the Region, of non-confidential nature […] will be entered in the system […t]»

2. DB Matrix Contents

The DB Matrix will contain 13 columns containing the following:

The size and structure of the databases should, by definition, be located between the country and FAO (global) reporting systems. In other words, the databases should not have the same detail as the country systems (coverage, frequency, items, etc…), but should contain data that is more desegregated than that in the FAO Yearbooks and Bulletins.

3. DB Matrix Data Status Code

• Proceed data item by data item and therefore country by country.

• Use X when the data item in the row is regularly collected in the country and can be made available to the system.

• Add under the data items column any other data items that are not listed but are regularly collected in the country and available to the system; of course insert X as appropriate.

• Mark with (+) data items that are not collected at present, but which could certainly be made available to the system.

• Mark with (?) data items that are not collected at present, and which could or could not be made available to the system.

• Mark with (N) data items that regardless of whether they are presently collected or not will not be made available to the system.

• Mark with (C) data items that although collected are considered confidential, and therefore not distributed.

4. How to Proceed

• Decide on which database is to be discussed.

• Fill data items column (column 1) with all the possible variables (fields) that such a database should contain.

• Fill, whenever applicable, column 2 by listing (using ticks) all data items available in the same FAO database.

• Write in the appropriate box in column 3 the name of the country, analyze all the listed data items and mark the country status for each item. If one or more data item is collected in that country, add its name to the list in column 1.

• Same as above for all the countries.

• At the end of this round, column 10 “Auto structure” will be completed and used as a starting point for a more detailed evaluation. Data items contained in this column represent the data existing and available in the Region — practically a census — for the considered countries. It is clear and intuitive that other FAO users may benefit from this exercise.

• At this point the data administrator assisted by sector experts will eliminate certain data items that may appear of non-regional interest; some countries may be asked to make an effort to convert one or more (?) into X, and propose further alterations if necessary. The output of this exercise will produce the structure as proposed in column 11.

• At this point the System Analyst-Programmer will review the proposed database structure by including a few fields for data processing needs, changing characteristics of other data items for consistency reasons, and making other technical modifications, as necessary.

• The resulting list of data items will represent the typical record structure to be used to develop the database. It will be associated with all the necessary structural characteristics, data definitions, referential linkages, etc…, and, after approval by the System Manager, will be submitted for development

• The task of the System Analyst-Programmer will now be to program the standard DBMS to produce that application by taking into account the following:

  1. prepare the Application's Reference Manual;

  2. develop one version of the same software for national use (National Module) containing all the typical data entry, data retrieval, configuration, help/info, data downloading procedures;

  3. develop one version of the same software for regional use (Regional Module) containing all the typical data retrieval, configuration, help/info procedures.

DB Matrix

APPENDIX 3 - EXAMPLE OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION IMPORTERS DIRECTORY

APPENDIX 4 - Technical Data Sheet of the FAO Software included in Sipal

1. Aquadab

The Aquadab database allows the user to store information about animal species bred with aquaculture techniques. Aquadab should be of interest to researchers and farmers who want to store and retrieve, in a standard and concise format, basic information on research and trials on cultivated species. Aquadab has also been developed to encourage aquaculture researchers to record basic aquaculture information in a format which can easily be accessible to other scientists. The Aquadab manual provides the basic information required to install, run and use Aquadab . It also describes the general structure of the database, the information contained in its records and all software menu commands and function keys. The Aquadab software runs on IBM PC compatible computers and has no special memory or hard disk requirements. The software is distributed in a single 1.44 MB diskette.

2. Aquastat

The system provides users with access to Aquaculture data in the form of computer records containing time series of annual production and value. Time series are organized by producing country, species, and major statistical area, as these appear in the Aquaculture Circular produced each year by the FAO Fisheries Department. The system allows for flexible selection of databases and the formulation of sub-sets of time series by means of multiple selection and extraction criteria.

Also available are transformation and computation functions, exportation of data to spreadsheets, and graphical presentations of time series in both display and print formats.

3. Agris-fishery

FAO Fisheries Bibliographic Reference Database.

4. Costab

PC-Costab is the PC-Compass module for project costing.

It was developed jointly by the World Bank and the FAO Investment Center, Rome, in the aim of providing project analysts with an useful tool.

PC-Costab performs the following tasks:

• Calculate the physical contingencies, taxes and foreign exchange.
• Produce detailed and summary project cost tables for inclusion in Staff Appraisal Reports.
• Calculate financing plans and disbursement profiles.
• Convert financial costs to economic costs for economic analysis.
• Store financial and economic data for use by Costben.

5. Costben

Costben is the PC-Compass module for the cost benefit analysis. It was developed at the World Bank. Through this software you may:

• Define time series variables.
• Calculate internal rates of return, net present values.
• Perform arithmetic operations on time series variables.
• Performs standardized sensitivity analyses (e.g. switching values)

Costben thus provides the basic building blocks for defining any model.

6. Fippdat

The Fishery Policy and Planning Databank (Fippdat) is a databank and software developed by FIPP which provides an access to information required for fisheries planning and management at the country level. It contains statistical information on a number of production and socio-economic aspects of fisheries in time series, by country, and by statistical area. The database covers 242 countries in five areas: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. It draws upon data sources available with various UN and FAO databases as well as data compiled from national statistical reports, field studies and other documents covering the following:

• geographical features and fisheries potential;
• population and employment.
• Gross Domestic Product;
• ODA, debt and balance of payment;
• trade;
• social indicators;
• domestic fish production by economic species groups;
• fish production by sub-sectors;
• food balance and nutrition;
• fish export by commodity groups;
• fish import by commodity groups;
• fishing fleet;
• national prices of fish and substitute foods;
• indexes of national wages and prices.

7. Fishstat

The system provides users with access to global catches in the form of computer records containing time series of annual production. Time series are organized by fishing country (flag of fishing vessel), species, and major statistical area, as these appear in the Yearbook of Fishery Statistics of Catches and Landings. The system allows for flexible selection of databases and the formulation of sub-sets of time series by means of multiple selection and extraction criteria. Also available are transformation and computation functions, exportation of data to spreadsheets, and graphical presentations of time series in both display and print formats.

8. Globefish

The Globefish data bank covers information on fish marketing in a broad sense, including:

• trade regulations;
• prices;
• imports and exports;
• consumer preferences;
• aquaculture;
• production;
• company profiles.

The data bank comprises articles from newspapers, specialized magazines, correspondents' reports, etc… It also holds statistics on the major commodities of importance, such as tuna, shrimp, cephalopods, etc… Some 25,000 news items and statistics are presently stored.

9. Listal

Listal is the database concerning Experts and Professionals in the field of Aquaculture. Information registered are organized by geographical area and by country, by name and by specialty. Through a menu driven selection, the user can browse, print or save in a file records concerning retrieved experts data selected by country, by name, or by specialty. The information contained in Listal have been collected in the Fisheries Department of FAO through questionnaires distributed to all the national fisheries and aquaculture departments in the Region.

10. SOFA

The State of Food and Agriculture is FAO's annual report on recent developments affecting world agriculture. In addiction to presenting facts and figures on the global agriculture situation and a review of the economic environment surrounding agriculture, every years analyses the economic and the agriculture implication of specific events in various countries. The regional review analyses trends and issues of importance to agriculture in different regions highlighting the situations in some developing countries, developed countries, EC and OECD countries.

An explained set of time series data is presented on diskette in English, French and Spanish: Time Series for SOFA includes agriculture, forestry and fishery data for about 150 countries, country groups and regions. The Faostat TS software offers easy display and analysis.

11. Speciesdab

The information compiled by FAO's Species Identification and Data Program were computerized in a database that forms a global inventory of commercially important species. Speciesdab is the name given to this database and the associated computer software that manipulates the data. Speciesdab was created to offer quick and easy access to the fisheries and biological information in the FAO Species Identification Sheets and World Catalogues. Speciesdab represents FAO's standard authority on nomenclature and identity of aquatic species used by man. It constitutes a global framework for continuous storage and updating of information and for the exchange of data between FAO and fisheries institutions of Member Countries.

Data on scientific and vernacular nomenclature, biology, fishing gears, and geographical distribution are included for species which belong to certain marine resource groups. To date, some 25 major resource groups are covered. Among these are shrimps, lobsters, cephalopods, sharks, marine turtles, and 22 families of bony fishes, which together form a significant component of world fisheries. In addition, information is included for many of the species listed in FAO's Yearbook of Fisheries Statistics.

APPENDIX 5 - GLOSSARY

Application program. Computer program that performs an end-user function, rather than a system-oriented function.

ASCII files. Files in which the individual characters are represented according to a numerical code (and its internal representation as a binary number) mat conforms to the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Such files are widely used to transfer data between different hardware and software environments. ASCII was created for this purpose.

Backup. The process of making secondary copies of a file or files in the event that the original becomes damaged.

Bernoulli Disk. Mass storage device on floppy disks that rivals Hard Disk for capacity and speed. The Bernoulli Box which uses replaceable 8-inch or 5.25" floppy disks was first introduced by IOMEGA in the early 1980's.

Configuration. The equipment (disk, diskette, terminal, printers, etc.) which makes up a particular system.

CD-ROM. Is a computer peripheral device which employs Compact Disk technology to store large amounts of data for late retrieval. This technology was first introduced by Philips and Sony in 1983. A CD-ROM disk can store up to 650 MBytes of data.

Computer network. An interconnection of computer systems, terminals, and communication facilities

Data. Known facts, numbers, letters and symbols for storage and manipulation by a computer system expressed in character form. Data can be thought of as the basic elements of information used, created or otherwise processed by an application program.

Data communication. The movement of coded data from a sender to a receiver by means of an electrically-transmitted signal.

Data field. A group of memory or screen locations within a database that are logically linked to hold information of a given kind. Typically, the user may regard data fields as a place to store a certain kind of data.

Database. System of arranging data in a structured way in a computer system, for user access or for processing by application programs.

Data set. A series of data elements or units of information that are logically arranged in a particular format.

Data sheet. A printed page on which data are arranged according to a specific format

Directory structure. All files store in a computer disk are arranged in tree-structured directories. The main directory on a disk is called Root, and it can contain files and/or other directories (sub-directories).

DOS. The acronym for Disk Operating System, the program used in the microcomputer environment to control the use of hardware and integrate the use of this hardware so that is available to software applications.

Down-loading. Data/Information transfer from a central level system (Organization HQ) to peripheral systems (Departments)

Driver. A software program that controls the action of a peripheral device not otherwise controlled by the operating system.

Export. The transport of data out of an application. Typically, this will involve translation from the internal format of the application to a variety of alternate formats that may be used by other programs as input (see also Import)

File. A collection of logically related records or data treated as a single item.

Format The way in which data are physically arranged in a file.

Hardware. A term used to indicate the physical part of a computer, such as the keyboard, memory, printer, monitor, as opposed to the software.

Export. The transport of data into an application. Typically, this will involve translation from the format of the external application into the standard used by the ongoing application.

Information. Data that are communicated

Interface (Hardware). An electronic assembly to enable two computer systems to communicate with each other (wired).

Interface (Software). Series of programs that allow the system to exchange data from one format to another.

Main Menu. A horizontal bar that presents the user with a series of choices, one of which will be selected to perform that activity.

Menu System. A kind of program design that uses a sequence of choices that permits the user to choose among them by pressing a key (usually the Enter Key). These choices are arranged on the screen much as a restaurant menu presents a series of selections.

Operating System. The software program that controls the various parts of a computer (keyboard, screen, hard drive, printer, etc.) and puts them to work together to perform useful work. Sipal will work on computers which use the PC-DOS or MS-DOS operating system.

Non-rigid connection. A type of manual file transfer between computer systems through removable supports (diskette, tape) occasionally carried out.

Package. A set of computer programs tied together through a menu system.

Platform. A computer, its peripheral devices and activities working together.

Procedure. A specific program or task to which a computer solution can be applied

Record. A collection of related data items.

Reference Files. Authority files containing reference variables such as country codes, names and attributes; item codes, names, attributes etc.

Relational Database. A file or system of files used to contain data that is structured to permit the data to be readily input and output. When constructed of multiple files, relations between individual data fields in the different files can be linked to permit data in one field of one file to act as a means of retrieving information in one or more data fields in the other file or files.

Rigid connection. Type of connection in which a group of computer systems are connected to each other by communication lines to allow automatic and controlled file transfer at regular intervals.

Software. Computer algorithms (programs) that are written in a computer language that make the computer (hardware) perform work (write to the screen, print, sort, etc.).

Up-loading. Data/Information transfer from peripheral systems to a central system.