NCI/DIS SOFTWARE CONVERSION STUDY^36-BIT DECSYSTEM-10 ENVIRO

THE DRUG INFORMATION SYSTEM (DIS) SOFTWARE AND ASSOCIATED DATABASES PROVIDE FOR THE REGISTRATION OF NEW CHEMICALS, SAMPLE TRACKING, INVENTORY CONTROL, AND THE STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF TEXTUAL AND NUMERIC DATA IN SUPPORT OF THE NCI DEVELOPMENTAL THERAPEUTICS PROGRAM, UNDER WHICH LARGE NUMBERS OF CHEMICALS ARE SCREENED FOR ANTI-CANCER ACTIVITY. THIS SOPHISTICATED AND COMPLEX DATABASE SYSTEM IS PRESENTLY OPERATIONAL ON A DECSYSTEM-10 COMPUTER, HAVING A 36-BIT ARCHITECTURE. WHILE THE SOFTWARE IS LARGELY CODED IN FORTRAN, MANY 36-BIT DEPENDENCIES ARE INHERENT IN BOTH THE SYSTEM AND THE DESIGN OF THE FILES USED BY THE SYSTEM. OTHER SYSTEM DEPENDENT DECSYSTEM-10 CAPABILITIES HAVE ALSO BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE DIS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY OR TO PROVIDE FEATURES WHICH COULD NOT OTHERWISE BE PROVIDED. THE DIS IS THUS JEOPARDIZED BY THE ANNOUNCED DISCONTINUANCE OF SUPPORT FOR THE DECSYSTEM-10 AS WELL AS THE 36-BIT ARCHITECTURE BY DEC. IN THIS PHASE I RESEARCH EFFORT, A DETAILED STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF CONVERTING THE DIS TO OPERATE ON A 32-BIT TARGET MACHINE (DEC/VAX OR IBM MEDIUM/LARGE-SCALE SYSTEM) HAS BEEN CONDUCTED. A CONVERTED SYSTEM WOULD NOT ONLY PROVIDE LONG-TERM DIS SUPPORT, BUT WOULD BE MARKETABLE TO CHEMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL FIRMS AS A LABORATORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. SPECIFIC APPROACHES TO THE CONVERSION OF 36-BIT AND OTHER SYSTEM DEPENDENT CAPABILITIES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED FOR BOTH TARGET SYSTEMS. DETAILED CONVERSION PLANS AND SCHEDULES HAVE ALSO BEEN GENERATED FOR BOTH TARGET SYSTEMS.