Rdb/VMS is a relational database management system (RDBMS) for the Hewlett-Packard OpenVMS operating system. It was originally created by Digital Equipment Corporation in 1984 as part of the VMS Information Architecture, intended to be used for data storage and retrieval by high-level languages and/or other DEC products such as DATATRIEVE, RALLY, and TEAMDATA. A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system (DBMS) that is based on the relational model as introduced by Edgar F. Codd. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... OpenVMS (Open Virtual Memory System or just VMS) is the name of a high-end computer server operating system that runs on the VAX and Alpha family of computers developed by Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts (now owned by Hewlett-Packard); it has also recently been ported to servers... In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations. ... Digital Equipment Corporation was a pioneering company in the American computer industry. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1994 DEC sold the Rdb division to Oracle Corporation where it was rebranded Oracle Rdb. Contrary to popular belief, Oracle is still enhancing and developing this product in 2004 (although "Oracle Database" products like Oracle-10i get the lion's share of Oracle's advertising budget). It currently runs on OpenVMS for VAX and Alpha. Oracle is porting it to OpenVMS for Itanium. It used to run on DEC Tru64 and Microsoft Windows NT, but demand was low, so they were dropped. Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL), one of the major companies developing database management systems, tools for database development, and enterprise resource planning software, dates from 1977 and has offices in more than 145 countries around the world. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... VAX is a 32-bit computing architecture that supports an orthogonal instruction set (machine language) and virtual addressing (i. ... DEC Alpha AXP 21064 Microprocessor The DEC Alpha, also known as the Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit RISC microprocessor originally developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corp. ... Itanium brand logo In computing, the Itanium is an IA-64 microprocessor developed jointly by Hewlett-Packard and Intel. ... DEC, dec or Dec may refer to: Dec is abbreviation for the month of December. ... Tru64 is HPs (formerly Compaq; formerly DEC) 64-bit UNIX for the Alpha AXP platform. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the worlds largest software company, with over sixty thousand employees and headquarters in various countries as of May 2004. ... Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, and was succeeded by Windows 2000 (still based on Windows NT). ...

Interactive access to the Oracle Rdb can be by SQL (Structured Query Language), RDO (Relational Database Operator), or both.

High level languages usually access Rdb by:

1. embeddeding RDO statements in the source file then running it through a precompiler

   (example: "file.RCO" is pre-complied into "file.COB")

2. embeddeding SQL statements in the source file then running it through a precompiler

   (example: "file.SCO" is pre-compiled into "file.COB")

3. placing the SQL statements in a file external to the source code; this separate file is converted to object code by the "SQL Module Language" compiler, and the source code then references these SQL statements and, after complilation, the two are joined by the OpenVMS linker.

 example: $SQL$MOD file_bas.sqlmod -> file_bas.obj $BASIC file.bas -> file.obj $LINK file.obj,file._bas.obj -> file.exe 

A variation of example 3 allows "Dynamic SQL" to be created in the source code, and then used to communicate with Rdb via a structure known as SQLDA (SQL Descriptor Area). In computer science, a linker or link editor is a program that takes one or more objects generated by compilers and assembles them into a single executable program. ...

On OpenVMS systems, Oracle Rdb is a popular (although expensive) upgrade path for applications written using indexed Record Management Services (RMS) files, an ISAM technology built directly into OpenVMS. Files-11, also known as on-disk structure, is the filesystem used by Hewlett-Packards OpenVMS operating system, and also (in a simpler form) by the older RSX-11. ...

External link

• OpenVMS: Rdb Notes
• Oracle Rdb product page