Business Controls Corporation

Business Controls Corporation is a privately held computer company[1] that developed an application-program-generator and also a series of accounting software packages. These packages were widely enough used for various business magazines to have back-of-the-book ads for companies seeking accountants with experience in one or more of them.[2]

Computer magazines[3] ran coverage for their SB-5 application-program-generator as from time to time new versions were released, each with new or improved features.[4][5]

Early days

The company's initial offerings were packages for the DEC PDP-8, although Business Controls Corporation also wrote custom-written programs for customers.

Large customers with mainframes who also used smaller systems for departmental use and distributed processing also used BCC's services.[6][7]

SB-5

The addition of an application-program-generator named SB-5[8] that, from specifications, could generate COBOL code was a major step forward.[9] Although this began with supporting the DEC PDP-11,[10] they subsequently began to support COBOL on DEC's DECsystem-10 & DECSYSTEM-20.[11] VAX support came later.[12]

The specifications also permitted COBOL inserts and overrides: SB-5 could build an application that was all COBOL,[13] yet only code the portions that varied from BCC's "vanilla" accounting packages.[9]

Similar offerings

A similar idea was done for the IBM mainframe world in the form of a series of application-program-generators from Dylakor Corporation. They were named DYL-250, DYL-260, DYL-270 & DYL-280. Dylakor was acquired by Computer Associates.[14]

The specific syntax was different, but it had wider use, and - a mark of success and recognition in the industry[15] - syntax-compatible implementations were released by a competitor.[16][17]

Still another alternative was Peat Marwick Mitchell's PMM2170 application-program-generator package.[18] Like the others, it supported COBOL inserts and overrides.

Extended integration

Business Controls Corporation subsequently extended SB-5's feature set to provide support for System 1022, a product for the DECsystem-10 & DECSYSTEM-20;[19] 1022's vendor also had a VAX/VMS (later OpenVMS) product, System 1032.

References

  1. ^ "livingston" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-12-09.
  2. ^ "Manager - Business Controller - CA/ICWA".
  3. ^ "Automated Programing: BCC's System Builder-5". Hardcopy. June 1982. pp. 42–43.
  4. ^ "Business Controls Corp. has announced Version 3.0 of its System Builders-5 Options (SB-5) automated Cobol application software generator". Computerworld. August 22, 1983. p. 40.
  5. ^ "Integration Tool For SB-5 Bows". 17 October 1983.
  6. ^ "It was the committee's feeling that ... vendors who are capable of ... offered by Business Controls Corporation." "October 31-November 1, 1980 Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics, Minutes of Meeting, 5. Status of Major Facilities (b) Computer (1) Proposals for Distributed Data Processing ..."
  7. ^ "The AIP in 1980". Physics Today. Vol. 34, no. 8. 1981. pp. 25–35. doi:10.1063/1.2914690. Business Controls Corporation (BCC) has been asked to study AIP's requirements and recommend design, hardware and software for computerization
  8. ^ Systems Builders-5 "BCC announces version 2.3 of its Systems Builders-5 (SB-5)". Computerworld. March 15, 1982. p. 46.
  9. ^ a b "New Screen and Report Painting Features for SB-5". Hardcopy. January 1983. p. 127.
  10. ^ RSX11-M, RSRS/E or IAS: "COBOL Program Generator for VAX/VMS Users". Hardcopy. September 1981. p. 59.
  11. ^ "DECsystem-10 and -20 Mainframe Software from Business Controls Corp". Hardcopy. January 1983. p. 128.
  12. ^ "SB-5 on PDP-11, VAX too". 17 October 1983. Versions of SB-5 are available for DEC'S PDP-11 and VAX minicomputers as well.
  13. ^ P. Moore; R. Vines; E. Virgo (March 27, 1986). "Various resources" (PDF). BUSINESS CONTROLS CORPORATION. (BCC). SB-5 Automated COBOL. Application Development System
  14. ^ "DYL-280 Command Syntax" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-30. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  15. ^ The dBase syntax was implemented by many competing companies, including Computer Associates
  16. ^ "We have a version of Z-Writer (called ZWDYL) that uses the same syntax as DYL-280 (shown below). That means you can now replace DYL280 ..." "DYL-280 Syntax -- DYL-280 Manual - Pacific Systems Group".
  17. ^ "z/Writer's ZWDYL is an Alternative to CA DYL-260 for your mainframe." "Alternative to DYL-260 - Pacific Systems Group".
  18. ^ PMM trademarked "SYSTEM 2170" "SYSTEM 2170 Trademark of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co"., but the software was distributed as PMM 2170.
  19. ^ "SB-5, 1022 integration". Computerworld. October 17, 1983. p. 68. (BCC) has developed an optional software module to integrate its SB-5 automated Cobol software development system with the System 1022 data base
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