![Cover: The catalog: a flexible data structure for magnetic tape [by] Martin Kay and Theodore Ziehe.](/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_memoranda/research_memoranda.gif)
The catalog: a flexible data structure for magnetic tape [by] Martin Kay and Theodore Ziehe.
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An outline of a generalized storage sscheme for large files of highly structured data (or catalogs) and a description of their realization on magnetic tape. Each datum, large or small, is assigned to one of a number of data classes of which a user may define any number. The over-all organization of a catalog is given by a map that imposes a tree structure on the set of data classes. Catalogs may participate as individual data in other catalogs so that the structure of a file may be recursive. A flexible addressing scheme not only facilitates the retrieval of data and sets of data in response to easily formulated requests but also provides a basis for updating catalogs. General procedures called transformations can be used to derive catalogs with new structures from existing catalogs.
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