MUMPS Syntax - Multi-user, Multi-tasking, Multi-processor

Multi-user, Multi-tasking, Multi-processor

MUMPS allowed multi-user operation at a time when memory was measured in kilobytes, processor time was scarce, and processors themselves were considerably slower than those found today. Many MUMPS implementations included full support for multi-tasking, multi-user, multi-machine programming even when the host operating system itself did not. For instance, a single PC running MUMPS under MS-DOS and equipped with multiple RS232 ports, behaved as a large minicomputer serving multiple ASCII terminals, with proper data sharing and protection.

The following code demonstrates how to alter data on other computers on the network:

SET ^|"DENVER"|A("first_name")="Bob" SET ^|"DENVER"|A("last_name")="Dobbs"

which gives A a value as before, but this time on the remote machine "DENVER".

Another use of MUMPS in more recent times has been to create object databases. Intersystems' Caché implementation, for instance, includes such features natively.

MUMPS can generate text in HTML or XML format as well, and can be called via the CGI interface to serve web pages directly from the database. It can also be used as a backend for web applications using AJAX background communication.