Modern mainframe computers used advanced data entry methods for efficiency and accuracy.
Mainframes have been around since the middle of the 20th century, providing processing power to governments, banks, insurance companies and other high-volume transaction processors. As technology has changed so has the nature and method of mainframe data entry. What started as setting switches and punching holes in a paper strip has evolved into a much more efficient process.
Early Data Entry Methods
The earliest computers of the 20th century required programmers to enter instructions and data by setting switches on a panel and pressing the equivalent of the "Enter" key. This made both programming and data entry a slow, tedious process. The introduction of paper tape, punched cards and programming languages led to much faster processes as technology improved.
Punched Cards
Herman Hollerith invented the punched card in the 1800s and the company he started eventually became IBM, which standardized the use of the 80-column punched card for computer input. Programmers and data entry clerks used card punch machines with typewriter keyboards to create decks of cards that could be read by a special card reader attached to a mainframe. The 80-column format later transferred to the early terminals, which provided an 80-column screen.
Key to Tape or Disk
Technology improvements led to the introduction of key to disk and key to tape systems. These systems allowed data entry clerks to use the familiar keyboard interface but rather than punching a card, the systems sent the data directly to tape or floppy disks. These media were then read by the mainframes via tape or disk readers. This improvement eliminated the inherent problems with cards such as bent cards and dropped decks.
Online Data Entry
Data entry technology took another great leap as mainframe power increased and programmers developed online programs for data entry. These programs validate the data as it is entered, reducing rejected data entry records and improving the accuracy of the data base. Those programs still produced an input file to the batch processing cycle, but programmers continued enhancing systems to provide direct data entry into the live database. Recent developments include capabilities for Web-based mainframe data entry.
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