Company:Business Controls Corporation

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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 DEC-10 & DEC-20;[19] 1022's vendor also had a VAX/VMS (later OpenVMS) product, System 1032.

References

  1. ↑ "livingston". http://www.digifind-it.com/livingston/DATA/tribune/1978/1978-08-24.pdf. 
  2. ↑ "Manager - Business Controller - CA/ICWA". https://www.iimjobs.com/j/manager-business-controller-ca-icwa-ecommerce-10-13-yrs-318225.html. 
  3. ↑ "Automated Programing: BCC's System Builder-5". Hardcopy: 42–43. June 1982. 
  4. ↑ "Business Controls Corp. has announced Version 3.0 of its System Builders-5 Options (SB-5) automated Cobol application software generator". Computerworld: 40. August 22, 1983. 
  5. ↑ "Integration Tool For SB-5 Bows". https://archive.org/stream/computerworld1742unse/computerworld1742unse_djvu.txt. 
  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 ...". https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/collections/governing-board/october-31-1980. 
  7. ↑ "The AIP in 1980". Physics Today. doi:10.1063/1.2914690. https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/pdf/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)". March 15, 1982. p. 46. https://books.google.com/books?id=Wz-oh7ZQo8MC. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "New Screen and Report Painting Features for SB-5". Hardcopy: 127. January 1983. 
  10. ↑ RSX11-M, RSRS/E or IAS: "COBOL Program Generator for VAX/VMS Users". Hardcopy: 59. September 1981. 
  11. ↑ "DECsystem-10 and -20 Mainframe Software from Business Controls Corp.". Hardcopy: 128. January 1983. 
  12. ↑ "SB-5 on PDP-11, VAX too". https://archive.org/stream/computerworld1742unse/computerworld1742unse_djvu.txt. "Versions of SB-5 are available for DEC'S PDP-11 and VAX minicomputers as well." 
  13. ↑ "Various resources". March 27, 1986. http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2017/06/102726714-05-05-acc.pdf. "BUSINESS CONTROLS CORPORATION. (BCC). SB-5 Automated COBOL. Application Development System" 
  14. ↑ "DYL-280 Command Syntax". http://www.sysed.com/DnLoads/RefCards/DYL280.pdf. 
  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". http://www.pacsys.com/dyl280/dyl280_syntax.htm. 
  17. ↑ "z/Writer's ZWDYL is an Alternative to CA DYL-260 for your mainframe." "Alternative to DYL-260 - Pacific Systems Group". http://www.pacsys.com/dyl260. 
  18. ↑ PMM trademarked "SYSTEM 2170" "SYSTEM 2170 Trademark of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.". https://www.trademarkia.com/system-2170-73091532.html. , but the software was distributed as PMM 2170.
  19. ↑ "SB-5, 1022 integration". Computerworld. October 17, 1983. p. 68. https://books.google.com/books?id=oRXYb7liu6wC. "(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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