Editing Ingres (database) (section)

{{Short description|Database software}}
{{about|the technical development of the database|the commercial history of the database and its ownership|Actian}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = Ingres
| logo                   = Actian-Logo-RGB Vertical-Blue.jpg
| screenshot             = 
| caption                = 
| author                 = University of California, Berkeley
| developer              = [[Actian]]
| latest release version = 12.0
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|2024|07|14}}<ref name="actian-ingres-12.0">{{cite web |url=https://docs.actian.com/ingres/12.0/#page/Welcome/Ingres_12.0_Guides.htm | title=Ingres 12.0 Guides | author=Actian Corporation | work=actian.com |language=en | date=2024-07-14 | access-date=2023-08-10}}</ref>
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date    =
| operating system       = [[Cross-platform]]
| programming language   = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| genre                  = [[Relational database management system|RDBMS]]
| license                = Proprietary, used to be [[open source]] [[GNU General Public License]] 
| website                = {{URL |www.actian.com/products/operational-databases/ingres/}}
}}
{{plain image with caption|Ingres Logo.svg|Logo used from 2005 to 2011}}

'''Ingres Database''' ({{IPAc-en|ɪ|ŋ|ˈ|ɡ|r|ɛ|s}} {{respell|ing|GRESS|'}}) is a [[proprietary software|proprietary]] [[SQL]] [[relational database management system]] intended to support large commercial and government applications.

[[Actian]] Corporation controls the development of Ingres and makes certified [[executable|binaries]] available for download, as well as providing worldwide support. There was an open source release of Ingres but it is no longer available for download from Actian. However, there is a version of the source code still available on [[GitHub]].<ref>
{{cite web
 |website=github.com 
 |date=November 5, 2019 
 |url=https://github.com/fosslc/Ingres
 |title=Ingres is a feature rich and robust database (RDBMS)
}}</ref>

In its early years, Ingres was an important milestone in the history of database development. Ingres began as a research project at [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]], starting in the early 1970s and ending in 1985.<ref name="UCBerkley">
{{cite web
 |last=University of California
 |first=Berkeley Database Group
 |title=Archive Software Projects
 |url=http://db.cs.berkeley.edu/w/source-code/
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126085541/http://db.cs.berkeley.edu/w/source-code/
 |archive-date=January 26, 2014
 |work=University INGRES project
 |access-date=12 July 2013
}}</ref> During this time Ingres remained largely similar to IBM's seminal [[IBM System R|System R]] in concept; it differed in more permissive licensing of source code, in being based largely on [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] machines, both under
[[UNIX]]<ref name=Woodfill79>{{cite web
 |quote=The INGRIS reference manual is subdivided into four parts: Quel describes the commands and features which are used inside of INGRES. Unix describes the ...
 |title=INGRES Version 6.2 Reference Manual
 |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a103160.pdf
 |author=J. Woodfill
 |date=1979
 |access-date=2022-06-02
 |archive-date=2022-07-01
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701162527/http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a103160.pdf
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> and [[VAX/VMS]],<ref>
{{cite news  
 |newspaper=ComputerWorld
 |quote=For VAX-lls Running Unix, Relational Technology Offers Updated DBMS BERKELEY, Calif. — Relational Technology, Inc. (RTI) has announced the Ingres VAX ...
 |date=November 7, 1983  |page=63
 |title=RTI announces VAX, Unix Ingres
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a7XF1jwgGgsC
}}</ref> and in providing [[QUEL query languages|QUEL]] as a query language instead of SQL. QUEL was considered at the time to run truer to [[Edgar F. Codd]]'s [[relational algebra]] (especially concerning composability), but SQL was easier to parse and less intimidating for those without a formal background in mathematics.<ref name=Pran19>{{cite web 
  |url=https://www.edgedb.com/blog/we-can-do-better-than-sql 
  |accessdate=29 November 2021
  |title=We Can Do Better Than SQL 
  |last1=Pranskevichus 
  |first1=Elvis 
  |date=9 May 2019 
  |website=edgedb.com  
  |publisher=EdgeDB Inc. house blog <!-- with 10 detailed references at bottom to primary publications from E.F. Codd, C.J Date, P. Atzeni, D.D. Chamberlin --> 
}}</ref>

When [[ANSI]] preferred SQL over QUEL as part of the 1986 SQL standard (SQL-86), Ingres became less competitive against rival products such as [[Oracle (database)|Oracle]] until future Ingres versions also provided SQL.<ref name=Chin20>{{cite web 
  |url=https://www.holistics.io/blog/quel-vs-sql/ 
  |accessdate=29 November 2021
  |title=A Short Story About SQL's Biggest Rival
  |last1=Chin 
  |first1=Cedric 
  |date=7 October 2020 
  |website=holistics.io  
  |publisher=Holistics Software house blog <!-- judged credible in extensively quoting quality sources which unfortunately I can't access myself --> 
}}</ref> Many companies spun off of the original Ingres technology, including Actian itself, originally known as '''Relational Technology Inc.''', and the [[NonStop SQL]] database originally developed by [[Tandem Computers]] but now offered by [[Hewlett Packard Enterprise]].