Editing DBase (section)

===Origins===
{{Main|Jet Propulsion Laboratory Display Information System}}
In the late 1960s, Fred Thompson at the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) was using a [[Tymshare]] product named [[Tymshare RETRIEVE|RETRIEVE]] to manage a database of electronic calculators, which were at that time very expensive products. In 1971, Thompson collaborated with Jack Hatfield, a programmer at JPL, to write an enhanced version of RETRIEVE, which became the JPLDIS project. JPLDIS was written in [[FORTRAN]] on the [[UNIVAC 1108]] mainframe, and was presented publicly in 1973. When Hatfield left JPL in 1974, [[Jeb Long]] took over his role.<ref>Susan Lammers, [http://www.foxprohistory.org/jeblong_jpldis.htm "How it Started - JPLDIS: How Came The Idea"], The History of FoxPro</ref>

While working at JPL as a contractor, [[C. Wayne Ratliff]] entered the [[betting pool|office football pool]]. He had no interest in the game as such, but felt he could win the pool by processing the post-game statistics found in newspapers.{{sfn|Lammers|1986|p=113}} In order to do this, he turned his attention to a database system and, by chance, came across the documentation for JPLDIS. He used this as the basis for a port to [[PTDOS]] on his kit-built [[IMSAI 8080]] microcomputer, and called the resulting system '''Vulcan''' (after the home planet of [[Spock|Mr. Spock]] on ''[[Star Trek]]'').<ref>Susan Lammers, [http://www.foxprohistory.org/interview_wayne_ratliff.htm "Interview with Wayne Ratliff"], The History of FoxPro</ref>{{r|pournelle198007}}{{sfn|Lammers|1986|p=114}}