The Obsolete Memory Management Information System

1. Introduction

This document is an index to the archive of the obsolete Memory Management Information System.

The intended readership of this document is anyone interested in the history of the Memory Pool System, or anyone looking for historical justification of MPS design decisions.

This document is not confidential. Many of the documents contained in the Information System are confidential and may not be visible. We are working to declassify as many as possible.

2. Background

The Memory Management Information System (a.k.a. "MMInfo" or "the Infosys") was a virtual database of all information in the Memory Management Project at Harlequin Limited. It consisted mainly of a real database, implemented in Lotus Notes, plus the source code and other files in the Harlequin source control system, called "Hope".

All information in the system was identified by short strings called tags, and the system was heavily cross referenced. For information about tags, their uses, and the ideas behind the information system, see "Overview of the Memory Management Information System" [RB 1995-08-02]. Very briefly, documents and paragraphs within documents were identified by strings like "req.dylan.alloc".

With the open sourcing of the MPS, we are moving to an XHTML system, but retaining the basic ideas of the Infosys. Indeed, Infosys design and experience influenced the design of the Ravenbrook Information System in which the MPS now resides.

3. The Information System

The Lotus Notes part of the Infosys was divided across four "databases":

A. References

B. Document History

C. Copyright and License

This document is copyright © 2002 Ravenbrook Limited. All rights reserved. This is an open source license. Contact Ravenbrook for commercial licensing options.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. Redistributions in any form must be accompanied by information on how to obtain complete source code for the this software and any accompanying software that uses this software. The source code must either be included in the distribution or be available for no more than the cost of distribution plus a nominal fee, and must be freely redistributable under reasonable conditions. For an executable file, complete source code means the source code for all modules it contains. It does not include source code for modules or files that typically accompany the major components of the operating system on which the executable file runs.

This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors "as is" and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement, are disclaimed. In no event shall the copyright holders and contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.