SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR BUILDING STAFF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89-00244R000100130001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 9, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 29, 1981
• Content Type: MF

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29 July 1981,
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Building Planning Staff, OL
FROM: Chief, Systems Analysis Branch, EO/OL
SUBJECT: System Requirements for Building Planning Staff
1. We are pleased to submit, for your approval, the attached Requirements
Study for an automated system for the Building Planning Staff. This
VATtudy was prepared byl based on information supplied ny
members of your staff.
2. If you would like SAB to proceed with a Project Proposal for
the system as outlined in the recommendation, please sign below and
return the original copy.
3. If you have any questions concerning the study or the data used
to prepare it, please call
STAT
STAT
TAT
C ief, Building Planning Staff, OL
I AU G 1981
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background
This study is in response to a request from the Building
Planning Staff (BPS), Office of Logistics, to Systems Analysis
Branch (SAB) , Office of Logistics, for support in establishing
an automated system that will assist BPS in determining. space
requirements for a proposed consolidation of Agency Metropolitan
Washington area facilities.
This study contains a problem statement, requirements
definition, discussion of alternative solutions, and a
recommendation for. an automated system consistent with the
objectives of BPS.
1.2 Missions and Objectives
BPS was established under the direction of the Director of
Logistics and given responsibility for collecting the facilities
requirements for Agency components, developing a coordinated
plan for consolidation of those facilities, conducting
conceptual facility design studies leading to construction
specifications, and initiating budgetary and programmatic
actions necessary to achieve consolidation. _
BPS will provide a chair-person for the Agency Building
Planning Committee which consists of representatives from the
Office of the DCI and each of the directorates. The
representatives will be responsible for identifying facilities.
requirements to the BPS and will serve as coordinating officers
for the operating elements of the BPS.
The problem faced by the BPS is in the determination of space
requirements for consolidation of Agency Metropolitan Washington
facilities. Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMRs)
dictate the amount of office and desk space allocable to a given
position based on the authorized grade level of that position.
Therefore, BPS must identify the positions and authorized grade.
levels of those positions which will be consolidated and aggregate
them by Directorate, Office, Division, and Component in order to
determine the office space required. Currently, there is no
automated system that will assist BPS in performing these
calculations.
Another area of concern for BPS is special use areas such as
conference rooms, laboratories, and computer rooms. The space
requirements for these special use areas are not determined by
staffing complement or authorized grade level of any position,-but
are determined on the basis of operational requirements. An
inventory of this type of area along with special requirements
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such as HVAC, special power requirements, chilled water, etc. must
be created and maintained. Again, there is no automated system
available today which contains this information.
.3.0 User Requirements
In order to meet the stated objectives of the BPS, an
automated system with the following capabilities, is required.
3.1 Data Files
The system will be composed of two major files; one file
containing normal office space requirements and one file
containing special use space requirements. The format of these
files is as follows:
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Data Element
Length
Type
Description
DIR
2
AN
Two Digit Code for Directorate
and Office
DIV
5
AN
Division
BR
5
AN ?
Branch or Division
TITLE
20
AN
Position Title (Clerk-Typist, etc.)
SCHED
4
AN
Schedule of Position (GS,WB,GP,SIS,etc.)
GRADE
2
AN
Grade
INCUM
3
N
Allowable Personnel Assigned to Position
MODE
2
AN
Reserved Field For Use In Computation of
Non-Standard Space Requirements such as
Equipment Operators
PER-CAP
3
N
Square Feet Allocable to One Incumbent
(From FPMRs)
TOT-SPACE
4
N
Toal Square Feet For All Incumbents
COMMENT
30
AN
Free Field for Comments
* Although only the two digit code for Directorate and Office
will be stored in the file, a translate table will enable users
to query the system based on an expanded clear text definition
for Directorate and/or office.
The data necessary to build this file is available from the
Office of Personnel's Staffing Complement. We expect
STAT approximately 0 records to be resident in this file and
project little or no growth. Periodically, the data in this
file will be erased and the file will be reloaded with the
latest OP Staffing Complement. This data (DIR, DIV, BR, TITLE,
SCHED, and GRADE) will be in the form of a GIMS Extract Tape and
will require a PL/l program to calculate the fields INCUM, PER-
CAP, and TOT-SPACE. MODE and COMMENTS fields will be added by
BPS via an input menu. The program that will reload the file
must first extract all records containing the MODE and COMMENTS
fields from the old file and reload them with the appropriate
new record. If no match can be found for records previously
extracted, the program will add these records to the data base
and report them on an exception listing. BPS will then decide
if these records are valid or if they should be deleted from the
data base.
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Special Use File
Data Element Length Type Description
DIR 2 AN Two Digit Code for Directorate
and Office
DIV 5 AN Division
BR 5 AN Branch or Staff
TYPE 3 AN Code for Type of Facility (Laboratory,
Conference Room, etc.)
AREA 5 N Area in Square Feet
CEIL 2 N Ceiling Height in Feet
POWER 14 AN Special Power Requirements
HVAC 14 AN HVAC Requirements
COMMENTS 30. AN Free Field for Comments
* Although only the two digit code for Directorate and office will be
stored in the files, a translate table will enable users to query the
system based on an expanded clear text definition for Directorate and
Office.
STAT We anticipate no more than records will reside in
this file. This file must be built manually through input
transactions.
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3.2 Input
Input to the system should be through pre-defined menus for
user convenience. All editing of data should be performed at
the time of input, and informatory messages stating the action
taken or any errors detected must be displayed on the terminal
screen. The types of input expected are additions of new
records to. the data base, modification of existing records, and
deletion of certain data elements or entire records. The number
of inputs to the system should be relatively low after initial
loading of the data base has been accomplished.
3.3 Output
The system must be designed to generate formatted reports
upon demand. The time frame for report generation is not
considered critical, and overnight processing is acceptable. It
is desirable that the reports be printed on a high quality
device with a convenient paper size (8 1/2 X 11).
3.4 Queries
The system must be designed to support a high volume of on-
line queries against the data base. The system must have the
ability to suppress printing of any data element, sort the
output to user specifications, and perform mathematical
functions such as multiplication, division, totaling, and sub-
totaling. Additionally, the output from any query should be
displayed on the terminal screen and the user must have the
capability of optionally directing the output to a hard copy
printer. The query language used must be English-like and easy
to learn for personnel with little or no computer background.
The following alternatives have been explored in order to
determine their compatibility with the BPS' stated objectives and
requirements.
RAMIS is an on-line data base management system available
to users of the ODP computer systems through VM/370. This
system is generally used for small applications requiring on-
line update and query capability. The file structuring concept
employed by RAMIS allows for economical storage of data by
eliminating redundant data wherever possible. The query
language of RAMIS is very English-like and is easy for the user
to learn. The major disadvantage of RAMIS is that only one user
may access the data base at any given time.
A RAMIS system will meet the query and reporting
'requirements of BPS, but will not support the input requirements
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in the RAMIS environment. However, the RAMIS Program Interface'
(RPI) feature allows the user to access RAMIS with a high level
program language such as PL/l which may be used to generate
input menus and edit the input values. The RPI feature may also
.be used to generate formatted reports which may be tailored more
closely to user specifications through a high level programming
language. This type of a system will meet all of the objectives
of BPS.
GIMS is another on-.line data base management system
.available to users of the ODP computer systems. GIMS is
generally used for large data base applications requiring large
amounts of data stored in multiple files, many users
simultaneously performing dissimilar functions, heavy
input/output requirements, and complex intra-file and inter-file
data relationships. The query language associated with GIMS is
relatively easy for the user to learn, however, it may become
quite complex depending on the data relationships.
GIMS will meet all of the requirements of BPS, however, a
GIMS system is more complex than is required for this
application.
INFO is an on-line data base system available to users of
the ODP VM/370 system. INFO is best suited for multi-file
applications with files which do not exceed 3,000 records. INFO
capabilities include menu generation, file creation, report
creation, sort, and a query language. INFO is very easy to
learn and use. It is currently being used within the Office of
Logistics by OL employees to generate several small
applications.
An INFO system will meet all of the requirements stated by
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4.4 VM/370
VM/370 is the ODP interactive computer system that allows
the user to edit files and execute programs in either the on-
line or off-line (BATCH) environment. The VM/370 system has no
query language and all data is stored in non-related files. In
the VM/370 environment all data manipulation and reporting is
accomplished by executing programs in either the on-line or off-
line mode.
VM/370 will not meet the requirements of BPS since no query
language is available.
5.0 Conclusion
After reviewing the above alternatives, we have determined
that either a GIMS, INFO, or RAMIS data base management system
will satisfy the requirements of BPS and provide for expansion as
necessary. As stated previously, BPS does not require a system
with all the capabilities and complexities of GIMS. RAMIS and
INFO provide approximately the same capabilities; however, an INFO
system will be much easier to implement and support. A RAMIS
system will require an ADP professional to build and maintain the
data base and PL/l programs. An INFO system will only require an
ADP professional during the initial design. Based on its
simplicity, INFO is recommended over GIMS and RAMIS as the system
which will provide the flexibility required and enable BPS to meet
their objectives in the most timely and cost-effective manner.
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