SIBYL: an economist's workbench
Sandra Heiler, Rita F. Bergman · Statistical and Scientific Database Management · 1983
This paper presents a report on work in progress on the development of the SIBYL system, an economist's workbench at the World Bank. The principle objectives are to provide capabilities for sharing data among a large and diverse user community, handling a growing number of databases, and providing access to a collection of analytical and modeling packages.The implementation is oriented towards using off-the-shelf software, a large mainframe with Model 204 DBMS to handle the databases, and a group of microcomputers running UNIX. The key components integrating this architecture are a database template, a set of generalized procedures for browsing, updating and extracting data, and translators between the databases and the analytical and reportwriting packages.The project has been in progress since May 1982 and a prototype system is installed for three user groups. It will continue to evolve over the next year with addittonal development focused on providing a batch update facility, writing validation procedures, refining the user interface, and establishing a local network.