Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

412 RPGHenderson, Harry. Modern Robotics: Building Versatile Machines.New York: Chelsea House, 2006.Humanoid Robotics Group [MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory].Available online. URL: http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/humanoid-robotics-group/. Accessed August 19, 2007.Menzel, Peter, and Faith D’Alusio. Robo Sapiens: Evolution of a NewSpecies. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001.Nof, Shimon Y. Handbook of Industrial Robotics. 2nd ed. New York:Wiley, 1999.Pires J. Norberto. Industrial Robots Programming: Building Applicationsfor the Factories of the Future. New York: Springer, 2007.Schraft, Rolf Dieter, and Gernot Schmierer. Service Robots: Products,Scenarios, Visions. Natick, Mass.: A. K. Peters, 2000.Severin, E. Oliver. Robotic Companions: Mentorbots and Beyond.New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.Tesler, Pearl. Universal Robots: The History and Workings of Robotics.TheTech Museum. Available online. URL: http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/robotics/universal/index.html.Accessed August 19, 2007.RPG (Report Program Generator)Many business computer programs written for mainframecomputers involved reading data from files, performing relativelysimple procedures, and outputting printed reports.During the 1960s, some people believed that COBOL, ageneral-purpose (but business-oriented) computer language,would be easy enough for nonprogrammers to use(see COBOL). Although this turned out not to be the case,IBM did succeed in creating RPG (Report Program Generator),a language designed to make it easier for programmers(including beginners) to generate business reports.Most COBOL programs read data, perform tests and calculations,and print the results. RPG, first released in 1964for use with the new System/360 mainframe and the smallerSystem/3, simplifies this process and eliminates most writingof program code statements.A “classic” RPG program is built around the “RPGcycle,” consisting of three stages. During the input stage,the input device(s), file type, access specifications, and datarecord structure are specified. (These specifications can bequite elaborate.) The heart of the program specifies calculationsto be performed with the various data fields, while theoutput section specifies how the results will be laid out inreport form, including such things as headers, footers, andsections.Subsequent versions of RPG added more features. RPG-IV, released in 1994, includes the ability to define subroutines,for example. IBM has also released VisualAge RPG,which allows for the creation and running of RPG programsin the Microsoft Windows environment. There arealso tools for interfacing RPG programs with various databasesystems and to use RPG for writing Web-based (CGI)programs.Further ReadingCozzi, Robert. The Modern RPG IV Language. 4th ed. Lewisville,Tex.: MC Press Online, 2006.Martin, Jim. Free-Format RPG IV: How to Bring Your RPG Programsinto the 21st Century. Lewisville, Tex.: MC Press Online, 2005.Meyers, Bryan, and Jef Sutherland. VisualAge for RPG by Example.Loveland, Colo.: Duke Press, 1998.RSS (Really Simple Syndication)Web sites such as news providers and blogs (see blogsand blogging) are constantly posting new material. Whilereaders can periodically visit a site to look for new material,an increasingly popular option is to subscribe to a “Webfeed” and receive the latest information automatically. Themost commonly used tool for Web feeds is RSS, which canstand for Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, orRDF Site Summary, depending on the format used.The data in an RSS feed can include article titles, summaries,excerpts (such as the first paragraph), or the completearticle or posting. Feeds can also include multimediasuch as graphics, video, or sound. The data (and any linkedmaterial) is formatted using standard markup elements (seeHTML and XML). The following is an excerpt of a simpleRSS feed provided by the RSS Advisory Board:Liftoff Newshttp://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/Liftoff to Space Exploration.en-usTue, 10 Jun 2003 04:00:00 GMTTue, 10 Jun 2003 09:41:01GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssWeblog Editor 2.0editor@example.comwebmaster@example.comStar Cityhttp://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/news-starcity.aspHow do Americans getready to work with Russians aboardthe International Space Station? Theytake a crash course in culture, languageand protocol at Russia’s <ahref=“http://howe.iki.rssi.ru/GCTC/gctc_e.htm”>Star City</a>.Tue, 03 Jun 2003 09:39:21GMThttp://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/2003/06/03.html#item573As part of the process of setting up a feed on the Webserver, the feed is “published” so that it can be found andread using a client program called a reader or aggrega-