Introduction
Onlineprocessingcanbedividedintoqueryprocessing,datacollectionanddistributionprocessing,andinformationstorageandforwardingprocessingaccordingtoitsfunctionsandapplicationfields.
Inquiryprocessing
Theuserinputsinformationfromtheterminaltomakeaninquiryrequesttothesystem.Thesystemprocessesaccordingtotheuser'srequestandsendstheinquiryresultbacktothesameterminal.Thedataenteredfromtheterminalcanimmediatelymodifyoneorseveralfiles,suchasaticketreservationsystem.Thefilemodifiedintheprocessorcanbearealfileoracopyofthemainfile(mirrorfile).Themirrorfileprovidesimmediatequeryinformationduringtheday,andthemainfileismodifiedatnighttoformanewmirrorimageforthenextday.document.Fordatasecurityandsavebackupcopiesofthemasterfile,manytransactionprocessingandinteractivesystemsusethisapproach.
DatacollectionanddistributionprocessingThesystemsuccessivelycollectsdatafromtheterminalsthatgeneratethedata,storesthedataafterverification,andprocessesthemintovariousmaterials,anddistributesthenecessarydatatothedesignatedterminals.Collectionanddistributionarecarriedoutinbatchmode.
InformationstorageandforwardingprocessingTheuserinputsapieceofdatafromtheterminalandgivesanaddress,andthesystemforwardsthisdatatooneormoreotherterminals.Inordertopreventthelossofmessagesduetofailuresduringforwarding,thereceiveddataisusuallystoredfirst,andthenforwardedtootherterminals.Thismethodiswidelyusedinsystemssuchasbanktransfers,commercialsales,andinventorymanagement.
Remotebatchprocessing(seebatchprocessing)andtime-sharingprocessingareboth.Multipleonlinesystemscanbeconnectedtoformacomputernetwork,andusersinthenetworkcansharecomputerinformationresourcesscatteredinvariousregions.Eachcomputernetworkmustdetermineasetofagreementsthattheentirenetworkcomplieswith,calledaprotocol,toachievecommunicationbetweendifferenthosts,differentoperatingsystems,anddifferentuserprocesses,andtoensureremoteonlineprocessing.