IMAGE is the primary reason that the HP3000 was a success. It is a reliable, simple, fast database for MPE

Multi-Programming Executive

MPE is a business-oriented minicomputer operating system made by Hewlett-Packard.It runs the HP 3000 family of computers, which originally used HP custom 16 bit stack architecture CISC CPUs and were later migrated to PA-RISC where the operating system was called MPE/XL...

. After about a decade of enhancements it was renamed TurboIMAGE, then TurboIMAGE/XL after the PA-RISC

PA-RISC

PA-RISC is an instruction set architecture developed by Hewlett-Packard. As the name implies, it is a reduced instruction set computer architecture, where the PA stands for Precision Architecture...

 migration. Programs can access and update records using IMAGE intrinsics.
Today it is known as IMAGE/SQL because it includes an SQL

SQL

SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....

(Structured Query Language) frontend and client-server support for PC accessors.

External links

• http://www.robelle.com/library/smugbook/image.html
• HP Computer Museum 3000 Series II Documentation - 1976 Image manual PDF