CHAPTER 7 AUTOMATED SUPPLY SUPPORT Today’s Navy uses computers to perform various operations to complete its mission. The basic information concerning computers in the Navy is described in the Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series (NEETS), Module 22, NAVEDTRA B72-22-00-88. The AK must know all the pertinent information in the NEETS Module 22 that applies to supply and maintenance operations. For example, the most common means of submitting requisitions to the supply activity is through a computer. To be able to send the requisition, the AK must know the various hardware and software associated with the computer and how to use it. The AK must know how to use the keyboard, decipher the information on the screen, and input the information. The AK should also know the expected products that result from the transaction input through the computer. PERSONAL COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE Personal computers are commonly used throughout the Navy. These computers are used in entering or extracting data to perform various tasks. The computer system is grouped by components or tools known as hardware and software. HARDWARE The hardware is the various components that make up the computer. It is composed of all the mechanical, electrical, electronic, and magnetic devices of the computer system. Some examples of the hardware are the central processing unit (CPU), printers, magnetic tape units, and disk drive units. The CPU, also known as mainframe, is the brain of the computer. The CPU processes the information entered from any of the input devices and then transfers the interim or final results to the output devices. The purpose of the magnetic tape units (drive or device) is to write data on or read data from a magnetic tape. The data in the tape is stored in a sequential manner. When information is requested, the computer begins researching from the beginning and checks each record until the desired data is found. This process is the same as playing a recorded cassette tape. In a cassette player, to play the third recorded song, the first and second song are played or the tape is fast forwarded to the third song. The magnetic disk drive units are storage devices that read and write data on the magnetized surface of a rotating disk. As the disk spins, data can be stored or retrieved on the disk in a direct manner. This direct accessing of data is faster than the sequential method. It provides direct access to any specific data without having to scan all the records from the beginning. Floppy disk drive units are smaller than magnetic disk drive units. The floppy disk drive units are commonly used with personal (desktop) computers. The common size of diskettes used with these units are the 5 WI-inch or 3 1/2-inch disks. The printers are used to print coded characters on a document (paper copy). The high-speed printers are used on mainframes to prepare supply requisitions, inventory, or financial reports. The daisy-wheel, dot-matrix, ink-jet, or laser printers are used with personal computers. The keyboards are designed to input coded information to the computer. It is composed of keyswitches or keys that enter the data when depressed by the operator. The keys are imprinted with a legend to identify their functions. The most common data used to input information are the alphabetic, numeric, or character codes. However, some keys are used for special functions. You should familiarize yourself with the proper operation of the keyboards. The display devices are known as the screen, monitor, or cathode-ray tube (CRT). This device is part of the computer terminal, computer console, and personal computer that displays the information to the operator. The information displayed is only temporary (known as soft copy). SOFTWARE Software can be defined as all the stored programs and routines (operating aids) needed to fully use the capabilities of the computer. 7-1