CRISTAL Hardware and software:

The CRISTAL System that was used in this research can be
installed on any IBM PC-AT or 100% compatible computer with a
minimum of 640K of RAM (system memory) and two floppy disk
drives, or one floppy drive and a hard disk.  CRISTAL runs under
the DOS version 2.0 (or newer) operating system.  A computer
graphics card (color or monochrome) is necessary to display the
various types of graphs that can be created with CRISTAL.  A
graphics printer is required to generate a hard copy of graphs
and images.

Although the basic CRISTAL software will operate without it, a
hard disk drive is necessary for practical implementation of the
information management and processing capabilities of the system.
Similarly, although CRISTAL graphics can be displayed with good
resolution in a VGA environment, a video frame grab board is
essential to implement the full range of CRISTAL image data
management and graphic processing features.  These image
processing capabilities are the primary attributes which
differentiate CRISTAL from most other data management programs. 
With a frame grab board, an analog video device such as a
videodisc player, VCR, or video camera can serve as an image
source for the CRISTAL system.  Optical scanners can also provide
graphic information input in formats supported by the CRISTAL
system.  These are particularly useful in applications where
visual media such as photographic prints, architecture and
engineering drawings, an extensive volume of printed materials,
or intricate graphic designs are to become part of the CRISTAL
image database.  

<dfile37>   CRISTAL: Introduction
<dfile39>   CRISTAL: Configuration