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* BROWSE 
This function enables the user to have documents and related formatted 
fields displayed at the terminal. The user can request that the entire 
document or part of it be displayed. He can also request the automatic: 
display or paragraphs containing occurrences from the query. His privacy 
level determines the paragraphs and formatted fields within the docu- 
ment to which he has access. 
+ SAVE 
This function enables the user to store a set of SEARCH, SELECT, and/or 
RANK queries in the user's Query data set or in a common pool. This 
feature permits him to enter the queries once and then apply them to any 
number of different data bases. 
+ EXEC 
This function enables the user to retrieve a set of saved SEARCH, SELECT, 
or RANK queries from a user's Query data set or a common pool, and to 
execute them according to their query type. 
+ SORT 
The function permits the user to sort his output string into ascending 
or descending sequence, depending on the contents of a formatted field 
in the Text Index data set. 
+ HELP 
This function prompts the user when he is unsure of functions or command 
formats. 
3. Sample terminal session 
  
A sample of STAIRS/VS terminal session is provided. The listings reflect 
the user's dialog with the system and the results returned, as appearing 
on the terminal. The lowercase characters represent input from the user, 
the uppercase characters represent system responses or prompts. The first 
character of each user entry is underscored. The actions marked by a left- 
margin superscript number are explained after each sample. 
Sample case : 
À reporter from a large newspaper intends to write an article 
about the aspects of early retirement legislation. He remembers 
that some time ago government had made a demoscopic survey about 
that subject. Furthermore, this reporter knows that, for another 
retrieval, all newspaper articles of the country are collected 
in a data base to which he has access. In this data base, each 
article is divided into segments (referred to as "paragraphs"), 
sequential article number, subject, keywords, title, text, and 
author (if known). In addition, some formatted fields are stored 
for each document: document (article) number, name of newspaper, 
date of publication (year, months, day). The reporter decides to 
retrieve all articles relating to the government's survey and 
its result, using the online system AQUARIUS of STAIRS/VS. The 
following is the terminal record of a sample session for 
retrieving this information. 
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