A Formal System for Information Retrieval from Files A generalized file structure is provided by which the concepts of keyword, index, record, file, directory, file structure, directory decoding, and record retrieval are defined and from which some of the frequently used file structures such as inverted files, index-sequential files, and multilist files are derived. Two algorithms which retrieve records from the generalized file structure are presented. CACM February, 1970 Hsiao, D. attribute-value pair, index, keyword, record, record address, K-pointer, K-list, file, directory, generalized file structure, inverted file, index-sequential-file, multilist file, description, file search, directory search, serial processing of lists, prime keyword, parallel processing of lists 3.70 3.73 3.74 CA700201 JB February 14, 1978 1:04 PM 2114 5 2114 2114 5 2114 2114 5 2114 2160 5 2114 2688 5 2114 2114 6 2114 2114 6 2114