Abstract: A data base information engine subsystem which examines data on the fly as it is retrieved from a mass storage device (i.e., disk), and before storing it in memory, to select only the specified elements of data required by the host computer according to criteria set forth by the host computer. A page mapper circuit separates the host command processing from the data access processing for the command. The instruction set used by the information engine subsystem contains optimizing algorithms to parse and reorder the required operation to be most efficient (with respect to time). The information engine subsystem also contains a high speed processor which is a special purpose processor designed and optimized for data retrieval while doing operations on the data at high speed.