Abstract: The Network Data Dictionary is a device for enabling standardization of data structures in programs, file layouts and Data Base Management System (DBMS) schema residing in Include Files located on one or more computers in a network. By making the data structures comply with the data element definitions stored in a common data element dictionary, improvements in the quality, accuracy, and consistency of data can be obtained, while simultaneously providing productivity advantages to programmers. The device is set up to organize a set of disparate Include Files (representing data structure descriptions corresponding to program structures, file layouts, and DBMS schema), in one or more computers in a network under a common scheme called the Include File Dictionary, so that these Include Files are made accessible by the device to programmers for sharing, controlled modification, and use.