Abstract: A computer-aided method and apparatus to access information is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the apparatus includes a selector, a mapper and a generator. Through the selector, a person can select concepts and/or elements in the concepts. The mapper maps the selected concepts and elements to an inquiry. Then, the generator generates a response to the inquiry. The response can remain the same, independent of the order of the concepts selected by the person.

Abstract: An I/O system including a processor, a multitasking operating system and DMA hardware efficiently controls a transfer of data between a main memory and memories of different types of devices by minimizing context switches between tasks and wait times of the tasks. A plurality of validation routines are used to validate a plurality of commands when the validation routines are called. Each of the commands corresponds to a specific type of I/O operation and a specific one of the device memories to participate in the I/O operation with the main memory. Each of the validation routines is device type specific and command type specific. A general routine responds to each of the commands by identifying and calling the validation routine which corresponds to the type of I/O operation and type of device which are specified in the command. The general routine initiates I/O hardware after the validation routine validates the command.