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direct access

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.07 sec.

The ability to read or write a specific storage location without having to go through any locations before or after it. Generally synonymous with "random access." Disks and memories (RAMs, ROMs, PROMs, etc.) are the major direct access devices. See magnetic disk and RAM.

Early Direct Access
Using a deck of 3x14" magnetic cards, NCR's CRAM was a direct access storage device in the 1960s. By the end of that decade, magnetic disks were becoming mainstream. See CRAM for more details. (Image courtesy of NCR Corporation.)



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A giant boulder prevented direct access to the gravel bed.
Moon-Face and Other Stories by London, Jack View in context
Undoubtedly by the garden path and the back door, from which there is direct access to the study.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan View in context
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