TYPES OF INFORMATION USED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON MUG FILE SYSTEM (UHMFS) ARE IMAGE OF THE FACE OF THE SUSPECT GENERATED BY A SKETCH ARTIST, AN IDENTIFICATION TECHNICIAN, OR A COMPETITIVE TECHNIQUE FROM AN EYE WITNESS INTERVIEW; PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SUSPECT THAT MAY BE AVAILABLE IN SPECIAL TYPES OF CRIMES LIKE FORGERY OR BANK ROBBERY; AND DESCRIPTORS SUCH AS SEX, AGE, HEIGHT, WEIGHT, AND TYPE OF CRIME THAT ARE PART OF THE DATA BASE MAINTAINED ON INDIVIDUALS IN A MUG FILE. UNIQUE OF FEATURES OF THE UHMFS ARE ITS LOW COST AND THE FACT THAT IT EMPLOYS A FACE AND PATTERN RECOGNITION TECHNIQUE TO RETRIEVE LOOK-ALIKES FROM PHOTOGRAPHS IN A MUG FILE. STEPS IN THE SELECTION OF MUG SHOTS FROM A FILE ARE TWOFOLD: (1) A SKETCH ARTIST OR TECHNICIAN CONSTRUCTS THE FACIAL IMAGE BY INTERACTION WITH THE WITNESS, AND (2) MEASUREMENTS OF LINEAR DISTANCES BETWEEN SPECIFIED FEATURES BELOW THE EYEBROWS ARE MADE AND USED AS INPUTS TO A COMPUTER PROGRAM CONTAINING A PATTERN RECOGNITION ALGORITHM THAT RANKS PHOTOGRAPHS IN A MUG FILE ACCORDING TO HOW MUCH THEY LOOK LIKE THE FACIAL IMAGE OF THE SUSPECT. THIS RANKING OF LOOK-ALIKES AND OTHER DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION ARE USED BY THE COMPUTER TO CREATE INSTANT 'MUG BOOKS' FOR DISPLAY TO THE WITNESS. THE APPLICATION OF THE UHMFS IS DETAILED IN RELATION TO CRIME INVESTIGATION, DATA BASE MAINTENANCE, THE PATTERN RECOGNITION ALGORITHM, AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE. ILLUSTRATIONS AND DATA FORMS PERTINENT TO THE SYSTEM ARE PROVIDED. REFERENCES ARE CITED. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DEP)