Application software:Macro languages

Macro languages

Many application packages allow you to add your own custom features by means of macros. A macro is a stored sequence of keystrokes and other commands that can be replayed at will, usually by pressing Ctrl or Alt and another key.

The simplest type of macro language consists just of keystrokes, which you record merely by pressing the keys while the package is in macro-recording mode. Alterna­tively, you can create the macro by typing the commands that generate the keystrokes on a macro editing screen. For example, the command <rgt> in some macro languages is equivalent to pressing the right arrow, <F6> is equivalent to pressing the F6 key, and so on.

A number of applications provide very sophisticated macro languages, often similar to PASCAL or BASIC, which include file commands, IF ... THEN constructions, logical operators, and so on. Macros written in these can be very powerful, allowing you to customize the whole operation and appearance of the package. For example, in some packages you can use the macro language to create customized menu systems so that the application becomes dedicated to a par­ticular task or range of tasks, shielding the user from the packages's other complexities. Some of these more powerful macro languages are called scripting languages. They include the Hyperscript language available on the Wingz spreadsheet, and Hypertalk available on the Apple HyperCard package.

Unfortunately, most macro languages have little in common, apart from a general similarity to a programming language such as PASCAL. This means that the user who wants to customize several different packages will have to master the macro language of each. Moves are afoot, however, to try to bring some order and standardization into this situation. In the Windows world of the PC, Microsoft is developing a BASIC-like scripting language that will control multiple Windows applications. Apple is bringing out its AppleScript language which will perform a similar function in its environment.

Example of an application package

If you have access to an IBM PC or compatible computer, one example of a simple application package is Homebase. I've chosen to describe Homebase because:

• It is available as shareware, so anyone can try it free of charge.

• It is an example of personal productivity software, described later in this chapter.

• It is simple to describe and use, since it provides only a limited range of facilities. (PC Tools, for example, is a much more powerful piece of software.)

• It uses keys such as Esc, Tab, and Fl in much the same way as most standard PC application packages.

Home base enables you to carry out, in a very neat and simple way, a range of tasks on your computer from record keeping to word processing. It is RAM-resident, meaning that it sits in the background in your computer's RAM, letting you get on with your other computing tasks, until you need it. Then, at the press of a key, it pops up on the screen ready for action, and at the press of another key, it disappears, returning you to your original task. This type of software is also called terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR), as when you quit it and return to your other task it remains resident in the computer's memory.

When you load Home base into your computer, nothing happens to begin with. Its facilities are all dormant until you bring them to life by pressing special hot key combinations. You hold down the ALT key and the SHIFf key and then press another key. As a general rule you will want to run another application alongside Home base, and by pressing a hot key call up a Home base facility within that application as and when you need it.

Each Home base module has a similar feel. It offers a list of menu options across the top of the screen which work in the same way as the menu system used in many other software packages:

• You select a menu option by either moving the highlight bar to it by pressing the right or left arrow key, then pressing ENTER, or by pressing the first letter of the option's name.

• If you use the first of these methods, then, as the highlight bar passes over a menu option, a one-line list of its facilities appears immediately below. This is very useful for the new or occasional user.

• Pressing the Fl key gives you context-sensitive help, i.e. a screen of text explaining how to use the current menu option.

• When you call up a menu option, it appears in a window on the screen, the size and position of which can be adjusted to suit your taste. Some options involve several windows, and you can step through the windows by pressing the TAB key.

• To cancel the last option, press the ESCAPE key.

Repeatedly pressing ESC takes you backwards through your route through the Home base menu system, eventu­ ally returning you to the point at which you invoked Homebase in your original applications. Alternatively, pressing ALT-SHIFT-ENTER or ALT-SHIFT-ESC returns you immediately to your application; in this case, the computer remembers where you left off in Homebase and takes you to it when you press the appropriate hot-key combination.

One of Homebase's modules, for example, is its calendar (Figure 6.1). To activate this, you press ALT and SHIFT and C at the same time. The calendar then pops up on the screen. This is in fact both a weekly/monthly calendar and a diary. If you select the monthly calendar, it displays a single month, highlighting the current day. You can move from day to day using the arrow keys, or from month to month by pressing PgUp or PgDn. Pressing ENTER displays the diary entry for the highlighted day. The weekly calendar is similar, though in this case the times of any appointments (though not the appointment details) are highlighted in each day's box.

You enter details of your appointments in the diary mode. You can also enter expenses against each entry, and the diary will keep an automatic total. There is a 'To Do' section for each day, in which you can enter tasks that do not have to be done at specific times, like finishing off a report for

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the boss, digging the garden, fixing that shelf, etc. At the end of each week or other period of time you can roll all the 'To Do' items forward, and be reminded of any that you haven't yet done. There is also a 'Find' option which allows you to enter a name or other word and will search through the diary for appointments containing it. So you can quickly check dates and times of meetings.

Other Home base modules include a calculator, a simple word processor, a record-keeping program, and a communi­cations program.

clip_image005Office automation software

The term office automation (OA) is used to describe the application of the computer to the work of the office, i.e. the work of the manager, administrator, secretary, and office assistant. The automation of office tasks has happened only recently, within the last 10 or 15 years.

Factory automation has long been a feature of the indus­ trial scene, and large equipment feeding huge production lines has boosted the productivity of factory workers and created much of the wealth of the industrialized world. The automation of routine clerical jobs such as payroll, stock control, invoicing, purchase records, and financial accounting procedures has also been going on for a long time, ever since the introduction of large and expensive punched card equipment early in this century.

The reason why the world of the manager, the administrator, and the secretary has been so long unaffected by these developments is simply that the equipment was so large and expensive that it could only be economically used for large routine jobs with long production runs - such as generating hundreds of invoices or thousands of payslips - which is not what the jobs of managers and secretaries are about. Their jobs are very varied. Managers' jobs involve getting information together from many sources in order to make decisions on a variety of topics, and putting those decisions into effect. Secretaries' jobs involve a variety of supporting activities such as writing letters, keeping diaries, and making appointments.

The automation of highly varied jobs of this sort had to await the advent of low-cost microcomputers that could economically be used for small-run office jobs, supported by spreadsheet, word processing, diary management and other office software. The most popular microcomputers for office automation are PCs, though Apple Macs are quite widely used for desktop publishing and graphics applications.

The main types of software used for office automation applications are:

• Database software for record-keeping applications.

• Spreadsheet software for applications involving tables of data.

• Business graphics software for presentations.

• Word processing and desktop publishing software for letters, brochures, etc.

• Communications software for electronic mail and to access on-line databases.

• Personal productivity software, such as diary systems and electronic notepads.

• Other software, such as project planning and expert systems.

All these are dealt with in the sections below, apart from graphics and desktop publishing software (covered in Chap­ter 7), and communications software (covered in Chapter 8). In most sections, I shall adopt the following general pattern, which will be to:

• Introduce the application.

• Discuss the main concepts underlying the application.

• Outline the main tasks that have to be done.

• Describe how the application is used in practice.

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