Application software:What is an application package?

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Application software:What is an application package?

We've covered the main types of system software, so let's turn now to application software. This is the software that enables us to do the things that we bought our computer for, such as playing games, writing music, creating animated displays, or administering the office.

Application software is normally supplied as a package, consisting of:

• The software, supplied on floppy disks.

• One or more manuals, explaining how to use the software.

• A tutorial, supplied either on disk, or in a booklet, or both.

PC-compatibles are supported by thousands of software packages. Most of these are reasonably priced. Many are free, being available in what is known as the public domain. Public domain (PD) software is normally available from user groups, one being Compulink at Guildford in Surrey. The manual for a PD product is normally supplied as a text file on the same disk as the software, and has to be printed out by the user.

The Apple Macintosh is also well supported by applica­tion software, much of it highly innovative and excellently designed, though there is not so much of it as for the PC. The Atari ST is quite well supported, notably by games, graphics applications such as computer-aided design, and music.

This chapter and the next cover the subject of application software, and describe the main types of business applica­tions running on personal computers. There are additional considerations when dealing with the kind of large applica­tions that run on mainframes, and these are dealt with in Chapter 9.

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The main application areas

The main areas in which computers are applied are:

• Data processing (described in Chapter 9).

• Office automation (described in this chapter and Chap­ ter 7).

• Manufacturing and retailing (dealt with in Chapters 10 and 11).

• Education and leisure (covered in Chapter 7 and also in Chapter 11).

The kinds of application packages that are available include:

• Record-keeping software.

• Spreadsheet software.

• Word processing software.

• Desktop publishing software.

• Business graphics and presentations software.

• Communications software.

• Project planning software.

• Diary systems and other personal productivity tools.

• Expert systems software.

• Drawing and computer-aided design software.

• Computer-aided manufacturing software.

• Games.

• Music synthesis.

• Painting and animation software.

Some packages can perform more than one of these tasks. For example, there are a number of office administration packages that will carry out word processing, record-keep­ing, spreadsheets, and business graphics. These are called integrated packages, because they integrate, or bring together, these varied tasks. Some of them are remarkably cheap, one example for the PC being Ability, from Migent, costing just under £100. A more powerful integrated pack­ age which is very popular is Smart, which costs several hundred pounds.

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Features of application packages

Most application packages have the following features.

• They may be command-driven, or menu-driven, or a combination of both. To illustrate what this means, DOS is command-driven, so that you have to learn a number of commands to use it, which you then type in. Windows and GEM, in contrast, are menu-driven, so that you merely have to select menu options to use their facilities. Command-driven software takes longer to learn, but gives you greater flexibility.

• They often provide context-sensitive help. This means that by pressing a certain key - usually the function key F1 - a screen or more of text appears that gives guidance on the option you have selected or the task you are carrying out.

• When using them, you normally create a file of data, text, or graphics, which you will want to save on disk for

use with the software on a subsequent occasion. The package will contain the necessary routines to save and load files, which you invoke either by typing a command or selecting a menu option.

• Although most packages will store the data, text, or image files in their own special formats, many will also allow you to save the files in a standard format (e.g. ASCII in the case of text files) and to load files that have been so saved. This means that files created on one package can be imported into another, with certain limitations (such as loss of emboldening and other text enhancements in the case of ASCII files).

• When using a software package, you may want to print your work. Most packages will allow you to adapt the output for your particular printer. All you have to do is select the printer from the list that is supported by the software.

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