Framework (office suite)
| Original author(s) | Forefront Corporation (bought by Ashton-Tate in 1985) |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Robert Carr |
| Initial release | 1984 |
| Written in | Assembly language, C |
| Operating system | MS-DOS |
| Type | Office suite |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www |
Framework, launched in 1984, was the first office suite to run on the PC 8086 with the MS-DOS operating system. ValDocs, an even earlier integrated suite, actually comparable to the original Macintosh of 1984 and Apple Lisa of 1982 was produced by Epson, a complete integrated work station based on the previous Zilog Z80 processor and CP/M operating system with GUI and "WYSIWYG" typography on the monitor and printing. Framework offered all this however in the first all-in-one package to run on any PC platform. It was preceded by a few months by its close rival Lotus Symphony. Unlike other integrated products Framework was not created as "plug-in" modules with similar look and feel but as a single windowing workspace representing a desktop metaphor that could manage and outline "Frames" sharing a common underlying format. The initial release included about a dozen or so frame types (identified by a FRED function, @frametype). Frame types included containers which could be filled up with other frames, empty frames which could become other type of frames based on user input, formulas embedded in them or program output targeting them, word processor frames, flat-database frames and spreadsheet as well as graphic frames. Later versions included a frame type that can hold compiled executable code and the current version include an external type handled by separate applications running on the host operating system.
Framework built-in interpreter, the FRED (Frame Editor) computer language, was based on Lisp and included an Eval function. It applied to all text and frame type across the product.
Framework could be considered a predecessor to the present GUI window metaphor as well as integrated interpreters. The spreadsheet program was superior in its day, offering true 3D capability, where spreadsheets could form outline which can be "opened" to reveal a separate spreadsheet as well as other frame types—a feat of sheer convenient function never again seen and further enhanced in much later versions.
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