What is ProWesS ?

ProWesS is a new user environment for the QL. ProWesS is short for "PROGS Window Manager", but it is much more than that. Apart from a new window manager, it contains all the system extensions from PROGS, and is essential if you want to run programs which need these extensions.

The ProWesS reader is a major part of the package. It is a hypertext document browser. This means that text files which include formatting commands (including pictures) and possibly links to other files can be displayed and read in this program. This is used in ProWesS to read (and possibly print) the manuals, and display the help files. The hypertext documents which are used by the ProWesS reader are in HTML format, the format which is popular on Internet to display World Wide Web pages.

Another important aspect of ProWesS is the possibility to allow programs to automatically install themselves on your system, and to be able to run them without resetting the system. This means that, when you get a new program, all you have to do is insert the disk and indicate "start the program in flp1_", a menu option in the "utilities" button. To install a program, you indicate "install software", and the software can be added to your system. This way, you don't need to know how to write a boot file to use the multitasking capabilities of your computer.

ProWesS includes many programming libraries. These include syslib, an interface to the operating system, PROforma, a vector graphics system, allowing rendering both on screen and on paper (via a printer driver). The DATAdesign engine is also part of ProWesS. It is a relational database system with a bonus, as you don't even need a key field. You get a powerful record at a time data manipulation extension to the language you already use. Of course it also includes ProWesS itself, the new resolution independent window manager.