FRED(ID:2057/fre001)

Two hefty volumes comprise the documentation: one is an extensive tutorial
and the second, a reference manual. Although it is handsomely bound and printed,
it could use some improvement. In particular, short shrift is given to advanced
facilities such as macros and the highly touted Fred programming language. If
you want to take advantage of Fred, you will have to either spend hours
experimenting or wait for the avalanche of books that is sure to appear.

Ashton-Tate claims that Fred and other advanced features, were deliberately
left out of the manual so as not to confuse the novice user. This is silly;
novices often mature into experts, and programmers who want to develop
applications with Fred will also be purchasing the program.

Given the high cost of Framework, it is outrageous to require an additional
expenditure for a Fred Programmer's Manual. Furthermore, almost everyone who has
had some exposure to integrated packages wants a simple, easily implemented (and
documented) macro facility. The explanation of macros in the manual is confusing
and certainly inadequate for the beginner, who will most likely want to simplify
complex command sequences by using macros.

User-defined fred functions are placed in libraries; when invoked from a
program, Framework will search the desktop for a file with a .LIB extension. One
such library is provided on the utilities disk. Word Processor

The word processor is not fancy, but it is more than adequate or letters and
short to medium length articles. I found it pleasant and unobtrusive. It has an
excellent range of cursor movement and can right/left justify and center text.
Left and right margins can be selected with the Words menu option, and the Print
menu offers several other choices. A wide range of formatting functions is
available; these are constructed as formulas and embedded in the frame border.
For example, the formula:

@hc("Framework Review"),

@fl("10/2/84") sets up a centerd header and a left justified footer. Because
these formulas can be placed only in frame borders, to change formats in the
middle of a document requires that you set up a subframe containing the
appropriate new formatting command.

• PC Magazine Profiles in Excellence 1985
  

  When he first conceived the idea for Framework, Robert Carr was working as
  programming consultant on a different product?an integrated spreadsheet package
  called Context MBA.
  

  "I was convinced," Carr says, "that integration was a powerful idea that
  brought many benefits with it. But I also thought that integrating around a
  single large spreadsheet constricted the user. A more appropriate method would
  allow the user to break information into many smaller chunks that could be
  linked together logically." This, according to Carr, is the heart of Framework:
  it permits you to break up your data into separate frames in any order you like.
  "Based on that conviction, I thought, What the hell, why don't I Try programming
  it? So I started programming it on my PC, hoping I could prove the idea
  workable, implement it, and start a company to market it."
  

  Carr, 28, had done a stint at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, where we
  worked on predecessors of Xerox's Star and Smalltalk. He holds B.S. and M.S.
  degrees in computer science from Stanford University.
  

  In January, 1983, after a year of designing, Carr began to create a program
  to embody his idea (which he called FRED for "Frame Editor") and by June it was
  clear that the programming effort was even more successful than he had hoped. "I
  was beginning to talk to some companies when Marty Mazner, who has more
  marketing background than I have, came by, saw FRED, and asked "Do you know what
  you have?" We got to talking and decided to co found Forefront."
  

  Their goal was not to organize a software company that would superintend the
  product through its appearance on the store counters, but to start a development
  corporation that could finish the product and team up with a leading publisher.
  "In July, 1983 we decided to go to Ashton-Tate first," Carr remembers. "We got a
  terrific reception. Within 2 days we concluded an agreement stating that they
  would both act as venture capitalists and get marketing rights to Framework and
  would also get rights to buy Forefront in 1986." In fact, the product was so
  successful that Ashton-Tate recently announced an agreement to buy out Forefront
  sooner.
  

  So, beginning in September 1983, Carr and company spent a feverish 10 months
  laboring to finish Framework ("It was the classic 7-day work week that you get
  with fervent believers," Carr says) and were able to finish the work in a
  relatively short period of time.
  

  "Framework is certainly not a result of my efforts alone," Carr insists. "Six
  other individuals worked with me day and night for almost a year. It's very much
  a result of their good ideas and excellent work. They and all of the teams need
  to be recognized by the software industry. Few products have been the result of
  one individual's effort."
  

  Since then, Framework has established itself as a major product in the
  integrated software market. "Integrated is a very loose term," says Carr. "An
  incredibly wide-ranging bunch of products fits under it. People who buy
  Framework find that it's easy to learn and use. Most software packages demand
  about 50 hours of training. But although you have to make a learning investment
  the first time you come to Framework, that training applies to all the different
  functions. If in the next week or month, you want to pick up say, the word
  processing function, you'll find that it works very much like the spreadsheet."
  Carr foresees an important role for integrated software in the move toward
  widespread use of the local area networks. "The whole industry is moving from
  personal to group productivity tools," he asserts. You can expect to find Carr
  and Framework riding the crest of that wave.external link

• Framework SIG
  external link
• FRED/FRAMEWORK home page
  external link
• Bio of Robert Carr
  

  Robert Carr, Managing
  Director, joined Sofinnova in 1997. Prior to joining Sofinnova, Mr. Carr was
  Vice President of the AutoCAD Market Group at Autodesk, Inc., where he led
  Internet work, managed a staff of 330, and was responsible for the company's
  flagship product, AutoCAD. In 1987, Mr. Carr co-founded the high profile mobile
  communications startup GO Corporation, where he led all software development,
  including the ground breaking PenPoint operating system. Mr. Carr previously
  served as Ashton-Tate's Chief Scientist, after the 1985 acquisition of his
  software startup. This startup introduced Mr. Carr's invention of an integrated
  PC software program called Framework.
  

  Mr. Carr is currently on the Boards of Directors of AirZip, Atomz, Fresher
  Information, Laszlo, OpenReach and Mondo Media. He began his career at Xerox
  PARC in 1978, after earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering from
  Stanford University. Mr. Carr won PC Magazine Technical Excellence Awards for
  both Framework and PenPoint.

  
  external link