Editing WordPerfect (section)

==WordPerfect for DOS==
[[File:Wordperfect-5.1-dos.png|thumb|upright=1.2|WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS]]
In 1979, [[Brigham Young University]] graduate student [[Bruce Bastian]] and computer science professor [[Alan C. Ashton|Alan Ashton]]<ref name="WP60PC.NYT"/> created word processing software for a [[Data General]] minicomputer system owned by the city of [[Orem, Utah]]. Bastian and Ashton retained ownership of the software that they created. They then founded Satellite Software International, Inc., to market the program to other Data General users. '''WordPerfect 1.0''' represented a significant departure from the previous [[Wang Laboratories#Word processors|Wang]] standard for word processing.

The first version of WordPerfect for the [[IBM PC]] was released the day after Thanksgiving in 1982. It was sold as '''WordPerfect 2.20''', continuing the version numbering from the Data General program.<ref>{{cite magazine |title = In Pictures: 25 years of Microsoft Office roadkill |magazine = [[Computerworld]] |url = https://www.computerworld.com.au/slideshow/545525/pictures-25-years-microsoft-office-roadkill }}</ref>  Over the next several months, three more minor releases arrived, mainly to correct bugs.

The developers had hoped to program WordPerfect in [[C (programming language)|C]], but at this early stage, there were no C [[compiler]]s available for the IBM PC, and they had to program it in [[x86 assembly language]]. All versions of WordPerfect up to 5.0 were written in [[x86]], and C was only adopted with WP 5.1, when it became necessary to convert it to non-IBM compatible computers. The use of straight assembly language and a high amount of direct screen access gave WordPerfect a significant performance advantage over [[WordStar]], which used strictly DOS [[API]] functions for all screen and keyboard access, and was often very slow. In addition, WordStar, originally created for the [[CP/M]] operating system, in which [[subdirectories]] are not supported, was extremely slow in switching to support sub-directories in MS-DOS.<ref>{{cite book |title = Easily into WORDSTAR 2000 Release 3 |page = 9 |url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1349109886 |isbn = 1349109886 |first = Christine |last = Simons |year = 1990 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine = WinWorld |title = Software Spotlight: WordStar |url = https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/10379/software-spotlight-wordstar |date = June 18, 2018 }}</ref>

In 1983, '''WordPerfect 3.0''' was released for DOS. This was  updated to support DOS 2.x, sub-directories, and hard disks. It also expanded printer support, where WordPerfect 2.x only supported [[Epson]] and Diablo printers that were hard-coded into the main program. Adding support for additional printers this way was impractical, so the company introduced [[printer driver]]s, a file containing a list of control codes for each model of printer. Version 3.0 had support for fifty different printers, and this was expanded to one hundred within a year. WordPerfect also supplied an editor utility that allowed users to make their own printer drivers, or to modify the included ones.<ref name="columbia.edu">{{cite web |url = http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/chronology.html#wpjunior30 |title = WPDOS&nbsp;– A Chronology of Versions |website = www.columbia.edu }}</ref> A version of WordPerfect 3.0 became the Editor program of WordPerfect Office.

[[Image:Looking North West (30908877246).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|At its peak, WordPerfect Corporation occupied this seven-building{{clarify|reason=Which seven buildings? The photo shows many more than seven|date=May 2025}} campus in Orem, Utah, at the foothills of the Wasatch Range.]]

'''WordPerfect 4.0''' was released in 1984.<ref name="columbia.edu"/> '''WordPerfect 4.2''', released in 1986, introduced automatic paragraph numbering, which was important to law offices, and automatic numbering and placement of footnotes and endnotes that were important both to law offices and academics. It became the first program to overtake the original market leader [[WordStar]] in a major application category on the [[DOS]] platform.

By 1987, Compute! magazine described WordPerfect as "a standard in the MS-DOS world" and "a powerhouse program that includes almost everything".<ref name="mcneill198712">{{cite news |url = https://archive.org/stream/COMPUTEs_Apple_Applications_Vol._5_No._2_Issue_6_1987-12_COMPUTE_Publications_US#page/n55/mode/2up |title = Macintosh: The Word Explosion |work = Compute!'s Apple Applications |date = December 1987 |access-date = September 14, 2016 |last = McNeill |first = Dan |pages = 54–60 }}</ref> In November 1989, WordPerfect Corporation released the program's most successful version, '''WordPerfect 5.1''' for DOS, which was the first version to include pull-down menus to supplement the traditional function key combinations, support for tables, a spreadsheet-like feature, and full support for typesetting options, such as italic, redline, and strike-through. This version also included "print preview", a graphical representation of the final printed output that became the foundation for WordPerfect 6.0's graphic screen editing. '''WordPerfect 5.1+''' for DOS was introduced to allow older DOS-based PCs to utilize the new WordPerfect 6 file format. This version could read and write WordPerfect 6 files, included several third-party screen and printing applications (previously sold separately), and provided several minor improvements.

WordPerfect Corporation acquired [[Reference Software International]], makers of [[Grammatik]], a highly popular [[grammar checker]] for DOS, in January 1993 for $19&nbsp;million.<ref name=abate>{{cite news |last = Abate |first = Tom |date = January 7, 1993 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-sf-software/130155469/ |title = S.F. software maker is sold |newspaper = The San Francisco Examiner |page = E-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-sf-software/130155475/ E-3] |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref><ref name=walz>{{cite news |last = Walz |first = Nancy |agency = Associated Press |date = September 5, 1994 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-pioneering-grammar-s/130155817/ |title = Pioneering Grammar Software Born at Home |newspaper = Albuquerque Journal |page = 3 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> RSI's remaining employees were absorbed into WordPerfect in Orem, and the functionality of Grammatik and Reference Set (a [[spell checker]] that RSI also sold) were eventually integrated into WordPerfect.<ref>{{cite news |date = May 30, 1993 |url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-herald-wordperfect-expands-mar/130155483/ |title = WordPerfect expands marketing, sales |newspaper = The Daily Herald |page = C3 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> WordPerfect continued selling Grammatik as a standalone product for several years.<ref name=walz />

'''WordPerfect 6.0''' for DOS, released in 1993, could switch between its traditional text-based mode and a graphical mode that showed the document as it would print out, known as [[WYSIWYG]] (what you see is
what you get).<ref name="RevCo.NYT">{{cite news |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |url = https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/the-real-history-of-wysiwyg/ |title = The Real History of WYSIWYG |first = John |last = Markoff |date = October 18, 2007 }}</ref> WordPerfect 5 had introduced a graphic view mode that displayed the layout of the document on a page using generic fonts, but the view mode was uneditable.  The editing still needed to be done in text mode.

By the time WordPerfect 6.0 was released, the company had grown "to command more than 60 percent of the word processing software market."<ref name="WP60PC.NYT">{{cite news |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/30/business/wordperfect-executive-is-forced-out.html |title = Wordperfect Executive Is Forced Out |first = John |last = Markoff |date = March 30, 1992 |access-date = July 15, 2019 }}</ref>

===Key characteristics===
[[Image:Former WordPerfect headquarters building as seen in 2008.jpg|thumb|right|The WordPerfect headquarters building, seen years later]]
The distinguishing features of WordPerfect include:
* extensive use of [[Function key|key]] combinations, especially on the [[MS-DOS]] platform, enabling quick access to features, once the meaning of the key combinations (like Ctrl–Shift–F6) had been memorized;
* its "streaming code" file format;
* its Reveal Codes feature; and
* its numbering of lines as the legal profession requires
* its [[Macro (computer science)|macro]]/[[scripting language|scripting]] capability, now provided through PerfectScript.

The ease of use of tools, like [[Mail Merge]]<ref>{{cite web |title = Mail Merge |website = iSchool.uTexas.edu (Tutorials) |url = https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/office/mail_merge |access-date = July 15, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130127094633/http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/office/mail_merge/ |archive-date = January 27, 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> (combine form documents with data from any data source), "Print as booklet", and tables (with spreadsheet capabilities and the possibility to generate graphs) are also notable.

The WordPerfect document format allows continuous extending of functionality without jeopardizing backward and forward compatibility. Despite the fact that the newer version is extremely rich in functionality, WordPerfect X5 documents are fully compatible with WordPerfect 6.0a documents in both directions. The older program simply ignores the "unknown" codes, while rendering the known features of the document. WordPerfect users were never forced to upgrade for compatibility reasons for more than two decades.

====Streaming code architecture====
A key to their design is its streaming code architecture that parallels the formatting features of [[HTML]] and [[Cascading Style Sheets]]. Documents are created much the same way that raw HTML pages are written, with text interspersed by tags (called "codes") that trigger treatment of data until a corresponding closing tag is encountered, at which point the settings active to the point of the opening tag resume control. As with HTML, tags can be nested. Some data structures are treated as objects within the stream as with HTML's treatment of graphic images, e.g., footnotes and styles, but the bulk of a WordPerfect document's data and formatting codes appear as a single continuous stream. A difference between HTML tags and WordPerfect codes is that HTML codes can all be expressed as a string of plain text characters delimited by greater-than and less-than characters, e.g. <code language=HTML>&lt;strong&gt;text&lt;/strong&gt;</code>, whereas WordPerfect formatting codes consist of [[hexadecimal]] values.

====Styles and style libraries====
[[Image:WordPerfect for DOS box alongside 3.5 inch diskette holders.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.5|WordPerfect for DOS box, next to storage boxes for 3½-inch diskettes]]
The addition of styles and style libraries in WP 5.0 provided greatly increased power and flexibility in formatting documents, while maintaining the streaming-code architecture of earlier versions. Styles are a preset arrangement of settings having to do with things like fonts, spacings, tab stops, margins and other items having to do with text layout. Styles can be created by the user to shortcut the setup time when starting a new document, and they can be saved in the program's style library. Prior to that, its only use of styles was the Opening Style, which contained the default settings for a document.

After the purchase of the [[desktop publishing]] program [[Corel Ventura|Ventura]], Corel enhanced the WordPerfect styles editor and styles behavior with the majority of Ventura's capabilities. This improved the usability and performance of graphic elements like text boxes, document styles, footer and header styles.

Since WordPerfect has been enriched with properties from the [[CorelDraw]] Graphics suite,<!--Is Suite part of the official name?--> graphic styles are editable. The Graphics Styles editor enables customizing the appearance of boxes, borders, lines and fills and store the customized design for reuse. The possibilities include patterns and color gradients for fills; corner, endpoint, pen-type and thickness for lines. Box styles can be used as container style, including a border, lines, fill, text and caption; each with its separate style. A text box style shows that WordPerfect cascades its styles.

Around the same time, Corel included WordPerfect, with its full functionality, in CorelDraw Graphics Suite as the text editor.

====Reveal codes====
[[Image:Wordperfect steuerzeichen.jpg|thumb|right|The Reveal Codes feature in WordPerfect]]
Present since the earliest versions of WordPerfect, the Reveal Codes feature distinguishes it from other word processors; Microsoft Word's equivalent is much less powerful.<ref name="RevCo.NYT"/>  It displays and allows editing the codes, reduces retyping, and enables easy formatting changes.<ref name="Brinkley.NYT2K"/> It is a second editing screen that can be toggled open and closed, and sized as desired.

The codes for formatting and locating text are displayed, interspersed with tags and the occasional objects, with the tags and objects represented by named tokens. This provides a more detailed view to troubleshoot problems than with styles-based word processors, and object tokens can be clicked with a pointing device to directly open the configuration editor for the particular object type, e.g. clicking on a style token brings up the style editor with the particular style type displayed. WordPerfect had this feature already in its DOS incarnations.

====Macro languages====
WordPerfect for DOS stood out for its [[Macro (computer science)|macros]], in which sequences of keystrokes, including function codes, were recorded as the user typed them. These macros could then be assigned to any key desired. This enabled any sequence of keystrokes to be recorded, saved, and recalled. Macros could examine system data, make decisions, be chained together, and operate recursively until a defined "stop" condition occurred. This capability provided a powerful way to rearrange data and formatting codes within a document where the same sequence of actions needed to be performed repetitively, e.g., for tabular data. But since keystrokes were recorded, changes in the function of certain keys as the program evolved would mean that macros from one DOS version of WordPerfect would not necessarily run correctly on another version. Editing of macros was difficult until the introduction of a macro editor in Shell, in which a separate file for each WordPerfect product with macros enabled the screen display of the function codes used in the macros for that product.

[[Image:Compaq Portable and Wordperfect.JPG|thumb|left|WordPerfect 5.0 for DOS running on a Compaq Portable home computer, 1988]]

WordPerfect DOS macros,<ref>{{cite news |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/03/science/peripherals-wordperfect-offspring.html |title = WordPerfect Offspring |first = L. R. |last = Shannon |date = July 3, 1990 }}</ref> which assumed a text-based screen, with fixed locations on the screen, could not, or could not easily, be implemented with the Windows WYSIWYG screen and mouse. For example, "go down four lines" has a clear meaning on a DOS screen, but no definite meaning with a Windows screen. WordPerfect lacked a way to meaningfully record mouse movements.

A new and even more powerful interpreted token-based macro recording and scripting language came with both DOS and Windows 6.0 versions, and that became the basis of the language named PerfectScript in later versions. PerfectScript has remained the mainstay scripting language for WordPerfect users ever since. It dealt with functions rather than with keystrokes. There was no way to import DOS macros, and users who had created extensive macro libraries were forced to continue using WordPerfect 5.1, or to rewrite all the macros from scratch using the new programming language.

An important property of WordPerfect macros is that they are not embedded in a document. As a result, WordPerfect is not prone to [[macro virus (computing)|macro viruses]] or [[malware]], unlike MS Word. Despite the term "macro", the language has hundreds of commands and functions and in fact creates full-fledged programs resident on and executed on the user's computer. In WPDOS 6 the source code is generated using the same interface used to edit documents. A WordPerfect macro can create or modify a document or perform tasks like displaying results of a calculation such as taking a date input, adding a specific number of days and displaying the new date in a dialog box. Documents created or edited by a WordPerfect macro are no different from those produced by manual input; the macros simply improve efficiency or automate repetitive tasks and also enabled creating content-rich document types, which would hardly be feasible manually.

The PerfectScript macro language shows especial versatility in its ability to deploy every function that exists in the entire office suite, no matter whether that function was designed for WordPerfect, Quattro Pro or Presentations. The macro development wizard presents and explains all of these functions. The number of functions available through PerfectScript is unparalleled in the office market.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}

On top of the functions available in the main components of the office suite, PerfectScript also provides the user with tools to build dialogs and forms. Widgets like buttons, input fields, drop-down lists and labels are easily combined to build user-friendly interfaces for custom office applications.
An example: a Dutch housing company (VZOS, Den Haag, several thousands of apartments) had its mutation administration build with WordPerfect.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

Beginning with WordPerfect Office 10, the suite also included the Microsoft Office [[Visual Basic]] macro language as an alternative, meant to improve compatibility of the suite with Microsoft Office documents.

Macros may be used to create data-entry programs which enter information directly into WordPerfect documents, saving the time and effort required to retype it.

===Support for European languages===
[[Image:Dieter Runkel.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Member of the WordPerfect cycling team (''right'') at the [[Tour de France]], 1993]]
WordPerfect had support for European languages other than English.
The Language Resource File (WP.LRS) specified language formatting conventions.<ref>{{cite book |title = WordPerfect |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nw57l2MMBO4C |date = 1994 |page = 506 |access-date = May 30, 2016 |quote = The Language Resource File (WP.LRS) contains language formatting conventions for use when listing files and using the Date, Sort, Footnote, and Tables features. }}</ref>

In addition, WordPerfect Corporation did some aggressive marketing in Europe.  In January 1993 they signed a three-year, $16 million deal to sponsor the [[WordPerfect (cycling team)|WordPerfect cycling team]] in international competitions.<ref name="slt-cycling"/>  The team was directed by the Dutchman [[Jan Raas]].<ref name="rtd-cycling"/>  The move was intended to raise WordPerfect's profile throughout Europe and especially in the [[Alps|Alpine]] countries of France, Switzerland, and Italy, and it was also thought that young bicycling enthusiasts fit the WordPerfect user profile in the United States.<ref name="slt-cycling">{{cite news |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115961011/ |title = Utah Firms Go to Bat in Sports World |first = Robert |last = Bryson |newspaper = Salt Lake Tribune |date = June 6, 1993 |pages = E1, E4 |via = Newspapers.com }}</ref>  In the third year of the deal (1995), Novell took over the sponsorship, due to having acquired WordPerfect.<ref name="rtd-cycling">{{cite news |url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115967144/ |title = Champ gained big-league status with the race |newspaper = Richmond Times-Dispatch |date = April 25, 1995 |page = E4 |via = Newspapers.com |first = Mike |last = Harris }}</ref>

===Function keys===
Like its 1970s predecessor [[Emacs]] and mid-1980s competitor [[MultiMate]], WordPerfect used almost every possible combination of [[function key]]s with [[Control key|Ctrl]], [[Alt key|Alt]], and [[Shift key|Shift]] modifiers, and the Ctrl-Alt, Shift-Alt, and Shift-Ctrl double modifiers, unlike early versions of [[WordStar]], which used only Ctrl.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.pcjs.org/disks/pcx86/apps/other/wordstar |title = Wordstar "keytop" stickers |quote = in case we weren't quite sagacious enough to memorize all of WordStar's one-key Ctrl command }}</ref>

WordPerfect used F3 instead of F1 for ''Help'',<ref>{{cite web |title = WordPerfect 5.1 |quote = WordPerfect 5.1 gives you help when you press F3 |url = http://www.studymore.org.uk/wp51.htm }}</ref> F1 instead of Esc for ''Cancel'', and Esc for ''Repeat'' (though a configuration option in later versions allowed these functions to be rotated to locations that later became more standard).

The extensive number of key combinations are now one of WP's most popular features among its regular "[[power user]]s" such as legal secretaries, paralegals and attorneys.

===Printer drivers===
WordPerfect for DOS shipped with an impressive array of [[printer driver]]s—a feature that played an important role in its adoption—and also shipped with a printer driver editor called PTR, which features a flexible macro language and allows technically inclined users to customize and create printer drivers.

An interesting feature of version 4.2 for DOS was its Type-Through feature.  It allowed a user with certain compatible printers to use WordPerfect as a conventional typewriter.  This functionality was removed in version 5.1 for DOS.<ref>{{cite book |title = Word Perfect Made Easy |publisher = Mincberg |year = 1990 |page = 485 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine = Atari Magazine |title = Reviews WordPerfect 4.1 |url = https://www.atarimagazines.com/startv2n6/wordperfect.html |quote = type-through .. allows you to print what you type }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine = [[PC Magazine]] |date = August 1986 |page = 395 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a91QXlvTPHAC |quote = providing a type-through (typewriter emulation) mode |title = Productivity enveloping: WordPerfect }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title = Easily into WordPerfect 5 |page = 29 |url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1349110175 |isbn = 1349110175 |first = Joanna |last = Gosling |year = 1989 |quote = USING TYPE THROUGH FOR ADDRESS LABELS }}</ref>

===WordPerfect Library/Office utilities===
WordPerfect Corporation produced a variety of ancillary and spin-off products. WordPerfect Library,<ref>{{cite news |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/07/science/personal-computers-word-processor-quest.html |title = Wordprocessor quest |first = Erik |last = Sandberg-Diment |date = July 7, 1987 }}</ref> introduced in 1986 and later renamed WordPerfect Office (not to be confused with Corel's [[Windows]] office suite of the [[WordPerfect Office|same name]]), was a package of [[DOS]] network and stand-alone [[utility software]] for use with WordPerfect. The package included a DOS menu shell and [[file manager]] which could edit binary files as well as WordPerfect or Shell macros, calendar, and a general-purpose [[flat file database]] program that could be used as the data file for a [[mail merge|merge]] in WordPerfect and as a [[contact manager]].

After Novell acquired WordPerfect Corporation,<ref name=Brinkley.NYT2K/> it incorporated many of these utilities into Novell [[GroupWise]].

====LetterPerfect====
In 1990, WordPerfect Corporation also offered LetterPerfect, which was a reduced-functionality version of WP-DOS 5.1 intended for use on less-capable hardware such as the laptops of the day, and as an entry-level product for students and home users; the name (but not the code) was purchased from a small Missouri company that had produced one of the first word processors for the [[Atari 8-bit computers]]. LP did not support tables, labels, sorting, equation editing or styles.<ref>{{cite magazine |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sTwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 |title = From the company that wrote the book on Word Processing |magazine = InfoWorld |date = November 5, 1990 |publisher = InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. |via = Google Books |page = 20 |volume = 12 |issue = 35 |type = Ad }}</ref> It sold for about US$100 but did not catch on and was soon discontinued.

====DataPerfect====
Another program distributed through WordPerfect Corporation (and later through Novell) was DataPerfect for DOS, a fast and capable hierarchical database management system (DBMS) requiring as little as 300 KB of free DOS memory to run. It was written by Lew Bastian. In December 1995, Novell released DataPerfect as copyrighted freeware and allowed the original author to continue to update the program. Updates were developed until at least 2008.

DataPerfect supports up to 99 data files ("panels") with each holding up to 16 million records of up to 125 fields and an unlimited number of variable-length memo fields which can store up to 64,000 characters each. Networked, DataPerfect supports up to {{val|10000|fmt=commas}} simultaneous users.<ref>{{cite magazine |title = DataPerfect: A Perfect Database for the Palmtop |first = Ralph |last = Alvy |date = 2010 |magazine = [[The HP Palmtop Paper]] |volume = 8 |number = 1 |publisher = [[Thaddeus Computing]] |url = http://www.palmtoppaper.com/ptphtml/43/43c00008.htm |access-date = December 18, 2016 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161218105358/http://www.palmtoppaper.com/ptphtml/43/43c00008.htm |archive-date = December 18, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Pounding a New Nail With a 30-Year-Old Hammer |first = David |last = Britten |date = December 14, 2016 |url = http://dave.brittens.org/blog/new-nail-30-year-old-hammer.html |access-date = December 18, 2016 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161218105241/http://dave.brittens.org/blog/new-nail-30-year-old-hammer.html |archive-date = December 18, 2016 }}</ref>

====PlanPerfect====
Another program distributed through WordPerfect Corporation was PlanPerfect, a spreadsheet application. The first version with that name was reviewed in ''InfoWorld'' magazine in September 1987.<ref>{{cite magazine |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |first = John |last = Walkenbach |title = Spreadsheet Interface Plan Falls Short of Perfect |magazine = InfoWorld |date = September 14, 1987 |publisher = InfoWorld Media Group |via = Google Books |pages = 43,45,47 |volume = 9 |issue = 36 }}</ref>