Commo is a telecommunications program

Computer program

A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...

 which was written and maintained from 1989 to 1998 by Fred P. Brucker. It was a macro-driven package and could be customized

Personalization

Personalization involves using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals. Once confined mainly to the Web, it is increasingly becoming a factor in education, health care Personalization involves using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals. Once confined...

 by the user. The program, written in optimized

Optimization (computer science)

In computer science, program optimization or software optimization is the process of modifying a software system to make some aspect of it work more efficiently or use fewer resources...

 assembly language

Assembly language

An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...

 and distributed as shareware

Shareware

The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...

, was small and fast.

The macro language

Programming language

A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....

 used by Commo was simple, with assembly language-like statements surrounded by curly braces. It offered the ability to control most aspects of the terminal

Terminal emulator

A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture....

. For instance, the following macro would reconfigure the Alt

Alt key

The Alt key on a computer keyboard is used to change the function of other pressed keys. Thus, the Alt key is a modifier key, used in a similar fashion to the Shift key. For example, simply pressing "A" will type the letter a, but if you hold down either Alt key while pressing A, the computer...

-X key to display a dialog box

Dialog box

In a graphical user interface of computers, a dialog box is a type of window used to enable reciprocal communication or "dialog" between a computer and its user. It may communicate information to the user, prompt the user for a response, or both...

, allowing the user to confirm before exiting the program:


{:alx} {info-qs0 Really exit?}
{ifco ,alxn} {exit} {:alxn} {}


The program's macro and configuration files were free-form text which could be edited with any text editor

Text editor

A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....

. This led to popularity among those who wanted to be able to configure the program.

Fred Brucker actively provided support for screen readers to work with COMMO, which made it a popular program for the visually impaired. The Powermacros add-on made COMMO one of the first Trade Wars 2002 'helper' programs. MacroBBS was a Bulletin board system

Bulletin board system

A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...

 system written entirely out of COMMO macros.

Mr. Brucker released the last version of COMMO on 25 December 1998.

See also

• Telix
  Telix
  Telix is a telecommunications program originally written for MS-DOS by Colin Sampaleanu and released in 1986. More recent versions were distributed by deltaComm Development, including a version for Microsoft Windows....
  
  
• Qmodem
  Qmodem
  Qmodem was an MS-DOS shareware telecommunications program and terminal emulator. Qmodem was widely used to access bulletin boards in the 1980s and was well respected in the Bulletin Board System community. Qmodem was also known as Qmodem SST and Qmodem Pro....
  
  
• Terminate
  Terminate
  Terminate was a shareware modem terminal and host program for MS-DOS and compatible operating systems developed from the early to the late 1990s by the Dane Bo Bendtsen...
  
  
• Kermit
  Kermit (protocol)
  Kermit is a computer file transfer/management protocol and a set of communications software tools primarily used in the early years of personal computing in the 1980s; it provides a consistent approach to file transfer, terminal emulation, script programming, and character set conversion across...
  
  
• Minicom
• ProComm Plus
• Telemate

External links

• commo75.zip — {COMMO} 7.5 shareware archive (1997)
• commo77.zip — (COMMO) 7.7, final version (1998)