John Chase remembers:
> ISTR that "PDF" (now ISPF option 2) was the full-screen editor;
> an add-on to "SPF".
The full-screen editor, formerly called SPF (the "Structured
Programming Facility") was incorporated into ISPF (renamed by
then, twice, to "Interactive System Productivity Facility") as
the "ISPF/PDF" component (or the PDF subcomponent of ISPF), in
contrast to the other part, which was the "Dialog Manager."
There was a half-assed dialog-type function in the original
SPF, but nothing as sophisticated as what the Dialog Manager
offered. That part was good, but the incorporation of SPF (as
ISPF/PDF) into ISPF, which forced PDF to be a Dialog Manager
application, was bad, because it introduced the then-termed
"rubber PF Keys" facility/improvement/disaster (pick your own
poison), which was one of the most heated debates about "user
interface expectations" and "gross disappointments" that was
ever held at GUIDE. Most customers were furious about the
unintended consequences, since it broke a boatload of stuff.
But, IBM usability research indicated (to IBM, that is) that
the new way was better, so the die was cast. (These were the
same people that decided the PF Keys were better on the top
of the keyboard instead of the 3x4 matrix on the right side.)
IBM played these name games in order to change both the program
ID and the price and the terms ("Restricted Materials" for some
things) of distribution. Over time, they changed from essentially
all PL/S source to having some elements written in SAS/C. One of
the most significant changes, IMHO, was the incorporation of
Donald Ludlow's SUPERC PO into ISPF/PDF as 3.12, 3.13, 3.14, now.
That enabled them to charge just a little bit more (although you
never read that in the announcement materials, but the developers
knew exactly what was going on; Donald, however, approved, since
it got his code out to essentially everybody).
SPF, by the way, was at the time universally acknowledged
as the very first (and then only) software product that a
user could use right off the bat without any documentation
or training, simply 'at sight', because its functions were
so obvious and the interface was self-evident. Many, if not
most, of the so-called "improvements" in later versions of
"SPF" (a.k.a. ISPF/PDF) were not so well thought out. That
was, of course, due to the fact that the external interface
came under the control of the SAA "user interface & usability"
folks inside IBM, who thought (and probably still do think)
that they knew better than the original architects/designers/
programmers (who WERE actually programmers, themselves, and
so really did know better what real programmers would like).
It has always amazed me that IBM relentlessly allows idiots
to design stuff (or worse, re-design already-working, well-
done stuff) that they themselves: (a) did not before use, and
(b) would never, ever use (in their job) anyway. The usability
tests for the keyboard PF Key placement decision was conducted
not with programmers, but women (97%) literally "off the street."
Why? Because the "market" for 3270 terminals was thought to be
female clerks entering data into CICS and IMS screens. IBM paid
absolutely NO attention to real programmers or operators during
that testing. An IBM VP admitted this to a large group of us at
GUIDE once. What's so sick about that is that, in a conversation
with her after her presentation, she basically said that our
assertion that "programmers" used 3270 terminals to write code
and debug programs was completely unbelievable. She was unaware
of any such support and "knew" that the transaction monitors
were the only software (other than MVS for consoles) that IBM
offered to work with them. Asked what TSO was, she explained
that she had heard of it, but thought that it was a minor and
mostly-unused, functionally-stabilized product, and it had no
importance whatsoever in IBM product plans. (That last part
was, in fact, true -- as far as IBM was concerned.)
Where and how IBM comes up with these morons has never ceased to
amaze me.
--
WB
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