Seven widely used types of general-purpose application packages are word processing, spreadsheet, data management, presentation-graphics, desktop publishing, OCR, and multimedia. Communications applications are also often considered as general-purpose applications and in fact they are so especially today in Internet era but we will speak about them in chapter 5, after introducing some data communications and computer network topics.

Word processing software allows the user to manipulate text rather that just numbers. Earlier in the development of computers, this type of software was referred to as a text editor. Today's word processors contain many productive writing features. These applications enable the user to prepare stylized reports, bulletins, letters, or other written documents easily and quickly. A typical word processing software, such as Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, Word Pro consists of an integrated set of programs including an editor program, a formatting program, a print program, a dictionary, a thesaurus, a grammar-checker, a mailing list program, integrated graphics, charting, drawing, etc. Therefore it can be said that Word processing software packages do much more than a standard text processing. They are said to be a sort of software which is declared as WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get), in other words, what the user do to a document, whether entering standard text making it bold or italic or inserting a table, chart or image, is reflected on the screen showing what the document will look like when it is printed. Just ten years ago it was not like that. Text processing software from the late '80s, e.g. WordStar, was not based on that philosophy. As an example, if a user wanted to make a word in italic, he had to use special tags within brackets and insert them before and after that word. That operation did not produce the word in italic on the screen, it was shown in that way on a paper.

Contemporary Word processing software packages include the following features:

• File - document operations (creating, opening, saving and printing)
• Document editing and viewing
• Formatting documents (sizing, defining margins, spacing, fonts, colors, bulleting and numbering,
• Finding and/or replacing words
• Spelling checker
• Sending a document to fax or e-mail address directly from within the software
• Inserting text, files and other data formats (picture, graphs, drawings, tables, video, forms, compound objects, etc)
• Merging documents with data from Databases
• Preparing HTML documents to be used on Web servers
• Using pre-defined templates for specific purposes (resume, fax, report, calendar, invoice, Web pages, etc)

Microsoft Word is most widely used word processing software today.

(... more about Microsoft Word)

Spreadsheet software transforms a computer screen into a ledger sheet, or grid, of coded rows and columns. Users can enter numeric or textual data into each grid location - called cell. They can then format the cells for appearance and perform mathematical functions on individual cells (or on rows or columns of cells). Most importantly, a formula or macro can also be entered into a cell to obtain a calculated answer displayed in that cell's location. The term macro is used to refer to a single instruction or formula that combines a number of other simpler instructions. Spreadsheet packages have an important "what-if" capability. They give everyday users the ability to "program" their computers for unique tasks using simple, common accounting-like procedures and arithmetic formulas. Spreadsheet packages are use primarily for financial information, such as income statements or cash flow analysis. However, they also are relevant for many other types of data that can be easily organized into rows and columns. The real strength of the spreadsheet is that it does all of the calculations for the user (assuming the formulas and data have been entered correctly). Change a piece of data and the calculated values will automatically be updated.

The spreadsheet as a grid consisting of rows and columns has been a common business tool for centuries. Before computers, the ledger (a book of spreadsheets) was the accountant's primary tool for keeping records of financial transactions. Therefore, spreadsheet software is an electronic alternative to thousands of traditionally manual tasks. Any type of data processing in which data can be put into rows-and-columns format is a potential spreadsheet application, e.g. income (profit and loss) statements, inventories, reports, demographic data, personal profiles, just to mention a few.

Unlike word processing documents, spreadsheets use the concept of workbooks or worksheets or simply sheets. In addition to common document-based capabilities such as: file - document operations, editing and viewing, formatting, finding and/or replacing, spelling, sending sheets through a messaging system, inserting several types of data objects, converting sheets into HTML format, contemporary spreadsheet software packages include the following additional features that are related to spreadsheet-like data processing:

• Entering numeric data into cells
• Using different types of formulas and functions (mathematical, statistical, logical, financial, etc.)
• Generating charts
• Using advanced data analysis techniques (Anova, Correlation, Covariance, Descriptive Statistics, Random Number Generation, Regression, Sampling, etc.)
• Using optimization techniques (goal seek, scenario, solver,
• Using data management capabilities (sorting, filtering, validating, reporting)
• Using pre-defined templates (e.g. Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Balance Sheet, Income Statements, Request for Quotation, Business Invoices, Cash Flow Projection, Loan Manager, etc.)

Most widely used spreadsheet products are Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3.

(... more about Microsoft Excel)

Data management software supports the storage, retrieval, and manipulation of related data. There are two basic types of data management software: simple filing programs patterned after traditional, manual data filing techniques and database management programs that take advantage of a computer's extremely fast and accurate ability to store and retrieve data in primary and secondary storage.

File systems. A file is a simple collection of related records organized in some manner. Files can be organized alphabetically, chronologically, or hierarchically, in levels - just as is done using common, manual filing cabinets. File-based data management software is typically very simple to use and often very fast, but it is difficult or time consuming to modify because of the structured manner in which files are created. The most significant problems with file-based data management software packages are the isolation, repetition, and inconsistency of data.

Database management software - DBMS. A database is a collection of files serving as the data resource for computer-based information systems. I a database, all data are integrated with established relationships. Data redundancy is minimized since identical information need not be duplicated in multiple files. This reduces inconsistency as well as overall storage requirements. Because the data in the database are available in one location, accessing and maintaining them is much easier and can be done in a more consistent manner.

The most basic logical data element is the character, which consists of a single alphabetic, numeric, or other symbol. The next higher level of data is the field or data item. A field consists of a grouping of characters. Specifically, a data field represents an attribute (a characteristic or quality) of some entity (person, place, thing, or event). Related fields of data are grouped to form a record. A group of related records is known as a file. A database is an integrated collection of logically related records or files.

Database structures. In the hierarchical structure, the relationships between records form a hierarchy or tree structure. In this model, all records are dependent and arranged in multilevel structures, consisting of one root record and any number of subordinate levels. The network structure can represent more complex logical relationships. It allows many-to-many relationships among records-that is, the network model allows entry into a database at multiple points. The relational model was developed in an attempt to simplify the representation of relationships among data elements in large databases. In this approach, all data elements within the database are viewed as being stored in the form of simple tables. Entity-relationship model introduces the concepts of entities, attributes and relationships among them. Object-oriented model is the most recent model. In object-oriented model things to track are categorized as objects. An object contains data about the "thing", and also contains functions (methods) that operate on the data.

Database management software packages come in two different forms: server systems and desktop systems. Server systems are used as part of business-critical applications or any other application that includes management of significant amount of data. Contemporary business applications called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) suites involve one or more so-called data servers - servers that run server-based DBMS. They are installed on powerful server platforms (mainframes, UNIX systems or Windows NT Servers) and represents a server side of a client-server model of computing. Clients (users) access these servers from their desktops by using either client programs or, if application is Web-enabled, what they need is just a Web browser. These DBMSs are used to manage data in an efficient way and provide data access to specific applications that use that data. Desktop systems are utilized for creating small DBMS-based applications intended to be used on personal basis. Most widely used Server-DBMS products are: Oracle, Sybase SQL, Informix, Microsoft SQL, while most commonly used desktop DBMS products are: Microsoft Access, Lotus Approach, Paradox, etc.

Microsoft Access allows users manage all information from a single database file. Within the file, data can be stored into separate storage containers called tables, users can view, add, and update table data using GUI-based and easy-to-develop forms, they can find and retrieve the data using queries and analyze or print data in a specific layout using reports.

(... more about Microsoft Access)

Presentation graphics software helps people in preparing highly stylized presentations and self-running slide shows for all situations that require well-organized and visual information (meetings, group discussions, project presentations, product presentations, etc.). It contains drawing tools, presentation templates, various font styles, spell-checking routines, charting aids, and tools to aid in assembling multiple images into a complete presentation. Presentation software is an user-friendly software and one can create a nice presentation without any special training, just by using presentation wizards and templates.

Most widely used presentation graphics software products are Microsoft Power Point, Lotus Freelance..

 Integrated Desktop Office Programs

Computer use in offices makes it easier to perform many different tasks. These tasks include writing electronically (letters, e-mails, or even books), making various calculations and plotting graphs, preparing presentations, communication and scheduling events, working on databases etc. Various software companies have been developing applications for these tasks. Office suits are basically bundle of general-purpose business applications to be used in a large variety of purposes, some mentioned above. An office suite must include applications to solve different problems. Recent suits in general include some applications with following capabilities:

• Create documents—including newsletters, reports and brochures—and add graphics, charts and tables
• Publish the same document to paper, HTML and XML for easy distribution
• Work with other document formats thanks to enhanced file conversion capabilities. Exchange files with other office suite users.

• Make various calculations
• Plot graphs
• Summarize large amounts of data in a cross-tabulated table
• Publish the same document to paper, electronic media and the Internet
• Import and export files to and from other applications.

• Create high-quality slide shows and drawings for projects of all types, from proposals to multimedia presentations
• Modify various images
• Publish a slide show to the Web
• Convert files to and from other presentation applications

• Plan daily schedule, write reminders, organize reference information and manage corporate contacts
• Appointment reminders
• Synchronize the Calendar, Event and Task Lists, Address Book and Memo applications

• Create databases store and retrieve data in a variety of ways
• Run as a standalone system on one computer, or as a multiuser system on a network
• Display data by creating professional forms, charts and reports

Various software companies have been developing office suits. Most widely used are:

• Microsoft Office
• Corel Office
• Lotur Smart Suite
• Sun Star Office

Microsoft Office integrated suite contains all necessary programs needed for improving personal productivity of the office workers. The current version is Office 2000 and has several versions:

Office 2000 Premium was designed to provide the most comprehensive productivity tools available in one package. The Premium edition is the only suite that includes Microsoft FrontPage 2000, the Web site creation and management tool, and Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000, the new business graphics program, in addition to the productivity applications and tools included in all the other editions.

Office 2000 Premium provides integrated graphics, publishing, and communications tools to make it easy to create and share high-impact documents, presentations, printed materials, and Web pages. Since more and more people are seeing the value of working with the Web, you may well want the tools that will enable you to work simply and seamlessly with it. Office 2000 Premium offers everything you need to create and manage great intranet sites, and streamlines the process of working with people and information. For example, you and your team members can easily publish and collaborate on documents more effectively or build a home page with custom graphics created in PhotoDraw 2000. If you want the most complete set of productivity tools available, Office 2000 Premium is the suite for you.

Office 2000 Premium includes the following:

• Microsoft Word 2000
• Microsoft Excel 2000
• Microsoft PowerPoint® 2000
• Microsoft Access 2000
• Microsoft Outlook® 2000
• Microsoft Publisher 2000
• Small Business Tools
• Microsoft FrontPage® 2000
• Microsoft PhotoDraw™ 2000

Office 2000 Professional offers a set of tools that streamline the process of working with people and information, making it easier to create, publish, and analyze important data regardless of where it is located. In addition to all the applications in Office 2000 Standard and Office 2000 Small Business, Office 2000 Professional includes Access 2000. Access 2000 is the desktop database tool that unlocks your personal and business data by providing powerful interactive analysis capabilities. Office 2000 Professional does not include FrontPage 2000 or PhotoDraw 2000. If you don't have an interest in creating or managing Web sites or using graphic tools, Office 2000 Professional is the choice for you.

Office 2000 Professional includes the following:

• Word 2000
• Excel 2000
• PowerPoint 2000
• Access 2000
• Outlook 2000
• Publisher 2000
• Small Business Tools

Office 2000 Small Business provides a core set of tools to help manage and run a small business more effectively. It includes word processing, desktop publishing, and spreadsheet capabilities, as well as an e-mail and desktop information management tool. In addition, Office 2000 Small Business includes a set of analysis tools specifically designed to help small businesses make more timely and informed decisions. These tools include the Small Business Customer Manager, Business Planner, Direct Mail Manager, and Small Business Financial Manager. (The Small Business Tools are in every Office 2000 suite except for Standard.)

Office 2000 Small Business includes the following:

• Word 2000
• Excel 2000
• Outlook 2000
• Publisher 2000
• Small Business Tools

Office 2000 Standard is designed for users who require only the core desktop productivity tools. It provides tools for creating, publishing, and analyzing information regardless of where it is located. It includes word processing and spreadsheet capabilities, as well as an e-mail and desktop information management tool. Office 2000 Standard is for users who do not need to manage and track vital business information and don't want to create and manage Web sites. It is also the only suite that does not include the Office 2000 Small Business Tools.

Office 2000 Standard includes the following:

• Word 2000
• Excel 2000
• PowerPoint 2000
• Outlook 2000

Office 2000 Developer is designed to help professional developers build custom solutions using Microsoft Office. Office Developer includes Office 2000 Premium, as well as tools and documentation for building, managing, and deploying Office-based solutions. If you're a developer for Office 2000, this is the suite for you. For more information, visit the Microsoft Office Developer site.

Office 2000 Developer includes the following:

• Word 2000
• Excel 2000
• PowerPoint 2000
• Access 2000
• Outlook 2000
• Publisher 2000
• Small Business Tools
• FrontPage 2000
• PhotoDraw 2000
• Sample Code
• Documentation

Corel is best known for their Corel Draw and WordPerfect programs. Their office desktop suite is called WordPerfect Office 2000, available for Windows 9x, NT and Linux. Its main components and specifications are as follows:

• WordPerfect Word Processor
• Quattro® Pro 9 Spreadsheets
• Corel® Presentations 9 Slide Shows
• CorelCENTRAL™ 9 Personal Information Management
• Trellix 2 Desktop Web Publishing
• Paradox 9 Relational Database
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking Speech Recognition

Lotus is best known for their programs such as Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus Organizer and ScreenCam. Their office suite is called SmartSuite and its latest version is SmartSuite Millenium Edition. Its main components are:

• Word Pro Word Processor
• Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet
• Freelance Graphics Presentation
• Organizer Internet information manager
• FastSite Web Publishing
• Approach Database
• ScreenCam Multimedia Software
• IBM ViaVoice Speech Recognition

StarOffice a powerful and comprehensive office suite that integrates the tools organizations need to be effective and productive. Its cross-platform, open world approach allows the suite to run natively on the Solaris (SPARC and Intel microprocessors), Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT, OS/2, and Linux operating environments. It is distributed free from charge. Its main components are:

• StarOffice Writer Word Processor
• StarOffice Calc Spreadsheet
• StarOffice Draw Graphic Program
• StarOffice Impress Presentations
• StarOffice Base Database
• StarOffice Schedule Event Planner

All these suites have very similar user interfaces. The following figure shows three different spreadsheet programs, namely: Excel, Lotus and Quatro Pro.

Desktop publishing. A level of sophistication beyond regular word processing is desktop publishing. In the past, newsletters, announcements, advertising copy, and other specialized documents had to be laid out by hand and then typeset. Now, special desktop software allows microcomputers to perform these tasks directly. Photographs, diagrams, and other images can be combined with text, including several different font styles, to produce a finished, camera-ready document.

Most widely used desktop publishing products: Microsoft Publisher, Corel products, Adobe products, etc.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition Software).

Optical character recognition (OCR) is the ability of a computer to translate character images into editable text using special software. OCR is used by office workers, lawyers, insurance workers, graphic designers, governmental staffs, journalists, anybody who wants to take a printed document and put some or all of it into their computer in editable form without having to do the retyping themselves. OCR software allows scanning documents and converting them into electronic format.

Various devices are capable of capturing images for OCR, but the most commonly used is the desktop scanner. Desktop scanners capture the image of a page in one of two ways: by passing light-sensitive sensors over the illuminated surface of the page (flatbed scanners), or by moving the page past the sensors (edge-fed scanners). The scanner digitizes the image by dividing it into hundreds of pixel-sized boxes per inch and representing each box with either a zero or a one, depending on whether the box is filled in or empty. The resulting matrix of dots, called a bitmap, can be stored, displayed, printed and manipulated by a computer. The text cannot be edited by a word processor, however, until an OCR program has processed the bitmap. OCR programs organize the patterns of dots into characters, and use a variety of techniques to make decisions as to what the characters are. The earliest OCR program was introduced in 1959 by the Intelligent Machine Corporation. It could read just one font in one point size, and was used for processing preprinted mortgage loan applications in the banking industry. In time, multifont machines were developed that could read ten or more fonts using template matching, in which an image was compared to a library of bitmap images. Accuracy was good as long as the fonts in the library were carefully selected.

OmniPage Pro is an example of the OCR software from the Caere Corp. OmniPage Pro OCR software integrates scanned documents directly with Microsoft Office applications. User can scan and recognize text directly from within Microsoft Word and Excel. OmniPage Pro also shares a dictionary with Microsoft Word so you never have to add a word twice.

Omni Page (www.caere.com)

Recognita Plus is a professional optical character recognition (OCR) program which converts printed or typed paper documents into computer editable and storable text. The program represents state-of-the-art computing technology that substitutes the tiresome and time consuming retyping of documents. Recognita Plus 4.0 accurately recognizes 107 languages of the world, including the languages of the international business world and most of the languages of the emerging markets in Eastern Europe, which makes it a good choice for users requiring multi-lingual recognition.(http://www.recognita.com/)

Document Management Programs. These programs help people in offices deal with documents in electronic format. Documents are scanned first and then transmitted over the network or stored. Keyfile Document Management and Workflow Software lets user handle many different forms of information: paper, fax, e-mail, word processor files, scanned photographs-even voice and video-more efficiently and cost effectively. Create workflows that determine-and monitor in real time-how documents are created, updated, reviewed and used. Keyfile also comes with a variety of powerful search and retrieval tools that let you search by keyword, author, document name, and full-text. A powerful version control system gives users the precise revision history of any document and lets them retrieve any version of any document at will.

Example: KeyFile Document Management Software (www.keyfile.com)

Multimedia goes beyond just text and data. Multimedia is the combination of at least two media for input or output of data; these media include audio (sound), voice, animation, video, text, graphics, and images. There are two general types of multimedia software: presentation and interactive.