Gypsy (software)
Encyclopedia
Gypsy was the first document preparation system based on a mouse and graphical user interface
to take advantage of those technologies to virtually eliminate modes
. Its operation would be familiar to any user of a modern personal computer
. It was the second WYSIWYG
document preparation program
, a successor to the ground-breaking Bravo
on the seminal Xerox Alto
personal computer.
It was designed and implemented at Xerox PARC
in 1975 by Larry Tesler
and Timothy Mott, with advice from Dan Swinehart and other colleagues. The code was built on Bravo as a base and the developers of Bravo, including Tom Malloy, Butler Lampson
and Charles Simonyi
provided technical support to the effort. It was produced for use at Ginn & Co., a Xerox
subsidiary
in Lexington, Massachusetts
which published textbooks.
Although similar in capabilities to the then-current version of Bravo, the user interface
of Gypsy was radically different from that of Bravo. In both Bravo and Gypsy, a command operated on the current selection. But Bravo had modes and Gypsy didn't. In Bravo, the effect of pressing a character key depended on the current mode, while in Gypsy, pressing a character key by itself always typed the character. The difference can be illustrated by three examples:
1. Insert
2. Replace
3. Copy
Among other differences between Gypsy and the then-current version of Bravo were:
Fewer modes meant less user confusion about what mode the system was in and therefore what effect a particular key press would have.
Gypsy, like Bravo, used a three-button mouse. With the first button alone, the novice user could do everything described above (and more) except double-clicking to select a word. The second and third buttons were intended for experts who were used to Bravo's method of copying or wanted to accelerate word selection using double click.
Gypsy's usability goals were met: new users could learn to work with it in only a few hours. Drag-through selection, double-click and cut-copy-paste were quickly adopted by Dan Ingalls for Smalltalk
, beginning with Smalltalk-76. The ideas and techniques were refined in Apple's Lisa
and Macintosh computers and spread from there to most modern document preparation systems.
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
to take advantage of those technologies to virtually eliminate modes
Mode (computer interface)
In user interface design, a mode is a distinct setting within a computer program or any physical machine interface, in which the same user input will produce perceived different results than it would in other settings....
. Its operation would be familiar to any user of a modern personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. It was the second WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...
document preparation 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...
, a successor to the ground-breaking Bravo
Bravo (software)
Bravo was the first WYSIWYG document preparation program. It provided multi-font capability using the bitmap displays on the Xerox Alto personal computer...
on the seminal Xerox Alto
Xerox Alto
The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use , making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973...
personal computer.
It was designed and implemented at Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
in 1975 by Larry Tesler
Larry Tesler
Larry Tesler is a computer scientist working in the field of human-computer interaction. Tesler has worked at Xerox PARC, Apple Computer, Amazon.com, and Yahoo!...
and Timothy Mott, with advice from Dan Swinehart and other colleagues. The code was built on Bravo as a base and the developers of Bravo, including Tom Malloy, Butler Lampson
Butler Lampson
Butler W. Lampson is a renowned computer scientist.After graduating from the Lawrenceville School , Lampson received his Bachelor's degree in Physics from Harvard University in 1964, and his Ph.D...
and Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi is a Hungarian-American computer software executive who, as head of Microsoft's application software group, oversaw the creation of Microsoft's flagship Office suite of applications. He now heads his own company, Intentional Software, with the aim of developing and marketing his...
provided technical support to the effort. It was produced for use at Ginn & Co., a Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
in Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
which published textbooks.
Although similar in capabilities to the then-current version of Bravo, the user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
of Gypsy was radically different from that of Bravo. In both Bravo and Gypsy, a command operated on the current selection. But Bravo had modes and Gypsy didn't. In Bravo, the effect of pressing a character key depended on the current mode, while in Gypsy, pressing a character key by itself always typed the character. The difference can be illustrated by three examples:
1. Insert
- In Bravo's Command Mode, pressing "I" entered Insert Mode. In that mode, pressing character keys typed characters into a holding area ("buffer") until the Escape key was pressed, at which time the buffer contents were inserted before the selection and the editor returned to Command Mode.
- In Gypsy, no command or buffer was needed to insert new text. The user simply selected an insertion point with the mouse and typed the new text. Each inserted character went directly into the document at the insertion point, which was automatically repositioned after the new character.
2. Replace
- In Bravo, to replace existing text by new text, the user pressed "R" to enter Replace Mode. That mode was just like Insert Mode except that the buffer contents replaced the selection instead of inserting text before it.
- In Gypsy, to replace text, the user simply selected the old text and typed the new text. As soon as the user began to type, Gypsy deleted the old text and selected an insertion point in its stead.
3. Copy
- In the then-current version of Bravo, the user selected the destination, pressed "I" or "R" to enter Insert or Replace Mode, selected the source (which highlighted differently from the destination), and pressed Escape to perform the copy and return to Command Mode. While in Insert or Replace Mode, the user could scroll and could select a source, but could not invoke another command, such as opening a different document. To copy text between documents was more complex.
- In Gypsy, the user could select the source text, press the "Copy" function key, select the destination text or insertion point, and press the "Paste" function key. Between Copy and Paste, the system was, as usual, not in a mode. The user could invoke other commands, such as opening a different document.
Among other differences between Gypsy and the then-current version of Bravo were:
- To select text in Bravo, the user generally clicked the first and last characters to be selected, each with a different mouse button. In Gypsy, the user could drag from the first to the last character while holding a mouse button down.
- In addition to cut-copy-paste, Gypsy introduced double-click to select a word as well as the ability to change the style of a text selection to bold, italic or underlined by pressing the Control key (also called "Look") while pressing "B", "I", or "U".
- To minimize memorization and modes, the least frequently used commands in Gypsy appeared in a clickable menu. Each menu item could have parameters as in dialog boxes today. For example, the Scan (find) command took one parameter, which the user entered modelessly before clicking the command name, "Scan".
Fewer modes meant less user confusion about what mode the system was in and therefore what effect a particular key press would have.
Gypsy, like Bravo, used a three-button mouse. With the first button alone, the novice user could do everything described above (and more) except double-clicking to select a word. The second and third buttons were intended for experts who were used to Bravo's method of copying or wanted to accelerate word selection using double click.
Gypsy's usability goals were met: new users could learn to work with it in only a few hours. Drag-through selection, double-click and cut-copy-paste were quickly adopted by Dan Ingalls for Smalltalk
Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
, beginning with Smalltalk-76. The ideas and techniques were refined in Apple's Lisa
Apple Lisa
The Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....
and Macintosh computers and spread from there to most modern document preparation systems.