Commo is a

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

program which was written and maintained from 1989 to 1998 by Fred P. Brucker. It was a

macro Macro (or MACRO) may refer to: Science and technology * Macroscopic, subjects visible to the eye * Macro photography, a type of close-up photography * Image macro, a picture with text superimposed * Monopole, Astrophysics and Cosmic Ray Observat ...

-driven package and could be customized by the user. The program, written in optimized assembly language and distributed as

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...

, was small and fast. The macro

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

used by Commo was simple, with assembly language-like statements surrounded by

curly braces A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

. It offered the ability to control most aspects of the

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

. For instance, the following macro would reconfigure the Alt-X key to display a

dialog box The dialog box (also called dialogue box (non-U.S. English), message box or simply dialog) is a graphical control element in the form of a small window that communicates information to the user and prompts them for a response. Dialog boxes ar ...

, allowing the user to confirm before exiting the program: : The program's macro and configuration files were free-form text which could be edited with any

text editor A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. Such programs are sometimes known as "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be u ...

. This led to popularity among those who wanted to be able to configure the program. Fred Brucker actively provided support for

screen readers A screen reader is a form of assistive technology (AT) that renders text and image content as speech or braille output. Screen readers are essential to people who are blind, and are useful to people who are visually impaired, illiterate, or ha ...

to work with COMMO, which made it a popular program for the

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

. The Powermacros add-on made COMMO one of the first

Trade Wars 2002 ''Trade Wars'' is a series of video games dating back to 1984. The video games are inspired by '' Hunt the Wumpus'', the board game '' Risk'', and the original space trader game ''Star Trader''. History The first game with the title, "Trade Wars ...

'helper' programs. MacroBBS was a

Bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such ...

written entirely out of COMMO macros. Mr. Brucker released the last version of COMMO on 25 December 1998.

External links

commo75.zip
— 7.5 shareware archive (1997)
commo77.zip
— (COMMO) 7.7, final version (1998) Communication software Terminal emulators DOS software {{network-software-stub

See also

External links