OATS: an office automation tool system for the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX Computer

The need for an easy-to-learn, simple to use office automation system for the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX Computer which did not require the addition of expensive software formed the basis for the design of the system presented in this thesis. Although there are two office automation systems currently available for the VAX, they are not appropriate for many situations.

All-IN-1, from Digital Equipment Corporation, is expensive and requires many terminals and personal computers to be cost-effective and efficient. It is not suitable for a small or single-user application.

VAX/VMS Professional Workstation, available from the Digital Equipment Corporation Users' Society, is certainly more cost-effective, regardless of the size of the system or number of users, but it is not well thought out and as a result is complicated to use and cumbersome.

Office Automation Tool System (OATS) is an attempt to overcome the difficulties mentioned above and has resulted in a system that is both easy to learn and use. The doubly-linked list structure of the menu system and the fact that it is written almost exclusively in Digital Command Language (DCL) makes OATS easy to customize and enhance.