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WordPerfect is a word processing system that was originally produced by Satellite Software International Inc. but is now owned by Corel. It was best known for its availability on a large number of computers and operating systems.
This program reached the height of its popularity in the mid- to late-1980s. It has since been eclicpsed by Microsoft Word in terms of the number of people who use it.
Since its acquisition by Corel in 1996, WordPerfect has been known as Corel WordPerfect.
Techopedia Explains WordPerfect
WordPerfect uses the file extension .wpd. The program is (was) recognized for three major characteristics:
- Streaming code architecture
- Reveal code feature
- A user-friendly macro/scripting language called PerfectScript
The streaming code architecture parallels the formatting features of HTML and cascading style sheets. The documents are created in the same way as HTML pages are written. The text is interspersed by codes that handle data until a closing tag is encountered. Tags can be nested, and a few data structures within the stream are also treated as objects. The data and formatting codes of a WordPerfect document appear as a single continuous stream.
The reveal-code editing screen can be toggled open and closed at the bottom of the main editing screen. Texts are presented interspersed with codes, while objects are represented by named tokens.
WordPerfect with DOS was well known for its “Alt” keystroke facility, which was expanded by adding macro libraries. This allowed any sequence of keystrokes to be recorded, edited and saved. The macros were capable of making decisions, examining system data, chaining and operating recursively until a stop condition was encountered.
