Users of computer systems are now accustomed to the convenience of online help systems and generally demand these amenities in the computers they buy. However, recent studies as to the efficacy of certain types of assistance for certain classes of users raise important questions for designers.

Online help systems: a conspectus

This paper describes the data communications activity at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) during the period 1965-1975. The key feature of the NPL work was the development of the principle of packet switching, which was first proposed in a data communications context by D. W. Davies of the NPL in 1965. The report focuses on the construction of the NPL Data Communications Network, which first became operational in 1970. This network served both as a model for a possible U.K. national network and as a practical local area network (LAN) for the NPL site. The report describes the impact of the NPL work on other early networks, such as ARPANET and the British Experimental Packet-Switched Service (EPSS), and on data communications in general.

Data Communications at the National Physical Laboratory (1965-1975)

This paper describes a formal model for expressing the functional requirements of the man-machine interfaces of interactive systems. It also shows how this model can facilitate the automation of other useful activities such as checking for inconsistency, redundancy, and incompleteness in the specification, and validating the implementation of the interface against its original requirements. Finally, the paper comments on the authors' experience in developing an interactive system using this formal model.

Modelling and validating the man‐machine interface

Key references in distributed computer systems 1959–1989

This paper discusses the software interface between a computer system and its users, and how it can be made convenient and practical for both the users and implementors of systems. Consistency of interaction is essential, though it is argued that it is too early to define true standards. Standards must be based on experience of actual systems, and must meet specifications that can be justified from the performance of the best of such systems. As one contribution to such a specification, a description is given of MM/1, a family of user interfaces which can be used as a basis for interactive dialogues. MM/1 is suitable for both large and small computers. The thinking behind the interface is given, together with experience of its use in three different systems.

MM/1, a man‐machine interface

EDIT is a time‐sharing system which offers interactive services over the NPL network. These services include various kinds of editing, word processing, data movement and file control. The system is implemented on a PDP11/40 and can serve up to 30 users simultaneously, on high‐speed displays and other terminals. There is an attached background processor (PDP11/45) which supports graphics and background jobs.

EDIT—an interactive network service; design and implementation

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

D. Schofield

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

MM/1, a man‐machine interface

EDIT—an interactive network service; design and implementation