The following is a list of frequently used punctuation that may be seen on the Monitor For Customers.
" " (open quotation mark) − Usually used to indicate a direct quote or an unspoken thought.
" "(close quotation mark) − Usually used to indicate 'soft' quotes and end thoughts.
<!-- --> − Used as an infix between Open and Close Quotation marks, usually when using blockquotes, highlighting text or when in bold text it's not wanted. This also shows that something is being included without any changes being made to the text while in brackets like this: [Calculate] will calculate the result of joining two variables given by a left bracket, e.g. (1+3) and an operation, e.g. ×( multiply).
" "" " (left and right guillemets) − Used to indicate the beginning of a foreign phrase in a text that is already written in another language e.g. I need to go to the toilet, il faut que je vais aux toilettes.(French) or Ååt i tåtålåtørtøral; hææf død däv nödig. (Swedish)
" ". " (full stop, dot) − Used to indicate a full stop in poems and songs.
Use of the full stop is relatively recent and may be regarded as old-fashioned. For example, in 1925, Ethel Mannin used "." for full stops in her diaries. She considered it to be a helpful abbreviation for '.'
Note that some semi-colons are used inconsistently throughout the Monitor For Customers:
Note: Since the monitor's design is purely input-driven (i.e., it does not respond to user input), no feedback is given upon either sending data or when the results have been processed (or after processing has been aborted).
The Monitor For Customers is also sometimes called the "Monitor" or "Walker". The Monitor's name was originally spelled with a lower-case "w". This is in contrast to its predecessor, the "Report Writer", which used the capital "W" to distinguish it from the original Monitor. There are also other monitors called "Walker" such as Walker of Ascalon, Walker of Tyria and Walker of Silvermoon.
It was originally developed in 1969 for use at AT&T Bell Labs as an input device for a computer programming language called Report Writer (now known as Smart Report). It was used to quickly produce reports on new and existing developments in Bell Labs' internal projects. The program operated in a batch mode, taking output from standard reports and saving them as print-outs. The Bell Labs users found that they were able to dramatically reduce the amount of time they spent on manual data input, and thus radically improved their productivity.
In 1969, the Monitor For Customers was distributed to users of the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS), an early multi-user timesharing system. CTSS was an early UNIX-like operating environment developed at MIT by Ken Olsen, Raminder Singh Parhar and Michael Stonebraker. In 1971, interested Bell Lab programmers used these facilities to allow other programs written in Report Writer to read and write files through the Monitor For Customers. This latter development was called Report Writer Command Language (RWC).
In 1973, RWC replaced the Monitor For Customers for use with the new File Transfer Protocol (FTP) programs; these allowed users to access and manipulate files on computers outside the Bell Labs environment. The FTP-enabled version of the monitor was known as "The FTP Monitor".
In 1974, a version of the monitor implemented on an IBM System/360 computer was introduced at IBM Headquarters in Armonk, New York. This system incorporated many additional features and was known as "The 360 Monitor". By 1976 it had evolved into yet another version known as "The Report Writer Command-Line Tape-Interface Workstation" (RFC TW).
In the late 1970s, RWC was distributed and installed at many sites of several large commercial vendors, including Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Burroughs Corporation. This allowed these companies to offer large-scale interactive reporting services to drive their sales organizations. RWC remained free for use by the end users; however, the vendors were able to charge for additional services.
In 1978, most of the commercial Report Writer users joined forces in an organization called "The Trade Group for Commercial Users" (TGCU). TGCU evolved into a software company called Report Graphics Corporation, and was acquired by IBM in 1985.
In 1982, the Monitor For Customers was discovered by John Sher and Geoff Turnbull of the Australian French-Australian-British Aggregates Ltd. (AFAB) at their mine in Batchelor, Western Australia. This new application quickly became an important part of the life-support operations at this mine, and was used to generate daily reports by computer operators on the performance of their equipment and personnel.
The Monitor For Customers was then introduced to the Australian French-Australian British Aggregates Limited for use with a new Cobol program called "The COBOL Computer Information System". This system allowed operators to swiftly enter data from their workstations into their organization's compiled CICS menus.
In 1984, the Monitor For Customers was introduced to Australia's national airline, Qantas. This system was used to quickly enter the information gathered by their ticketing agents when selling tickets. This allowed Qantas to dramatically reduce their cost of doing business.
In 1986, The Australian French-Australian British Aggregates Ltd. purchased IBM's Report Graphics Corporation and became IBM Australia/Report Graphics (A/RG). They incorporated the Monitor For Customers into a product called "The Report Writer". A/RG then combined "The COBOL Computer Information System" and "The Report Writer" into a new product called "The Australian French-Australian British Aggregates Ltd./Report/CICS Interface".
Conclusion of A/RG's contract with Qantas in 1986 led to the cessation of "The Report Writer" and the release of their remaining users onto the open market.
A/RG's remaining product, "The Australian French-Australian British Aggregates Ltd./Report/CICS Interface", was renamed "The COBOL Computer Information System". A new product, known as "The Report Writer Command Line Interface" (RWC), was introduced to allow users to work with a local copy of their compiler.