GO Corporation – PenPoint Architectural Reference – Volume II
GO Corporation PenPoint Architectural Reference, Volume II, together with Volume I, provides a comprehensive description of the Application Programmatic Interface (API) for the PenPoint operating system. This volume describes the supplemental classes and functions that provide many different capabilities to PenPoint applications. The topics discussed in this volume include the:
- Text subsystem
- Installation APIs
- File system
- PenPoint services architecture
- Connectivity
- PenPoint resources
- PenPoint operating system kernel
- Miscellaneous other classes
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Artifact Details
GO Corporation
United States
English
June, 1992
$29.95 (USA) $38.95 (Canada)
Perfect bound softcover book.
Table of Contents
- Part 6 / Text
- Part 7 / File System
- Part 8 / System Services
- Part 9 / Utility Classes
- Part 10 / Connectivity
- Part 11 / Resources
- Part 12 / Installation API
- Part 13 / Writing PenPoint Services
- Index
8.5" x 10.75" x 1.2" (529 pages)
0-201-60860-X
996J1W0VX1
June, 1992
Acquired from developer
2026-06-06
2
Organizations
History
The PenPoint Architectural Reference, Volume II is a developer documentation volume published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company in June 1992 as part of GO Corporation's GO Technical Library.1 Together with Volume I, it provides a comprehensive description of the Application Programmatic Interface (API) for the PenPoint operating system, covering the supplemental classes and functions for the text subsystem, installation APIs, the file system, the PenPoint services architecture, connectivity, PenPoint resources, and the operating system kernel.1 The volume carries ISBN 0-201-60860-X and was priced at $29.95 in the United States and $38.95 in Canada.1
PenPoint, the operating system the volume documents, was announced by GO Corporation on January 22, 1991 as the only general-purpose operating system designed for mobile computers operated by a pen rather than a keyboard or mouse.2 GO, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, designed PenPoint as a 32-bit, fully object-oriented, multitasking operating system for the Intel 80386 family, built around a Notebook User Interface and an Embedded Document Architecture and aimed at salespeople, service technicians, field engineers, insurance agents, and government inspectors whose work required mobile computing.2 The developer release, intended for independent software vendors and value-added resellers, was scheduled for February 1991, ahead of a commercial version for end users.2
By October 1991, more than 500 individuals and organizations had begun PenPoint development, and GO announced a PenPoint Beta Program leading toward the production release of PenPoint 1.0, planned for the first quarter of 1992.3 GO also expanded its educational offerings, establishing an Authorized Education Center program that let certified third parties deliver PenPoint technical, sales, and development training.3
GO announced the commercial release of PenPoint on April 16, 1992 and began shipping the PenPoint Software Development Kit, which bundled an executable copy of the operating system with the tools and documentation developers needed to become productive.4 To build PenPoint applications a developer needed the SDK, an 80386- or 80486-compatible PC running DOS, and a digitizer tablet to emulate a pen computer, writing applications with the WATCOM C/386 compiler.4 Announced alongside the commercial release, ram-Book Publishing introduced cross-referenced, hypertext, on-line versions of the PenPoint API and Architectural Reference programming manuals — the printed series to which this volume belongs.5
AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes
Footnotes
- GO Corporation, GO Corporation – PenPoint Architectural Reference – Volume II (image scan), June 1992
- GO Corporation, GO Announces PenPoint Operating System for Mobile Pen-Based Computing, January 22, 1991
- GO Corporation, GO Expands Licensing, Education and Beta Programs to Accelerate Mobile Computer Market Development, October 21, 1991
- GO Corporation, GO Corp. Announces Availability of PenPoint, April 16, 1992
- GO Corporation, GO Announces Industry-Wide Support for PenPoint, April 16, 1992
Oral History
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