<s>
FOCUS	O
is	O
a	O
fourth-generation	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
4GL	B-Language
)	O
computer	B-General_Concept
programming	I-General_Concept
language	O
and	O
development	O
environment	O
that	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
build	O
database	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Produced	O
by	O
Information	O
Builders	O
Inc.	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
for	O
data	O
handling	O
and	O
analysis	O
on	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
mainframe	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
versions	O
for	O
minicomputers	O
and	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
VAX	B-Device
and	O
other	O
platforms	B-Device
were	O
implemented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FOCUS	O
was	O
later	O
extended	O
to	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
and	O
(	O
in	O
1997	O
)	O
to	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
:	O
the	O
WebFOCUS	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Information	O
Builders	O
's	O
FOCUS	O
product	O
began	O
as	O
an	O
alternate	O
product	O
to	O
Mathematica	O
's	O
RAMIS	B-Language
,	O
the	O
first	O
Fourth-generation	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
4GL	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
National	O
CSS	O
(	O
NCSS	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
Time-sharing	B-General_Concept
vendor	O
,	O
licensed	O
rights	O
to	O
make	O
RAMIS	B-Language
available	O
on	O
its	O
VP/CSS	B-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAMIS	B-Language
was	O
the	O
direct	O
ancestor	O
of	O
FOCUS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gerald	O
D	O
.	O
Cohen	O
and	O
Peter	O
Mittelman	O
were	O
the	O
principal	O
developers	O
of	O
RAMIS	B-Language
while	O
working	O
at	O
Mathematica	O
Products	O
Group	O
in	O
1970	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAMIS	B-Language
was	O
licensed	O
by	O
Mathematica	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
in-house	O
clients	O
(	O
including	O
Nabisco	O
and	O
AT&T	O
Corporation	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
also	O
offered	O
by	O
the	O
National	O
CSS	O
timesharing	B-General_Concept
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
which	O
was	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
RAMIS	B-Language
:	O
"	O
the	O
same	O
bugs	O
and	O
the	O
same	O
misspelled	O
error	O
messages.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
syntax	O
of	O
FOCUS	O
in	O
its	O
simplest	O
elements	O
is	O
almost	O
a	O
direct	O
clone	O
of	O
the	O
syntax	O
of	O
RAMIS	B-Language
bearing	O
a	O
resemblance	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
various	O
early	O
dialects	O
of	O
SQL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
NCSS	O
decided	O
to	O
work	O
on	O
its	O
own	O
product	O
,	O
later	O
called	O
NOMAD	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mathematica	O
's	O
time	O
ran	O
out	O
in	O
the	O
mid-80s	O
,	O
and	O
NCSS	O
also	O
failed	O
,	O
a	O
victim	O
of	O
the	O
personal	B-Device
computing	I-Device
revolution	O
which	O
obviated	O
commercial	O
timesharing	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAMIS	B-Language
was	O
sold	O
to	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
companies	O
,	O
ultimately	O
landing	O
with	O
Computer	O
Associates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NOMAD	B-Application
suffered	O
a	O
similar	O
fate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Loosely	O
competitive	O
with	O
SAS	B-Language
,	O
FOCUS	O
never	O
quite	O
reached	O
the	O
same	O
degree	O
of	O
mainstream	O
adoption	O
,	O
perhaps	O
because	O
it	O
had	O
only	O
basic	O
analytical	O
and	O
statistical	O
functions	O
and	O
lacked	O
the	O
wide	O
array	O
of	O
specialized	O
analytic	O
tools	O
which	O
made	O
SAS	B-Language
the	O
standard	O
in	O
fields	O
such	O
as	O
pharmaceutical	O
clinical	O
trials	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
software	I-General_Concept
competitors	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
FOCUS	O
resembles	O
other	O
data	O
access	O
and	O
analysis	O
tools	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
SQL	B-Language
and	O
SAS	B-Language
,	O
it	O
also	O
includes	O
report	O
and	O
chart	O
display	O
and	O
presentation	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
automates	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
identifying	O
files	O
to	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
opening	O
the	O
input	O
file	O
,	O
reading	O
the	O
next	O
record	O
,	O
opening	O
the	O
output	O
file	O
,	O
writing	O
the	O
next	O
record	O
,	O
and	O
closing	O
the	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
basic	O
operation	O
allows	O
the	O
user/programmer	O
to	O
concentrate	O
on	O
the	O
details	O
of	O
working	O
with	O
the	O
data	O
within	O
each	O
record	O
,	O
in	O
effect	O
working	O
almost	O
entirely	O
within	O
an	O
implicit	O
program	O
loop	O
that	O
runs	O
for	O
each	O
record	O
,	O
somewhat	O
like	O
RPG	B-Language
(	O
Report	B-Language
Program	I-Language
Generator	I-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
to	O
general-purpose	B-Language
programming	I-Language
languages	I-Language
,	O
this	O
structure	O
allows	O
the	O
user/programmer	O
to	O
be	O
less	O
familiar	O
with	O
the	O
technical	O
details	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
and	O
how	O
it	O
is	O
stored	O
,	O
and	O
relatively	O
more	O
familiar	O
with	O
the	O
information	O
contained	O
in	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
blurs	O
the	O
line	O
between	O
user	O
and	O
programmer	O
,	O
appealing	O
to	O
individuals	O
whose	O
work	O
roles	O
are	O
in	O
business	O
or	O
research	O
rather	O
than	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
in	O
turn	O
has	O
the	O
double	O
edged	O
result	O
of	O
allowing	O
rapid	O
answers	O
to	O
business	O
or	O
research	O
questions	O
,	O
even	O
ones	O
requiring	O
several	O
iterations	B-Algorithm
to	O
get	O
from	O
the	O
initial	O
results	O
to	O
a	O
final	O
answer	O
;	O
but	O
also	O
can	O
contribute	O
to	O
the	O
construction	O
of	O
a	O
large	O
body	O
of	O
poorly	O
written	O
and/or	O
difficult	O
to	O
maintain	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
a	O
web-based	O
version	O
of	O
FOCUS	O
was	O
introduced	O
called	O
"	O
WebFOCUS	O
"	O
which	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
data	O
access	O
and	O
reporting	O
foundation	O
of	O
FOCUS	O
,	O
expanding	O
these	O
to	O
a	O
visually	O
oriented	O
thin-client	O
paradigm	O
accessible	O
from	O
any	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
