<s>
WPS-8	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
Word	B-General_Concept
Processing	I-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
sold	O
by	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
their	O
PDP-8	B-Device
processors	O
(	O
including	O
the	O
VT78	B-Device
,	O
VT278	O
DECmate	B-Device
,	O
and	O
PC238	O
DECmate	B-Device
II	O
and	O
PC24P	O
DECmate	B-Device
III	I-Device
microcomputer	O
systems	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WPS-8	B-Protocol
supports	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
24	O
row	O
by	O
80	O
or	O
132	O
column	O
terminals	O
including	O
the	O
VT52	B-Application
family	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
VT100	B-Device
family	O
and	O
all	O
subsequent	O
ANSI-compatible	O
terminals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
series	O
of	O
hierarchical	O
menus	O
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
command	O
the	O
system	O
;	O
the	O
particular	O
style	O
of	O
these	O
menus	O
became	O
very-widely	O
used	O
by	O
Digital	O
,	O
particularly	O
within	O
their	O
"	O
ALL-IN-1	B-Application
"	O
office	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
a	O
document	O
is	O
opened	O
for	O
editing	O
,	O
near	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
editing	O
is	O
provided	O
using	O
a	O
ruler	O
to	O
indicate	O
the	O
text	O
alignment	O
and	O
tab	O
stops	O
for	O
any	O
given	O
portion	O
of	O
the	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
VT52	B-Application
terminals	O
(	O
which	O
can	O
not	O
display	O
attributes	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
operator	O
can	O
perform	O
the	O
same	O
functions	O
but	O
only	O
the	O
printout	O
will	O
reveal	O
the	O
formatting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
functions	O
can	O
be	O
commanded	O
simply	O
by	O
pressing	O
a	O
keypad	O
key	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
far	O
wider	O
range	O
of	O
functions	O
can	O
be	O
commanded	O
by	O
prefixing	O
them	O
with	O
the	O
"	O
Gold	B-Device
Key	I-Device
"	O
(	O
the	O
PF1	O
key	O
on	O
the	O
keypad	O
,	O
colored	O
gold	O
on	O
systems	O
equipped	O
with	O
the	O
WPS-8	B-Protocol
custom	O
keycaps	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
style	O
of	O
"	O
gold	B-Device
key	I-Device
"	O
editing	O
also	O
became	O
standard	O
at	O
Digital	O
,	O
later	O
showing	O
up	O
in	O
mainstream	O
general-purpose	O
text	B-Application
editors	I-Application
such	O
as	O
KED	O
and	O
EDT	B-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
ALL-IN-1	B-Application
"	O
office	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
editing	O
facilities	O
include	O
making	O
a	O
selection	O
and	O
then	O
using	O
cut	O
and	O
paste	O
(	O
much	O
like	O
today	O
's	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
using	O
keys	O
marked	O
for	O
cut	O
and	O
paste	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
a	O
mouse	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WPS-8	B-Protocol
normally	O
runs	O
from	O
a	O
single	O
floppy	B-Device
diskette	I-Device
and	O
user	O
data	O
can	O
be	O
stored	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
diskette	B-Device
or	O
additional	O
data-only	O
diskettes	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Up	O
to	O
four	O
diskette	B-Device
drives	O
are	O
supported	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
the	O
extensive	O
use	O
of	O
overlays	B-General_Concept
,	O
it	O
manages	O
all	O
that	O
on	O
a	O
12-bit	O
,	O
1.2-μs	O
processor	O
with	O
16	O
KWords	O
of	O
memory	O
and	O
256	O
KB	O
of	O
diskette	B-Device
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
limited	O
resources	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
do	O
not	O
permit	O
a	O
spell-checker	O
,	O
though	O
,	O
primarily	O
because	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
place	O
with	O
adequate	O
storage	O
to	O
contain	O
the	O
dictionary	B-Operating_System
file	O
.	O
</s>
