<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
was	O
a	O
shareware	B-License
database	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
and	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
that	O
used	O
a	O
card-file	O
metaphor	O
for	O
displaying	O
and	O
manipulating	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
main	O
claim	O
to	O
fame	O
was	O
an	O
early	O
and	O
somewhat	O
contentious	O
software	O
patent	O
lawsuit	O
filed	O
against	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
's	O
HyperCard	B-Application
and	O
similar	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
,	O
introduced	O
in	O
1985	O
,	O
represented	O
data	O
in	O
a	O
form	O
that	O
was	O
visually	O
represented	O
by	O
filing	O
cards	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
QUICKCARD	O
"	O
s	O
.	O
Cards	O
could	O
be	O
designed	O
within	O
the	O
program	O
as	O
"	O
templates	O
"	O
,	O
using	O
general-purpose	O
data	O
fields	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
FIELDSCROLL	O
"	O
s	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
hold	O
up	O
to	O
250	O
lines	O
of	O
80	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
display	O
was	O
character-based	O
and	O
did	O
not	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Atari	O
's	O
GEM	B-Application
interface	O
even	O
though	O
this	O
was	O
the	O
primary	O
platform	O
for	O
the	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
similar	O
database	O
programs	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
,	O
Zoomracks	B-Application
did	O
not	O
support	O
different	O
types	O
of	O
data	O
internally	O
;	O
everything	O
was	O
represented	O
as	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
II	O
,	O
introduced	O
in	O
1987	O
,	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
report	O
generation	O
and	O
some	O
basic	O
mathematics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
extract	O
a	O
certain	O
subset	O
of	O
the	O
information	O
in	O
a	O
rack	O
and	O
lay	O
it	O
out	O
for	O
printing	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
Zoomracks	B-Application
required	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
cut	O
and	O
paste	O
the	O
desired	O
cards	O
into	O
a	O
new	O
rack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Zoomracks	B-Application
II	O
a	O
report	O
(	O
possibly	O
only	O
one	O
per	O
rack	O
?	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
II	O
also	O
added	O
a	O
rudimentary	O
"	O
macro	O
"	O
system	O
that	O
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
assign	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
commands	O
to	O
a	O
letter	O
on	O
the	O
keyboard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
was	O
well	O
received	O
and	O
won	O
"	O
Best	O
Database	O
"	O
by	O
Compute	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
 '	O
author	O
,	O
Paul	O
Heckel	O
(	O
formerly	O
of	O
Xerox	O
PARC	O
)	O
,	O
received	O
US	O
Patent	O
#4486857	O
for	O
"	O
Display	O
system	O
for	O
the	O
suppression	O
and	O
regeneration	O
of	O
characters	O
in	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
fields	O
in	O
a	O
stored	O
record	O
"	O
,	O
describing	O
the	O
basic	O
on-screen	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
allegedly	O
attempting	O
to	O
license	O
it	O
for	O
some	O
time	O
,	O
in	O
1988	O
he	O
filed	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
lawsuits	O
against	O
Apple	O
,	O
Asymetrix	O
(	O
makers	O
of	O
the	O
HyperCard	B-Application
clone	O
ToolBook	B-Application
)	O
,	O
IBM	O
(	O
who	O
used	O
ToolBook	B-Application
)	O
and	O
others	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
offering	O
licenses	O
to	O
end-users	O
of	O
these	O
products	O
in	O
case	O
their	O
uses	O
infringed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zoomracks	B-Application
itself	O
seems	O
to	O
have	O
disappeared	O
,	O
even	O
by	O
this	O
point	O
in	O
time	O
,	O
and	O
many	O
commented	O
on	O
the	O
lawsuit	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
make	O
money	O
off	O
a	O
"	O
dead	O
"	O
product	O
,	O
a	O
theme	O
that	O
is	O
very	O
common	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
