A software development system for DOS and OS/2. Comprising editor, interpreter, compiler, run-time module library, development toolkits for C and Assembler, interactive help system, maths coprocessor support, large collection of illustrative example programs and a two-volume reference manual with over 900 pages.
The compiler produces stand-alone .EXE applications, by bundling a run-time version of the interpreter with the source code. Large applications can be produced by building them out of separately-compiled modules.
The interpreter is case-insensitive, checking syntax on entry, re-casting each line on pressing ENTER, and indicating the location of any syntax error immediately.
User-defined data types (called STRUCs) and user-defined MODULEs are supported, both internal and external to the main program.
Although UniComal is a DOS and OS/2 development system, it can be run from MS-Windows, MS-Windows 95 and MS-Windows NT.
The module library comprises: System module, Graphics module (including turtlegraphics), Mouse module, Timer module (allowing event handling), Sound module (generating simple notes and tones from the internal speaker), Screendumps module, Windowing module (allowing text windows and menus to be added to programs), Btrieve module (supporting the Btrieve multiuser database on Novell networks).
The C and Assembler toolkits allow modules written in C or 8086 assembly language to be built into COMAL applications. A 'help file generator' program allows teachers, for example, to prepare their own customised help files for student use.
The software is supplied in compressed form on two high-density 3.5 inch diskettes, for installation to a hard drive. A supportive installation program permits users to tailor their installations as they wish. The installed system can deliver messages in English, German, Danish or Swedish, and programs can report messages in any of these languages, so that a programmer can develop an application in English but have it communicate with the user in German, for example.
Multi-licence purchasers can install the software to a network fileserver, and may purchase additional licences at any time at the current price as shown on this website.
Two reference manuals accompany the software - the System Reference Manual and the Programmers' Toolkit Manual - making up over 900 pages of documentation, with hundreds of illustrative examples, to supplement the extensive facilities of the interactive help system.
UniComal V3.11 is known to run on all versions of DOS above DOS 3; on PC-compatible systems having at least 512K of RAM; on Acorn 32-bit systems with Acorn's PCSoft DOS Emulator; on Acorn RISC-PCs; on PCs running Windows 95; on DEC Alpha workstations running Windows NT; and on Apple Macs running SoftWindows.
UniCOMAL is published by UniCOMAL A/S, at the Prolog Development Center in Broendby, Denmark.