XSIS-The Analyst

[BR]

Well I've Googled all over the place and suprisingly (or not). The
information on this product is sparse to say the least. There's not so
much as a screenshot out there. Is there any comprehensive source of
information out there (even dead tree will do)?

[Hans-Martin Mosner]

Post by BR
Well I've Googled all over the place and suprisingly (or not). The
information on this product is sparse to say the least. There's not so
much as a screenshot out there. Is there any comprehensive source of
information out there (even dead tree will do)?

What kind of information would you need?
- Feature overview?
- Complete user documentation?
- Historical background info?

I have worked on and with The Analyst, and some of the original authors
are still reachable somewhere on the net :-)

Cheers,
Hans-Martin

[BR]

Post by Hans-Martin Mosner

Post by BR
Well I've Googled all over the place and suprisingly (or not). The
information on this product is sparse to say the least. There's not so
much as a screenshot out there. Is there any comprehensive source of
information out there (even dead tree will do)?

What kind of information would you need?
- Feature overview?
- Complete user documentation?
- Historical background info?
I have worked on and with The Analyst, and some of the original authors
are still reachable somewhere on the net :-)
Cheers,
Hans-Martin

Well one and three would be nice, considering that the most information
out their is "There's this Smalltalk software called 'The Analyst',
written by Xerox XSIS, and it's (was?) used by the CIA". And that's it.
Two would most likely be stretching it.

[Hans-Martin Mosner]

Post by BR
Well one and three would be nice, considering that the most information
out their is "There's this Smalltalk software called 'The Analyst',
written by Xerox XSIS, and it's (was?) used by the CIA". And that's it.

Ok, so let's start with a feature overview. I have an old (1990)
product booklet from our company which contains (paraphrased) most of
this information here:

The Analyst had data organized in a hypertext-like fashion, with typed
bidirectional links between items. One kind of data item was the
container, and the "contains/is contained in" link was used to create a
hierarchical folder structure (internally, data items were stored as
files within one directory for the Analyst versions which we sold, but
from the code that I've read there has been an alternative data
repository implementation which worked with some host system).
Data was protected with a classification mechanism (here comes the CIA
into play) which prevented classified information to accidentally leak
into unclassified documents.

Data item types were:
- Documents (very much comparable to a MS Word document. In fact, bot
Word and the Analyst Document editor trace their lineage to the Xerox
Bravo text system). The document editor supported WYSIWG editing, had
most of the character and paragraph formatting abilities that you're
used to have in Word, and had in-line hypertext links, images and IIRC
data forms.

- Outlines. The outline editor was separate from the Document system
but worked much like Word in outline mode (although the UI was of
course different).

- Charts. These provided business graphics (bar charts, pie charts etc)
optionally fed from databases.

- Images. The image editor was a descendent of the old Smalltalk Form
editor IIRC. Monochrome images only.

- Spreadsheets. The Analyst Spreadsheet (which was also sold as a
separate package) was simply the best. Cells could contain arbitrary
Smalltalk objects, and forula were arbitrary Smalltalk code. When we
showed people things like image manipulation within spreadsheet cells
or computing inverses of matrices containing fractions and/or complex
numbers, they often could not believe what they saw :-)

- Maps. The Analyst could manage geographical data, and maps could be
drawn and annotated with data from databases. It allowed animated data,
too, so you could show time-variable geographical data. We used that
feature at a CeBIT show to create an animated display of water levels a
few weeks after a devastating flood hit cities along the rhine.

- Forms. Programmable data entry/analysis windows with a simple GUI
painter with which you could compose form elements.

- Databases. These were more like plain records stored in flat files,
with some sorting and indexing capabilities. I think that in internal
versions of The Analyst there were links to host database systems.

Cheers,
Hans-Martin

[Davide Grandi]

Post by BR
Well one and three would be nice, considering that the most information
out their is "There's this Smalltalk software called 'The Analyst',
written by Xerox XSIS, and it's (was?) used by the CIA". And that's it.
Two would most likely be stretching it.

From a cloud of electronic dust : (traced back to a copy of Xerox 1186
folder "kermit-ed" to a VAX 11-780 and then to a Mac II, backupped to
800k floppies and then transfered to the chain of macs im my homes : Mac
Plus, LC, LCIII, 230, 2300, 9600 and now a G4 ..)
---
T2461 INTRODUCTION

The Analyst-85 is a development activity aimed at organizing and
enhancing the capabilities of analysts through the use of a flexible,
computer-based personal workstation. The features of the current
Analyst-85 system have evolved significantly from earlier versions, and
many new features have been added.
The Analyst-85 system permits you to view and easily manipulate
many forms of data such as text, pictures, and graphics. These data can
be created at the workstation itself or obtained electronically from
separate databases. The system also permits the remote operation of
applications programs on mainframe computers, with the results being
presented in such a way that they can be readily manipulated and
integrated into other activities on the display.
The Analyst-85 system is especially designed to be easily used
by individuals who have no familiarity with computers. The system is
dependable, and it is essentially impossible for you to work yourself
into a corner. Thus, the easiest way to learn the Analyst-85 software is
by actively using it! For a short beginning document that introduces you
to its basic software features, read The Analyst-85 Primer.
Sections I and II of this document repeat much of the basic
material contained in The Analyst-85 Primer. However, Section III
details all the functions and menus of all the analytical tools that are
providedõúand with this information you can explore every system
capability. The document material has, in general, been arranged in
order of the skill necessary to use each feature successfully. By the
time you get to the point of using that feature, you will have developed
these skills. An on-line Help aid, and this Reference Manual, are also
available in text form on the display.
Every effort has been made to make this document as accurate and
informative as possible, but activities for the Analyst-85 system are
dynamic and changing. Consequently, there is no way to be completely
up-to-date. The information contained in this document is based on the
best information at Vista Laboratory on the date of publication and may
not correspond exactly to the Analyst-85 configuration which you use.
However, it should make no difference in your learning how to use the
system quickly and efficiently with this documentation.
...
---
In 1986 I was a student at the Milan Politechnic Artificial Intelligence
Project and there was a cooperation effort with the local Xerox
subsidiary (hey Roberto Ghislanzoni ! are you still around ?) so we took
a Xerox Lisp machine (an 1186 model), we literally stuffed up an A3
sized memory card with ... 4 Megabytes and configured the machine to run
Smalltalk (DV6, Analyst andd the Humble expert system) for a demo room.

So we played a little with Analyst and Humble.

I remember that some piece of Smalltalk source run also on the very
first edition of Smalltalk for PC and Mac (the spreadsheet, i.e.), but
suddenly The Analyst disappeared ...

Best regards,

Davide Grandi
--
Ing. Davide Grandi
***@mclink.it

[Phil Slade]

Interesting -- I have three versions of Analyst (+Assistant and
SpellChecker) gathering dust. The first two are for Macs (ObjectWorks
Smalltalk 2.5 + Analyst 3.2 Developer Environment; Analyst RT 4.1
RunTime) and the third one is for Windows 3.xx (Analyst 5.0 RT).

I wonder what a programmer could do with this, up-to-date programming
tools and a modern Mac? XSIS ceased all development and support about
10 years ago.

Post by Davide Grandi

Post by BR
Well one and three would be nice, considering that the most information
out their is "There's this Smalltalk software called 'The Analyst',
written by Xerox XSIS, and it's (was?) used by the CIA". And that's it.
Two would most likely be stretching it.

From a cloud of electronic dust : (traced back to a copy of Xerox 1186
folder "kermit-ed" to a VAX 11-780 and then to a Mac II, backupped to
800k floppies and then transfered to the chain of macs im my homes : Mac
Plus, LC, LCIII, 230, 2300, 9600 and now a G4 ..)
---
T2461 INTRODUCTION
The Analyst-85 is a development activity aimed at organizing and
enhancing the capabilities of analysts through the use of a flexible,
computer-based personal workstation. The features of the current
Analyst-85 system have evolved significantly from earlier versions, and
many new features have been added.
The Analyst-85 system permits you to view and easily manipulate
many forms of data such as text, pictures, and graphics. These data can
be created at the workstation itself or obtained electronically from
separate databases. The system also permits the remote operation of
applications programs on mainframe computers, with the results being
presented in such a way that they can be readily manipulated and
integrated into other activities on the display.
The Analyst-85 system is especially designed to be easily used
by individuals who have no familiarity with computers. The system is
dependable, and it is essentially impossible for you to work yourself
into a corner. Thus, the easiest way to learn the Analyst-85 software is
by actively using it! For a short beginning document that introduces you
to its basic software features, read The Analyst-85 Primer.
Sections I and II of this document repeat much of the basic
material contained in The Analyst-85 Primer. However, Section III
details all the functions and menus of all the analytical tools that are
providedõúand with this information you can explore every system
capability. The document material has, in general, been arranged in
order of the skill necessary to use each feature successfully. By the
time you get to the point of using that feature, you will have developed
these skills. An on-line Help aid, and this Reference Manual, are also
available in text form on the display.
Every effort has been made to make this document as accurate and
informative as possible, but activities for the Analyst-85 system are
dynamic and changing. Consequently, there is no way to be completely
up-to-date. The information contained in this document is based on the
best information at Vista Laboratory on the date of publication and may
not correspond exactly to the Analyst-85 configuration which you use.
However, it should make no difference in your learning how to use the
system quickly and efficiently with this documentation.
...
---
In 1986 I was a student at the Milan Politechnic Artificial Intelligence
Project and there was a cooperation effort with the local Xerox
subsidiary (hey Roberto Ghislanzoni ! are you still around ?) so we took
a Xerox Lisp machine (an 1186 model), we literally stuffed up an A3
sized memory card with ... 4 Megabytes and configured the machine to run
Smalltalk (DV6, Analyst andd the Humble expert system) for a demo room.
So we played a little with Analyst and Humble.
I remember that some piece of Smalltalk source run also on the very
first edition of Smalltalk for PC and Mac (the spreadsheet, i.e.), but
suddenly The Analyst disappeared ...
Best regards,
Davide Grandi

[s***@interactivewebsystems.com]

Did you ever get anyone who took you up on trying to take one of those old versions and get it running on Squeak again? The one for Objectworks 2.5 would be the easiest to get running again as it was closest to Squeaks version of Smalltalk.

Thanks,

Sam Griffith

Post by Phil Slade
Interesting -- I have three versions of Analyst (+Assistant and
SpellChecker) gathering dust. The first two are for Macs (ObjectWorks
Smalltalk 2.5 + Analyst 3.2 Developer Environment; Analyst RT 4.1
RunTime) and the third one is for Windows 3.xx (Analyst 5.0 RT).
I wonder what a programmer could do with this, up-to-date programming
tools and a modern Mac? XSIS ceased all development and support about
10 years ago.

Post by Davide Grandi

Post by BR
Well one and three would be nice, considering that the most information
out their is "There's this Smalltalk software called 'The Analyst',
written by Xerox XSIS, and it's (was?) used by the CIA". And that's it.
Two would most likely be stretching it.

From a cloud of electronic dust : (traced back to a copy of Xerox 1186
folder "kermit-ed" to a VAX 11-780 and then to a Mac II, backupped to
800k floppies and then transfered to the chain of macs im my homes : Mac
Plus, LC, LCIII, 230, 2300, 9600 and now a G4 ..)
---
T2461 INTRODUCTION
The Analyst-85 is a development activity aimed at organizing and
enhancing the capabilities of analysts through the use of a flexible,
computer-based personal workstation. The features of the current
Analyst-85 system have evolved significantly from earlier versions, and
many new features have been added.
The Analyst-85 system permits you to view and easily manipulate
many forms of data such as text, pictures, and graphics. These data can
be created at the workstation itself or obtained electronically from
separate databases. The system also permits the remote operation of
applications programs on mainframe computers, with the results being
presented in such a way that they can be readily manipulated and
integrated into other activities on the display.
The Analyst-85 system is especially designed to be easily used
by individuals who have no familiarity with computers. The system is
dependable, and it is essentially impossible for you to work yourself
into a corner. Thus, the easiest way to learn the Analyst-85 software is
by actively using it! For a short beginning document that introduces you
to its basic software features, read The Analyst-85 Primer.
Sections I and II of this document repeat much of the basic
material contained in The Analyst-85 Primer. However, Section III
details all the functions and menus of all the analytical tools that are
providedУЗand with this information you can explore every system
capability. The document material has, in general, been arranged in
order of the skill necessary to use each feature successfully. By the
time you get to the point of using that feature, you will have developed
these skills. An on-line Help aid, and this Reference Manual, are also
available in text form on the display.
Every effort has been made to make this document as accurate and
informative as possible, but activities for the Analyst-85 system are
dynamic and changing. Consequently, there is no way to be completely
up-to-date. The information contained in this document is based on the
best information at Vista Laboratory on the date of publication and may
not correspond exactly to the Analyst-85 configuration which you use.
However, it should make no difference in your learning how to use the
system quickly and efficiently with this documentation.
...
---
In 1986 I was a student at the Milan Politechnic Artificial Intelligence
Project and there was a cooperation effort with the local Xerox
subsidiary (hey Roberto Ghislanzoni ! are you still around ?) so we took
a Xerox Lisp machine (an 1186 model), we literally stuffed up an A3
sized memory card with ... 4 Megabytes and configured the machine to run
Smalltalk (DV6, Analyst andd the Humble expert system) for a demo room.
So we played a little with Analyst and Humble.
I remember that some piece of Smalltalk source run also on the very
first edition of Smalltalk for PC and Mac (the spreadsheet, i.e.), but
suddenly The Analyst disappeared ...
Best regards,
Davide Grandi