IBM DisplayWrite


DisplayWrite was a word processor software application that IBM developed and marketed for the IBM PC and PCjr. It was among the company's first internally developed, commercially sold PC software.
DisplayWrite's feature set was based on the IBM Displaywriter System, a dedicated microcomputer-based word processing machine. Because the two systems were so similar, an experienced Displaywriter user could start using DisplayWrite immediately.

Versions

DisplayWrite/PC

For the Intel platform there were DisplayWrite versions for PC/MS-DOS and DisplayWrite 5/2 programmed under OS/2.

DisplayWrite/36

DisplayWrite/36 was the word processing component of IBM Office/36, which allowed an office to use the SQL-based database file for labels and form letters.

DisplayWrite/370

DisplayWrite/370, a much more powerful version with full graphics and WYSIWYG support, was supported for IBM zSeries mainframe computers until May 2015.. DW/370 was a host-based word processor. It was marketed between 1993 and 2015 for MVS/CICS and VM/CMS.

File format

IBM DisplayWrite's native file format is based on IBM's DCA RFT specification, but adds additional structures. Depending on the DisplayWrite version, the document files use.DOC or.TXT file name extension. The DisplayWrite software can export to and import from pure DCA/RFT files. RFT should not be confused with RTF, which is a Microsoft specification.