A Brief History

In the 1970's Sushil Garg, the original designer and author of PRO-IV, was working as an applications programmer in Hawaii. There he experienced the traditional problems associated with developing and running computer applications systems. As a graduate mechanical engineer he noted the contrast between traditional programming which can be seen as a craft activity where every part is individually created each time it is required and the more efficient engineering techniques of creating the finished article using tried and tested sub-assemblies.

Garg believed that the traditional methods of developing systems suffered not only from poor design methods but also from the lack of the correct tools to do the job. He decided to draw upon his own experience both as an engineer and programmer to conceive a better way. His solution lies not in de-skilling program developers nor in expecting end users to add programming and design skills to their existing job requirements but to provide efficient tools to allow D.P. professionals to concentrate on their main task of providing application solutions.

The product which we now know as PRO-IV was the result of Garg's search for a solution to the typical problems facing data processing departments all over the world: scarcity of resource, lack of documentation, high maintenance costs, frustrated users and so on.

The initial funding of the design and creation of PRO-IV was from Data Technical Analysts based in Reno, Nevada who in turn licensed the technology to three main licensees: Microdata (later acquired by McDonnell Douglas), C. Itoh and Pro Computer Sciences (PCS).

The European market was developed by distributors until Pro-Lab Plc. was established in May 1985, as a sister company to PCS Inc. A head office was set up in Cambridge with regional offices in Birmingham and London. Pro-Lab Plc. held exclusive rights to market and support PRO-IV in Europe, Hong Kong and China, Middle East and South Africa, and distributors were established in the majority of these territories.

In 1987 McDonnell Douglas decided to use PRO-IV as a main development tool. To develop its portfolio of system development products, as well as safeguarding its investment in internal software, in the December of that year it purchased the PRO-IV product from Pro Computer Sciences and Pro-Lab

After acquiring PRO-IV, McDonnell Douglas significantly enhanced the flexibility and functionality of the language. Many user-oriented features were added including the ability to highlight important details using colour and video attributes; the creation of "pop-up windows" and support for Program Function (PF) keys. Enhanced editing facilities, including a full screen (and report) painter gave the programmer and user flexibility in making changes to programs and data.

PRO-IV is now available across a wide range of manufacturers' hardware, operating environments and file management systems. Product development continues with priority being given to the support of an increasing number of relational database management systems. PRO-IV currently supports DB2, Oracle, Ingres, Informix as well as generating ANSI standard SQL. A version for Sybase is expected shortly. In addition to the relational databases, PRO-IV supports a variety of file and database systems (IMS, DL/1, VSAM, RMS, AS/400 database, UFAS, C-ISAM) on the appropriate hardware bases.

PRO-IV is a proven product being used operationally to support sophisticated and complex on-line application systems in companies throughout the world.