Screen mask
Data stored in an EDP system were displayed with the help of masks and data was recorded in the data fields of a mask. The term screen mask was replaced by dialog from around 1995 .
The use of the word mask came from the fact that the data was "masked" for the user, he only had access to the data that was important in the current context.
Screen masks were mostly used in database systems such as F&A (1985) and dBASE (initially under DOS ). Other programs such as FoxPro followed later . Many DOS programs, mostly shareware , were programmed with Clipper and were often multicolored.
In earlier office computers from the 1970s, input masks were displayed similarly on terminals , but without the inverse display, but simply indented. Internal programs from the respective manufacturers, such as GOLEM and SESAM (both Siemens) , were mostly used .
Masks are z. B. at dBASE using a mask generator such as FORMS (file extension .FRM).
In the past, masks were mostly implemented directly on mainframes, especially under COBOL .
