The Information Presentation Facility (IPF): A Historical and Technical Overview
The Information Presentation Facility (IPF) is a software system developed by IBM, designed to facilitate the creation, presentation, and management of online help and hypertext documentation, particularly for the IBM OS/2 operating system. Launched in 1997, the IPF system, along with its associated markup language, played a significant role in shaping the landscape of technical documentation and help systems in the late 20th century. In this article, we will explore the origins, features, and technical details of IPF, its relationship with other markup languages like HTML, and its impact on the way we develop and interact with online help content.
The Origins of IPF
The IPF system and language have their roots in IBM’s earlier efforts to streamline and standardize document production and content delivery. Specifically, IPF’s markup language was influenced by IBM’s BookMaster and Generalized Markup Language (GML), both of which were designed to handle large-scale documentation projects and hypertext systems. These technologies were part of IBM’s broader vision to create systems that could easily manage, display, and interact with documents in a digital environment. IPF was conceived as a solution for presenting help content and online manuals in a more structured and user-friendly manner.
As IBM developed OS/2, a personal computer operating system with capabilities far beyond what was typical at the time, the company also recognized the need for a robust online help system to support its users. Thus, IPF was born as a part of this ecosystem. It offered a way to create help files that were both versatile and extensible, supporting a wide range of multimedia and hypertext elements within a single framework.
The Structure of IPF
At its core, the Information Presentation Facility is a markup language that allows users to encode documents in a structured format. Much like HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), IPF defines how text, images, links, and other elements are presented on a screen. However, while HTML 3.0 was a popular standard during the time of IPF’s release, IPF had several unique features that set it apart.
IPF vs. HTML: A Comparative Overview
One of the key differences between IPF and HTML is the specific platform they were designed to support. While HTML was created to be a platform-independent markup language for the World Wide Web, IPF was built specifically for IBM OS/2. In contrast to the widespread adoption of HTML, OS/2 did not achieve mainstream success, which ultimately limited the reach of IPF. However, for users within the OS/2 ecosystem, IPF offered a powerful and flexible way to create rich, interactive help systems.
Despite its platform-specific focus, the IPF language shares many similarities with HTML, especially in terms of structure and syntax. For example, both languages use tags to define content types (e.g., headings, paragraphs, links, and images), and both can incorporate multimedia elements like audio and video. However, IPF had some additional features and commands that made it particularly suited for use in help systems, such as specific tags for creating index entries, references, and glossary items. Additionally, while HTML 3.0 was still in its infancy in 1997, IPF was ahead of its time in terms of the functionality it offered for help documentation, including the ability to create complex, multi-level navigation systems and embedded scripts.
The IPF Command Set
The IPF markup language comprises 45 basic commands that define the structure and presentation of content within an IPF document. These commands cover a wide range of elements, from simple text formatting to more advanced multimedia integration. Some examples of the primary IPF commands include:
: Defines a block of text within the document. - : Creates a hyperlink to another part of the document or an external resource.
: Embeds an image in the document. - : Defines a menu structure for navigation.
: Specifies index entries for easier searching and reference within the document.