KAMAS (program)

{{otheruses|Kamas (disambiguation)}}

{{Fanpov|date=September 2016}}

{{Infobox software

| name = KAMAS (Knowledge and Mind Amplification System)

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| author = Adam Trent

| developer = Compusophic Systems
Kamasoft

| released = {{Start date and age|1984}}

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| operating system = CP/M

| platform = Zilog Z80

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| genre = Outliner

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| website = http://kamasoft.com

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KAMAS, an acronym for Knowledge and Mind Amplification System, from Compusophic Systems, then Kamasoft (Aloha, Oregon), was, in the 1980s the most influential outliner or outline processor, and the first for CP/M.{{cite web |url= http://www.jlarue.com/blastfrompast.html |author= James LaRue |title= A Blast from the Past: Classic Outliners |date= September 2001 |accessdate=7 September 2014}}{{cite web |url= http://www.jlarue.com/outlinersredux.html |author= James LaRue |title= Outliners Redux |date= February 18, 2002 |accessdate=7 September 2014}} It was a type of word processor that edited outline elements, enabling showing, hiding, promotion, demotion, and moving (cutting and pasting) of outline trees ("branches"). Each string of text occupied a "leaf". While some modern word processing programs include limited outline capability, none has the features of KAMAS. A number of outline processors exist for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, and the Apple Mac platforms.They are reviewed by Allen Kent, "Computer Programs: Outliners", Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Volume 48, Supplement 12, CRC Press, 1991, {{ISBN|0256116997}}, pp. 175-220, by John Redmood, "Overview of Windows Outlining Programs," no date, but states "not updated since 2004," http://john.redmood.com/organizers.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904091051/http://john.redmood.com/organizers.html |date=2014-09-04 }}, retrieved 2014-09-07, and the two articles of LaRue already cited. None has achieved a significant market share, or the enthusiastic user base which supported KAMAS.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}

Adam Trent was president of Kamasoft and the central figure in the development of the program. The initial price was $147.

In addition to the outline processor, KAMAS was also released with a programming language, a threaded interpreter most similar to FORTH. It was found to be "complex and not easily learned," and most purchasers of KAMAS never used it.Mark Renne, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ci8EAAAAMBAJ&q=infoworld+oct.+8%2C+1984 "KAMAS. The first outline processor for CP/M machines"], Infoworld, October 8, 1984, pp. 64-66, retrieved September 2015 and http://chiclassiccomp.org/docs/content/computing/Kamasoft/KamasInfoWorldAarticleFlyerOct8_984.pdf, retrieved September 2015

A simpler version without the programming facilities, Out-Think, was released in 1986.Advertisement published in Profiles (Kaypro Corporation's magazine), Volume 4, No. 1, July, 1986, p. 19, archived at https://archive.org/stream/PROFILES_Volume_4_Number_1_1986-07_Kaypro_Corp_US#page/n19/mode/2up, retrieved September 2015. It was reviewed in the same issue, Ted Silveira, "Idea Processors", pp. 21-26. The code was retooled for 8080 and NEC V20 and V30 compatibility (KAMAS required a Zilog Z80). The price was $69.95; the price for KAMAS had dropped to $99.95.

Some disks of auxiliary utility programs were sold.Untitled, http://gopherproxy.meulie.net/gopher.floodgap.com/0/archive/walnut-creek-cd-simtel/LAMBDA/CATALOG.TXT, retrieved September 2015; untitled, http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/cdrom/_BBS/WC30/ALLFILES.TXT, retrieved September 2015

KAMAS, released in 1984, was the last important application written for the CP/M operating system.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} Its "home" computer was the Kaypro. An MS-DOS version was released, without the programming language.

The only output was print, or an untagged file image of the printed output, which required extensive editing to import into a word processing program. Except for a limited export in the MS-DOS version to other outline processors such as ThinkTank, there was no file export mechanism preserving the outline structure, nor did any third party develop a converter.