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{{short description|Electronic device}}
{{about|stand-alone word processing machines|the computer program|Word processor program|the general concept|Word processor}}
A '''word processor''' is an electronic device or computer [[software application]], that performs the task of composition, editing, formatting, printing of documents. ▼
{{refimprove|date=December 2024}}
[[File:XEROX 6016 Memorywriter Word Processor.jpg|thumb|A [[Xerox]] 6016 Memorywriter Word Processor]]
▲A '''word processor''' is an electronic device
The word processor was a stand-alone office machine in the 1960s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an [[electric typewriter]], with a recording unit, either tape or [[floppy disk]] (as used by the [[Wang Laboratories|Wang]] machine) with a simple dedicated computer processor for the editing of text.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=BeQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA71&dq=Popular+Mechanics+Science+installing+linoleum&source=bl&ots=ntxUR1RGVz&sig=NdCEzBMspY21K7-yYWDdf3p84Ug&hl=en&sa=X&ei=99YUUMO_GYSzrQHo4YHIDA&sqi=2&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=true "TECHNOWRITERS"] ''Popular Mechanics'', June 1989, pp. 71-73.</ref> Although features and designs varied among manufacturers and models, and new features were added as technology advanced, word processors typically featured a [[monochrome monitor|monochrome display]] and the ability to save documents on [[memory cards]] or [[diskettes]]. Later models introduced innovations such as [[spell-checking]] programs, and improved formatting options.▼
▲The word processor was a stand-alone office machine developed in the 1960s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an [[electric typewriter]]
As the more versatile combination of [[personal computer]]s and [[Computer printer|printers]] became commonplace, and computer software applications for word processing became popular, most business machine companies stopped manufacturing dedicated word processor machines. As of 2009 there were only two U.S. companies, Classic and [[AlphaSmart]], which still made them.<ref>Mark Newhall, ''Farm Show''</ref> Many older machines, however, remain in use. Since 2009, Sentinel has offered a machine described as a "word processor", but it is more accurately a highly specialised microcomputer used for accounting and publishing.<ref>StarLux Illumination catalog</ref>▼
▲As the more versatile combination of [[personal computer]]s and [[Computer printer|printers]] became commonplace, and computer software applications for word processing became popular, most business machine companies stopped manufacturing dedicated word processor machines.
Word processing was one of the earliest applications for the [[personal computer]] in office productivity and was the most popular application on home and personal computers until the [[World Wide Web]] rose to prominence in the mid-1990s.▼
▲Word processing was one of the earliest applications for the [[personal computer]] in office productivity, and was the most
Although the early word processors evolved to use tag-based [[Markup language|markup]] for document formatting, most modern word processors take advantage of a [[graphical user interface]] providing some form of [[what-you-see-is-what-you-get]] ("WYSIWYG") editing. Most are powerful systems consisting of one or more programs that can produce any arbitrary combination of [[image]]s, [[graphics]] and text, the latter handled with [[type-setting]] capability. Typical features of a modern word processor include font application, spell checking, grammar checking, a built-in thesaurus, [[autocorrection|automatic text correction]], Web integration, and HTML exporting, among others. In its simplest form, a word processor is little more than a large [[Expensive Typewriter]]-like machine that makes correcting mistakes possible before [[Printer (computing)|printing]].▼
▲Although the early word processors evolved to use tag-based [[Markup language|markup]] for document formatting, most modern word processors take advantage of a [[graphical user interface]] providing some form of [[what-you-see-is-what-you-get]] ("WYSIWYG") editing. Most are powerful systems consisting of one or more programs that can produce
[[Microsoft Word]] is the most widely used word processing software according to a user tracking system built into the software.{{cn|date=March 2014}} Microsoft estimates that roughly half a billion people use the [[Microsoft Office]] suite,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/jan09/01-08cesofficeqaschultz.mspx |title=Microsoft Office Is Right at Home |date=January 8, 2009 |publisher=Microsoft |accessdate=August 14, 2010}}</ref> which includes Word. Many other word processing applications exist, including [[WordPerfect]] (which dominated the market from the mid-1980s to early-1990s on computers running Microsoft's [[MS-DOS]] [[operating system]], and still (2014) is favored for legal applications) and [[open source]] applications [[OpenOffice.org Writer]], [[LibreOffice Writer]], [[AbiWord]], [[KWord]], and [[LyX]]. Web-based word processors, such as [[Office Web Apps]] or [[Google Docs]], are a relatively new category.▼
▲[[Microsoft Word]] is the most widely used word processing software according to a user tracking system built into the software.<ref>{{
==Characteristics==
Word processors evolved dramatically once they became software programs rather than dedicated machines. They can usefully be distinguished from [[text editor]]s, the category of software they evolved from.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzAEAAAAMBAJ&pg
Word processing added to the text editor the ability to control type style and size, to manage lines (word wrap), to format documents into pages, and to number pages. Functions now taken for granted were added incrementally, sometimes by purchase of independent providers of add-on programs. Spell checking, grammar checking and [[mail merge]] were some of the most popular add-ons for early word processors. Word processors are also capable of hyphenation, and the management and correct positioning of footnotes and endnotes.
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* Non-printing comments and annotations.
* Generation of document statistics (characters, words, readability level, time spent editing by each user).
* "Styles", which automate consistent formatting of text body, titles, subtitles, highlighted text, and so on.
Later [[desktop publishing]] programs were specifically designed
===Literature===▼
==History==
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===IBM Selectric===
The [[IBM Selectric]] typewriter was a highly successful model line of electric typewriters introduced in 1961. [[Expensive Typewriter]] written and improved between 1961 and 1962 by Steve Piner and L. Peter Deutsch, was a text editing program that ran on a DEC [[PDP-1]] computer at [[MIT]]. Since it could drive an IBM Selectric typewriter (a letter-quality printer), it may be considered the first word processing program, but the term ''word processing'' itself was only introduced, by [[IBM]]'s [[Böblingen]] Laboratory in the late 1960s.{{cn|date=July 2015}}▼
▲
In 1969, two software based text editing products (Astrotype and Astrocomp) were developed and marketed by [[Information Control Systems]] ([[Ann Arbor]] Michigan).<ref>http://oldnews.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/35262</ref><ref name="Special Purpose Systems">{{cite news|title=Secretaries Get a Computer of their Own to Automate Typing|url=http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/computersAndAutomation/196901.pdf|accessdate=10 September 2013|newspaper=Computers and Automation|date=January 1969 |page=59}}</ref><ref name="Word Processing Circa 1968">{{cite news|title=Computer Aided Typists Produce Perfect Copies|url=http://technologizer.com/2009/08/21/word-processing-circa-1968/|accessdate=10 September 2013|newspaper=Computer World|date=November 13, 1968}}</ref> Both products used the [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] [[PDP-8]] mini computer, [[DECtape]] (4” reel) randomly accessible tape drives, and a modified version of the [[IBM Selectric typewriter]] (the [[IBM 2741]] Terminal). These 1969 products preceded CRT display-based word processors. Text editing was done using a line numbering system viewed on a paper copy inserted in the Selectric typewriter.▼
▲In 1969, two software based text editing products (Astrotype and Astrocomp) were developed and marketed by [[Information Control Systems]] ([[Ann Arbor]] Michigan).<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://oldnews.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/35262 |title = Information Control Systems Inc. (ICS) | Ann Arbor District Library}}</ref><ref name="Special Purpose Systems">{{cite news|title=Secretaries Get a Computer of their Own to Automate Typing|url=http://www.bitsavers.
By 1971 word processing was recognized by the ''New York Times'' as a "[[buzz word]]".<ref name=buzz>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=William D. |title=Lag Persists for Business Equipment |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 26, 1971 |page=59 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F10F73D5E127A93C4AB178BD95F458785F9 }}</ref> A 1974 ''Times'' article referred to "the brave new world of Word Processing or W/P. That's International Business Machines talk... I.B.M.<!--sic--> introduced W/P about five years ago for its [[Magnetic tape selectric typewriter|Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter]] and other electronic razzle-dazzle."<ref name=ghetto>{{cite news |last=Dullea |first=Georgia |title=Is It a Boon for Secretaries—Or Just an Automated Ghetto? |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 5, 1974 |page=32 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D16FE3F5B1A7493C7A91789D85F408785F9 }}</ref>▼
[[Evelyn Berezin]] invented a Selectric-based word processor in 1969, and founded the Redactron Corporation to market the $8,000 machine.<ref>{{ Cite news | url = https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2018/12/11/actualidad/1544546267_076535.html | title = Muere Evelyn Berezin, creadora del primer procesador digital de textos | access-date = December 13, 2018 | last = Pozzi | first = Sandro | date = December 12, 2018 | newspaper = [[El País]] | language = es | trans-title =Evelyn Berezin dies, creator of the first digital text processor | quote = Berezin diseñó el primer sistema central de reservas de United Airlines cuando trabajaba para Teleregister y otro similar para gestionar la contabilidad de la banca a nivel nacional. En 1968 empezó a trabajar en la idea de un ordenador que procesara textos, utilizando pequeños circuitos integrados. Al año decidió dejar la empresa para crear la suya propia, que llamó Redactron Corporation. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181212182024/https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2018/12/11/actualidad/1544546267_076535.html | archive-date = December 12, 2018 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Redactron was sold to [[Burroughs Corporation]] in 1976, where the Redactron-II and -III were sold both as standalone units and as peripherals to the company's mainframe computers.<ref name="McFadden">{{cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/obituaries/evelyn-berezin-dead.html |title=Evelyn Berezin, 93, Dies; Built the First True Word Processor |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2018-12-10 |access-date=2018-12-11 }}</ref>
IBM defined the term in a broad and vague way as "the combination of people, procedures, and equipment which transforms ideas into printed communications," and originally used it to include dictating machines and ordinary, manually operated Selectric typewriters.<ref>{{cite news |title=IBM Adds to Line of Dictation Items |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 12, 1972 |page=72 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00F11FB395E127A93C0A81782D85F468785F9 }} reports introduction of "five new models of 'input word processing equipment,' better known in the past as dictation equipment" and gives IBM's definition of WP as "the combination of people, procedures, and equipment which transforms ideas into printed communications.'" The machines described were of course ordinary dictation machines recording onto magnetic belts, not voice typewriters.</ref> By the early seventies, however, the term was generally understood to mean semiautomated typewriters affording at least some form of editing and correction, and the ability to produce perfect "originals." Thus, the ''Times'' headlined a 1974 [[Xerox]] product as a "speedier electronic typewriter", but went on to describe the product, which had no screen,<ref>Miller, Diane Fisher (1997) "My Life with the Machine": "By Sunday afternoon, I urgently want to throw the [[Xerox 800]] through the window, then run over it with the company van. It seems that the instructor forgot to tell me a few things about doing multi-page documents... To do any serious editing, I must use both tape drives, and, without a display, I must visualize and mentally track what is going onto the tapes."</ref> as "a word processor rather than strictly a typewriter, in that it stores copy on magnetic tape or magnetic cards for retyping, corrections, and subsequent printout."<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=William D. |title=Xerox Is Introducing a Speedier Electric Typewriter |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 8, 1974 |page=57 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F5061FFC3D5B147B93CAA9178BD95F408785F9 }}</ref>▼
▲By 1971 word processing was recognized by the ''New York Times'' as a "[[buzz word]]".<ref name=buzz>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=William D. |title=Lag Persists for Business Equipment |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 26, 1971 |page=59 |url=
▲IBM defined the term in a broad and vague way as "the combination of people, procedures, and equipment which transforms ideas into printed communications," and originally used it to include dictating machines and ordinary, manually operated Selectric typewriters.<ref>{{cite news |title=IBM Adds to Line of Dictation Items |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 12, 1972 |page=72 |url=
===Mainframe systems===
In the late 1960s IBM provided a program called FORMAT for generating printed documents on any computer capable of running Fortran IV. Written by Gerald M. Berns, FORMAT was described in his paper "Description of FORMAT, a Text-Processing Program" (Communications of the ACM, Volume 12, Number 3, March, 1969) as "a production program which facilitates the editing and printing of 'finished' documents directly on the printer of a relatively small (64k) computer system. It features good performance, totally free-form input, very flexible formatting capabilities including up to eight columns per page, automatic capitalization, aids for index construction, and a minimum of nontext [control elements] items." Input was normally on punched cards or magnetic tape, with up to 80capital letters and non-alphabetic characters per card. The limited typographical controls available were implemented by control sequences; for example, letters were automatically converted to lower case unless they followed a full stop, that is, the "period" character. Output could be printed on a typical line printer in all-capitals — or in upper and lower case using a special ("TN") printer chain — or could be punched as a paper tape which could be printed, in better than line printer quality, on a Flexowriter. A workalike program with some improvements, DORMAT, was developed and used at [[University College London]].<ref>{{
Electromechanical [[Punched tape|paper-tape-based]] equipment such as the [[Friden Flexowriter]] had long been available; the Flexowriter allowed for operations such as repetitive typing of [[form letter]]s (with a pause for the operator to manually type in the variable information),<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Kane |first=Lawrence |title=Computer a Help to 'Friendly Doc'; Automated Letter Writer Can Dispense a Cheery Word |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 22, 1966 |page=348 |quote=Automated cordiality will be one of the services offered to physicians and dentists who take space in a new medical center.... The typist will insert the homey touch in the appropriate place as the Friden automated, programmed "Flexowriter" rattles off the form letters requesting payment... or informing that the X-ray's of the patient (kidney) (arm) (stomach) (chest) came out negative. |url=
| last = Rostky
| first = Georgy
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| title = The word processor: cumbersome, but great
| publisher = EETimes
|
}}</ref> The first novel to be written on a word processor, the IBM MT/ST, was [[Len Deighton]]'s ''[[Bomber (novel)|Bomber]]'', published in 1970.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/03/len_deighton_s_bomber_the_first_book_ever_written_on_a_word_processor.single.html | title=The Book-Writing Machine: What was the first novel ever written on a word processor? | work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] | date=March 1, 2013 |
===
''The New York Times'', reporting on a 1971 business equipment trade show, said
:The "buzz word" for this year's show was "word processing
In 1971, a third of all working women in the United States were secretaries, and they could see that word processing would
The 1970s word processing concept did not refer merely to equipment, but, explicitly, to the use of equipment for "breaking down secretarial labor into distinct components, with some staff members handling typing exclusively while others supply administrative support. A typical operation would leave most executives without private secretaries. Instead one secretary would perform various administrative tasks for three or more secretaries."<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=William D. |title=Electric Typewriter Sales Are Bolstered by Efficiency |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 16, 1974 |page=57 |url=
===Dedicated models===
In 1972, [[Stephen Bernard Dorsey]], Founder and President of Canadian company Automatic Electronic Systems (AES), introduced the
The AES machine was actually a sophisticated
In 1975, Dorsey started Micom Data Systems and introduced the Micom 2000 word processor. The Micom 2000 improved on the AES design by using the Intel 8080 single-chip microprocessor, which made the word processor smaller, less costly to build and supported multiple languages.<ref>Thomas, David "Knights of the New Technology". Key Porter Books, 1983, p. 97 & p. 98.</ref>
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===Software models===
[[File:TOSHIBA JW-10.JPG|thumb|[[Toshiba]] JW-10, the first word processor for the [[Japanese language]] (
The Wang was not the first CRT-based machine nor were all of its innovations unique to Wang. In the early 1970s Linolex, Lexitron and Vydec introduced pioneering word-processing systems with [[
▲The Wang was not the first CRT-based machine nor were all of its innovations unique to Wang. In the early 1970s Linolex, Lexitron and Vydec introduced pioneering word-processing systems with [[cathode ray tube|CRT]] [[computer display|display]] editing. A Canadian electronics company, Automatic Electronic Systems, had introduced a product in 1972, but went into receivership a year later. In 1976, refinanced by the [[Canada Development Corporation]], it returned to operation as [[AES Data]], and went on to successfully market its brand of word processors worldwide until its demise in the mid-1980s. Its first office product, the AES-90,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/timeline/1970-1979.html
|title=1970–1979 C.E.: Media History Project
|publisher=University of Minnesota
|date=May 18, 2007
|
}}</ref> combined for the first time a CRT-screen, a floppy-disk and a microprocessor,<ref name="Thomas 1983, p. 94"/><ref name="archives.cbc.ca"/> that is, the very same winning combination that would be used by IBM for its PC seven years later.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}} The AES-90 software was able to handle French and English typing from the start, displaying and printing the texts side-by-side, a Canadian government requirement. The first eight units were delivered to the office of the then Prime Minister, [[Pierre Elliot Trudeau]], in February 1974.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}
Despite these predecessors, Wang's product was a standout, and by 1978 it had sold more of these systems than any other vendor.<ref>Schuyten, Peter J. (1978): "Wang Labs: Healthy Survivor" ''The New York Times December 6, 1978 p. D1: "[Market research analyst] Amy Wohl... said... 'Since then, the company has installed more of these systems than any other vendor in the business."</ref>
The phrase "word processor" rapidly came to refer to CRT-based machines similar to the AES 90. Numerous machines of this kind emerged, typically marketed by traditional office-equipment companies such as IBM, Lanier (marketing AES Data machines, re-badged), CPT, and NBI.<ref name="NBI-INC-Securities-Registration-Sep-1998-SB-2">{{cite web|url=http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1437/104746998033990/filing-main.htm |title=NBI INC Securities Registration, Form SB-2, Filing Date Sep 8, 1998 |publisher=secdatabase.com |access-date =May 14, 2018}}</ref>
All were specialized, dedicated, proprietary systems,
▲All were specialized, dedicated, proprietary systems, with prices in the $10,000 ballpark. Cheap general-purpose computers were still the ___domain of hobbyists.
Some of the earliest CRT-based machines used cassette tapes for removable-memory storage until [[floppy diskette]]s became available for this purpose - first the 8-inch floppy, then the 5¼-inch (drives by [[Shugart Associates]] and diskettes by [[Dysan]]).
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[[File:Hardwarewordprocessor.png|thumb|Brother WP-1400D editing electronic typewriter (1994)]]
[[Electric Pencil]], released in December 1976, was the first word processor software for microcomputers.<ref name="pea1987">{{cite journal | jstor=1167314 | title=Cognitive Technologies for Writing | author=Pea, Roy D. and D. Midian Kurland | journal=Review of Research in Education | year=1987 | volume=14 | pages=277–326}}</ref><ref name="bergin2006">{{cite journal | title=The Origins of Word Processing Software for Personal Computers: 1976–1985 | author=Bergin, Thomas J. | journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |date=Oct–Dec 2006 | volume=28 | issue=4 | pages=32–47 | doi=10.1109/MAHC.2006.76| s2cid=18895790 }}</ref><ref name="freiberger19820510">{{cite
|title=Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer
|edition=2nd
|first1=Paul
|last1=Freiberger
|
|first2=Michael
|last2=Swaine
|
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fireinvalleymaki00frei_0/page/186 186–187]
|year=2000
|publisher=McGraw-Hill
|isbn=0-07-135892-7
|isbn=0-07-135892-7}}</ref><ref name="shrayer198411">{{cite news | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n11/130_Confessions_of_a_naked_pr.php | title=Confessions of a naked programmer | accessdate=March 6, 2011 | author=Shrayer, Michael | date=November 1984 | publisher=Creative Computing | pages=130}}</ref> Software-based word processors running on general-purpose personal computers gradually displaced dedicated word processors, and the term came to refer to software rather than hardware. Some programs were modeled after particular dedicated WP hardware. [[MultiMate]], for example, was written for an insurance company that had hundreds of typists using Wang systems, and spread from there to other Wang customers. To adapt to the smaller, more generic PC keyboard, MultiMate used stick-on labels and a large plastic clip-on template to remind users of its dozens of Wang-like functions, using the shift, alt and [[Control key|ctrl]] keys with the 10 IBM function keys and many of the alphabet keys.▼
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/fireinvalleymaki00frei_0/page/186
▲
Other early word-processing software required users to memorize semi-mnemonic key combinations rather than pressing keys labelled "copy" or "bold". (
The mid-to-late 1980s saw the spread of laser printers, a "typographic" approach to word processing, and of true WYSIWYG [[bitmap]] displays with multiple fonts (pioneered by the [[Xerox Alto]] computer and [[Bravo (software)|Bravo]] word processing program), [[PostScript]], and [[graphical user interface]]s (another [[Xerox PARC]] innovation, with the [[Gypsy (software)|Gypsy]] word processor which was commercialised in the [[Xerox Star]] product range). Standalone word processors adapted by getting smaller and replacing their CRTs with small character-oriented LCD displays. Some models also had computer-like features such as [[floppy disk drive]]s and the ability to output to an external printer. They also got a name change, now being called "electronic typewriters" and typically occupying a lower end of the market, selling for under US$200
During the late 1980s and into the 1990s the predominant word processing program was WordPerfect.<ref name="Word processor">{{cite
|archive-date=May 21, 2019}}</ref> It had more than 50% of the worldwide market as late as 1995, but by 2000 Microsoft Word had up to 95% market share.<ref name="brinkely20000921">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/21/technology/state-of-the-art-it-s-a-word-world-or-is-it.html |title=It's a Word World, Or Is It? |last=Brinkley |first=Joel |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2000-09-21 |author-link=Joel Brinkley}}</ref>
[[MacWrite]],
==See also==
* [[Amstrad PCW]]
* [[Authoring systems]]
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* [[List of word processors]]
* [[IBM MT/ST]]
* [[Microwriter]]▼
* [[Office suite]]
* [[TeX]]
* [[Typography]]
▲* [[Microwriter]]
* Matthew G. Kirschenbaum ''Track Changes - A Literary History of Word Processing'' Harvard University Press 2016 {{ISBN|9780674417076}}
==References==
{{Reflist
==External links==
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* [http://www.stanford.edu/~bkunde/fb-press/articles/wdprhist.html "A Brief History of Word Processing (Through 1986)"] by Brian Kunde (December, 1986)
* [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/discover/programs/v/venture/aes-a-canadian-cautionary-tale.html "AES: A Canadian Cautionary Tale"] by CBC Television (Broadcast date: February 4, 1985, link updated Nov. 2, 2012)
{{Word processors}}
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