Softfile was developed by RTG starting in 1982. The January 1991 issue of RTG News described the program. The Softfile database we use at RTG has pages created as early as 1988.

Originally Softfile ran on the UNIX operating system. In 1990 it was converted to run under MS-DOS on a PC. For many years we used the MS-DOS version under Windows. Finally, in 2001, development of a Windows version of Softfile was begun. The Windows version was completed and released for sale at the end of 2002.

With hardware and software changing so much over the years, it was an important design goal that the Softfile data always be accessible. This was ensured by making the Softfile database a plain text file.

This feature was carried over to the Windows version by using HTML, the language of the Web, in the database. We expect HTML to be readable for a long time to come, and the fact that HTML consists of plain text keeps the database consistent with our original design.