Version 2.20 of C Exploration Tools features significant enhancements over the previously released version 2.12. Here are just a few of the changes that Mueller reports:

• Microsoft Visual C++ 1.0 for Windows NT preprocessing support
• Borland C++ 1.0 for OS/2 preprocessing support
• A fix for CFT/CST database read errors that occured if line numbers were not in strictly ascending order inside functions or structures (a possibility if #line directives are used)
• A fix for CFT errors that occured with nested C++ constructs such as extern "C" { ... } (this was sometimes the reason for the error message 'unbalanced braces')
• Detection and display of multiple file inclusions (of the same include file), with scanned source size and number of lines calculated for multiple inclusions
• Support for the _TlMESTAMP_macro in preprocessors
• Option -Jcharset, which adds an extended character set for identifier recognition and allows the use of national character sets
• Option -//, which accepts C++ comments in C source code to ensure compatibility with Microsoft and Borland C compilers
• Option -RATIONAL, which generates a Rational Rose Petal file for callgraph visualisation (see documentation for detailed description!)
• A change to option -I that makes -I* ignore missing include files during preprocessing
• A new option -o[name] for CFTN and CSTN, which prints output to file 'name'
• Different return values for CFTN and CSTN to avoid conflicts with DOS errors (affects BRIEF macros)

A cross-assembler is an assembly language translator that runs on a different platform than the one it is assembling for. In this case, the MC68020 cross-assembler runs on an MS-DOS machine (80x86 CPU) but reads assembly language for the MC68020 microprocessor and writes MC68020 object files. Typically, the developer then downloads these object files to the target machine (presumably a Macintosh, Atari, Amiga, or other MC68020 architecture machine).

The cross-assembler supports constants in hexadecimal, binary, octal, and decimal. Constant expressions can use many C-style operators including bitwise operators. The following assembler directives are supported: END, ORG, EQU, SET, REG, DC (define constant), DCB (define constant block), and DS (define storage). The cross-assembler lacks support for native math coprocessor instructions, string constants, and macros. Documentation consists of a 12-page ASCII reference manual.

The MC68020 cross-assembler for MS-DOS will compile under either Microsoft C or Zortech C. Version 1.01 (as released 03/04/94) is immediately available as CUG volume #363.

• ED Editor (CUG #424): Multiplatform full screen text editor with windowing, regular expressions, and programming support features. Edits in ASCII, binary, or hexadecimal modes
• Portable TAR and LZPIPE (CUG #425): Multiplatform archiving tools that handle files, floppies, and QIC streamer tapes in tar, zip, gzip, or compress formats
• LPC-Parcor-Cepstrum code generation for C (CUG #426): Comprehensive libraries for audio data file normalization and manipulation

Some of ED's more interesting features include the following:

• Multiple text windows
• Built-in file manager
• Editing by wildcards
• Calculator
• Automatic program indentation
• Parenthesis matching
• Box and columnar editing
• Insert and overstrike editing
• Sorting
• Load/save of files using FTP

The CUG Library distribution of ED includes binaries built with the DJGPP edition of GNU C/C++ (MS-DOS with GO32 DOS extender). Also, this two-diskette set provides the full C source. Distribution and use of the ED source code is covered by the GNU General Public License (Version 2). ED version 1.5.7 (as released on 04/05/94) is immediately available as CUG #424.

Portable TAR has several other advantages over most public domain TAR programs and those included with UNIX-compatible operating systems:

• Uniform processing across both MS-DOS and UNIX platforms
• Reading/writing of UNIX-compatible floppies and quarter-inch streamer cartriges under DOS
• Support for unusual floppy formats: 80-tracks-by-9-sectors and DEC Rainbow (under DOS)
• A data compression option under both DOS and UNIX
• System V and/or GNU multivolume archive read capability under DOS and all UNIX clones
• An option to restore damaged archives (and plenty of other useful options)

The CUG Library distribution of Portable TAR includes binaries built for MS-DOS. Portable TAR version 3.15 (as released on 04/05/94) is immediately available on CUG #425.

LZPIPE provides to systems like MS-DOS a programming capability analogous to UNIX pipes. It also allows access to compressed files, and provides a far simpler API than most compression utilities. Specifically, this library processes compressed data in the familiar file handle style of open, read, write, and close calls.

LZIPE implements only pure compression — no attempt is made to emulate ZIP directory services. Thus, you would either use LZPIPE to compress one file at a time or else add the extra functionality for multi-file archiving yourself.

Source codes for LZW compression and decompression are derived from sources of the compress utility initially written by Joe Orost. Source codes for deflate compression and inflate decompression are derived from Info-Zip zip/unzip utilities sources. Inflate was initially written by Mark Adler and deflate originated with Jean-loup Gailly.

The CUG Library distribution of LZIPE includes only C source code. As this is strictly a library, no MS-DOS binaries are included. LZPIPE version 1.01 (as released 04/05/94) is immediately available as part of CUG #425.

LPC's implementation draws from algorithms and methods described by Shuzo Saito and Kazuo Nakata in Fundamentals of Speech Signal Processing (1985) and others.

Astute CUJ readers will recall that Patrick Ko also contributed the Small Matrix Toolbox (CUG #403) earlier this year. In fact, the LPC application includes several key components from the Small Matrix Toolbox.

The C source package included in LPC is free for academic purposes only. For commercial usage, you must send a US $30 money order addressed to the author (Patrick Ko). The CUG Library distribution includes full C source and binaries for MS-DOS. LPC version 0.52 (as released 04/16/94) is immediately available as CUG #426.