The availability of an ANSI Fortran 77 standard compiler for FlexOS 386 -- a real-time, protected-mode operating system--has been announced by Digital Research. Offered by TransWare Enterprises of San Jose, Calif., the Lahey F77L compiler's capabilities include real-time control in a multiuser and multitasking environment, and Fortran and DOS support.
The Lahey F77L for FlexOS 386 supports the functionality of FlexOS, including 32-bit protected-mode code generation for Intel 80386 microprocessor-based systems and the mutiltasking/multiuser capabilities of FlexOS 386. Additionally, F77L-386 provides adherence to the IEEE standard for floating point arithmetic. Suggested real price is $1,277. Reader Service No. 20.
Digital Research, Inc. Box DRI Monterey, CA 93942 408-649-3896
Abraxas Software has announced a new software development tool called CodeCheck, which analyzes code for portability, maintainability, and style.
CodeCheck is designed to target code for compatibility among PC DOS, OS/2, Unix, VMS, and Macintosh environments. According to Abraxas, CodeCheck also identifies complex code as it is written.
Selling for $295, CodeCheck supports C compilers from major vendors and requires 512K memory. Reader Service No. 21.
Abraxas Software, Inc. P.O. Box 19586 Portland, OR 97219 503-244-5253
Guidelines Software Inc., creator of Guidelines C++ for MS-DOS, has released Guidelines C++ for Unix V/386. C++ is a superset of the C language and is ANSI C compatible.
C++ supports object-oriented programming with such features as classes, inheritance, member functions, constructors and destructors, data hiding, and data abstractions. C++ is implemented as a translator and requires a back-end C compiler to produce executable code.
Guidelines C++ for MS-DOS sells for $295 and requires 640K of RAM, a hard disk, and Microsoft C 3.0 or later. Guidelines C++ for Unix V/386 sells for $495 and works with standard Unix C compilers; it also supports cross translation with MS-DOS as the target system. Reader Service No. 22.
Guidelines Software, Inc. P.O. Box 749 Orinda, CA 94563 415-254-9183
StarPath Systems has released Vmos/3, a virtual multitasking operating system for the 80386. Vmos/3 supports multitasking of DOS software on 80386 PCs, using demand and virtual paging of memory.
Vmos/3 supports multitasking on standard 1-Mbyte DOS systems; it also manages and pages memory in 4K portions, rather than as fixed partitions or virtual machines. Vmos/3 makes use of available RAM for an automatic disk cache. This cache memory is automatically released for task use, as required.
Video adapter support includes all modes of MDA, CGA, EGA, and VGA in background and foreground. Graphics tasks running in background automatically have their screens displayed when brought into foreground; there is no need to "repaint" the screen to see its current contents. An operator mode provides real-time status displays of resource usage. A running system log may be displayed and examined, and is stored on disk.
Several Vmos/3 supplemental products are in development at StarPath, such as a multiuser that supports serial terminals under DOS, and a 32-bit API, which is an inegrated LAN, DOS, and 386 development environment.
Vmos/3 sells for $99; the multiuser option is $99. Reader Service No. 23.
StarPath Systems 4700 S Hagadorn Rd. East Lansing, MI 48823 800-456-8667
An 80386 native mode software debugger, which will be available by year end, has been introduced by Intel. The debugger features a windowed, source-level user-interface technology with drop-down menus, functions keys, and mouse support.
With this product, users can scroll across source files, "point and go" to a line at the cursor, and use drop-down menus to view the sequence of procedure calls, parameters, and local variable values.
The 80386 software development package will include the software debugger feature in the new user interface, compiler, assembler, linker, locator, and other software utilities. The single unit price of the package will be $4,500. Reader Service No. 24.
Intel Corp. Literature Dept. BP10 3065 Bowers Ave. Santa Clara, CA 95051 800-548-4725 800-874-6835
Pascal-2 is now available for Xenix/386 machines, Oregon Software has announced. In addition to the DEC hosts, Pascal-2 is available for Sun-3, Motorola 680x0, and Apollo workstations, as well as the 80286 running MS-DOS.
According to Oregon Software, it has adhered to level 1 of the Pascal language standard as defined by the International Standards Organization; thus, users of Pascal-2 can port their Pascal-2 code from one machine to another.
The 80386 environment can address two segments: data and text. Each segment supports up to 1 gigabyte of memory. The text section supports 32-bit addressing. The Pascal-2 Xenix/386 compiler is accompanied by a debugger, assembly language interface, source code formatter, procedure cross-referencer, and identifier cross-referencer.
Oregon Software also provides C++ and Modula-2 compilers on the Sun-3. Oregon Modula-2 is available on VAX/VMS and Xenix/386. Oregon C++ will be available on Xenix/386 in June.
Pascal-2 Xenix/386 lists for $995 for a single user license, and $250 per year for support services. Network licenses are also available. Reader Service No. 26.
Oregon Software 6915 SW Macadam Ave. Portland, OR 97219-2397 503-245-2202
Parallel Logic Programming (PLP) has announced the launch of MacParlog and PC-Parlog, implementations of Parlog for the Macintosh and IBM PC families of microcomputers.
Parlog (PARallel LOGic) is a logic programming language designed at Imperial College in London. It supports a declarative style of programming, combined with an execution mechanism for parallel architectures. On sequential architectures, Parlog programs are executed by timesharing the single processor between processes.
MacParlog is compatible with the Macintosh Plus, SE, and II; PC-Parlog works on IBM PCs and compatibles. These products are aimed at researchers and product developers who need a testbed environment for experiment and prototype construction in AI and parallel computing, as well as those wishing to learn about concurrent logic programming and fifth generation computing.
MacParlog and PC-Parlog feature an incremental compiler for Parlog, a concurrent debugger with dynamic window tracing, a base of primitives, and a run-time system that uses a "bounded depth-first" scheduling mechanism. MacParlog is integrated into the Macintosh WIMP environment, and MacParlog programs can create and maintain windows, menus, and dialogues.
In an arrangement with Logic Programming Associates, PLP has developed toolkit versions of these two products that coreside with LPS's products MacProlog and Prolog Professional. These versions are targeted to third-party product developers seeking to develop mixed-language stand-alone applications.
The single-machine license for MacParlog or PC-Parlog sells for $250. Reader Service No. 25.
Parallel Logic Programming Ltd. P.O. Box 49 Twickenham England TW2 5PH UK
PURART has released Trapper, a debugger board that assists Borland's Turbo Debugger by watching for memory and I/O activity from the debugger's breakpoint menu. Trapper also supports an optional coprocessor pod for developers who want to trap program instruction accesses to the math coprocessor chip.
With Trapper, developers can locate "memory bashing" bugs by providing breakpoints whenever a program accesses a memory address or range of address; code in ROM, such as BIOS routines; and an I/O port or range of ports.
Additionally, Trapper provides a breakout button, allowing developers to get back into the debugger even if a program has disabled interrupts. Trapper sells for $195.95. Reader Service No. 27.
PURART, Inc. P.O. Box 189 Hampton Falls, NH 03844 603-772-9907
A ROM-resident operating system, ROM-DOS has been launched by Datalight. It will boot up on a standard PC, operate from within ROM, and run MS-DOS executable (.EXE and .COM) files.
ROM-DOS is compatible with MS-DOS and runs programs such as Microsoft Word, Turbo C, and Lotus 123. Developers can write code using Basic, C, Pascal, and so on; compile it with their compiler for MS-DOS operation on a PC; and then load it into ROM along with ROM-DOS to run in the target system with no further modification. ROM-DOS takes about 29K of ROM and employs 5K of RAM when running.
In addition, Datalight has developed a mini-BIOS for use in embedded systems. Developers may choose to use a full standard BIOS or the Datalight mini-BIOS in the final system. The mini-BIOS provides support for a remote console (via a serial port), hardware timer, and serial ports. The mini-BIOS requires less than 3K bytes of ROM and uses the standard for BIOS RAM area.
ROM-DOS supports memory management, a standard file system, time functions, and installable device drivers. The 32K ROM of an Intel Wildcard can hold ROM-DOS and mini-BIOS.
ROM-DOS sells for $6 per licensed copy in quantity of 5,000. A ROM-DOS developer's kit sells for $495, and a license to the source code costs $5,000. Reader Service No. 28.
Datalight 17505 68th Ave. NE, Ste. 304 Bothell, WA 98011 206-486-8086
Compuquest has announced its family of data communication products that correct data errors without retransmission. Included is a 4800-baud cellular data modern that, according to Compuquest, allows users to transmit error-free data via cellular telephone at high speeds. The modern sells for $1,695.
Compuquest has also released a 5-lb. laptop terminal with a built-in 1200 baud cellular data modem and VT-220 emulation. The terminal is priced at $1,798. Other members of the new product line include a V.33 leased line modem with error-free transmission rates up to 28000 baud (selling for $3,490), and a 9600 baud V.32 modem (selling for $1,595).
All of the products use a proprietary protocol called Compuquest Communications Protocol (CCP) for data compression, forward error correction, and dynamic data management. Reader Service No. 29.
Compuquest, Inc. 801 Morse Ave. Schaumburg, IL 60193 312-529-2552
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