Version 5.0 of DR DOS is available from Digital Research. The DR DOS operating system provides MemoryMAX, a memory management facility which moves the operating system, TSRs, buffers, and drivers (including network drivers) into high memory. MemoryMAX automatically configures itself for the system in use (286, 386, or 486); users no longer have to unload networking software in order to run large applications.
ViewMAX is a Common User Access (CUA) keystroke-compatible GUI that is designed for use with a keyboard or a mouse. Users can view their disk layout as icons, text, or in a tree format. ViewMAX also supports password-protected files and subdirectories.
FileLINK is a file transfer utility that installs itself from one machine to the other via the serial link, which enables DR DOS 5.0-based systems to communicate with machines running regular DOS.
Other features include disk-caching for improving application throughput and BatteryMAX for battery longevity on portable systems. The company believes DR DOS will continue to extend the viability of DOS well into the 1990s. DR DOS retails for $199. Reader service no. 22.
Digital Research Inc. Box DRI 70 Garden Ct. Monterey, CA 93942 800-443-4200 408-649-3896
An industry-wide committee, including Borland, Eclipse, IGC, Intel, Locus, Lotus Development, Microsoft, Phar Lap, Phoenix Technologies, Quarterdeck, and Rational Systems, has defined a standard interface that allows extended DOS applications to take advantage of the capabilities of protected-mode, multitasking operating environments for PCs equipped with Intel's 286, 386, and i486 microprocessors. The DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) goes beyond the Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI) developed in 1987 by Phar Lap and Quarterdeck, which allowed expanded memory managers and DOS extenders to coexist, but did not address multitasking.
The DPMI provides reliable multitasking under a variety of environments, including those supporting system-wide virtual memory, as well as binary portability for extended DOS applications across multiple operating environments able to run DOS. The API calls defined in the DPMI spec allow DOS extenders to run on any operating system or control program on 386 and i486 systems. Existing DOS extenders can add DPMI services to their applications in addition to existing stand-alone DOS and VCPI support, permitting maximum interoperability of extended DOS applications among systems based on the Intel386 Architecture. A 386 control program or operating system that supports the DPMI spec can also support DOS extender applications that follow the standard. DPMI will be implemented by DESQview, Microsoft Windows, OS/2, Unix 386, and VM/386.
Software developers who support DPMI can sell a single, shrink-wrapped extended DOS application that can run on multiple DOS operating environments. And users will not be required to upgrade their extended DOS applications when they switch to newer, more powerful operating environments.
The first version is 0.9; an expanded version, 1.0, should be available by the end of 1990 and will be a compatible superset of version 0.9. Products that support DPMI version 0.9 will be fully compatible with version 1.0. Reader service no. 20.
For a copy of the specification, call Intel at 800-548-4725, or write Intel Literature Dept. JP26 3065 Bowers Ave., P.O. Box 58065 Santa Clara, CA 95051-8065
Quarterdeck announced that it is bringing its DESQview environment and API developer tools to the X Window System. DESQview/X will run X server and clients locally and simultaneously with DOS programs, as well as on a Novell or TCP/IP network. The company plans to ship the product in the fourth quarter of this year. Because the theme of Quarterdeck's third annual API developers conference in August is X Windows and DOS, X Window toolkits for DESQview will be available at that time to DESQview API developers.
DDJ spoke with Mitchell Vaughn of U.S.DATA Corporation in Richardson, Texas, who is enthusiastic about this development. His company produces software products for factory automation. Eighty percent of the computers that control the equipment and connect the factory floor with the MIS department are DOS machines, but more and more companies are investing in large systems such as Unix and VMS to run their entire systems. They therefore need a way to connect with the PCs in real time and to do it graphically. Because DEC and HP are going with the Unix strategy and are adopting X Windows and Motif as graphics standards, Vaughn "can now interoperate with DOS on DESQview and make applications that are portable. Users can view graphic displays of real-time events on DOS machines. DESQview is the ideal product. It is a true, multitasking DOS environment - a multivendor standard, unlike OS/2 and MS Windows. HP, DEC, and IBM Risc are all X Windows; with DESQview/X, I don't need OS/2 or MS Windows."
This technology brings a 3-D look and feel and iconic desktop to DESQview. DESQview/X will multitask DOS and 286 and 386 DOS extended applications, as well as local 16-bit and 32-bit X Window applications. OSF Motif and Open Look window managers for DESQview/X will be available for users running X-based workstations. DESQview/X will be compatible with EGA, VGA, EVGA, IBM 8514, and DGIS graphic display standards. This will provide users and developers with an open, vendor- and hardware-independent platform that can connect and communicate with disparate hardware from multiple vendors. Reader service no. 21.
Quarterdeck Office Systems 150 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 213-392-9851
Raima has announced the PowerCell Spreadsheet Library for professional C developers. It contains linkable functions that allow developers to add spreadsheet functionality to applications. PowerCell source code availability makes it customizable -- an application can appear as an enhanced spreadsheet or as a menu-driven application with a spreadsheet component. Other C-compatible libraries can be linked with PowerCell.
Hal Kenyon of Artex Tool Corporation told DDJ of the benefits of PowerCell. "We have an interactive system that receives information through a variety of means, including bar coding. Anytime we query the database to get information we get an immediate feedback of the current condition -- and can dump it after use because the next time the information will be updated automatically." Kenyon said that PowerCell allows his workers to import data from a database and load it into a spreadsheet, which avoids keying the information in. He also emphasized that you have to be a programmer to use PowerCell -- it is written almost entirely in C.
C programmers can write custom @functions, menu items, macro commands, and keystroke processing routines all in C. The WKS library is also included, with full source code. Supports Microsoft C 5.1 or 6.0 (required for installation) and MASM 5.0 or later for source code recompiles. PowerCell object code sells for $695, source code for $1495. Reader service no. 23.
Raima Corporation 3245 146th Place SE Bellevue, WA 98007 206-747-5570
A linkable library of routines that implement interprogram multitasking, with no changes to DOS or to the compiler being used, will be available this month from Tosh Systems of Minneapolis. The Multi-Threading Program Toolkit will enable programmers to create self-contained DOS-based programs that multitask. Tasks can be suspended and resumed at any time or put to sleep until an event such as a keystroke or until the receipt of an intertask message or system semaphore.
Routines accompany a preemptive, time-slicing scheduler to create and remove tasks, change priorities and runbursts, send and receive intertask messages, and acquire and release system semaphores. The toolkit was handcrafted and optimized in assembly language, so it's small and fast. The system supports Turbo C, Microsoft C, and most other popular C compilers, with support for Turbo Pascal and MS QuickPascal and Basic scheduled for later release. The toolkit retails for $119.95 and comes with a 30-day moneyback guarantee. Reader service no. 24.
Tosh Systems, Inc. 2627 Taylor St. NE Minneapolis, MN 55418-2941 800-422-8674 612-788-9433
For those looking for a new approach to learning (or teaching) the C language, The Waite Group Press has recently released Master C, an on-line teaching system based on The Waite Group's New C Primer Plus (Howard W. Sams and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1990). Master C presents a lesson and asks questions to assess the reader's understanding of the material. A given question may be posed as either multiple choice, true/false, or require text input, so that the question is never asked in the same manner more than once. A "Recall" mode directs the reader to problem areas. Additionally, a C glossary can be queried making the product a valuable reference for novice and experienced programmers alike.
Master C focuses on ANSI C and covers the history of the C language as well as elements of the language. Other features include the ability to monitor and retain student progress, set bookmarks within lessons, provide feedback on wrong answers, and a "slick" user interface. Master C requires 384K RAM, DOS 3.0 or later, 2.2 Mbytes of hard disk space, and a monochrome or color adapter, and can be purchased for $44.95. Reader Service no. 26.
Waite Group Press 100 Shoreline Hwy., Ste. A-285 Mill Valley, CA 94941 415-331-0575
Free EMS Toolkits are available for C developers from Intel's Personal Computer Enhancement Operation (PCEO). Designed to make it easier to create expanded memory applications in C, Intel hopes these kits make the developer's job easier and the development process faster. The EMS Toolkit for C Developers consists of a set of functions for managing expanded memory in the same manner that conventional memory is managed in C. It promises to alleviate problems with page frames, 16-Kbyte boundaries, and interfacing to an assembly language driver. Call 800-538-3373 for your free copy. Reader service no. 25.
Intel PCEO C03-7 5200 NE Elam Young Pkwy. Hillsboro, OR 97124-6497 503-629-7354
A user-interface class library that supports Borland's Turbo C++ has been announced by Zinc Software. The Zinc Interface Library (ZIL) also supports AT&T's C++ Version 2.0. ZIL allows developers to create applications that run in both graphics and text modes from one set of source code. C++ features include virtual functions, class inheritance, operator overloading, and multiple inheritance.
ZIL's event manager and window manager classes let you create flexible programs. Because the library was designed specifically for C++, you won't inherit problems associated with a "layered" implementation of older C libraries.
The event manager class is the control point for input information and message passing within a program; its two major components are an event queue and a list of devices. The event queue is a block of input elements in a linked list, and the device list contains devices polled by the event manager or interrupt devices that feed directly into the event queue.
The ZIL window manager class contains 17 robust window objects. You can build applications that allow users to mark, copy, cut, and paste between window objects, and each window object editor has an undo/redo capability and is fully customizable.
ZIL includes complete help and error systems for enhancing user interaction with a system. ZIL requires 640K of RAM, a hard disk, and MS-DOS 2.1 or later, but the company recommends MS-DOS 3.1 and a Microsoft mouse. List price is $199.95; no royalty fees are required. Reader service no. 27.
Zinc Software Inc. 405 South 100 East, Ste. 201 Pleasant Grove, UT 84062 801-785-8900
ObjectVision Inc. has come up with a way to develop object-oriented programs visually. With ObjectVision Release 1.0, you can "draw" a program's objects, interface, and database connections and then run the application in ObjectVision or convert it to C++ or Turbo Pascal 5.5. You can create new objects with a click of the mouse and then graphically add attributes and procedures to them.
Draw a line between objects to establish a relationship; create working buttons and switches with the built-in bitmap editor; and visualize and edit object hierarchies with "3-D View." A built-in browser tracks down objects hidden in parts of the diagram you cannot see. A language for writing methods is converted automatically to code in the target language.
DDJ spoke with Andre Maziarzewski, an engineer with ABB Lummus Crest Inc. He said that "ObjectVision's powerful, practical, and flexible graphical development environment gives me an entirely new way of making software development faster and more productive. And because ObjectVision also reduces the effort required to learn and implement OOP, I find it an excellent tool for training in object-oriented methodologies."
Interface functions include a pixel editor, drawing functions, four font sizes, 16 drawing colors, and send to back, move to front, and align to grid functions. You can purchase a demo disk for $30 and ObjectVision 1.0 for $399. Reader service no. 28.
ObjectVision, Inc. 2124 Kittredge St., Ste. 118 Berkeley, CA 94704 415-540-4889