WindowBuilder/V, an interactive interface builder for Smalltalk/V Windows from Acumen Software, is a powerful point-and-click interface editor for rapidly designing Windows user interfaces.
An interface is built by moving, sizing, and editing interface components directly on screen. You can test interface examples as you create them, facilitating rapid prototyping. Other features include full-featured menu and menu bar editors, component alignment and distribution tools, and a sizing specification editor. WindowBuilder retails for $149.95. Reader service no. 20.
Acumen Software 2140 Shattuck Ave., Suite 1008 Berkeley, CA 94704 415-649-0601
ImageMan is an object-oriented Windows library from Data Techniques that allows you to add advanced image display and print capabilities to Windows applications. ImageMan allows applications to access all types of images with the same set of standard function calls, thus reducing development time. It supports TIFF, PCX, Encapsulated Postscript, Windows Metafile, and Bitmap image formats.
Because it is supplied as a Windows DLL, ImageMan can be used with C, C++, Turbo Pascal for Windows, Visual Basic, Smalltalk/V, Actor, and more.
ImageMan is priced at $395, $995 with source code, and is royalty free. Reader service no. 21.
Data Techniques Inc. 1000 Business Center Drive, Suite 120 Savannah, GA 31405 800-868-8003 or 912-651-8003
Greenleaf Comm++, a C++ class library for asynchronous communications, has been released by Greenleaf Software. Classes provided include those for serial port controls, modem controls, file transfer protocols, and calculation of check values. Additional classes support hardware dependent features. Comm++ will accommodate interrupt-driven circular buffered service for up to 32 ports at up to 115K bps.
Comm++, including full source code and technical support, sells for $199. Reader service no. 22.
Greenleaf Software 16479 Dallas Parkway, Suite 570 Dallas, TX 75248 800-523-9830 or 214-248-2561
The Stork installation software has been released by Island Systems. The system includes tools for configuring the diskette organization, creating a complete user interface, specifying systems checks, and building the media set. Unique features include the ability to tailor the product installation to the characteristics of the end user's system, a simulation mode to test the installation and the product without loading a diskette, and automatic creation of an optimal installation procedure for different disk sizes. As far as modifications due to product revisions, the Stork can incorporate changes in a number of minutes. Priced at $175. Reader service no. 23.
Island Systems 7 Mountain Road Burlington, MA 01803 617-273-0421
MetWINDOW/PREMIUM, the graphics development system from Metagraphics, is available for use with either 286 and 386 protected-mode DOS extenders or PC Unix systems and supports almost all popular PC graphics hardware.
MetWINDOW/PREMIUM adds expanded graphics functionality with complete sets of X Window-compliant and transparent rasterOps. It implements Metagraphics' new hyper-cursor technology, supporting solid-state colored cursors up to 32 x 32 pixels in size, for running in high-resolution display modes of 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 or above.
MetWINDOW/PREMIUM for DOS sells for $595; for Unix, $795. Reader service no. 24.
Metagraphics Software Corp. P.O. Box 66779 Scotts Valley, CA 95066 408-438-1550
The Tigre Programming Environment from Tigre Object Systems is a multiplatform application builder that lets you build GUI applications to run on Macintosh, MS-Windows, Sun, IBM R/6000, DEC, HP, and other workstations. Color applications built with Tigre run without modification on any of these platforms. Applications generated by Tigre are in Smalltalk, using ParcPlace Systems' Objectworks\Smalltalk Release 4, which must be purchased separately.
Tigre includes a library of tested user interface object classes (or widgets) and tools to manipulate them. To build an application, choose from a variety of buttons, text editors, and picture viewers; place the widget into your new Tigre program; modify it with drawing tools: connect it to your Smalltalk code; and test it. Developing with Tigre is quick because an application can be modified while the program is running. The modification is ready for use immediately, without restarting or recompiling.
Tom Soon, a research scientist at Pacific Bell, commented, "I have been using Smalltalk to create proof-of-concept prototypes for over three years. With Tigre to help in creating the graphical user interfaces, I now spend significantly less time than it took to program them in Smalltalk."
Also included is Tigris, Tigre's multi-user, object-oriented persistent-object store. This database allows access to any arbitrary type of data, including variable length text, icons, images, sounds, or any type of object. Connections can be established quickly between any interface component and its underlying data representation, making it easy to build even the most complex information processing applications.
Tigre is priced at $3500 for a single user license on any of the above platforms. Reader service no. 25.
Tigre Object Systems 3004 Mission St., Suite D Santa Cruz, CA 95060 408-427-4900
Microsoft has released a Source Profiler that generates four different types of diagnostic information about a program as it executes: the length of time taken to execute selected lines or functions; the number of instances selected lines or functions are executed, thus identifying overly used loops or functions and eliminating the need to insert counters to test code, whether a line or function was exercised; and a relative comparison of the time spent in each of the program symbols. Output files of statistics from individual Profiler sessions can be combined to reveal how the program behaves during test suites.
The profiler features choice of lines or functions, a low memory requirement, and extensive capacity and invocation options. It uses compiler-generated input from Microsoft's CodeView debugger to determine line and function symbols. You can profile all a program's lines or functions or specify only certain parts.
Because the profiler occupies only about 80K, you can test memory-intensive applications. Also, by using virtual memory for its own data collection, the Source Profiler can keep track of an unlimited number of lines or functions.
Also available is the Windows Debugging Version. A standard component of the Windows SDK, the debugging version can now be purchased separately, and used with any Microsoft or third-party Windows development tool. The debugging version displays information on a second monitor or COM port, which alerts programmers to problems with the use or management of Windows resources during application development. It validates parameters, checks API calls, performs check/sums on code segments, tracks Windows handles, and provides other types of feedback.
The Source Profiler costs $79 ($49.95 for registered Microsoft product users); it can be used with the following Microsoft products: Microsoft C, Fortran, Basic, Macro Assembler, Cobol, Pascal compiler, QuickBasic, and QuickC Compiler with QuickAssembler. The debugging version is $195. Reader service no. 26.
Microsoft Corp. One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 206-882-8080
The new release of the 386| DOS-Extender from Phar Lap (version 4.0) is DPMI-compliant, allowing multi-mega-byte Extended-DOS applications to run under Windows 3.0's enhanced mode and any future DPMI-compliant multitasking environments. Windows support lets you communicate between Windows and Extended-DOS applications through the Windows Clipboard, facilitating text and graphics interchange.
In addition to DPMI, the 386| DOS-Extender supports all other industry standards: INT 15; VCPI, allowing you to work with EMS emulators; XMS, providing compatibility with DOS 5.0 and Windows' standard mode; and VDS.
The 386| DOS-Extender SDK is available for $495, updates from Version 3.0 are free, and from Version 2.2d they are $150 for 386| DOS-Extender SDK and $25 for 386| VMM, the virtual memory add-in driver. Reader service no. 27.
Phar Lap Software Inc. 60 Aberdeen Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138 617-661-1510
Rational Systems recently released four new products: DOS/4G, BigWin, WinServe, and DOS/16M. DOS/4G is a 32-bit DOS extender for 80386/486 architecture. It allows DOS extended applications to run as DOS programs under any DPMI-compliant operating system. Thus, you can run 32-bit applications in protected mode. DOS/4G requires little memory, and its linear addressing model provides a single address, making extended memory easier to access and resulting in better compiler code. It supports real-time applications and TSRs and is compatible with Virtual control Program Interface and XMS extended memory standards.
BigWin is a DOS extender for 32-bit windows programs, with which you can use Windows' enhanced mode. Features include source code compatibility, compiler independence, and zero-based flat model addressing. Applications created using BigWin can be linked with 16- or 32-bit industry standard DLLs, allowing you to call and debug other programs from within Windows.
The WinServe toolkit is for transforming existing programs into Windows 3.0 applications. It supports communication between Windows front-end and DOS back-end programs; memory sharing; a standard DLL that exports an API for Windows application use; an object file containing an API for use by DOS/16M applications; a built-in debugger; and a Windows 3.0 virtual device driver.
DOS/16M is a 16-bit DOS extender for creating DOS programs that require large amounts of memory. Using it, you can expand the functionality of DOS applications with little modification.
Prices for DOS/4G range from $5000-25,000, depending on configuration; Big-Win, WinServe, and DOS/16M begin at $5000. Reader service no. 28.
Rational Systems Inc. 220 No. Main St. Natick, MA 01760 508-653-6006
Wanim, a sprite animation DLL designed for building multimedia, educational, and video game software, is AND-XOR Systems' latest release. Wanim is a fast multitasking DLL that can be used with any Windows 3.0-compatible language.
Using Wanim you can change sprite display priority on-the-fly, create and position multiple animation zones anywhere within a window, scroll background images, detect collisions, and generate masks. Algorithmic sprites allow you to create animation objects using Windows' text, line, rectangle, and ellipse drawing functions. Algorithmic and bitmap sprites may be combined.
Wanim works with any Windows-supported graphics mode. The price is $69, with source code $99. Demo disks cost $5. Reader service no. 29.
AND-XOR Systems 1107 Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 167 South Pasadena, CA 91030 213-969-4081
A Data Compression Library is now available from PKWARE that lets you add state-of-the-art data compression technology to your applications. The routines are flexible and allow complete control over the input and output data. The application program specifies where the compressed data is sent or where the data is to be extracted.
The library features an all-purpose data compression algorithm for ASCII or Binary data; application controlled I/O and memory allocation; a generic compression routine format; a dictionary of adjustable size compatibility with C, Pascal, Basic, Fortran, Assembly, and Clipper compilers, as well as others; a requirement of 35K of memory for compression and 12K for extraction; and the ability to work with any 80x86 family CPU in real or protected mode.
The Data Compression Library sells for $295 plus shipping and handling. Reader service no 30.
PKWARE Inc. 9025 North Deerwood Drive Brown Deer, WI 53223 414-354-8699
Huntsville Microsystems has released the HMI-200-68020 emulator and the HMI-240-EC020 adaptor to support the Motorola 68EC020 microprocessor. They support speeds of 16 and 25 MHz and provide real-time emulation, four complex break and trigger points, and two 4K x 4-bit trace buffers, including 16 external trace bits and 32 bits of time tag information. The unit has 256K bytes of emulation memory with an option for 1, 2, or 4 Mbytes.
The emulator is integrated with SourceGate, a window-driven, high-level language debugger that supports C, Pascal, and Ada compilers and shows the user's code in either source or assembly code or both. Customizable watch windows can be displayed to monitor specific memory locations or other variables.
A transparently operating, real-time performance analysis and test coverage option is also included. Up to eight modules can be defined; time elapsed in each module is displayed in histograms relative to the total test time. The emulator, including SourceGate, costs $12,000 for the 16-MHz version and $17,500 for the 25-MHz version. Software support for Sun and Apollo workstations is $2000; the performance analysis option is $2500. Reader service no. 31.
Huntsville Microsystems Inc. P.O. Box 12415 Huntsville, AL 35815 205-881-6005
Copyright © 1991, Dr. Dobb's Journal