CNS has released multiplatform versions of C++/Views, an object-oriented development environment now available for Windows, OS/2, and the Macintosh platforms.
With nearly 100 C++ classes, C++/Views also includes a C++ class browser that supports project management, class browsing and editing, class hierarchy management, and integrated compile and go. With C++/Views you can write your application once and simply recompile and execute it on all the supported platforms.
The Windows version costs $495; Mac and OS/2 versions sell for $895. Reader service no. 20.
CNS Inc. 1250 Park Road Chanhassen, MN 55317-9260 612-474-7600
The FUSION TCP/IP Developer's Kit (FDK) for Windows, which allows developers to distribute windows applications across multivendor networks via TCP/IP, has been released by Network Research. The FDK provides TCP/IP network and transport services by supporting Windows' DLL. Linking the FUSION DLL to the application at runtime allows access to FUSION's TCP/IP protocols.
The FDK's unique feature is a set of modules you can link with your networking interface. The modules help isolate differences between TCP/IP socket-oriented and Windows' message-based communications protocols. When compiled and linked with a Windows program, the modules improve the interface with the FUSION TCP/IP DLL and help speed up development.
To obtain the FDK, you must purchase FUSION TCP/IP for DOS ($295) and a maintenance contract ($100). Reader service no. 21.
Network Research 2380 N. Rose Ave. Oxnard, CA 93030 805-485-2700 or 800-541-9508
New versions of SPARCworks and the SPARCompiler are now available from SunPro. Developed for Solaris 2.0, the UNIX System, V Release 4-based operating environment from SunSoft, SPARCworks, and the SPARCompiler offer significant enhancements for development in C++, ANSI C, Fortran, and Pascal.
SPARCworks now allows you to browse and graphically display program structures, including C++ class hierarchies; debug optimized code; collect and analyze application and system performance data; compare and merge multiple versions of files; view and control system build procedures; and launch and manage individual session tasks. SPARCworks also now uses ToolTalk, the interapplication communication protocol from SunSoft.
New releases of SPARCompiler products are SPARCompiler C++ 3.0, based on the UNIX Systems Laboratories de facto standard, Cfront 3.0, and offering parameterized types; SPARCompiler C 2.0, supporting ANSI and K&R C, 64-bit integer data types, and migration tools for moving from SVR3 to SVR4 and from K&R to ANSI C; SPARCompiler Fortran 2.0, featuring faster I/O performance, 64-bit integer data types, and improved viewing of array data within the SPARCworks debugger. Prices range from $1750 for SPARCworks Professional C to $2195 for SPARCworks Professional Fortran. The SPARCompiler runs from $695 for C to $1075 for Fortran. Volume discounts available. Reader service no. 22.
SunPro 2550 Garcia Ave. Mountain View, CA 94043-1100 415-960-1300
Blaise Computing now supports Turbo Vision applications in Turbo C++ with version 2.0 of its Turbo Vision Development Toolkit. The toolkit is a set of utilities and an object class library that includes a resource editor for interactively creating or changing dialog boxes and other resources, a utility to convert Turbo Vision resources into Windows resource script files, and object and class libraries that extend Turbo Vision's capabilities.
Source code for all objects and utilities is included for the price of $149. Reader service no. 23.
Blaise Computing Inc. 819 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94710 415-540-5441
MULTI, the new source-level debugger from Oasys, is multitarget, multilanguage, multiwindow, and multiprocess, and can be used for native and cross development. With it, you can simultaneously debug applications written in C++, C, Pascal, Fortran, and assembly.
MULTI lets you display variable, class, and reference windows, and set breakpoints on overloaded or member functions. It automatically demangles symbol names, associates C++ source lines with addresses in the executable, disambiguates references to overloaded functions and operators, and allows you to debug inline procedures. In conjunction with the Green Hills native or cross C++ compilers, MULTI also provides automatic resolution of class base types such as virtual functions and displays complex class structures, including multiple inheritance.
MULTI has a completely customizable graphical user interface based on the industry standard X Window environment, making its user interface easy to learn and consistent across platforms. MULTI can be used to debug single or multiple processes native or remote to the processor it is running on, and the same debugger can interface to several remote devices without relinking or modification. You can test your applications by configuring MULTI to interface directly with various debug execution environments via a UNIX ptrace command interface or your own ptrace-based interface.
MULTI is available for Sun-4 SPARC and DECstations. Prices for cross development start at $2000; for native development, $1000. Reader service no. 24.
Oasys One Cranberry Hill Lexington, MA 02173 617-862-2002
First Class Software has announced Profile/V, an interactive performance analysis tool for Smalltalk/V. Profile/V shows where time is being spent: which methods are most expensive and which statements within each method are the costliest.
Profile/V operates by periodically sampling the Smalltalk activation stack to create a tree of the methods used while executing a block of code, weighted by which methods took the most time. The tree is displayed as an indented list in a browser. By selecting a node in the tree you can bring up the source code of the associated method in one text pane and a profile of time spent in the method's statements in another.
Also included is a filtering mechanism called "gathering," which merges all the profiles of a selected method into a single tree. This allows you to compare the profile of mutually recursive methods from the perspective of any method and can also collect and show the performance impact of utility routines.
Profile/V comes with a tutorial explaining optimization strategies in Smalltalk and costs $299. Reader service no. 25.
First Class Software P.O. Box 226 Boulder Creek, CA 95006-0226 408-338-4649
The LPI-C++ 32-bit compiler for commercial application development in multi-platform UNIX environments is now available from Liant. Packaged with CodeWatch, Liant's source-level debugger, LPI-C++ allows you to build portable C++ applications.
LPI-C++ is a complete "2.1" implementation of C++ as Ellis and Stroustrop describe it in The Annotated C++ Reference Manual, and has compile-time switch compatibility with Cfront, ANSI C, and K&R C. The compiler includes an optimizer that reduces program size and improves runtime performance using global common subexpression elimination, branch chaining, loop induction, loop unrolling, and subroutine inlining. LPI-C++ gives you error messages that clearly identify the type, severity, and exact location of programming errors and attempt to specify probable corrections.
DDJ spoke with Matthias Neugebauer of BKS Software in Berlin, who is developing an OOP database development environment for C++. "LPI-C++ is good for making the final version of a product but not for development. There are performance problems with the compiler, but not with the generated code," says Neugebauer. "I will use it to test conformance to C++ specifications, because this is the only compiler that has that capability."
LPI-C++ is initially available on 386- and 486-based systems running UNIX, Version 3, and will soon be available for Version 4 and for SPARC systems running SunOS. Interaction with the debugger is through either the X-Window graphical interface or a character-based interface. The introductory price is $695 per copy; $1295 with CodeWatch. Reader service no. 26.
Liant Software Corp. 959 Concord St. Framingham, MA 01701 800-237-1874
Anthora is the new relational database development tool for Windows 3.0 from Exxitus Corp. Among Anthora's many features are two report generators, one of which creates a .dbf file with the report; the ability to run on a network or as a stand-alone product; a browser that lets you display and update indexed and related databases simultaneously; a dialog editor that allows you to work at the object level, with access to windows and custom controls; the ability to store graphical information as part of the field inside a database, with support for Bitmaps and Metafiles; DDE and DLL; an interpreted language similar in structure to C; and a compiler.
Anthora costs $295; the compiler is $89. Reader service no. 27.
Evolution Trading Inc. 7206 NW 31st St. Miami, FL 33122 305-593-1516
A new set of parallel-processing development tools for the TMS320C40 parallel DSP chip is available from Texas Instruments. The set includes tools for hardware development and verification such as the XDS510 scan-based parallel emulator, and a Parallel-Processing Development System (PPDS) that simplify design and debugging. Also included are code generation tools that support writing code using the parallel-processing capability of the C40. An example is TI's ANSI C compiler with parallel-processing runtime support. The additional component of the set is software tools, which include a C and assembly source debugger that support the development, debugging, and benchmarking of parallel processors.
Contact Texas Instruments for pricing. Reader service no. 28.
Texas Instruments P.O. Box 809066 Dallas, TX 75380 800-336-5236 x 700
Magic Fields from Blue Sky Software is a new tool for Windows data field validation. With it, you can point and click to add pre- and custom-defined data entry fields, instead of writing the code to do input checking.
Magic Fields consists of a collection of objects that perform data field validation, including numeric, text, alphanumeric, date, currency, dollars, phone numbers, social security numbers, and so on. The custom-defined object can be used to define fields not in the collection. Magic Fields supports international date and currency formats and can be used with any standard Windows dialog editor. The price is $295. Reader service no. 29.
Blue Sky Software 1224 Prospect St., Suite 155 La Jolla, CA 92037 619-459-6365
A low-cost logic circuit simulator has been designed by K.E. Ayers and Associates specifically for beginners in digital electronics. The LogicLab Explorer software package simulates on the PC a logic workbench that includes a wire-wrap "breadboard" with a capacity of up to 40 16-pin DIP packages; a "parts cabinet" with common 74LS-series IC devices, push-button switches, LED, and 7-segment indicators, and a programmable signal source; a 16-channel logic analyzer; and a wire wrap "gun."
To aid in constructing circuits a graphical windowing system is also included. LogicLab Explorer costs $49.95. Reader service no. 30.
K.E. Ayers & Associates 7825 Larchwood St. Dublin, OH 43017 614-792-2473
Two new books from Addison-Wesley are Visual Design with OSF/Motif, by Shiz Kobara, and The X Window System: A User's Guide, by Niall Mansfield. Kobara's book shows planners and designers how to take advantage of the 3-D graphic capabilities of the OSF/Motif user interface via step-by-step tutorials and over 200 illustrations.
Mansfield's volume gives an overview of the X Window system, a list of available software, an installation guide, and a road map to the documentation. Many code examples, screen shots, tips, and warnings are included. Reader service no. 31.
Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867 617-944-3700
ProductOne SnapShot from Digital ChoreoGraphics is a new 3-D CAD visualization tool. SnapShot allows you to view a shaded 3-D CAD file in proper perspective and lighting over any digitized background scene with optional animation. It uses an interactive menu structure to achieve quick renderings on a wide range of systems. SnapShot also allows you to envision any object or group of objects at any stage of completion in either wireframe, hidden surface, shaded, or dithered view modes. Additional features include an intuitive GUI, a virtual color palette, and the ability to simulate photographic effects on the PC screen.
Background images can be in GIF, PCX, or PDS formats; CAD files can be in AutoCAD DXF, Design CAD-3D, and NASA PDS formats. SnapShot sells for $295. Educational discounts are available. Reader service no. 32.
Digital ChoreoGraphics 1763 Orange Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92627 800-326-1969
Copyright © 1991, Dr. Dobb's Journal