OF INTEREST

EdScheme, a Scheme interpreter developed for educational environments, has been released by Schemers. Supplementing the software, which is available for PCs, Macs, and Amigas, is the companion textbook The Schemer's Guide.

The book sells for $29.95 and the EdScheme interpreter for $49.95. Reader service no. 20.

Schemers Inc.

2136 NE 68th St., Ste. 401

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

305-776-7376

Media Cybernetics has introduced the HALO Image Library which provides a means of adding imaging capabilities to applications. Eventually available for Windows, OS/2, Macintosh, and several UNIX platforms, the toolkit gives application developers over 100 imaging functions and commands, allowing for the development of C programs that can read and store image files in several file formats to perform the processing of the images in memory.

The HALO Imaging Library is divided into several functional groups covering image management (for creating and managing images in memory), conversion (to adjust and refine brightness, contrast, and gamma characteristics, and provide special effects), transformation (rotation, transposing, flipping, or spatial distortion), and file formats (to read/

write TIFF, JPEG, GIF, TGA, PCX, BMP, CUT, and PICT).

The HALO Imaging Library for

Windows costs $595.00. Reader service no. 21.

Media Cybernetics Inc.

8484 Georgia Ave.

Silver Spring, MD 20910

301-495-3305

Object Graphics has released TIMS Tool Kit, a programmer's toolkit for AutoCAD 12. TIMS R12 uses AutoCAD as a graphics engine and provides a wide range of functions, including transparent spatial relationships based on an innovative, object-oriented technology. It also provides easy access to industry-standard databases and other file formats such as Oracle, dBase, and Lotus.

The toolkit's library includes over 200 routines and is written in C, but can be accessed from AutoLISP. The Toolkit sells for $1000.00 and is royalty free. Reader service no. 22.

Object Graphics

400 Stierlin Road

Mountain View, CA 94043

415-968-1500

Captain Crunch, a compression chip from Media Vision, offers real-time compression and decompression of captured video. It delivers video in a 320x245 window at 30 frames per second at standard CD-ROM data rates with 24-bit color. Media Vision says that the chip uses only 20,000 gates compared to 400,000 gates for similar compression silicon.

Video developed using Captain Crunch allows software-only playback on a 386 PC or Macintosh IIci (or higher) without degradation of the picture quality. The video chip sells for $50.00, and an add-in board (available later this year) will cost about $300.00. Reader service no. 23.

Media Vision

3185 Laurelview Court

Fremont, CA 94538

510-770-8600

The Network Basic Library 2.0 from Automation Software Consultants provides Basic programs with access to nearly all of the system services available from Netware. Supported Netware services include services for accounting, bindery management, connection services, directory and file management, locking, messages, printing, queue management, security and rights, semaphores, and the like.

The upgrade adds Netware 386-

specific features such as support for encrypted passwords, file trustees, and Netware 386 rights. Functions providing IPX peer-to-peer message capabilities have also been added to Version 2.0.

The Library supports QuickBasic and is available for $295.00; upgrades from 1.0 and 1.1 are available for $75.00. Reader service no. 24.

ASCI

8188 South State Route 48

Maineville, OH 45039

513-677-0842

Wiseport Data Systems is shipping

C-edit, a new text editor similar to the UNIX vi text editor. This full-screen text editor for major UNIX platforms provides split-windows capabilities, cut/

paste/move within the same file, and edit/merge/maintain of script files. Keystrokes are DOS-like for those who often switch between systems. Shortcuts via custom macros can be created. Advanced functions include "mark" cursor position for instant return, jump to beginning/end of line/file, search forward/backward, and scroll forward/

backward within a page or by line. Scrolling between windows is handled with the PgUp/PgDn keys.

Editing can be disabled for specified users, allowing them to read files only. Editing is made easy by just moving the cursor and altering the text without changing modes.

C-edit is offered for $545.00. Reader service no. 25.

Wiseport Data Systems

3900 Birch Street, Ste. 105

Newport Beach, CA 92660

714-250-2981

Now shipping from Matra MHS is a 80C51 microcontroller with an internal running TAG/ID number. The 80C51T is an 8-bit microcontroller with a factory-programmable 5K ROM and fully static design. The device operates from 0 MHz (DC) to a maximum clock rate of 20 MHz over the full commercial temperature range.

The TAG/ID number is a 64-bit serial number contained in a special-functions register area within the microcontroller. This running serial number is personalized during manufacture and is unique for each part; no two parts can have the same identification number. The TAG/ID contains the lot number, a personalized number, year and laser number, day, month, and serial number.

Typical applications for this device are in vehicle-identification systems, smart credit cards, electronic keys, electronic banking products, and other products that require tracking, tracing, and accountability.

In OEM quantities (10,000 and up), the part costs $9.50 for the P80C52T in 40-pin plastic DIP, 12-MHz operation. Reader service no. 26.

Matra MHS

2201 Laurelwood Road, MS 53

Santa Clara, CA 95056-0951

408-748-9362

Storc Gold 1.0, a form-conversion tool from PractiSys, provides a bridge between Visual Basic and the Windows SDK. The tool converts a Visual Basic form into a Windows Resource Script, to allow programmers to quickly turn a Visual Basic demo into a fully functional product developed using C/C++/Turbo Pascal and the Windows SDK. Storc can also be used to convert any other form displayed by Windows. The conversion tool is available for $39.93 per copy (single user). Reader service no. 27.

A set of Video Decompression Source Kits that support JPEG still images, MPEG full-motion video, and Px64-based video teleconferencing has been released by Performance Computing. The platform-independent VDS kits (written in ANSI C) provide full ANSI compliance for file-to-file conversion and are adaptable to just about any existing application or tool. The complete package includes a video-stream editor, test images, documentation, and a source-code option.

The company is offering five kits: MPEG Encoding, MPEG Decoding, MPEG Audio, JPEG Encoding/Decoding, and Px64 Encoding/Decoding. The individual kits, which support four API calls (create data stream, create frame, decode, and store frame into a format), come with a video bitstream editor and encoded test-image video streams. The VDS kits also sport a unique and efficient video-bitstream error-detection/

recovery scheme that essentially copies the prior "good" frame in place of the "bad" frame.

The kits are not optimized for specific processors. However, Performance's Dave Glass told us that the VDSs have run without modification on DOS/Windows PCs, Macs, Sun UNIX systems, IBM RS/6000s and Cray Superserver S-MPs.

Object-code versions for single-node use sell for $750.00/kit. Contact the company for OEM, source code, and other licensing information. Reader service no. 28.

Performance Computing

1815 SW Marlow Ave.

Portland, OR 97225

503-297-2292

CD Net 4.4 for Netware, an NLM which supports Windows and DOS clients, has been announced by Meridian Data. CD Net extends Netware by providing services and additional functionality required in multiserver environments unique to the CD-ROM storage medium and multimedia applications.

The software allows CD-ROMs to be network configured, either as DOS drives or as native Netware columns, requiring no redirector TSR application in the client workstation. When CD-ROMs are configured as DOS drives, the CD Net redirector minimizes client memory usage, while maintaining compatibility with Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions (MSCDEX).

CD Net for Netware supports ISA, EISA, and MCA I/O bus architectures, accessing up to 28 multisession CD-ROM drives (16.8 gigabytes) per file server through the ASPI SCSI interface. The package includes dynamic load balancing and intelligent caching.

CD Net for Netware server software requires Netware 3.11 or Novell Netware 4.0, or later. CD Net requires Microsoft Windows 3.1, MS-DOS 5.0, or PC-DOS 5.0 or later.

The software starts at $645.00 for the server with a ten-user license. The software can support up to 250 concurrent users, and is configurable at the time of initial purchase or through subsequent license upgrades. Reader service no. 29.

Meridian Data

5615 Scotts Valley Drive

Scotts Valley, CA 95066

408-438-3100

Silicon Studio, a new professional video and film postproduction system for the IRIS Indigo platform, has been announced by Silicon Graphics. Central to the system is a video server called the Challenge--a symmetric multiprocessing server that supports up to 36 CPUs, 16 gigabytes of main memory, and multiple concurrent streams of real-time video data. The server stores up to 30 hours of uncompressed online video.

Other components of the Challenge-based system are the Galileo Video adapter, the Cosmo Compress JPEG compression system, and Sirius Video digital video board. The Galileo adapter delivers real-time, frame-by-frame input and output of analog video as well as S-video and composite formats. Cosmo Compress enables real-time video capture and playback of full-frame-rate, full-resolution digital movies. The Sirius board blends real-time digital video processing, computer-generated graphics, 3-D geometry, and image processing into a single system. Reader service no. 30.

Silicon Graphics

2011 N. Shoreline Blvd.

Mountain View, CA 94043-1389

415-390-3365

TCS Limited has released the Security Expert's Assistant (SEA), a set of software utilities for developers who use DES cryptography for financial or non-financial applications.

SEA brings all the standard and many common proprietary, cryptographic algorithms together into a single package for DOS PCs so that programmers can create and use test keys, calculate PINs and PIN blocks, and generate and verify MACs. All ANSI and VISA standards are supported. SEA also provides a cryptographic scripting language which allows developers to create custom algorithms and procedures. Reader service no. 31.

TCS (Canada) Ltd.

Suite 202, Oakville Corporate Centre

700 Dorval Drive

Oakville, Ontario

Canada L6K 3V3

A library of digital photographic textures, called Pixar One Twenty Eight, has been released by Pixar. The 128 images, which typically would be used as backgrounds or fills for graphic applications, include a variety of textures for bricks, fabrics, fences, floors, ground covers, metals, roofs, sidings, animal skins, stones, walls, wood, and so on. The library can be used by any application that reads the TIFF file format.

The library, delivered on ISO 9660 CD-ROM, includes both 512x512x24-bit and 128x128x8-bit versions of the images. Each image was photographed from original material, then processed in a custom texture lab. Plug-ins are available for both Photoshop on the Macintosh and Photoshop and PhotoStyler on Windows.

The Pixar One Twenty Eight library sells for $299.00. Reader service no. 32.

In a recently released report on C and C++, Lucid claims that a majority of the 63 organizations surveyed (12 of which were Lucid customers) were either currently programming in C++ or planning to move to C++ in the near future. According to Lucid, the study also indicated that "74 percent of the market has more than 100,000 lines of code with an overall average of 450,000 lines of code." (It's worth noting that Lucid is a C/C++ vendor.)

For a copy of the report, contact Lucid or request it from dearmon@lucid.com. Reader service no. 33.