Of Interest

COS, an object-oriented extension to C, has been released by Algorithms Corporation. COS, short for "C-language Object System," does not have a preprocessor and does not make changes to the C syntax. It supports multiple inheritance, has true dynamic binding, provides a full metaclass system, has enforced encapsulation, automatic garbage collection, multiple threads, named pipes, and the like. COS provides a class library that is used to represent all standard C types as objects, container classes to provide link lists, sets, and dictionaries; a date class, and strong numeric formatting capabilities.

The system comes in two flavors for MS-DOS development: Developer and Source editions. The Developer edition includes documentation; ready-to-run libraries that are compatible with Microsoft C/C++ 8.0, Watcom C/C++32 9.5 (Visual C/C++), and Borland C++ 3.1; example programs; and C source for most of the class libraries. Additionally, the Source edition includes entire C source to the COS system (required to compile under UNIX) and COS kernel, Also included are an entire class library and garbage collector, as well as Pipe, Thread, and Semaphor classes.

The Developer edition sells for $99.00, and Source edition for $499.00. Reader service no. 20.

Algorithm Corporation

3020 Liberty Hills Dr.

Franklin, TN 37064

In support of "enterprise-wide instrumentation" for embedded-systems developers, Tektronix has introduced an X Windows-compatible (X11/R4) implementation of its digital-analysis system called "Enterprise DAS." With Enterprise DAS, software and hardware engineers can work simultaneously at their respective workstations and, for instance, run a high-level debugger in one window and see the same code in a real-time trace in another.

Designed for heterogeneous environments where multiple workstations need to access a single digital-analysis system, Enterprise DAS supports real-time trace, state and timing analysis, complex triggering, and channel counts.

The Enterprise DAS works with OpenLook or Motif window managers, requires no X Windows toolkit, and uses X resources to select a variety of options, including color, window size, and server. Reader service no. 21.

Test and Measurement Group

Pittsfield, MA 01202

LogiCraft's CyberNet Object Database DLL is a database-management system that implements an object-oriented architecture to minimize data duplication by automatically indexing objects for fast retrieval, compressing/decompressing data on-the-fly, and making network access transparent to the user. Object records can be of variable size and complexity, while the number and size of each field can change.

The system can be used from any Microsoft Windows application that supports the registration of DLL functions or from any Windows-compatible programming language. The DLL can be shared between several applications running simultaneously on the same machine, and database file can be accessed by multiple users when needed.

LogiCraft sells the CyberNet Object Database DLL for $250.00. Reader service no. 22.

LogiCraft Corp.

3303 116 Street

DBS GmbH has introduced Ad Oculos, a software development kit for digital image processing under Microsoft Windows. The software gives you access to image analysis with minimal hardware requirements. Typical tasks include robot vision, quality control, and analysis of satellite photographs. You can also use Ad Oculos to process photos, TIFF files, and gray-level images using local and global operators, region and contour segmentation, Fourier and Hough transforms, morphing, pattern recognition, and image-sequence analysis.

Ad Oculos includes frame grabbers, more than 50 basic algorithms with C source code, and documentation.

User-defined algorithms can also be integrated into the program's frame structure. Algorithms are delivered as DLLs and can be used independently of Ad Oculos in programs such as C/C++, Visual Basic, or Turbo Pascal.

The price for Ad Oculos is $470.00. Reader service no. 23.

Fahrenheitstr. 1

+49-421-2208 161

CompuServe: 100013,115

Data Structures 1.0, released by Natural Systems, is a Turbo Pascal container-object hierarchy which lets you use optimized and verified data structures about the same way you'd declare a variable. Data Structures, which is divided into three major groups (deques, lists, and trees), is an object hierarchy of the data structures commonly used for applications such as spreadsheets and word processors. Also included are structures for sparse matrices and Huffman encoding. A C++ version is forthcoming.

Data Structures sells for $49.00. Reader service no. 24.

Natural Systems

Brookline, MA 02146

The Association of Shareware Professionals has published The Shareware Compendium, "a try before you buy" guide to over 700 cross-referenced and indexed pages about 1100 programs marketed through the shareware concept. Each listing in this title has descriptions, hardware and software requirements, registration fees, and benefits of registration. Separate appendices list the programs by author or company and how to contact them, how to order, and how to get support. Also listed are BBSs and disk vendors from whom evaluation copies can be obtained. All evaluation copies are either free or quite inexpensive. Edited by Rob Rosenberger, The Shareware Compendium is available in bookstores or directly from the Association for $24.95; ISBN 1-55623-914-9. Reader service no. 25.

Association of Shareware Professionals

545 Grover Road

Muskegon, MI 49442-9427

Cygnus Support and Advanced Micro Devices are providing evaluation/development kits that include Am29205-based hardware and GNU software. The kit includes a 29K board and GNU C/C++ compilers, debugger, assembler, linker, binary utilities, and documentation. DOS-based tools are available on 3.5-inch disks; Sun SPARC tools are on CD-ROM.

The evaluation kit is available from AMD for $595.00. Reader service no. 26.

1937 Landings Drive

Mountain View, CA 94043

IntegrAda for Windows from Aetech offers a complete Ada development system for creating Windows applications. This integrated Ada environment encapsulates a validated Ada compiler with a Microsoft C-compatible interface, Windows help and header files, Windows resource and help compilers, linker, and a full set of Ada windows libraries.

IntegrAda for Microsoft Windows is available for $495.00. Reader service no. 27.

5841 Edison Place, Suite 110

Carlsbad, CA 92008

TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols by W. Richard Stevens has been released by Addison-Wesley. The book provides an inside look at TCP/IP protocols and explains how the protocols work under a variety of implementations--SunOS 4.1.3, Solaris 2.2, System V Release 4, BSD/386, AIX 3.2.2, and 4.4BSD--and relates these implementations to the RFC standards. Stevens also explains the newest features of TCP/IP. Future volumes are planned to cover other facets of TCP/IP.

The hardcover copy is available for $47.50; ISBN 0-2-1-63346-9. Reader service no. 28.

Reading, MA 01867

The Intelligent Tools Library (ITL), a C library for device-control software, has been released by Intelligent Tools. ITL functions provide high-level control over hardware-interrupt management, control of DMA hardware, access to DPMI services, and access to VDS. The DMA routines, for instance, simplify the implementation of interrupt and/or DMA-driven operations by consolidating common sequences of operations into a single function call. All ITL functions are written in assembler; an alternate function-call interface is provided for applications written in assembly.

The Intelligent Tools Library sells for $195.00. Reader service no. 29.

Intelligent Tools

Abilene, TX 79608

21 CenNet has announced a software system called "MobileWare" that lets mobile users connect with nonmobile systems over wireless and landline telephone networks. E-mail, faxes, files, and printed documents can be sent and received in compressed and encrypted form between portable computing devices and company LANs.

Documents are created using Windows applications, and are sent via the carrier of choice to a MobilWare LAN server. Disconnected transmissions reconnect automatically from the point of drop without loss of information. Cost can be kept down if messages are sent and received simultaneously, and data compression is used to reduce file size. Priority can also be given to messages, allowing you to take advantage of low rates (night runs) when messages are of low priority. Incorporation of the Data Encryption Standard ensures security of passwords and information.

The MobilWare software system starts at $500.00. Reader service no. 30.

2425 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1001

Richardson, TX 75080-2746

With Postman's Sort, a general-purpose file-sorting utility developed by Robert Ramey Software, you can sort a 100,000-record file (consisting of alphabetical records 15 bytes long) in 25 seconds on a 386/33. Similarly, a file of 10,000 records takes about 3 seconds.

The program runs standalone or can be called from another program and there's no limit on file size. Field types accommodated include alphabetic, signed/unsigned binary, packed decimal, ASCII numeric, and IEEE floating point, and are fixed, variable, and data delimited. Windows and DOS protected-mode versions exploit all extended memory to minimize sorting time.

The kit is available for DOS (with standard versions for the 8086, a 16-bit protected mode version for the 80286, or a 32-bit protected mode version for the 80386), OS/2 1.x or 2.x, or a Windows, stand-alone version.

The SDK is available for $149.00. Reader service no. 31.

Robert Ramey Software Development

3949 1/2 Foothill Road

Santa Barbara, CA 93110

WinLite, a compression utility for Windows executable programs, has been released by Rosenthal Engineering. WinLite compresses all Windows files (resources, bitmaps, and the like) and enables automatic extraction that's transparent to users. No source-code modification or additional linking is required for the compressed, self-loading programs. For example, the program shrinks the 180K Windows Solitaire game to less than 77K.

WinLite is available for $149.00. Reader service no. 32.

Rosenthal Engineering

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

RGB Spectrum's SynchroMaster 300 is designed for real-time image fusion applications. In simulation, for instance, SynchroMaster 300 allows the production of images of greater complexity than a single computer or scene generator can produce in real time; in medical imaging, you can use it for comparative analysis of real and synthetic images. One image is used as the foreground and the other as the background. The background signal is digitized and written to a 1280x1024 frame buffer, synchronized to and combined with the foreground signal.

Images are combined by using a chroma key, a luminance key, or a weighted sum algorithm. The mixer incorporates a frame-store synchronizer to allow the mixing of asynchronous images from disparate sources. Reader service no. 33.

950 Marina Village Parkway

Alameda, CA 94501

Articulate Systems Inc. and Voice Processing Corp. announced a strategic alliance to develop advanced desktop communications applications for Apple's new DSP-based Centris 660AV and Quadra 840AV Macs. The two companies said one of their first products will be a over-the-telephone speech recognition system for any Macintosh. Among the target application will be a personal messaging and telephony station, in which voice mail, e-mail, facsimile, and speech-recognition will be integrated to offer users automated functionality.

Shipment for the first products, with the brand name "PowerSecretary," is planned soon. Reader service no. 34.

Voice Processing Corp.

One Main Street

Cambridge, MA 02142

Copyright © 1993, Dr. Dobb's Journal