OF INTEREST

Visual Parse++, a visual parsing generator from SandStone Technology, is designed to provide developers with parsing technology for user commands, protocols, data-file structures, edit-field validators, user parameter files, scripting, tagged data, formatted files, and data filters. Using regular expression and BNF-like notation, the lexing and parsing engines let you define multiple expression lists and push and pop them as regular expressions are matched. The tool also provides advanced error recovery as well as error tokens and supports Unicode, DBCS, and any 32-bit quantity.

Visual Parse++ works by creating tables and a skeleton application for a developer from a specification. Support for C, C++, and REXX is currently included. The current version supports OS/2, with a Windows implementation forthcoming. Visual Parse++ for OS/2 sells for $699.00.

SandStone Technology

70 Tidwell Lane

Henderson, NV 89014

Strategic Mapping has extended its AtlasView SDK 4.1 for creating mapping software to support Powersoft's PowerBuilder. The AtlasView SDK lets you create apps that enable users to connect their own information to digital maps through relational database-management systems. Information can be linked by street address, postal code, city, county, state, and region, depending on the type of information and geographic data available. With AtlasView support, PowerBuilder developers can now access Strategic Mapping's 1.5 gigabytes of digital maps.

Strategic Mapping

3135 Kifer Road

Santa Clara, CA 95051

CheckSig, a signature-verification engine that verifies both scanned and online signature samples, has been released by Fficiency Software. CheckSig, a DLL designed to be used with Windows 3.1 or higher, lets you retrieve both online signature formats and the scanned formats directly from disk files. As a C library, the CheckSig engine can be adapted to virtually any operating environment.

The SDK includes programming and testing documentation. Also included are sample code for implementing program calls and for collecting custom stroke (mouse) data for use in nonpen operating environments.

Fficiency Software

1776 North State

Novell has begun shipping the Novell Embedded Systems Technology (NEST) 1.0 SDK to OEMs who want to build network technology and services directly into electronic devices such as printers and copiers, security systems, building controls, settops, and home appliances. Early NEST licensees include Ricoh, Fujitsu, Lexmark, Digital Products, QMS, Canon, Andover Controls, Xerox, IC Card, Securicor Telecoms, and Castelle.

NEST devices can plug directly into Novell's networks and take advantage of NetWare services, security, and management facilities. Written in C, NEST is hardware, processor, and operating-system independent; it is open and extensible by both Novell and others. Written in C, NEST is designed for embedded-system developers who need to port software from one platform to another. The NEST architecture employs a building-block approach, so developers need only include those functions and software modules required by their embedded systems. The NEST SDK provides software tools for testing SPX and IPX protocols as well as printer applications. The NEST 1.0 SDK includes source code, documentation, training, test tools, and support.

122 E. 1700 South

Provo, UT 73606

Apple has begun shipping Release 16 of its MPW Pro and E.T.O.: Essentials*Tools*Objects software, which includes the first beta release of MrC and MrCpp, new C and C++ compilers for developing native Power Macintosh applications. These compilers operate up to four times faster than the native version of PPCC, Apple's first C/C++ compiler for Power Macintosh. The release also includes an alpha release of PPCLink, the MPW-based linker for development of native Power Macintosh applications. This version is a native tool and generates executable applications directly.

Other parts of the release include PPCAsm 1.1, the PowerPC assembler, which supports symbolic debugging, a beta release of MPW p2c, an Object Pascal to C/C++ source-code translation system, MacApp 3.1.2, Ad Lib 2.0.1 (a user-interface editing tool for building views for the MacApp 3.x application framework), and an alpha release of the Code Fragment Manager (CFM) run-time software for 680x0-based Macintosh systems.

MPW Pro, which sells for $495.00, is distributed on CD-ROM and comes with a development environment, compilers (C, C++, assembler), debuggers, and testing tools for development of 680x0- and PowerPC-based Macintosh systems. E.T.O. sells for $1095.00 on a three-issue-per-year, CD-ROM-based subscription.

Buffalo, NY 14207-0319

Distinct has released its Distinct NFS for Windows, a 32-bit VxD which runs over Microsoft's TMP/I32 stack and Novell's Lan Workplace TCP/IP Stack, as well as its own TMP/IP Stack. The software allows system administrators running mixed-vendor TCP/IP environments to standardize on a single file-sharing system. The VxD provides support for file locking and sharing, DOS drives through Windows, and PCNFSD. NFS for Windows sells for $195.00.

12901 Saratoga Ave., Ste. 4

Saratoga, CA 95070

Symantec has announced Version 7.0 of its C++ compiler. The new release includes a new ResourceStudio for editing Windows resources (including Windows 95 extensions), NetBuild to automatically building distribution over a LAN, the Multiscope Debugger 3.0, Optlink 6.0 (a multithreaded 32-bit linker), an object-oriented browser and editor, and agents for generating OLE 2.0 servers and containers. Symantec C++ 7.0 sells for $199.00; upgrades cost $99.95.

10201 Torre Ave.

Cupertino, CA 95014

AccuSoft has announced a family of OCX libraries designed to integrate into Microsoft Access, FoxPro, Visual Basic 4.0, and other OLE-based applications. OCX libraries are OLE compliant and will likely replace VBX custom controls.

The AccuSoft OCX16 and OCX Pro Gold tools read 36 image formats and offer more than 100 functions for scanning, compressing, reading, displaying, printing, and exporting images. OCX Pro Gold also offers anti-aliasing functions, scanning control, and higher performance. OCX16 sells for $495.00, while OCX Pro Gold sells for $1995.00.

Two Westborough Business Park

Westborough, MA 01581

ProtoView Development has begun shipping ProtoView Visual Help Builder, a help-authoring tool that supports C, C++, Pascal, Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, and a variety of 4GLs. The tool, which works with Microsoft Word for Windows, supports AVI, WAV, SHG, and 256-color bitmaps. It includes the Microsoft Help Compiler and Intersolv's PVCS Version Manager. The help builder sells for $395.00.

ProtoView Development

353 Georges Road

Dayton, NJ 08810

Faircom has released an ODBC Driver Kit for its c-tree Plus and Faircom Server software. The initial ODBC Driver is a single-tier driver that interfaces directly to the c-tree Plus API. The term "single-tier" indicates that all of the program logic necessary to handle a request from a front-end application is contained within the driver itself, including an SQL interpreter. The ODBC Driver is a DLL which supports single-user, multiuser nonserver, and client/server modes. The ODBC Driver Kit starts at $395.00.

4006 West Broadway

Columbia, MO 65203

Premia has demonstrated a 32-bit version of its Codewright Fusion programmer's editor which replaces the editor built into Microsoft Visual C++ 2.0. With Codewright Fusion, you have full access to the VC++ IDE along with enhanced editing capabilities.

1075 NW Murray Blvd.

Portland, OR 97229

A Windows-hosted development environment for embedded-systems and real-time programmers has been announced by Microtec. The VRTXsa Developer's Kit includes Microtec's C compiler, the XRAY Debugger for cross-development and debugging of VRTXsa applications, the VRTXsa real-time operating-system kernel, and a choice of board-support packages. The developer's kit is available for 68000/68300 or 386/486/Pentium application development. The VRTXsa Developer's Kit for Windows sells for $5800.00.

Microtec Research

2350 Mission College Blvd.

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Motorola has announced its PowerPC World Wide Web server. The WWW server will include news on PowerPC events, fact sheets, white papers, and tech support. In the future, links will be set up with Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and other Motorola groups. You can access it at http://www.mot.com/PowerPC.

RISC Microprocessor Division

P.O. Box 202558

Austin, TX 78720

Phar Lap Software has started shipping its Phar Lap TNT Embedded ToolSuite, a suite of development tools for 32-bit 386/486-based embedded-systems development. Supporting 32-bit C/C++ compilers from Borland, Microsoft, and MetaWare, the suite includes the TNT Embedded Kernel, Visual System Builder, the LinkLoc linker, CVEMB and TDEMB shells for embedded cross-debugging, an MS-DOS-compatible file system, a floating-point-emulation library, and a remote file system. The tool suite sells for $2995.00.

Phar Lap Software

60 Aberdeen Ave.

Cambridge, MA 02138

Copyright © 1995, Dr. Dobb's Journal