Codecheck, a rule-based expert system that checks C and C++ source code for maintainability, portability, and compliance with in-house style, has been announced by Conley Computing. Codecheck has the ability to identify the number of operators per expression and lines per statement, and it provides a statistical analysis of code complexity and style, allowing programmers to check for both industry standards and those established by their company.
Codecheck also reviews code for its portability to ANSI C and K&R C, among others. Company president Patrick Conley told DDJ that Codecheck can be beneficial to both corporations and individuals, but especially to corporations that use many programmers for single projects. "The problem is getting programmers to adhere to standards; since everyone has their own Tower of Babel concerning standards, Codecheck can be programmed to check in-house style."
Codecheck supports all C compilers from major vendors, and is available for PC-DOS and Macintosh at $495, for OS/2 at $695, and for AIX, PC/IX, and QNX at $995. Multiple copy and educational discounts are also available. Reader service no 21.
Conley Computing 7033 SW Macadam Ave. Portland, OR 97219 503-244-5253
The Paradox Engine, a C library for the relational database Paradox, has been announced by Borland International. The company claims that this product will enable C programmers to build applications that create or access Paradox data because programs that use the Paradox Engine are standard .EXE files. The benefit is interoperability among Borland's major business applications and languages, which theoretically allows the building of customized computing environments.
A program written with the Paradox Engine is compiled in C and linked with the Paradox Engine library to build an executable application that can dynamically access Paradox data. The PAL language can also access Paradox tables.
The engine provides an API of more than 70 functions, which allows the manipulation of Paradox tables in single and multiuser environments. The C version should be shipping this quarter, and will cost $495. A Pascal version is scheduled for release sometime in the middle of the year, and OS/2 and Windows versions are also under development. During the first 90 days of availability, registered Borland users can purchase the product for $195. Reader service no. 22.
Borland International P.O. Box 660001 Scotts Valley, CA 95066-0001 408-439-1622
VRTX-PC, a real-time environment for the PC/XT/AT compatibles that allows these machines to be used as both development platforms and embedded computers, has been introduced by Ready Systems. Time-critical applications in which deterministic operating system performance is necessary can now be controlled by PCs. The company is excited that the VRTX-PC allows simultaneous development and execution of real-time multitasking applications, eliminating the need for low-level hardware control on the PC. They believe that this technology will reduce development costs and get products on the shelf faster.
The VRTX-PC real-time operating system supports MS-DOS functions, including all MS-DOS file and device I/O, and can be executed as a DOS resident program.
VRTX-PC includes a real-time kernel, a real-time debugger, an input/output file executive, a run-time library, a PC support executive, and a window manager that provides a user interface. For application development, VRTX-PC supports Microsoft C and Borland Turbo C. The price for a single user is $7600. Reader service no. 23.
Ready Systems P.O. Box 60217 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408-736-2600
The Sierra C toolset for the M68000 is available from Sierra Systems. The toolset includes an optimizing C compiler and complete C run-time library, two assemblers, linker, librarian, code management and debugging utilities, a serial downloader, a high-speed parallel downloader, and a source-level debugger. The company claims that the code produced is position independent, ROMable, and re-entrant.
The Sierra C compiler that is included in the toolset is ANSI compatible and supports the keywords and functionality required for embedded systems programming.
Compiler flags control individual suppression of optimization techniques, generation of floating point code (inline or for the 68881), formatting and contents of the listing and assembler output files, generation of source level debugger information, IEEE floating point operation modes, and register usage, among others. Reader service no. 24.
Sierra Systems 6728 Evergreen Ave. Oakland, CA 94611 415-339-8200
PC Techniques, a new magazine for programmers, has been announced by The Coriolis Group. The first bi-monthly issue will be published with a March/April 1990 cover date. The magazine will become a monthly publication in January of 1991.
PC Techniques will cover the DOS, Windows, OS/2, and Presentation Manager platforms. C, Pascal, Basic, and assembly language will be covered in every issue. Specialty languages like C++, Object Pascal, Smalltalk, and Actor will also find coverage.
The Coriolis Group was founded by DDJ columnist Jeff Duntemann and by Keith Weiskamp, occasional DDJ author. PC Techniques is available for $21.95 for one year and $37.95 for two. Reader service no. 25.
Coriolis Group 3202 E. Greenway, Ste. 1307-302 Phoenix, AZ 85032 602-493-3070
Two new journals, Inside Turbo C and Inside Turbo Pascal, which offer programmers ongoing support of these two Borland languages, have been announced by The Cobb Group. The purpose of the two journals is to explore new algorithms, system tricks, and product updates, including complete source code. They will also contain tips, programming techniques, product news and reviews, as well as advice. And Inside Turbo Pascal covers OOP with Turbo Pascal.
Each journal costs $59 for 12 issues; sample issues are available. Source code in both issues can be downloaded from Cobb's BBS, for a yearly fee of $30. Reader service no. 26.
The Cobb Group P.O. Box 24480 Louisville, KY 40224 800-223-8720
The original developer of Turbo Prolog, the Prolog Development Center (PDC), has been granted the rights to the product by Borland International. The PDC will publish and market new versions under the name PDC Prolog. According to Michael Alexander at PDC, "The new version is a superset of the current Turbo Prolog. With the exception of the turtle graphics predicates, it is source-compatible with Turbo Prolog, so existing Turbo Prolog programs can be compiled 'as is' with PDC Prolog." And PDC Prolog supports the Borland BGI graphics interface.
A new DOS version should be available by now, and registered users of the DOS version of Turbo Prolog will be able to upgrade for $79. The OS/2 version should also be available, and will cost $599. Network support and a SCO 386 Unix version is scheduled for release in the second quarter of this year. Reader service no. 27.
Prolog Development Center 568 14th Street N.W. Atlanta, GA 30318 404-873-1366
Intek C++ 2.0 is now available from Intek Integration Technologies. The company claims the product has as much power as AT&T's C++ 2.0 in an 80386 MS-DOS or Unix environment. Intek C++ 2.0 translates C++ code into C code. It supports most DOS C compilers, including Microsoft C, Turbo C, MetaWare High C and High C 386, Watcom C and Watcom C 386, and Novell Network C and Network C 386.
This support also includes the C extended keywords near, far, huge, cdel, pascal, and fortran, which makes it useful with Microsoft Windows and OS/2.
The Intek C++ translator uses 386 protected memory mode, and can compile large programs -- up to 4 gigabytes. It supports multiple inheritance, type-safe linkage, new and delete operators as class members, overloading of the ->, ->*, and, operators, const and static member functions, and static initialization. It requires 1 Mbyte of memory, MS-DOS 3.1 or later or Unix System V/386, and costs $495. Reader service no. 28.
Intek 1400 112th Ave. SE, Ste. 202 Bellevue, WA 98004 206-455-9935
A C++ compiler for 80386/486 Unix-based systems has been released by Peritus International. In addition to AT&T C++ 2.0, the highly-optimized C++ compiler also provides support for K&R C and ANSI C; programmers select the appropriate C dialect by setting a compiler switch.
The compiler supports an extensive set of data types, including 8-, 16-, 32-, and 64-bit integers, IEEE-compatible 32-, 64-, and 80-bit floating point, user-defined aggregate types, and C++ class data types. The optimizations include global register allocation, constant propagation and folding, backward code motion with loop invariant removal, induction variable elimination, redundant store and dead code removal, and constant elevation.
Company president Ron Price told DDJ that Peritus intends on providing class libraries and development tools within the near future, including a package to provide a graphical interface to the X Windows system. He also said that the C++ is compliant to the AT&T 2.0 spec, except for multiple inheritance, which will also be supported in the near future.
The Peritus C++ compiler, which runs on 386/486 systems under SVR3 Unix and SunOS 4.0 Unix, sells for $1000. Reader service no. 29.
Peritus International 10201 Torre Ave., Ste. 295 Cupertino, CA 95014 408-725-0882
A few new assembly tools are now available. An assembly language library written entirely in assembly language has been released by Quantasm Corporation. Quantasm Power Lib (QPL) contains over 256 routines, provides high-level functionality, and has the ability to be customized.
QPL can be used by both novice and expert programmers. The documentation is coordinated with example programs on disk. The company claims that the compactness of QPL makes it convenient for programming memory resident programs or TSRs.
The product includes a menu and windowing system, over 75 string handling functions, extended precision math functions, a set of date/time functions, encryption/decryption algorithms, file name parsing, and sound control. The company intends to have high-level language interface routines available in the first quarter of this year. QPL requires MS- or PC-DOS 2.1 or above; 256K RAM; IBM PC/XT/AT, PS/2 or compatible; Microsoft MASM, Borland TASM, or SLR OPTASM. This product is not copy protected, nor has run-time royalties. The price is $99.95 without source code, $299.95 with. Reader service no. 30.
Quantasm Corporation 19855 Stevens Creek Blvd. Cupertino, CA 95014 408-244-6826
From Base Two Development comes Spontaneous Assembly, an assembly-language library that contains over 600 functions and macros, including string and memory manipulation, near/far/relative heap management, doubleword/quadword integer math, date and time manipulation, and more. The company claims that every routine is hand-coded and optimized, and are easy to use because of the register-oriented parameter-passing convention. Company spokesman Alan Collins told DDJ that "this product does for 8088-family assembly language programming what Borland did for high-level language programming."
Spontaneous Assembly supports all Microsoft/Borland standard memory models, as well as custom models and mixed-model programming. The tool sports a full-overlapping windowing system with custom shadowing that allows direct memory via screen access or BIOS. DOS 2.0 or higher is required, and MASM 5.1 or TASM 1.0 are recommended. It costs $199, includes all source code, and comes with a money back, 60-day guarantee. Reader service no. 3. Base Two Development 11 East 200 North Orem, UT 84057 800-277-3625
Another is DASM, a disassembler for the 8086, 8088, and 80286, available from JBSoftware. DASM is able to disassemble and modify programs for which the source code is unavailable. It takes binary run files for DOS and compatible operating systems as input, and creates an assembly language file suitable for modification and reassembly as output. It acts as a virtual machine and maps the program being disassembled. It tracks register usage and determines the code, data, and labels, allowing the user to then edit the output and change the program.
DASM works by viewing commands and procedures in their real-time processing order, rather than in the sequence they appear in the program, which JBSoftware claims makes the programs easier to interpret and edit. Some of DASM's other features include the ability to generate appropriate ASSUMEs and segment maps, to handle multiple entry points, transfer vectors, and .EXE, .COM, and .BIN files up to 200K. It costs $250. Reader service no. 2.
JBSoftware 701 Cathedral St., Ste. 81 Baltimore, MD 21201 301-752-1348
Two new software products for Motorola's 88000 RISC microprocessor are available from Diab Data. The D-CC/ 88K, an optimizing C compiler, complies with the 88000 object code compatibility standard (OCS) and the Binary compatibility standard (BCS), and conforms to the proposed ANSI C standard. Optimizations include global common subexpression elimination, life-time analysis (color), reaching analysis, automatic register allocation, loop invariant code motion, constant propagation and folding, dead code elimination, switch optimizations, and the ability to pass parameters into registers.
Diab's MC88000 toolkit is made up of the D-AS/88K Assembler, the D-LD/ 88K Linker, and the D-AR/88K Archiver. This package includes the D-CC/88K optimizing C compiler. The assembler is also OCS and BCS compliant, produces COFF object modules, supports standard MC88000 mnemonics, produces standard Unix directives for organizing code, among other things. The linker performs literal synthesis, generates warnings for unidentified external references, and is able to perform incremental links. The archiver maintains multiple files in a single archive file, and supports Unix System V command-line options. The compiler and toolkit are available for the Sun3/SunOS, Mac II/MPW, DECstation/Ultrix, and DEC VAX/VMS, among others. Reader service no. 33.
Diab Data Inc. 323 Vintage Park Dr. Foster City, CA 94404 415-573-7562
A comprehensive treatment of concurrent programming techniques in the Strand programming language has been published by Prentice Hall. Strand: New Concepts in Parallel Programming, by Stephen Taylor and Ian Foster, covers an introduction to Strand, basic and advanced programming techniques, and how to apply Strand, with examples from both the academic and real worlds. The price is $30. ISBN 013-850587-X. Reader service no. 38.
Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 201-767-5937