Phase One is a C engine that replaces Borland's Paradox C Engine. TSR Systems claims that Phase One is four to ten times faster than any other currently available Paradox C engine. Enhanced memory management routines and file management algorithms are the basis for Phase One.
DDJ spoke with a TSR consultant, Dennis Young, who's using the engine to develop a report writer. He described the engine as "a way station -- these functions are things we needed in order to compile PAL scripts. The engine kind of fell out of the development of the compiler, and wound up being much faster than the Paradox Engine."
The DOS version requires a Microsoft C-compatible compiler or Borland's Turbo C or Turbo C++. The DLL for Windows 3.0 should now be available, also. The engine contains both the DOS and Windows libraries and retails for $495, though any owner of a competitive Paradox C engine can upgrade for $149. Reader service no. 20.
TSR Systems Limited 116 Oakland Ave. Port Jefferson, NY 11777 516-331-6336
The Spinnaker PLUS Software Slot Developer's Kit for the Macintosh has been released by Spinnaker Software. With it you can create customized extensions to the PLUS development environment. With Spinnaker PLUS you can develop applications that look and run the same, without modification, across Windows 3.0, OS/2 Presentation Manager, and Macintosh operating systems.
With Software Slots, PLUS can accept new object classes and scripting language extensions. Commands and functions similar to external commands and functions extend the PLUS programming language and allow an unlimited number of arguments and customized syntax. External draw objects add new object types such as a clock, a digital instrument display, a bar graph, a 3-D chart, and other data representations. The Kit is available for $695.
Reader service no. 26. Spinnaker Software 201 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139-1901 617-494-1200
A development tool for Windows comes from EdenSoft. Resource Workshop includes such resources as menus, icons, fonts, cursors, bitmaps, string tables, accelerators, and dialogs.
DDJ spoke with David Rowley of Varian Associates, developers of Windows-compatible products, who's been involved in the beta test since the beginning. Rowley claims "It's better than any tool Microsoft provides for their software developers; it allows quick prototyping of resources for an application -- you can use it as a development tool without having to edit the resource script file. You can even edit from within EXE files."
Other features are a Project View with all related files and resources, incremental compilation, full source code preservation, language extensions, multiple undo and redo commands, the ability to edit resources as text or graphically, extensive support of #defines, automatic usage cross reference, and support for both Windows 2 and 3 resources. And Resource Workshop is compatible with older tools. It sells for $295. Reader service no. 22.
EdenSoft 2980 College, Suite 7 Berkeley, CA 95705 415-548-3554
SATVU, a satellite propagation and field-of-view simulation software package for PCs, is new from Applied Research. SATVU animates the field-of-view seen from a satellite, ground station, rocket trajectory, or point in inertial space. From any of these points you can see other satellites, the Earth, sun, moon, planets, and more than 1700 stars and deep-sky objects.
DDJ spoke with Harold Fears, the senior engineer on the project, who told us he wrote the time-critical routines in assembler, the menus in Turbo C, and debugged with the Turbo Debugger. "We adapted this program from a larger one we developed for the Defense Department, and are targeting a smaller market, such as ham operators, amateur astronomers, and anyone interested in satellites, planets, and stars. It's all menu-driven, though you can use a mouse, and it only takes about 15 minutes to learn."
You need an AT or 386 compatible with math coprocessor, hard disk, and EGA or VGA graphics. The animation update rate is approximately one screen per second on a 20-MHz 386. Applied Research can customize a version for you -- they have different subroutines and modules that they can add to the product. As is, SATVU sells for $200.
Reader service no. 25. Applied Research Inc. 5025 Bradford Blvd. Cummings Research Park Huntsville, AL 35805 205-837-8600
Objectworks\C++ Release 2 from ParcPlace Systems is now available for the Sun-3 and SPARCstation platforms. An integrated development system designed to help C++ programmers take better advantage of object-oriented programming by creating and reusing C++ code. New features let you work with Objectworks\C++ in conjunction with traditional Unix tools. The product supports large system development and incorporates AT&T C++ Language System, Release 2.1. C++ class libraries allow for code reuse.
The open environment of Objectworks\C++ lets you use your favorite C preprocessor, C compiler, and linker to customize your program. It is also compatible with third party source code control systems, profilers, and debuggers. The source-level process inspector allows debugging of C as well as C++ code. Integration into a single, window-based environment means you no longer have to switch between editors, grep, compilers, linkers, and debuggers, making code development faster. Objectworks\C++ costs $3000, and ObjectKit\C++, a collection of reusable class libraries, costs $500. Reader service no. 24.
ParcPlace Systems 1550 Plymouth St. Mountain View, CA 94043 415-691-6700
ED the Programmer's Editor, from the Australian company Soft As It Gets, was designed to simplify and speed up program writing and development. A virtual memory, text-editing engine with a full C extension language allows you to extend the editor's capabilities. A C interpreter and companion compiler are built in, and ED supports both C and C++. ED includes such features as fast look-up of functions and methods, smart indenting and templates, direct access to include files, a C function browser, and full undo/redo.
ED is fully configurable, including keys for initiating commands, window colors, and user-defined menus. ED was designed to support programming teams, and includes LAN multiuser locking, which allows one user to edit a file while others view it. Multiprogrammer support allows each user to have their own menus, configuration information, and keyboard bindings. ED fits into 128K of memory, and can swap to disk or EMS if necessary. Contact the company for pricing. Reader service no. 23.
Soft As It Gets 3 Pullman Ct. East St. Kilda 3183 Victoria, Australia
Cedar Software has released Fractal Grafics, for creating complex images with fractal geometry and a visual programming language. You design a template and the program continues your pattern automatically. If, for example, you draw the trunk and first few branches of a tree, the program will draw the rest. You can load and save images in PCX format or as highly compressed fractal templates.
With either a mouse or a keyboard you can spin, skew, grow, shrink, stretch, squish, and rearrange parts of any shape without losing texture or detail. Changes can then be reflected through all levels. The program features an online interactive tutorial, point and click menus, and full color control. The guidebook extensively explains and illustrates the background of fractals as well as all formulae and algorithms. Full source code is available, and the package sells for $79. Reader service no. 31.
Cedar Software RR 1, Box 5140 Morrisville, VT 05661-5140 802-888-5275
A comprehensive user interface development package for Smalltalk/V 286 is available from Acumen Software. Widgets/V 286 is an interactive editor for point and click development, and an extensive user interface object library for building block reusability. To build an interface, you move, size, and edit the widgets directly on the screen. You can switch back and forth between designing and testing with the editor's run mode, for rapid prototyping.
DDJ spoke with Eric Langjahr, president of Impeccable Software and beta tester for Widgets, who said, "Widgets provides a very large class library for building user interfaces that are more modern than any available for PCs -- similar to the NextStep, with three-dimensional images and the like. You build visually and put the programmatic pieces in later. It's unique to anything available now."
The object library includes a broad spectrum of common visual objects for use in graphical user interfaces, such as various window styles, hierarchical pop-up and pull-down menus, list boxes, text editor, scrolling pages, radio buttons, and palettes of forms. A set of intrinsics is provided for creating customized widgets. Widgets/V is selling for $99. Reader service no. 29.
Acumen Software 851 Lytton Palo Alto, CA 94301 415-328-3816
Another product available for Smalltalk users is MathPac1/V from Knowledge Systems. MathPac1/V lets you perform advanced mathematical operations within Smalltalk applications. The ability to work within the same development environment instead of using another language should reduce development time.
MathPac1/V features vectors, two-dimensional matrices, N-dimensional matrices, complex numbers, long-cycle random number generation, beta function, incomplete beta function, in of gama function, binomial coefficient, and string asFloat. MathPac1/V is priced at $199.
Reader service no. 30. Knowledge Systems Corp. 114 MacKenan Dr., Ste. 100 Cary, NC 27511-6446 919-481-4000
GEOGRAF Level One from GEOCOMP is a graphics library of subroutines and functions for creating custom graphs and charts. For use with most Microsoft and Borland compilers, GEOGRAF Level One enables you to add graphics to programs without having to develop complex graphics device drivers for each device you wish to support, and you can output your graphics to any output device. Because GEOGRAF Level One uses the same library structure as most of the Microsoft and Borland compilers, you can use similar graphics calls with different languages and compilers. Device drivers can be changed at any time without changing the software.
DDJ spoke with Doug McGary, project engineer at TMA Technologies and beta tester for GEOGRAF Level One. "I'm involved in image processing [and] needed to be able to detect defects in a special plastic material used for cornea replacement. I figured out the subroutine calls I needed to make and wrote the code and had it debugged in three days. GEOGRAF saved me three man-weeks of software writing -- it's well documented and easy to use."
GEOGRAF Level One sells for $149 and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Reader service no. 27.
GEOCOMP Corporation 66 Commonwealth Ave. Concord, MA 01742 800-822-2669
A conference examining the latest in technological tools for creating visuals, sound, live performance, and integrated media experiences took place at CyberArts International in Los Angeles in September. CyberArts was a showcase of artists, programmers, musicians, special effects technicians, and multi-media gurus combining technologies in film, music, and art production. The three-day affair consisted of concerts and performances, workshops, presentations, exhibits, and an art gallery.
The list of speakers was a who's who in this eclectic, interconnected, emerging field. Jeff Rona and Chris Meyer demonstrated "The Music Cognition Link," a HyperCard application built on inference engines created through Lisp. Based on a spinoff of neural nets with back propagation, this program accepts input from a keyboard and responds in kind. The level of the computer's response was surprisingly avantgarde -- at times it seemed as if the computer was more creative than its human counterparts.
In other presentations Jaron Lanier discussed virtual reality, Marc Canter answered the question "What the Heck Is Multimedia?", Bill Buxton blasted the distinction between artists and technologists, Allen Adkins discussed the impact of the CD David Zicarelli demonstrated the basics of interactive creativity, Carl Rodendahl presented "live" animation (digital puppet techniques), and Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz of the Electronic Cafe talked about "composite-image performances," which they make possible through a satellite link. Other presentations demonstrated interactive toys, hyperinstruments, and desktop computer animation.
Next year's conference, also to be sponsored by Keyboard magazine and Miller Freeman, is scheduled for August 22-25, again in Los Angeles.