Visual Basic, a graphical application development system for Microsoft Windows, is now available from Microsoft. The new programming system provides visual user-interface design capabilities (for creating command buttons, text fields, list boxes, pictures, drop-down menus, and file system controls) with general-purpose programming tools, allowing you to create compiled windows .exe files that can be freely distributed without runtime fees or royalties.
Visual Basic can be used to develop any Windows-based application and is also useful for integrating multiple Windows-based applications and for automating software testing through Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE).
Based on Microsoft QuickBasic, Visual Basic has been modified for the graphical environment and the event-driven programming language. It uses a threaded p-code incremental compiler and source-level debugging tools, including an interactive immediate window, in an integrated system.
In addition to support for DLLs and the DDE, the control set itself can be extended by developers using C and the Windows SDK and the Visual Basic Control Development Kit (available separately) to provide the ability to integrate new user-interface components into the graphical design and code development environment.
From what we've seen and used, Visual Basic is a powerful, but relatively easy-to-grasp system for developing Windows apps. Microsoft's most difficult sales pitch might be convincing novice Windows programmers that Visual Basic is an easy entry into Windows development, while convincing experienced Windows developers that it is powerful enough to suit their needs. Visual Basic fills both bills. It's a milestone development environment that all Windows programmers should examine.
Runs in Windows 3.0's standard or enhanced modes; requires a 80286 processor or higher; hard disk; mouse; CGA, EGA, VGA, 8514, Hercules or compatible display; MS-DOS 3.1 or later; and one or more megabytes of memory. Online help, an icon library, and an icon editor are included. The price is $199. Reader service no. 20.
Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 206-882-8080
The Network C Library for Netware is new from Automation Software Consultants. The library includes 300 functions to access NetWare system services and statistics such as file and directory management, locking and synchronization, bindery management, accounting, messaging, printing, connection and workstation services, and queue management and transaction tracking. Also featured are diagnostic and performance statistical reporting for the file server and individual workstations. Network C Library's documentation gives you an overview of each set of services with implementation suggestions and a description of each function. There are 100 working sample programs that provide source code for most of the Netware command line utilities and for reports generated from the "fconsole" and "pconsole" programs. Other utilities are a sample client/server application and bindery maintenance utilities.
Supports the Microsoft C and Turbo C compilers and costs $225, $450 with source code. Reader service no. 21.
Automation Software Consultants Inc. 124 Venice Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45140 513-677-0842
Ready Systems has released VRTX-velocity for DOS, an integrated, PC-hosted cross-development and runtime environment that allows embedded systems designers to develop applications for Motorola 680x0 microprocessors. The package includes a complete set of Microtec 4.1E ANSI C tools including an ANSI cross-compiler, C cross-reference utilities, and Motorola compatible assemblers, linkers, and librarians.
Cross-development tools are included to allow DOS host computers to develop VRTX32 applications which are downloaded to the target 680x0 processor. The RTsource debugger allows you to remotely debug C and assembly code running on the 68K target processor. Communication between the host and target systems is established through a serial link.
VRTXvelocity includes RTscope, which resides on the target and serves as both a board-level monitor and a system-level debugger. It handles all the operations specific to the processor board, such as memory and register functions, instruction breakpoints, and communications with the host. It also allows you to examine VRTX32 system objects, such as tasks, queues, semaphores, and event flags and issue VRTX32 system calls.
The VRTX Environment System also allows you to build BSPs for custom CPU boards, in addition to supporting CPU and controller boards manufactured by Force, Radstone, Motorola (133, 133a, and 147), Heurikon, Pep, and Tadpole.
VRTXvelocity costs $12,500. Reader service no. 30.
Ready Systems 470 Potrero Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408-736-2600
C// for Turbo C, a C extension program, has been released by Subtlesoft. The program is comprised of hundreds of runtime-created, separable processes which, through dynamic priorities and scheduling, are able to share common resources, self-parallel functions, queues, lists, events, and timeouts. In addition to the C communications and classical synchronization mechanisms, C// makes available a new class of semiautomatic variables, runtime control variables, double access to process arguments, stack monitoring, private stacks, and offsets. External events are handled through the C// driver, user-programmed ISRs, and urgent process executions.
C// costs $333; demo kits sell for $33. Reader service no. 22.
Subtlesoft International 4344 Bristol Street Pittsburgh, PA 15207 412-521-1158
W5086 is the new single-chip, user-interface controller from Weitek. Two key functions of Microsoft Windows' Graphical Device Interface (GDI) are incorporated in hardware, thus improving performance of the graphical environment and its applications. These functions are the Bit Block Transfer (BitBLT), which copies a bitmapped image of a rectangular array of bits that correspond to the pixels of a graphic image from a source device to a destination device; and the LineDrawing function, which draws horizontal and vertical lines on screen one at a time. With the W5086, the BitBLT is 26 times better than that performed by the system CPU, while the LineDrawing function is five times better.
Compatible also with IBM VGA, W5086 is suitable for 16- or 32-bit systems, offers up to 2048 x 1024 resolution in monochrome; 1024 x 768 with 16 colors; and 800 x 600 and 640 x 480 with 256 colors. All high resolution modes support non-interlaced or interlaced monitors.
The W5086 costs $30 for 1000 units at 70 MHz in a 100-pin quad-flat-package. The W5186 for 80 MHz in 144- and 160-pin quad-flat-packages will be released shortly. Reader service no. 29.
Weitek Corporation 1060 E. Arques Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408-738-8400
Screen Manager Professional (SMP) is the new interface design toolbox for C programmers from Magee Enterprises. Using SMP, you can develop windowing, menuing, context sensitive help functions, data entry and keyboard and mouse support. SMP's unique features are: an unlimited number of windows, event-driven mouse support, context sensitive help, linkable libraries, and a tutorial with over 100 code examples.
Additional features include a comprehensive menu system and shadowing and overlapping of windows. All windowing libraries are written entirely in hand-optimized assembly language, providing speed and low RAM overhead.
DDJ spoke with Russ Beardall, a systems analyst at Duke University. Said Beardall, "I like the way the function calls are laid out. You can define all the attributes and windows at the beginning and simply turn them on instead of using many calls. On the other hand, you do have the option of using calls to set specific window attributes."
SMP costs $349.95, $499.95 with source code. Reader service no. 24.
Magee Enterprises Inc. 2909 Langford Road, Suite A600 Norcross, GA 30071-1506 404-446-6611
Tools.h++ 4.0, a foundation class library compatible with Microsoft Windows 3.0, is now available from Rogue Wave. The new version includes over 60 classes that are not derived from a single root class, making it easy to combine them with other C++ classes from CNS, Glocken-spiel, Zinc, and others. Classes are provided to handle strings, dates, times, files, Btree, Smalltalk-like collections classes, link lists, queues, stacks, and so on.
There are several features new to the version: It can be run as a DLL, allowing smaller executables, code sharing, and easier maintenance; DDE and Clipboard stream buffer classes make for easy exchange of data with other applications while using stream I/O; a regular expression class makes searches possible to find matches using a regular expression pattern; a tokenizer class makes string parsing easy; expanded virtual I/O streams allow saving and restoring any object into memory, disk, or through the Windows DDE or Clipboard; and error checking allows for structured error handling.
All classes are optimized for speed and size and have an isomorphic persistent store facility that allows complex objects to be stored and restored on heterogeneous networks or through the DDE.
With source code, Tools.h++ for MS-DOS costs $199; $499 for Unix workstation or DOS network. DOS object code only runs $99. Reader service no. 26.
Rogue Wave P.O. Box 2328 Corvallis, OR 97339 503-745-5908
MetaWare has released its Windows Application Development Kit (ADK) for 32-bit Application Development. The new ADK enables you to develop, debug, and run true 32-bit Windows 3.0 applications using the MetaWare High C compilers. The ADK also supports MetWare's full 32-bit Run-Time Library.
Applications developed for 16-bit Windows or 32-bit Extended DOS can be ported with minimal changes, allowing utilization of 32-bit protected memory without using a DOS extender.
DDJ spoke with Joe Chien, software engineering manager at Silicon Graphics, Mountain View, Calif. "Everything in Unix is running on 32-bit, so the ADK makes it much easier to port, and calculations are faster," said Chien. Furthermore, "you can use flat memory, and MetaWare's tech support is very good."
License fees run $795; the introductory fee is $495. Technical support is free. Reader service no. 28.
MetaWare Inc. 2161 Delaware Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060-5706 408-429-META
Scientific Software Tools has released DriverLINX, a series of real-time data-acquisition drivers for third-party high-speed analog and digital I/O boards for Windows 3.0. DriverLINX consists of language- and hardware-independent Dynamic Link Libraries designed to support data-acquisition boards from Keithley Metrabyte, Advantech, Computer Boards, and Sotec under real, standard, and enhanced modes. The DLLs include services to display dialog boxes for configuration management and service request entry, context-sensitive online help, and extensive error-checking and reporting capabilities.
The high-level interface to PC data-acquisition hardware reduces the effort involved in porting data collection, instrumentation, monitoring, and control applications into the Windows environment.
Applications communicate with DriverLINX by passing a "service request" containing the specifications for a data-acquisition task. DriverLINX acknowledges the request and notifies the application as the task is completed.
There are over 70 services for creating foreground and background tasks to perform analog and digital input and output, time and frequency measurement, event counting, pulse output, and period measurements. The most common data-acquisition protocols are implemented without sacrificing the hardware's high-speed data-acquisition capabilities.
DriverLINX includes multitasking and multiuser capabilities; it can manage up to six data-acquisition boards and ten concurrent tasks.
DriverLINX costs $400 and requires Windows 3.0, DOS 3.1 or later, 640K of memory, a hard disk, and a 286, 386, or 486 machine. Reader service no. 27.
Scientific Software Tools Inc. Penn State Tech. Development Center 30 East Swedesford Road Malvern, PA 19355 215-889-1354
Xionics has released the ImageSpeed software accelerator an engine that provides low-cost, high-performance Document Image Processing (DIP) technology for image retrieval applications. Working in a PC LAN environment, ImageSpeed increases image clarity on standard VGA monitors using Scale-to-Gray technology, an algorithm that converts scanned monochrome images to gray-scale prior to display, thus enhancing visible resolution.
ImageSpeed features convolution scaling and rotation. It can retrieve, decompress, and display an image scanned at 300 dpi in as little as one second. Using Scale-to-Gray adds two to four seconds.
The engine can be driven by ImageSoft Libraries running under DOS, Microsoft Windows 3.0, and OS/2. This set of C callable routines controls all imaging operations, including scanning, compression, decompression, scaling, rotation, display, and printing.
Twenty ImageSpeed licenses sell for $3000; 250 run $10,000. Demo copies are available. Reader service no. 25.
Xionics Inc. 765 The City Drive, Suite 340 Orange, CA 92668
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