A Windows initialization (.INI) file editor and browser called iniExpert has been released by Chattahoochee Software. iniExpert provides detailed information about .INI files, including the entry's purpose, setting range, and default value. Online information is included for all standard Windows .INI files: WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, PROGMAN.INI, and the like. An automatic file-backup utility stores a copy of the .INI file when it's loaded by the editor. (For more information on .INI files, see "Multi-Platform .INI Files" by Joe Graf, DDJ, March 1994, and "OS/2 2.x Initialization Files and Profile Management" by Derrel Blain et al., DDJ, May 1993.) iniExpert sells for $34.95.
Chattahoochee Software Inc.
2480 Briarcliff Road NE, #242
Atlanta, GA 30329
Multimedia programmers looking for libraries of digital audio should check out Wayzata Technology's Sound Library Pro, a CD-ROM with over 1200 digitally recorded sounds. These sounds, which include animals, household noises, instruments, nature, special effects, and voice, are available royalty free. The Sound Library Pro CD-ROM, which supports both Macintosh and Windows, sells for $49.00.
Wayzata Technology
2515 East Highway 2
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
218-326-0597
The DIGPAK and MIDPAK SDK 1.0, a set of device-independent, DOS-based digital sound and MIDI music drivers, is now available from the Audio Solution royalty free for noncommercial software. Commercial software and shareware still must obtain a nominal distribution license, that is, except for software being developed to aid the disabled or for nonprofit organizations.
DIGPAK provides digital-sound support up to 16-bit stereo resolution on all PC sound cards that sport an API for both real and protected-mode DOS. MIDPAK provides MIDI music output and MIDI emulation on all sound cards, including VESA-compliant support.
You can download the SDK (DMKIT.ZIP) by calling SoundBytes Online at 314-939-0200. Also see DIGMID.ZIP.
The Audio Solution
747 Napa Lane
St. Charles, MO 63304
314-926-0232
If you need to quickly build PKZIP-compatible compression into your Windows programs, the DynaZIP DLLs from Inner Media may fill the bill. The DLLs are compatible with any DLL-capable language, including C, C++, and Visual Basic. The DynaZIP API provides information about ZIP file formats, dual-progress monitor callback capabilities, status and error reporting, and more. The toolkit comes with a full-featured Windows ZIP shell program (executable and source code), diagnostic test tools, and a Windows Help file. Once incorporated into your program, DynaZIP lets users create new ZIP files as well as add, delete, and update existing ZIP files.
DynaZIP sells for $249.00 and is royalty free.
Inner Media Inc.
60 Plain Road
Hollis, NH 03049
603-465-3216
DDJ's March 1994 "Programmer's Bookshelf" column examines a couple of new self-help legal guides for software developers. Fast on the heels of those works, Shafer Books has released the 1994 edition of The Software Legal Book, by Paul S. Hoffman. Originally published in 1981, this two-volume loose-leaf set is a how-to book for lawyers and managers--not necessarily software developers--and focuses on software ownership and contracts. Its coverage includes: copyright, work-for-hire, joint works, international protection, disclosure, and the like. Appendices include relevant portions of copyright law and regulations, the trade-secret act, international copyright treaty tables, the 1991 European Software Directive, and so on. Sample forms are provided in both hardcopy and electronic versions. The book sells for $185.00; with disk, for $225.00.
Shafer Books
139 Grand Street
Croton-On-Hudson, NY 10520
914-271-6919
Testing Computer Software, second edition, by Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, and Hung Quoc Nguyen has been released by Van Nostrand Reinhold. Among other topics, this book covers how to effectively test software when few specifications are provided, how to work with continually changing designs and schedules, and how to conduct meaningful tests without source-code analysis. In addition, the second edition includes coverage of the software life cycle, localization, and software liability. Testing Computer Software also explains black-box testing and provides testing shortcuts. ISBN 0-442-01361-2. The book sells for $32.95.
Van Nostrand Reinhold
115 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
800-544-0550