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OS2 Discussion Forum Volume 9210 Issue 02
************************************************************************
OS/2 Discussion Forum Mon, October 12, 1992 Volume 9210 Issue 02
Relevant addresses :
submissions : OS2@BLEKUL11.BITNET (bitnet)
OS2@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (domain)
subscriptions : LISTSERV@BLEKUL11.BITNET (bitnet)
LISTSERV@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (domain)
moderator : OS2MOD@BLEKUL11.BITNET (bitnet)
os2mod@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be (domain)
************************************************************************
OS/2 DISCUSSION FORUM ON BLEKUL11 MODERATORS:
Dirk Rober Karel Van der Haegen
(files distribution) (forum distribution)
K.U. Leuven - C.E.S. K.U. Leuven - D.T.E.W.
Van Evenstraat, 2 B Dekenstraat, 2
B-3000 Leuven B-3000 Leuven
BELGIUM BELGIUM
FDAAA12@BLEKUL11.BITNET FDBAQ13@BLEKUL11.BITNET
fdaaa12@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be fdbaq13@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be
************************************************************************
Today's topics:
To all those who didn't receive our last issue ...
New files on LISTSERVer
Red Books on our Ftp-Server
OCR Software
ACTIVATING KEYS AT BOTTOM OF HELP WINDOW
MATLAB 4.0 for OS/2
FILE ACCESS ACROSS NETWORK
A question for all of the EPM enthusiasts out there...
OF "ICONS"
LANTASTIC 4.1 and OS/2
BOOT STARTUP
my submission - nov92.zip
un-arranged windows
Trouble with Queues: DosPeekQueue(...) returns 87 or 333.
Feed from the Listearn OS2-L OS/2 Non-Editored Discussion List :
Re: new version of (pk)zip
unzipper for RED files ?
OS/2 and Bernoulli Disk
Bernoulli and OS/2
automating tcpip for OS/2
SOLUTION wrong width of umlaut characters with ATM
Feed from the Usenet (UUCP/Internet) comp.os.os2.* newsgroups :
Re: MS ready to release 32-bit Word & Excel?!?! Read on...
Reviews: GammaTech, Sytos Plus, PMFax, HA5
Re: How to get the IBM CD?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 10:00:00 +0100
From: Moderator of OS/2 Discussion Forum <OS2MOD@BLEKUL11>
Subject: To all those who didn't receive our last issue ...
Sorry for not responding to you personally ... We suggest two different
solutions to obtain the 921001 issue : if you have ftp facilities, use
these to request the file, as is explained below, otherwise, send mail
to our listserv with the following command :
GET OS2 LOG9210 F=XXE,SPLIT
You will receive our digest, which can be read after concatenating, and
after xxdecoding. Hope this will help you ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 92 12:00:00 +0200
From: Moderator of OS/2 Discussion Forum <OS2MOD@BLEKUL11>
Organization: K.U. Leuven university, Belgium, EUROPE
Subject: New files on LISTSERVer
This is a list of new or updated OS/2 related files available from the
LISTSERV of the OS/2 Discussion Forum at BLEKUL11.
* New Files from the author (see below in our digest)
filename filetype Remarks
-------- -------- -------------------------------
NOV92 ZIP OS/2 Monthly: Nov 92, Source code
All new files are ZIP files. Depending on the gateways between BLEKUL11
and your site it might be necessary to specify extra options :
To get the normal ZIP file send the following command to our LISTSERV :
GET fn ZIP
(Where fn is the name of the file you want.)
To get an XXENCODED ZIP file (use this if your gateways have trouble
with binary files) use the following command :
GET fn ZIP f=XXE
To get several small XXENCODED files (use this if your gateways limit
the size of files) :
GET fn ZIP f=XXE,split
Our disk is also accessible by anonymous FTP at cc1.kuleuven.ac.be.
The OS2 files are available in the ANONYMOU.201 directory. To get a
list of files get the O2.FILELIST in the (default) ANONYMOU.191
directory.
Note: Use PKUNZIP -d to unzip !!
These files are distributed AS IS, we can not guarantee anything about
their working.
************************************************************************
* For a complete list of all OS/2 files available at LISTSERV@BLEKUL11 *
* get the OS2INDEX ZIP. *
* For a list of all new (last 3 weeks) OS/2 files available at *
* LISTSERV@BLEKUL11 get the NEWFILES TXT. *
************************************************************************
We still welcome all OS/2 related files for distribution on our LISTSERV.
Send your files to OS2@BLEKUL11.BITNET / OS2@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be
we will arrange everything for distribution.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 92 18:05:31 MEZ
From: Martin Lindenthal <LINDI@DOSUNI1>
Subject: Red Books on our Ftp-Server
hi,
IBM Red Books are available on our Anonymous FTP-Server at
tethys.rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE ( 131.173.17.10 ) in directory /pub/os2/info.
The Volumes are in inf-Format and can be viewed with view.exe.
--Martin Lindenthal, Computer Center of the University of Osnabrueck
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 92 17:46:16 COL
From: "Raul E. Barragan Noriega" <RBARRAGA@UNALCOL>
Subject: OCR Software
I am looking for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software
in full OS/2 v2.0 and prefereable 32 bits version.
I would appreciate any info about this. Thank you.
Raul Barragan
RBARRAGA AT ANDESCOL or
RBARRAGA AT UNALCOL
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, South America
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Oct 92 12:04:53 SST
From: HC Eng <GBODSO1@NUSVM>
Subject: ACTIVATING KEYS AT BOTTOM OF HELP WINDOW
Help! Can someone help me by letting me know how I can activate the
*Previous* *Search* *Print* *Index* keys at the bottom of each help
window without using the mouse. These keys are marked with fast-key
letters, but no combination of Alt, Cntrl or direct could work for me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 21:11:05 -0700
From: hodges@ampere.EE.UCLA.EDU (hodges@ampere.ee.ucla.edu)
Subject: MATLAB 4.0 for OS/2
Fellow engineering and scientific OS/2 users:
As many of you are aware, MATLAB from the Math Works, Inc. is a superb
fourth-generation programming language that is widely used by Applied
Mathematicans. It is also gaining tremendous popularity among Engineers
and Scientists. Recently, Matlab 4.0 for the Sun Sparcstations has been
released with a powerful new graphics (Scientific Visualization)
capability. The new capabilities include:
3-D shaded color surface graphs
3-D contour plots
3-D data trajectories
Image display
Light sources
Faceted and interpolated surface rendering, plus texture mapping
Animation
Color and B&W PostScript output (Level 1 & Level 2)
Other new features of interest:
Over 100 new functions.
Graphical User Interface controls
Enhanced File I/O
Integrated debugging environment
Sparse matrix support
Compute engine interface
* Call Matlab from your C and Fortran programs as
a computational engine.
Faster interpreter and graphics
Check out the ads for examples of the graphics - they are dynamite!!!
One place to look is October IEEE Spectrum magazine.
*********************************************************************
* SOUND GOOD? THEN, WE REALLY NEED A NATIVE 32-BIT OS/2 VERSION!!! *
*********************************************************************
The advertisement states that Matlab 4.0 "will soon ship for other
standard Matlab platforms including: 386/486 PCs, Macintosh,
HP/Apollo..." The sales folks say they will have a Windows version soon,
but it will be Win32 and they have no idea if it runs under OS/2.
*******************************************************
* WRITE TO THE MATH WORKS AND REQUEST OS/2 SUPPORT!!! *
*******************************************************
Remember to emphasize that we need a NATIVE 32-bit OS/2 2.0 version!
The Math Works, Inc.
24 Prime Park Way
Natick, MA 01760
Tel: (508) 653-1415
Fax: (508) 653-2997
email: info@mathworks.com
Richard E. Hodges
hodges@ee.ucla.edu (University of California, Los Angeles - Elec. Eng)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 92 12:08:39 SST
From: HC Eng <GBODSO1@NUSVM>
Subject: FILE ACCESS ACROSS NETWORK
Hi Everybody,
I have Netware Requester properly installed. All my old programs cannot
run in the DOS window if they use UNC (universal naming convention).
For example, in Turbo Pascal, if I assign(f,'SYS:HOMEABCDATA.TXT'),
reset(f) gives Error 5: File access denied. It would work if I use
assign(f,'F:HOMEABCDATA.TXT'). I prefer UNC as drive mappings can
change from user to user and from time to time. Does anyone know whether
this problem can be overcome? Thanks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 21:11:23 -0700
From: hodges@ampere.EE.UCLA.EDU (hodges@ampere.ee.ucla.edu)
Subject: A question for all of the EPM enthusiasts out there...
I understand from some info in the last discussion forum that
it is possible to program EPM (somehow). Has anyone considered or
attempted to generate functions that allow EPM to emulate the BRIEF
programming editor? Preferably, it would utilize the actual BRIEF
macro functions, thereby gaining genuine BRIEF emulation, and also
saving some disk storage for those of us currently using Brief for OS/2.
Is this possible with EPM?
Thanks,
Richard
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 92 13:14:07 SST
From: HC Eng <GBODSO1@NUSVM>
Subject: OF "ICONS"
Hi, Everybody:
I am new to OS/2 and have problems with "icons" (I don't really know
what is an icon anymore after going through the explanations on objects).
There appear to be three types of "icons":
a. Those that you can drag with only the right button (here I am assuming
default button allocation). Examples are the 'OS/2 System', 'Drive A',
'Shredder' etc that come with the installation.
b. Then there are those that you can drag with both the left and right
buttons. Examples are an iconized DOS or OS/2 window.
c. Finally, there are those that you can drag with only the LEFT button.
An example is a MS Word for Windows session that has been iconized by clicking
the button second from the top right.
Can anyone explain the logic behind this complexity? Thanks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: gabrius@herman.gem.valpo.edu (David Gabrius)
Subject: LANTASTIC 4.1 and OS/2
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 10:09:05 CDT
I've not been able to get LANTastic 4.1 up on my system running OS/2 2.0; I've
set up a specific DOS session (as per the README), but it locks up SOLID
(and I mean reset-switch-required SOLID) when it tries to load the NEX000
driver. All of the IRQs, IOBASE, etc., settings are correct. Can anyone help?
(My entire system is sitting on a tape in a tape drive on another machine, and
until I can get LANTastic running again, I'm forced to play with Neko..:-)
Thanks...
--
David Gabrius gabrius@gem.valpo.edu
Pro Student, Computer Engineering perfessr@imsa.edu (IMSA '90)
"If God is a Republican, then why is his son a Jewish liberal?" - Royko
"They go crazy in congregations but only get better one by one" - Sting
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 92 15:55:18 SST
From: HC Eng <GBODSO1@NUSVM>
Subject: BOOT STARTUP
By default, on booting, OS/2 will open all applications that were opened
at shutdown. How can I prevent this? Reason: when I hang because I
have too many windows opened, I don't want to reboot to reach the
hang state again. Thanks for any feelers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 92 00:04:12 EDT
From: The Time Traveler <IS498C@GWUVM>
Subject: my submission - nov92.zip
You should have the file nov92.zip, which is the source code to my
column in "OS/2 Monthly", november issue. please place it with the
other files for the magazine.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Time Traveler
I'm moving through some changes a.k.a. Timur Tabi
I'll never be the same
Something you did touched me Bitnet: IS498C@GWUVM
There's no one else to blame - Yes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon Oct 12 14:46:45 BST 1992
From: Mike O'Carroll <mike@elec-eng.leeds.ac.uk>
Subject: un-arranged windows
i) Create a folder with icons for all your favourite apps
ii) Arrange or sort it and change the frame size so it all fits
nicely
iii) Close the window or Shutdown
iv) On reopening, or rebooting, the window is opened, but nothing is visible.
v) Hit the scroll bars, the icons appear, and the scroll bar
vanishes.
Anyone else seen this? Is the desktop supposed to remember
the layout of stuff within windows, or just their size and
position. Answers on an icon please ...
--
Mike O'Carroll, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering,
The University, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
E-mail: mike@ee.leeds[.ac.uk]
UUCP: ...uunet!mcsun!uknet!lena!mike
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 14 Oct 92 14:53:09 EST
From: David John Marotta <djm5g%Virginia.EDU@dmt03.mcc.Virginia.EDU>
Subject: Trouble with Queues: DosPeekQueue(...) returns 87 or 333.
I am having some trouble with Queues, especially trying to
use DosPeekQueue function. I think the documentation is
in error in several places.
I am using OS/2 2.0 C Set/2
When I give the DosPeekQueue with the wait flag at
NOWAIT I get a return code of 87 (INVALID_PARAMETER)
with the last parameter either NULL or the semaphore.
When I use WAIT I get a return code of 333 (ERROR_
QUEUE_ELEMENT_NOT_EXIST).
When I give the DosReadQueue with WAIT without the semaphore
it reads fine, but NOWAIT without the semaphore returns an 87
again. What am I doing wrong? Here is a sample program:
int main(VOID)
{
HQUEUE hq, hq2;
ULONG request;
ULONG datalength;
CHAR databuffer100;
//CHAR dataaddress100;
PVOID dataaddress;
ULONG elempriority;
BYTE elempriority2;
LONG slRC;
REQUESTDATA request2;
PID OwningPID;
BOOL32 NoWait;
ULONG elemcode;
HEV semhandle;
slRC = DosCreateQueue(&hq, QUE_FIFO, "\\queues\\sample.que");
printf("DosCreateQueue slRC = %d\n", slRC);
printf(" hq = %d\n", hq);
request = 0;
strcpy(databuffer, "This is the message");
datalength = strlen(databuffer);
elempriority = 0;
printf(" Writing of length %d\n", datalength);
slRC = DosWriteQueue(hq, request, datalength, databuffer, elempriority);
printf("DosWriteQueue slRC = %d\n", slRC);
slRC = DosOpenQueue(&OwningPID, &hq2, "\\queues\\sample.que");
printf("DosOpenQueue slRC = %d\n", slRC);
printf(" OwningPID = %d\n", OwningPID);
printf(" hq2 = %d\n", hq2);
elempriority = 0;
// OwningPID = 0;
request2.pid = OwningPID;
request2.ulData = 0;
NoWait = DCWW_WAIT;
// NoWait = DCWW_NOWAIT;
dataaddress = XMALLOC(datalength*2);
// slRC = DosPeekQueue(hq, &request2, &datalength, &dataaddress,
&elemcode, NoWait, &elempriority2, semhandle);
slRC = DosPeekQueue(hq, &request2, &datalength, &dataaddress,
&elemcode, NoWait, &elempriority2, (HEV) NULL);
printf("DosPeekQueue slRC = %d\n", slRC);
printf(" request2.pid = %d\n", request2.pid);
printf(" datalength = %d\n", datalength);
printf(" elemcode = %d\n", elemcode);
printf(" semhandle = %d\n", semhandle);
// ulRC = DosReadQueue(pfxq->ReadQHdl, &PID_Data, &length, &Addr, 0L,
// DCWW_WAIT, &EPriority, pfxq->hev);
slRC = DosReadQueue(hq, &request2, &datalength, &dataaddress, 0L,
DCWW_NOWAIT, &elempriority2, (HEV) NULL);
// slRC = DosReadQueue(hq, &request2, &datalength, &dataaddress,
// elemcode, NoWait, &elempriority2, (HEV) NULL);
printf("DosReadQueue slRC = %d\n", slRC);
printf(" request2.pid = %d\n", request2.pid);
printf(" datalength = %d\n", datalength);
printf(" elemcode = %d\n", elemcode);
printf(" semhandle = %d\n", semhandle);
return (0L);
}
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or where to find sample code
Please write me directly at djm5g@virginia.edu. Thanks,
David John Marotta, Medical Center Computing, Stacey Hall
Univ of Virginia (804) 982-3718 wrk INTERNET: djm5g@virginia.edu
Box 512 Med Cntr (804) 924-5261 msg BITNET: djm5g@virginia
C'ville VA 22908 (804) 296-7209 fax IBM US: usuvarg8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feed from the Listearn OS2-L OS/2 Non-Editored Discussion List :
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 09:28:42 +0100
Reply-To: "IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List" <OS2-L@FRORS12.BITNET>
From: "Vermeulen A.T." <atverm@ECNSUN.ECN.NL>
Subject: Re: new version of (pk)zip
Leonard Kesterson <LENNIE@PCCVM.BITNET> wrote:
>I received a couple of files that were ini *.zip format and I could not
>unzip them, I got "don't know how to handle 'filemane'" message. Anyone know?
Yes, use version 1.9, for example you will find ZIP19X32.ZIP on ftp-sites
like hobbes.nmsu.edu.
A.T. Vermeulen (Internet: a.vermeulen@ecn.nl; Phone: (+31)22464194)
Energy Research Foundation, PO Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 11:36:33 CET
Reply-To: "IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List" <OS2-L@FRORS12.BITNET>
From: Steve Perez <perezs@WORMS-EMH6.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: unzipper for RED files ?
>Hi, can anyone tell me what version of pkzip is being used on RED File Server
>FRMOP11? I recieved a couple file that were ini *.zip format and I could not
>unzip them, I got "don't know how to handle 'filemane'" message. Anyone know?
>Lennie
Try Hobbes (128.123.35.151) in pub/os2/archivers (I think). The file
you want is UNZ50X32.EXE (self-extractor) companion file ZIP19X32.EXE is the
package that makes up the archiver.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 15:25:33 CDT
Reply-To: "IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List" <OS2-L@FRORS12.BITNET>
From: Charlie Turner <CHARLIE@UMVMA.BITNET>
Subject: OS/2 and Bernoulli Disk
On p.12 of the new CDW catalog that just arrived is an ad for an
external 90Mb Bernoulli disk drive. The price, including one 90Mb
cart, is $509.
What comes to mind, at this price, is to use this Bernoulli as a
HD backup instead of using a tape unit. Retrieving files would be
simpler and faster from this disk than from a tape. The ad claims
19ms average access, which is quicker than regular HDs used to run.
Does OS/2 support Bernoulli, or perhaps more accurately, are the
necessary OS/2 2.0 device drivers available for Bernoulli drives?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 17:23:43 EDT
Reply-To: "IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List" <OS2-L@FRORS12.BITNET>
From: Daniel Hellerstein <DANIELH@ERS.BITNET>
Subject: Bernoulli and OS/2
We've been using Bernoulli and OS/2 for a while now, and it seems to
work well. We use the IOMEGA SCSI adapter (in a IBM-90). In addition,
we use the OS/2 2.0 drivers provided by IOMEGA.
other points:
Our (several) IBM machines are SCSI, and have SCSI ports on the back.
When we first got the Bernoulli (about a year ago), they did NOT support
IBM SCSI; thus we purchased the IOMEGA SCSI adapter mentioned above.
However,
about 2 months ago we obtained the "Open Architecture Drivers for DOS" (from
IOMEGA) and a $100.00 cable (from IBM). After going through some rigamarole
with the reference disk (configue system, configure SCSI devices, disable error
reporting), things work fine AS LONG AS WE BOOT DOS. In other words, we can
read, write, and disconnect the Bernoulli box (very helpful if you want to move
large files sin NETWORK), as long as you stay in DOS.
Unfortunately, when booting to OS/2, one can not
write or read to the Bernoulli, even though it recognizes it is there (assigns
a drive letter). Furthermore, if we disconnect the Bernoulli and then
reboot the machine (to OS/2), the system hangs!
Specifically, OS/2 claims that COUNTRY.SYS can not be found, and gives
up. My guess is that OS/2 somehow checks for SCSI devices, and gets confused
when the Bernoulli can not be found (we are using the GA version).
The tech drones at Iomega gave no indication on any plans for "Open Architectur
Drivers for OS/2", so for now, I would recommend buying (for $200) the
IOMEGA SCSI, at least if you have IBM and want to do OS/2.
One last point: Bernoulli cartridges are NOT cheap (about $140.00 for 90M)
| Daniel Hellerstein | BITNET: DANIELH@ERS |
| US Department of Agriculture | Tel: 202-219-0445 |
| Economic Research Service | Fax: 202-219-1292 |
| Data Services Center, rm. 438E | (ATTN: Rm 438E) |
| 1301 NEW YORK AVE., NW |ALSO, INTERNET: DANIELH@ERS.BITNET |
| Washington, DC 20005-4788 | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 15:45:40 EST
Reply-To: jbeck@bmgtmail.umd.edu
From: John Beck <JBECK@BMGTMAIL.UMD.EDU>
Subject: automating tcpip for OS/2
Hello;
Can anyone tell me how to use tcpip to automatically download files
from an FTP server unattended? It appears that I can write macros to
do this kind of thing, the problem is how to make it start at a
certain time (like after midnight).
The TCPIP I'm talking about is ver 1.2.1 for OS/2 (written by IBM).
Thanks for any info.
John Beck
Director of Computing Services
College of Business
jbeck@bmgtmail.umd.edu
(301) 405-2271
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 09:56:39 MET
Reply-To: "IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List" <OS2-L@FRORS12.BITNET>
From: Matthijs <thijs@CS.VU.NL>
Subject: SOLUTION wrong width of umlaut characters with ATM
A week ago someone reported a question about German umlaut characters in
ATM-fonts.
He (or she) said that the width of these extra European characters was not
correct in WIN-OS/2.
Maybe this is already solved, but you never know...
I had the same problem, and knew I had the solution on a piece of paper
somewhere...:-) But now I found it:
(it was posted in comp.os.os2.apps a while ago by Christoph Luebbe)
Solution:
* delete all files in \PSFONTS and \PSFONTS\PFM
* copy the files from the OS/2 Printer Diskette 5 (Postscript) to a
directory (say \WORK)
* edit them, except of SYMBOL.INF. Change the line "Pi true" into "Pi false"
* Now reinstall the fonts using the ATM-control panel in WIN-OS/2
(of course you should select the font files in \WORK, not from the diskette)
Hope this helps,
Matthijs van Doorn
"If God had intended man to have computers, he would have given him 16 finger."
Internet: thijs@cs.vu.nl
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feed from the Usenet (UUCP/Internet) comp.os.os2.* newsgroups :
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: rommel@Informatik.TU-Muenchen.DE (Kai-Uwe Rommel)
Subject: Re: MS ready to release 32-bit Word & Excel?!?! Read on...
Organization: Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 21:45:07 GMT
>In article <1992Oct01.185753.6638@microsoft.com>
>philipla@microsoft.com (Phil Lafornara) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep30.150509.25843@cu23.crl.aecl.ca>
>>gutz@cc49.aecl.crl.ca writes:
>>>In article <1992Sep29.175707.4137@microsoft.com>
>>>philipla@microsoft.com (Phil Lafornara) writes:
>>>>In article <1992Sep28.175412.9513@cu23.crl.aecl.ca>
>>>>gutz@cc49.crl.aecl.ca writes:
>>>> I can't make any kind of official statement here, but no one that
>>>>I know within Microsoft is working on OS/2 apps, with the possible
>>>>exception of Lan Manager.
>>>>
>>>
>>>That's the official word anyway. Would MS admit that they are working on
>>>OS/2 apps, when they are going to try flogging a different OS sometime
>>>in the near/distant? future? I don't think would admit any OS/2 app
>>>work, since this would certainly affect sales of NT whenever it arrives.
>>
>> Hmm... A couple of thoughts. If Microsoft were indeed developing
>>OS/2 apps, it would be in the company's best interest to make sure
>>that OS/2 users knew that these apps were coming - otherwise they
>>might go out and purchase a competitor's product. True?
FYI, I have just unofficially been informed, that Microsoft already has
C/C++ 7.00 for OS/2 2.0 ready but just doesn't want to sell it.
Please don't ask me where I got this news from. Feel free to consider
this as complete rumour if that makes you feel better, but the source I
got it from makes me rather sure that this is correct.
Kai Uwe Rommel
/* Kai Uwe Rommel --- rommel@informatik.tu-muenchen.de */
DOS ... is still a real mode only non-reentrant interrupt
handler, and always will be. -Russell Williams
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples)
Subject: Reviews: GammaTech, Sytos Plus, PMFax, HA5
Organization: Dept. of Econ., Univ. of Chicago
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 03:24:48 GMT
I thought I might sum up my impressions of some new software that has
just crossed my desk.
GAMMATECH
The new, 32-bit version of the GammaTech utilities has been released.
For more information on this product, contact GammaTech at
405-359-1219 or FAX 405-359-7391.
The GammaTech Utilities 2.0 come on a single, 3.5 inch diskette.
Installation was painless (go to a command line window and type
A:INSTALL -- the install program is PM). Install will ask whether you
wish CONFIG.SYS changed or not (to add some path information).
Install then places a GammaTech folder on your desktop (which I moved
to another folder).
Inside the folder there are several little "applets." One is
particularly intriguing, the Sentry. This little gem can run in the
background and automatically monitor any set of files you care to
select and/or the boot sectors. If an attempt is made to modify any
of these, Sentry will alert you. Handy for viruses.
In general the utilities have become more graphical. There's a nice
System Info utility which lists all sorts of characteristics about the
system. HPFS Optimize is still there. Analyze now combines disk test
and disk info functions. There's UnDelete, of course, and Find.
Also, there are command line utilities which, for example, let you
delete an entire subdirectory tree, create a new tree, recover files,
reboot the system, and so forth.
They've done a very nice job. The Norton and PC-Tools people should
take note. The multithreading is particularly well done -- while HPFS
Optimize is running, for example, all the controls can still be
manipulated (like adjusting priority, requesting help, etc). You
never see the clock pointer.
SYTOS PLUS
Sytos 1.35 for OS/2 now supports OS/2 2.0 along with a large number of
tape backup devices, diskette, and hard disks. It is a slick package,
completely PM, and also makes excellent use of multithreading. I've
heard complaints about Sytos hogging the CPU, but it didn't seem to be
that bad on my particular installation (with a Compaq 150/250 tape
drive).
When Sytos installs, it lists all the drivers in your CONFIG.SYS (with
comments), and unREMs only the one of interest to you. Around this
block of REM'med DEVICE lines were further comments, so you could
clearly identify the section as "belonging" to Sytos. Nice touch.
(PMFax does the same thing -- programmers should take note. OS/2's
CONFIG.SYS supports REM, so explain changes you make to it by creating
your own "blocks" when your application installs.)
Sytos lets you create and delete backup "strategies." These
strategies let you, for example, do a full backup and compare; do an
incremental backup; do a backup of just certain directories; etc.
Several canned strategies come with Sytos -- a folder is created for
you. A minor complaint is that, while you can double click directly
on the strategy you want to use, if your tape drive is not ready, with
a tape already loaded, nothing will happen. You won't get a warning
message of any sort -- Sytos will just abort. (This doesn't happen
when you start Sytos itself directly.)
Sytos supports both QFA (Quick File Access) and compression (for most
devices). Customization options are numerous but easy to manage.
Sytos will backup _everything_ on your OS/2 2.0 system (including
desktop and those notorious INI files) -- no file appeared to be
"locked" when I performed a backup, at least with just Sytos running.
On the off chance there's a locked file Sytos can't seem to backup,
you can customize how the program responds (keep trying forever, try
x times, try once, don't try).
The telephone number for Sytron, makers of Sytos Plus, is listed in
the FAQ List. Sytos is a bit steep at $295 retail, but it was a $70
upgrade from my DOS version, and it is quite a nice piece of work.
However, if you are looking for non-PM, less expensive backup
software, try Sterling Software's Intelligent Backup (at $149 retail).
PMFAX (a.k.a. FAXIT or BitFAX for OS/2)
I do not have much to add to the glowing reviews this package has
received. Suffice it to say that it is one heck of a nice piece of
work. It multitasks beautifully, and the multithreading has again
been used well. It supports Class 1, Class 2, SendFAX, Brooktree,
Intel SatisFAXtion, and a few other faxmodems. It is available for
$99 by using the coupon in the OS/2 Solutions Coupon Book (which, if
you mailed in your registration card, you should have received in the
mail, at least in the U.S.)
PMFax includes both a main program and a printer driver. The latter
is designed so that you can fax from any DOS, Windows, or OS/2
application directly simply by printing (in the case of DOS/Windows,
using an IBM Proprinter driver) to a standard printer port (default
LPT3, but LPT3 through LPT9 are available). The printer driver will
beep once as the desktop comes up (to remind you, I guess, that it is
active).
FAXes can be scheduled for any time. Full logging is available. The
main program allows you to paste up a FAX for transmission much like
Pagemaker. (You can also modify a received FAX for retransmission.)
Clipboard cut/paste is provided, as are text annotations (using ATM
typefaces) and file import (TIFF and PCX). Group and individual
FAXing is available using phone books. Cover sheets are fully
customizable (one can use a custom logo, for example). The package
works very well on both dedicated and nondedicated lines.
I am reporting on Version 1.16. I really like this program, and I
strongly recommend it. Two thumbs up.
HYPERACCESS/5 3.0
Hilgraeve has updated HyperAccess/5, adding mouse support, virus
scanning within ZIP files, optional automatic ZIP file extraction on
download, and several other interesting features. There's still no
long filename support under HPFS, nor is the program 32-bit.
Both are expected in the PM version, slated for delivery by year end.
Otherwise there's really not a feature this package is missing. I
particularly like the learn mode available for creating scripts very
quickly. The Zmodem now supports crash recovery. There's even a
spell checker for the built-in editor!
I haven't spent much time with this upgrade, but it installed with a
minimum of fuss without disrupting existing settings in an existing
HyperAccess/5 2.1 installation. The menus are generally a bit
friendlier. The code is perhaps a bit speedier. I think the strange
keyboard problems (where toggling NumLock would cure the problem) have
disappeared. It still has a minor cursor positioning problem in
emacs, however. (Deleting a character in the middle of a line will
result in the cursor popping to the end of the line. However, the
true insertion point hasn't moved, and the cursor pops back into place
as soon as you start typing. Occurs with VT-220 emulation, at least.)
A nice package that has gotten better. About $115 from PC Connection;
$30 upgrade from previous versions.
STILL ON MY DESK...
Quercus is getting ready to release a new version of Personal REXX for
OS/2. I'm about to take a look at a beta version.
--
Timothy F. Sipples | The OS/2 FREQ. ASKED QUESTIONS LIST is avail. from
sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu | 128.123.35.151, anonymous ftp, in /pub/os2/all/faq.
Dept. of Econ., Univ. | Or from LISTSERV@BLEKUL11.BITNET (send "HELP").
of Chicago, 60637 | Family Values Means a Job
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples)
Subject: Re: How to get the IBM CD?
Organization: Dept. of Econ., Univ. of Chicago
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 18:19:06 GMT
In article <dlcogswe.718724439@vela> dlcogswe@vela.acs.oakland.edu
(Dan Cogswell) writes:
>I've read a few articles mentioning the availability of a new CD with a
>whole lot of (beta?) software on it for $15. I'm not a devloper, but I
>am particpating in the 32-bit GRE beta. In any case, could someone
>point me in the right direction to get this new CD?
This question is answered in the FAQ List as of Release 2.0f.
Sorry to be so sour, but people really ought to start reading this
list.
--
Timothy F. Sipples | The OS/2 FREQ. ASKED QUESTIONS LIST is avail. from
sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu | 128.123.35.151, anonymous ftp, in /pub/os2/all/faq.
Dept. of Econ., Univ. | Or from LISTSERV@BLEKUL11.BITNET (send "HELP").
of Chicago, 60637 | Family Values Means a Job
------------------------------------------------------------------------
END OF OS/2 DISCUSSION FORUM 921002
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