Introduction
This issue sees the third part of the Visual REXX Faceoff. We start by
looking at VisPro REXX GOLD edition Version 2.03 by Hockware and then see
how it compares to VP BRONZE and VX REXX.
VisPro ships on a single floppy disk and comes with a 400+ page manual. In
addition to the base package, the Data Entry Object Pack and the VP SOM
toolkit were shipped on two additional floppies. An additional 90 page
manual is included for the data entry objects.
Installation
Like the BRONZE edition, the GOLD edition is easy to install. Just run
SETUP.EXE on each floppy and then reboot, and you are ready to go. One of
my biggest gripes about the BRONZE edition was the lack of advanced sample
applications; this version has plenty of good samples.
The install folder for VP GOLD is slightly different than that for the
BRONZE edition. When done, you will see the following folder on the
desktop (assuming you install everything).
Figure 1. Installation Folder
The sample projects cover topics like multi-threading, multi-windows, the
DB2/2 database designer, and the new data entry objects. Below is the
sample project for the data entry objects.
Figure 2. Sample Project
Look and Feel
VP BRONZE and GOLD are nearly identical. All of what applied to the BRONZE
edition looked at two issues ago also apply to this issue. The layout view
has changed slightly as shown in figure 3.
Figure 3. User Interface
Also shown in Figure 3 are three controls types from the Data entry pack.
The calendar, split bar (the blue vertical line), and clock controls are
shown. One thing Figure 3 doesn't show about the clock control is that the
hands move while you are editing the layout; this is a nice touch in my
opinion.
The SOM development kit is fairly easy to use. It worked well until I
installed the SOM developers kit, however; I still haven't figured out how
to get it working with the SOM 2 compiler or even at whom I should point my
finger (if anyone). The problem here arises because the SOM 2 compiler
seems to be generating an incorrect reference to a SOM 1 function or
something like that; getting the SOM 1 toolkit to work with the SOM 2
compiler would probably be quite challenging for a new SOM programmer. As
the workaround, one can edit the makefile so that it uses only SOM 1
compiler components.
Figure 4 shows the SOM Object Builder.
Figure 4. The VP SOM Object Builder
The SOM Builder is pretty easy to use. You just fill in the notebook and
hit the generate button. It creates all the necessary files to define the
"SOM code". The SOM code includes the .CSC, .C and .H files that define
the SOM object and implement its methods, after which you edit the C files
and then make the object using the supplied makefile. (Of course you have
to read the toolkit documentation before trying this.) If this sounds too
good to be true, there is a cloud for this silver lining - the sample
projects assume you are using C-Set/2 not C-Set++, so some manual tweaking
of the samples is needed. Also, The SOM Builder only generates C code, so
one can't use the C++ bindings found in OS/2 2.1 Programmers Toolkit.
Feature Comparison
The following table compares the features in VX-REXX to those in VP BRONZE.
Additional object kits will be available that provide additional
multi-media support and other features. If you develop objects for VP
REXX, HockWare has a marketing assistance program.
The DB2/2 support allows one to reverse engineer an existing database, or
visually create a new one. Once done, all the code necessary for setting
up the REXX to DB2/2 interface can be automatically generated. This can
substantially lower the development time.
The VP REXX GOLD package is very impressive. It mimics the look and feel
of the WPS closely allowing one to start developing quickly. The part that
amazes me the most, is that it's runtime DLLs are small when compared to
other visual REXX offerings. I must balance this by adding that it is not
the perfect choice for creating scripts. Both VP products currently suffer
from the limitation of being limited to 1 active VP program per process.
In an environment that allows multiple scripts to be run simultaneously,
this can be a hindrance. This limitation has no affect on the REXX
programs wrapped in their own executable file.
The DB2/2 tools are easy to use. I only used them briefly because DB2/2
was removed due to a lack of hard drive space. From what I did see of
them, they are a must have item for programmers that are doing a lot of
DB/2 work and need to rapidly prototype DB/2 interfaces.