The News Written by Aram Agajanian

OS/2 IBM has released English editions of Fixpack 9 for OS/2 Warp 4 and Fixpack 38 for OS/2 Warp 3. [Fixpack 9 has been temporarily withdrawn due to some software compatibility problems but is expected to be restored soon.] A new OS/2 Lan Server 5.0 for Warp Server fixpack has also been released. This update corrects serious defects in the two previous fixpacks. IBM recommends that anyone who has run HPFSPERF under fixpacks 8508 or 8525 should install this fixpack. Support for UCS-3 level Joliet formatted CD-ROMs has been uploaded to hobbes. This feature supports long filenames on certain CD-ROMs. [Note: this may be sufficient to be able to read the EDM/2 CD without having to install fixpack 5+ first. If anyone is able to verify this, please mail me. Ed] IBM's Remote Service Utility (RSU) has been updated to version 1.83 after several updates in October. There have been several items updated on the IBM's Device Driver Pak web site, including IBM's ScrollPoint mouse, Adaptec's 7800-series SCSI controllers, IDE controllers (IDEDASD.EXE dated 10/13/98), and wheel-mouse drivers. Indelible Blue Online is conducting a survey of its customers pertaining to the cost, demand, and function of a new Warp client based upon the functionality in the Aurora beta. C++ The Crystal Space project now has precompiled OS/2 libraries courtesy of Andrey Zabolotny. Crystal Space is a 3D graphics engine. JMA Software Technologies has released yet another batch of free source code for public use. The newly released code is for the BootSet boottime utility and three other OS/2 libraries. Stardock Software has released the Look aNd Feel (LNF) Creation Kit for Object Desktop 2.0. VisualAge C++ is required. The developer's kit for the Synthetic Audio Library (SEAL) is now available at hobbes. The library has streaming audio capabilities as well as the ability to play several module-type (MOD) formats. It currently uses MMPM/2. Data base IBM has released DB2/2 version 5.2. A trial version can be downloaded via the Internet. Enhancements include a Java-based administration tool, JDBC support, Java Embedded SQL, and Perl support, and table-level locking. IBM IBM has released a document outlining the development strategy for the VisualAge line of development environments. Emphasis is placed upon integration with IBM's server and middleware software in an open environment. Java A new survey by The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) gives good performance marks to the JVMs that IBM has implemented for OS/2. (The results are submitted by IBM and other companies.) IBM has released an update to VisualAge for Java 2.0 at the VisualAge Developer Domain web site. The update includes enhancements and fixes for the Entry, Professional, and Enterprise Editions. In WarpFM, IBM announced that Java 1.1.6 for OS/2 is the Y2K-compliant upgrade path for users of earlier versions. Version 1.1.4 and before are not Year 2000 compliant. IBM has released the following tools on the alphaWorks web site: a P3P parser (P3P is a protocol for personalization data), RuleBasedNumberFormat, which implements a standard way to write numeric values as words, and StringSearch encapsulates algorithms for searching in non-English text. IBM has also released two Javabeans: the JHelper bean, which implements a help system for Java applications and applets, and the ArchiveAccessor bean, which encapsulates algorithms for working with jar- and zip-format archive files. Data Representations has released Simplicity for Java 1.1 beta 1a. New features include support for each of the Swing components, support for JavaBeans, and enhanced source code editor, and an improved development environment. The production version 1.03 and the new beta can be downloaded from Data Representations web site. Rexx NetRexx 1.444 is now available. New features include a strictimport compiler option that prevents automatic class imports and making the java.math class optional. (These features make it possible to write NetRexx programs for embedded systems and palm devices.) Also included is Java 1.2 support and usability improvements. A maintenance release of the REXX Code Formatter/2 (RCF/2), version 1.2.5, is now available. This release fixes all bugs known to the author and improves the variable cross-reference listing. RCF/2 is shareware and is available for download at BMT Micro. Prolog The Prolog Development Center has released Visual Prolog 5.0. This package is a complete application development environment. New features in version 5.0 include a source-level debugger, improvements in compile and linking speed, an improved debugging environment, a Help Maker application, and source code control hooks to third party products. A 30-day trial version is available for download from the PDC's web site. Web Sun Microsystems has released version 1.1.5 of the HotJava web browser. The newest version uses a JavaBean model for use by software developers in Java programs. HotJava 1.1.5 requires a Java runtime of at least version 1.1.6 and can be downloaded via ftp. IBM has released the Plug-In SDK for Netscape Communicator 4.04 for OS/2. It is available for download via ftp at no charge. In addition to allowing the construction of native OS/2 plug-ins, the SDK also allows the programmer to interface with Win-OS/2. Fortify now supports the GA release of Communicator 4.04 for OS/2. Fortify provides 128-bit strength encryption for secure web communication and is free to download at no cost by international users. JBC Software Development has released version 2.1 of Home Page Publisher. The new version has support for DBCS and frames. An upgrade to version 2.1 is free for registered uses of HPP versions 1.0 and 2.0. Version 0.75Beta2 of InetPowerServer has been released. IPS supports the FTP, SMTP, and POP3 protocols. It is available for download at hobbes. The Apache web server has been updated version 1.33. The package is freeware. IBM has released Net.Data version 2.0.5 for OS/2. Net.Data is a tool to facilitate web access to data in a relational data base such as DB2 or Sybase. Net.Data is freely downloadable at no cost. Valera Veryazov has released version 1.5 of TXT2HTML. This utility converts characters to HTML compliance and inserts format tags for paragraphs, lists, and other structures. The package includes both text mode and PM versions. It is available at hobbes. Smalltalk A fixpack for IBM's VisualAge for Smalltalk 4.5 has been made available. This release fixes problems in the base Enterprise product, the Manager, UML Designer, ObjectExtender, Server, and Server Workbench components. (An evaluation CD of VisualAge for Smalltalk 4.5 can be ordered for free via an online sign-up form). Pipeline Ed Tomlinson has released version 0.46 of njPipes, an unofficial port of CMS/TSO Pipeline to NetRexx and Java. The author has expressed that this release should stabilize the language compared with previous released. Scripting Version 1.01 of the C-Styled Scripting language (CSS) is now available. The package is freeware and can be downloaded from hobbes via ftp. News items to news@edm2.com.