What's New on Volume 12?

Reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation, © International Business Machines Corporation

By Karen Foley

What's new with DevCon? In a word...PLENTY! For starters, you'll notice that your base DevCon package is a good bit thicker this time: the AIX content has grown to 2 CDs, we've expanded to another platform with a separate CD containing Windows™‎ tools, and we've provided many, many more Internet tools for multiple platforms on yet another CD. The Java CD, featuring tools from Sun Microsystems™‎ contains some of the latest in Java technology. Contained on this CD are the best-of-breed Java applications from IBM's alphaWorks Web Site, JavaSoft's Winner's Circle, as well as the Java Workshop. If you are developing Java applications, be sure to check this CD out!

Subscribers to any of the DevCon Cross-Platform Developer Kits (XPDKs) for the IBM Software Servers also will be receiving updates with Volume 12.

We've also been busy working on enhancements to our web site, and now offer a variety of products you can download. Some items will be moving off the CDs onto the web, reserving the CD space for the newer tools but still giving you access to the oldies but goodies. We'll also be using the web to give you access to updates before we ship the next volume, so come visit us at http://www.developer.ibm.com/devcon/ to see what's new. We're working on a hybrid catalog to give you a good view of what's newer on the web than on your CD, so be sure to try out the prototype when you visit!

The Scoop on Some of the New Products

General Multiplatform Tools

Rendezvous Information Bus from TIBCO, Inc. (for OS/2 and AIX) simplifies distributed applications development. Create portable networking applications without having to have an in-depth knowledge of differences between various operating systems.

IBM TeamConnection (provided on DevCon 11 for OS/2) is now also provided for Windows to expand your options for code management and the product development cycle. TeamConnection supports team development environments by integrating software configuration management services and objects-oriented information sharing services on a semantic model for tool integration.

IBM geoGPG (for OS/2 and AIX) is an application enabler with database, graphics and mapping functions for tracking the geographic locations and relationships of assets, facilities or events. The geographic and network modeling system provides the ability to create and modify IBM Geographic Information Systems data.

OS/2 and Windows versions of IBM PL/I are now available. PL/I Professional is a full function PL/I application development tool. It combines the power of the PL/I host language with the productivity of the PC. CSD's for the PL/I Professional and the Toolkit also are included for OS/2. It provides nearly 200 built-in functions and subroutines and supports all 32-bit interprocedure calling conventions, allowing PL/I programs to call C routines or operating system APIs.

Source Code Analysis and Measurement Program (SCAMP) is a highly customizable tool to measure and analyze source code. It provides: Lines of Code, Source Statements, Comments, Nesting Levels, Scoping Levels, and more. SCAMP supports multiple languages and is available for both OS/2 and AIX.

AIX Tools

TotalView Multiprocess Debugger from Dolphin Interconnect Solutions is a graphical debugger for C, C++, and FORTRAN that enhances productivity when developing multiprocessor, parallel, distributed, and traditional applications with the easy yet powerful graphical interface based on the X Window System.

WebCrusader from Gradient Technologies, Inc. is a family of products that provides an infrastructure that enables easier development and deployment of secure, web-based applications. Enjoy the benefits of web-based applications with: faster development time, faster deployment across multiple client platforms, easier administration and management, and more consistent security across the environment.

The HotJava Browser is a modular, FCS-applet aware, extensible, Web browser written in Java with the class libraries. It offers class libraries that can be used to build Internet-aware applications.

AIX System Backup & Recovery/6000 (Sysback) from IBM can backup, list and restore data from: Full system backup, select volume groups, select filesystems, select files or directories and "Raw" logical volumes. Sysback allows the user to group multiple tape drives into a single "virtual device."

PowerPC/RS6K Cache Profiler/Visualizer from Xcache aids programmers in tuning programs for better cache utilization by simulating one function or an entire program. The XCACHE package contains two simulation programs for the PowerPC (XCache601) and the RS6000 (XCacheRS6K).

WebStalker from Haystack Laboratories, Inc. is an innovative, software-based Web server security package. WebStalker is designed to take the burden of Web site security off the shoulders of the Webmaster, and stand watch over Web site contents and operations. For more information on WebStalker, refer to the article on page 1.

AIX 4.1.4+ Maintenance Fixes are maintenance updates to the AIX 4.1.4 Operating System and are provided for the first time on the AIX DevCon CD.

Internet Tools

Perhaps one of the most significant tools on the Java CD is the Java WorkShop from JavaSoft. Javatize your Web pages with dynamic interactive applets created with little or no code, by leveraging pre-built Java applets, or build stand-alone applications that run anywhere the Java runtime virtual machine runs. Java WorkShop includes everything you need to visually assemble and publish portable Java applications.

DimensionX brings us Liquid Reality and Liquid Motion. Liquid Reality allows you to create your own customized VRML 2.0 browser; while, Liquid Motion is an authoring tool for creating animations in Java. Now you don't need to write a line of code unless you want to!

JClass LiveTable from KLgroup is the most powerful Java grid/table you can get. With over 68 resources to configure and dozens of methods and callbacks to manipulate, your tables will look and act exactly the way the application requires.

THOUGHT Inc.™ provides several applications, including Nutmeg™, CinnaMoney™, and Vanilla Search. Nutmeg addresses the problem of making Java useful for low-level programming tasks by creating a set of Java Classes and is modeled after the Smalltalk Collection class library. CinnaMoney is a discretionary and arbitrary precision math class for anyone who needs to perform significant financial operations. Vanilla Search is a new 'off-the-shelf' search class, providing extremely powerful wildcard and pattern-matching search capability, using industry standard 'regular expression' syntax, derived from Unix-Grep/Perl syntax.

A beta of the Wallop Build-IT Web application development environment, the first completely open and comprehensive development environment that integrates and organizes all your Web components and development activities also is provided. It is the only environment where diverse component types and best-of-breed authoring tools are fully embraced for creating and maintaining Web applications.

Applets from the Java Cup International Contest Winners Circle, such as Cybcerone, a Java-based kiosk system; Access Key, a specialized password generator; Web Draw, a web-based drawing applet; some exciting games, and more are all provided on the CD.

These, coupled with the Java Development Kits, the new technology from IBM's alphaWorks site, and white papers are sure to please all of you Internet developers out there.

OS/2 Tools

An update to Open32 (formerly the Developer API Extensions) is now available! The installation has been simplified by merging this function with OS/2 Warp Version 3 FixPak XR_W026, located in the Service category. Multimedia updates for DIVE and DART are also in this FixPak.

Twain for OS/2 SDK from Solution Technology, Inc. is a Software Developer's Kit which allows you to easily TWAIN-enable any native OS/2 application. TWAIN is a compliance specification for the document imaging and management industry.

The Boxer Text Editor from Boxer Software, now also available in German, is a full-featured editor that provides the ability to edit multiple files through one or more resizable windows. Features include Color Syntax Highlighting, Undo and Redo, Column Marking, Search and Replace, etc.

FileStar/2 from SofTouch Sytems, Inc. is a robust OS/2 file manager. Basic file operations are a breeze to perform, and its design is highly customizable.

TTButton is an add-on package to EPM32 (OS/2 Enhanced Editor). TTButton adds several new toolbar choices, so you can tailor EPM's point-and-click interface to match your needs.

IBM VisualAge for COBOL is packaged as two separate offerings. The Standard provides 32-bit direct-to-SOM-based, object-oriented support on OS/2. The Professional includes all the features of the Standard edition, and adds a new set of Redeveloper tools.

CHECKIT PLUS from Client Server Networking, Inc. is a monitor for IBM LAN Servers. It can poll 1000+ servers in five domains, and will provide notification via pager or LAN Server broadcast message in case of failure.

Previously available only on other platforms, QuickTime is a MultiMedia movie player from Apple Computer, Inc. On Volume 12, QuickTime for OS/2 includes a sample program that demonstrates the QuickTime API.

TCP/IP Ring 0 Library allows 16-bit Ring 0 applications to interface with the OS/2 TCP/IP Stack. Included are the 16-bit Ring 0 Sockets interface for device drivers, and other Ring 0 applications.

SD386 is a source level debugger for OS/2 32-bit and 16-bit programs written in the C programming language. SD386 is simple and fast, so check out the update on Volume 12.

Windows Tools

IBM VisualAge for Basic Client/Server for Windows/NT is a powerful suite of application development tools built around an advanced implementation of the Basic programming language. VisualAge for Basic is for the developer creating GUI clients, as well as for the DB2 application programmer who wants to use Basic to create GUI clients, DB2 stored procedures, and DB2 user-defined functions.

IBM VisualAge for C++ for Windows v3.5 FixPak CTW351 provides fixes for the compiler and its affiliated tools: OpenClass library, OpenClass Source Code, Win32 SDK and Win32s Subsystem, Runtime Library, Linker, Visual Builder, Data Access Builder, Debugger, Editor, Browser and Trace Analyzer.

VoiceType Developers Toolkit Version 3.0 provides the technology to create speech-aware products. Refer to the article on page 2 for more information.

Summary

We hope you enjoy trying the many valuable tools on Volume 12. Whatever your development environment, DevCon is expanding to provide the tools and documents you need. Visit us on the Web and let us know what you think. Happy programming!

Reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation, © International Business Machines Corporation