Links

This page is formerly known as "Timur Tabi's Programming Links", from the old EDM/2 web site. The content has only seen limited updates.

Most of the links are to OS/2-specific sources of information, however links to generic (i.e. not platform-specific) sources are sometimes included for completeness.

Other OS/2 and eComStation web sites

• eCSoft/2 - OS/2 & eCS software news an listings - By far the best updated and most comprehensive out there. - In both Italian and English.
• eComStation.ru - Loads of info in Russian and English
• OS/2 World - News, forums and Wiki.
• OS/2 and Ecomstation Korea South Korean user forums and so on, responsible for a number of OS/2 ports of UNIX software.

Conferences, seminars and user groups

Want to meet other OS/2 and eComstation users and developers?

• Warpstock - An OS/2 user/developer conference - Held in North America yearly
• Warpstock Europe - An OS/2 user/developer conference - Held in Europe yearly
• SCOUG Programming SIG - A special interest group of the South California OS/2 User Group
• HAL-PC OS/2 SIG - Meet other OS/2 users in Houston
• Philadelphia Alternate Systems User Group - Highly OS/2 oriented
• VOICE - A "virtual" user group, i.e. not geographically constrained and holds meetings only on-line.
• Wellington User Group - New Zealand
• Team OS/2 Hamburg - Germany
• A list of Worldwide OS/2 user groups - from VOICE

Companies and individuals offering OS/2 and eComStation services

• eComStation.it/Massimo Sangriso - Italian integrator, provides all common services and sales locally.
• ERA Computers & Consulting - Tennessee, USA - Most consulting and installation work plus eCS pre-loaded systems.
• Neil Waldhauer aka Blond Guy - California, USA, does consulting and support of OS/2 related systems.
• Russ Harvey - OS/2 consultation and services in Canada

Translation projects and tools

• PIDO/2 - Italian translation project for eComStation and individual software packages.

Project and source hosting

Websites that provide a range of support options for OS/2 developers

• Netlabs - A repository for OS/2 open-source projects - Free
• SourceForge - The oldest and most flexible of the free source/project sites.
• GitHub - Source code repository and version control - Free for open source projects
• Codeplex - Microsoft's alternative, good but not flexible about licenses - Free
• Gitorius - Less popular alternative to GitHub - Free for open source projects
• Bitbucket - Offers both free and paid project hosting - not as flexible as some of the others.
• Code Base - Project hosting - Not free but inexpensive and has more features than most free alternatives.
• Launchpad - Project hosting - Primarily intended for open source projects.
• Google Code hosting - Reliable but has been shedding features lately and will be shut down in 2016
• Jira - Paid for only
• Unfuddle - Paid for project hosting

Online References

Manuals and other online guides on OS/2 programming

• The OS/2 API Project - OS/2 API documentation on the web
• IBM BookManager - Tons of documents in BM format

Programming related news groups, forums and mailing lists

• comp.os.os2.programmer.tools - OS/2 development tools - Go to the Google groups version if you or your ISP does not offer newsgroup access.
• comp.os.os2.programmer.porting - Porting software from other operating systems to OS/2 - Go to the Google groups version if you or your ISP does not offer newsgroup access.
• comp.os.os2.programmer.oop - SOM, WPS, and other object-oriented OS/2 programming - Go to the Google groups version if you or your ISP does not offer newsgroup access.
• comp.os.os2.programmer.misc - General OS/2 programming - Go to the Google groups version if you or your ISP does not offer newsgroup access.
• Os2ddprog - Yahoo OS/2 Device Driver Development Group

Magazines and articles with OS/2 programming content

• Electronic Developer Monthly (EDM/2) - Your first stop for online OS/2 programming information
• OS/2 e-Zine - The premier OS/2 news source, with the occasional developer-related article
• Microsoft Systems Journal back issues - Although they're no longer online, the older issues have lots of OS/2 information.

FTP sites (or their WWW equivalents), search engines, and other indices

• BMT Micro's OS/2 catalog - A collection of shareware OS/2 tools
• Hobbes' dev directory - LOTS of stuff.
• Free compilers page - Search for a free compiler of any language - Tad outdated

Low-level OS/2 programming

Device drivers, real-time control, hardware access, etc.

• The OS/2 Programming Device Drivers mailing list - This page contains all driver-related information. Just go there!
• CFM TWAIN SDK - A toolkit for interfacing with scanners via the CFM TWAIN product

C/C++

• Simple Software Solutions' e_Fs - A cross-platform mini file system class library
• Simple Software Solutions' e_Comm - A serial/network client/server communications library
• RogueWave - Source for several cross-platform C++ class libraries
• Andys Dynamic Link Library routine - Cross-platform code for linking DLL's when the API names are determined at runtime
• The Standard Function Library - A highly cross-platform C/C++ library with source code
• C++ FAQ - The light version
• Available C++ libraries - A huge list of C++ class libraries, for all platforms

Java (OS/2-specific information here only)

• Aaron William's OS/2 Java Page - Just start here
• Jikes for OS/2 - A command-line Java compiler
• Data Representations - Home of the very cool Simplicity Java development environment
• SerialPort - Java serial port control for several OS's
• comp.lang.java.programmer -

Perl

• Ilya Zakharevich - a Perl port
• Hobbes' Perl directory - A collection of all things OS/2 and Perl

COBOL

• COBOLTOOLS Easy Toolkit - A portability toolkit for COBOL platforms
• Micro Focus COBOL for OS/2 3.1J - In Japanese, so I don't know what it says
• Casegen for COBOL - Generates CICS applications in COBOL

RPG

• VisualAge for RPG Client - IBM's RPG software runs on an AS/400 server and an OS/2 or Windows client, although the web page touts the Windows version
• Visual Tools/400 - An extension to IBM's RPG compiler

Visual programming, CASE, RAD, etc.

• VisualAge Generator - A RAD tool for Java, I think.
• JBC's GpfRexx - A GUI builder based on Rexx
• Libero - A cross-platform visual programming tool for multiple languages
• Object WorkBench - A workframe for C++ and Java programmers
• ZMECH - A cross-platform visual CASE tool
• comp.lang.visual - Moderated

Databases

• OS/2 Database Mailing List -
• DB2/2 Personal Developer's Edition 7.1 - Free download!
• Maxxum Consulting - Makers of the Base32 xBase compiler
• Astrac Visualizer - A database/workgroup tool like Lotus Notes
• Simple Software Solutions' e_Db - A cross-platform database engine
• e_Db Database Server - A cross-platform database server

Internet and Networking

• Socket++ Library for OS/2 - A C++ library for TCP/IP socket programming

OpenGL

• OpenGL web page -
• IBM OpenGL web page - It talks only about the AIX version, but the AIX developers wrote the OS/2 version.
• Magician - A Java front-end to OS/2's OpenGL engine

Embedded Systems

• DSP Development Tools - A substantial list from Embedded Systems Programming Magazine; only one or two support OS/2, but many are DOS apps.
• ESP Magazine's embedded systems develop internet resources - Tons of links to WWW resources on embedded systems development.
• Texas Instrument's DSP Village - Search on "OS/2", you'll find some OS/2-hosted compilers
• cc65 - A cross-compiler for the 6502 microprocessor.
• Lattice ES68 C Development System - A C cross-compiler for 680x0 systems
• JAL V2 JAL Version 2 Pascal like language compiler for MicroChip PICs microprocessors (OS/2 eComStation version).
• XWISP2 - an eComStation(OS/2) support program for the Wisp628/648 PIC programmer.

Presentation Manager (PM)

• Generalised Bitmap Module - Libraries and source code for loading, saving, and manipulating images in a variety of file formats
• S Lib - A cross-platform GUI library for OS/2, Windows, and Unix. From the makers of Stellar Frontier
• V C++ GUI Framework - Cross-platform GUI Framework, now for OS/2!
• Anatomy of a PM program - An article by Les Bell
• Shape Window for OS/2 PM - Non-rectangular PM windows
• FreeType - Replacement TrueType engine for OS/2
• Cell Toolkit - Library for Split Views and Toolbars
• Multithreading PM Applications - A document describing how to multithread your PM application

Multimedia, Graphics, and Game Development

• Crystal Space - A free 3D engine for OS/2 and other OS's, note that only older versions have explicit OS/2 support, but the code is fairly portable.
• Stéphane Charette's reference page - Various INF files for online viewing, including rare MMPM and gaming docs.
• SVGA & VESA Kit for emx - Write OS/2 programs that run in high resolution graphics modes
• SciTech MGL - Cross-platform 2D/3D graphics library, now available for OS/2!
• BlobCity - An OS/2 game like SimCity, with great multithreading and full source code
• Fly8 - A flight simulator, with source code
• Spiceware OS/2 Programming info - Utilities, drivers, and links
• DevBahn OS/2 Game Programming Sanctuary - My articles from OS/2 Monthly and other stuff

XFree86/OS2 (X Windows for OS/2) and other Unix porting

• The XFree86 Project - Homepage for XFree86, a free version of X Windows for various platforms
• XFree86/OS2 Project - Run X Windows and several X applications under OS/2
• Dutch XFree86/OS2 page - Outdated but some useful info.
• Installing XFree86/OS2 4.3.0 - from Voice OS/2
• EMX Support Page - Info on using EMX to port Unix apps to OS/2
• The EverBlue Project - An OS/2 port of xlib (xlib is like PM for Unix)
• The UNIX and OS/2 EMX Porting Companion - A guide to porting apps from Unix to OS/2
• EMX Resources - A list of applications ported to OS/2 using EMX
• /dev/random Support Page - A random number generator

Patches, updates, fixpacks, and corrective service diskettes (CSDs)

• IBM VisualAge languages - IBM VisualAge languages
• IBM Visual Gen - IBM Visual Gen
• Other IBM languages - APL/2, C Set, PL/I
• DB2 - IBM's DB2 database product

Installatation, configuration, and update

Create programs that install or configure your application

• Installer/2 and Uninstaller/2 - An open source installation package for OS/2
• SFX Installer - A one file archive/installation tool
• IBM Software Installer - The original software installation program from IBM
• WarpIN Software Installer - The new standard in OS/2 software installation!

Version Control and Project Management

• The Configuration Management FAQ - the FAQ for comp.software.config-mgmt
• Team Connection - The grand-daddy of them all. Too bad IBM no longer markets it
• PrjBld - Use the WPS to create and manage project folders
• ProjectFolder - A WPS IDE for Visual Age C/C++ 3.0
• ProblemTracker - Tracks bug reports
• RCS 5.7 - The GNU revision control system
• CVS for OS/2 - Concurrent Version System, like RCS but better
• Perforce - A cross-platform version control utility. SciTech uses it.
• Opus Make - A cross-platform powerful make utility

Copy Protection, Encryption, and Security

• SecureIt - Registration protection for your shareware application

Applications with documented plug-in API's

• Sundial's Mesa/2 - Spreadsheet
• CadWare's BlueCAD 1.0 - An excellent small and fast CAD package for OS/2
• FaxWorks/PMfax API - An interface to OS/2's most popular fax software
• Maul Publisher - An OS/2-only desktop publishing application

Editors and Viewers

• FTE Text Editor - A free, open-source text editor for OS/2, Linux, and Windows NT
• Fast Editor Lite - Small yet powerful programmers editor for OS/2
• MED - A shareware text editor for OS/2 and Windows
• PillarSoft's Enhanced E and EE editors - Small yet powerful editors, with some programmer features
• Andys Source Code Folding Editor - Cross-platform editor with the ability to group lines into a larger 'meta-line'
• Compile File Comparison Family - A set of cross-platform file-comparison utilities

Debuggers

• Interactive Code Analysis Tool (ICAT) - Source-level debugging for applications and drivers. Use this when your normal debugger fails.
• PMSysLog - An event logger equivalent to the Unix Syslog daemon

Documentation generators, converters, formatters, and parsers

Tools to work with help files and other documentation

• PPWIZARD - A cross-platform text processing languages. I use it to make this web page.
• PMStripper - Converts HTML to plain text
• VyperHelp - A visual outliner and editor for creating and converting to/from online help for OS/2-based systems
• DOC++ - A documentation system for C/C++ and Java that generates LaTeX and HTML.
• HTMIPF - Free HTML->IPF Compiler

Links updated Nov 27, 2005.

Miscellaneous

• Wotsit's File Format Collection - The specs for hundreds of different file formats
• Développer sous OS/2 - A list like this one, but in French
• OS/2 and Linux Topics - And yet another mostly outdated index
• OS/2 emulation layer for NT - Emulates over 110 DOSCALL functions under NT
• Christoph Bratschi's Homepage - Small programmer's editor, Netscape plug-ins, MCI tester, some file viewers, etc.
• Telvox Software Shop - Some kind of cross-platform CODEC, I'm not sure what it does
• Opt-Tech Sort - Stand-alone or linkable cross-platform sort utility
• OSCAR and Jol - A "Universal Menu System" for PC's and OS/390
• SMT - A multi-threading kernel for use with Libero (see above)
• Match Fonts - Programmer-related fonts in the "Special Fonts" section
• Mozilla Cross-Reference - Lots of great developer utilities, with source code, from the Mozilla project

Historical computing and programming

• Historic Documents in Computer Science by Karl Kleine at the Jena University, the latter being historically important since it was the primus motor behind the early ALGOL development, unusual for a then East European country.