Micro Focus Cobol 3.2 for SCO UNIX has been optimized for 486 and Pentium processors. Also optimized is the Cobol SDK for 32-bit OS/2 and Windows NT for Intel-architecture-based workstations and servers. The technology involves specific optimizations to take advantage of the instruction scheduling and pipelining features of the Pentium processor, as well as general optimization and optimal instruction ordering of compiled code for both the Intel 486 and Pentium processors.
Micro Focus Cobol 3.2 for SCO UNIX is priced at $1250.00. The Micro Focus Cobol SDK for 32-bit OS/2 and Windows NT sells for $2500.00. Reader service no. 20.
Micro Focus
2465 East Bayshore Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
415-856-4161
Readers interested in the Beta programming language described in the October, 1993 issue of DDJ might be equally interested in the Mj0lner Beta Newsletter from Mj0lner Informatics, a Beta vendor. The newsletter provides news and techniques for Beta programmers. Sample issues are provided upon request; contact [email protected]. Reader service no. 21.
Mj0lner Informatics
Science Park Aarhus
Gustav Wieds Vej 10
DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
+45-86-20-20-00
Former DDJ columnist Michael Abrash has published his Zen of Code Optimization, which covers code optimization in C, C++, and assembly. The book, published by the Coriolis Group, covers techniques from loop unrolling to Boyer-Moore string searching. The Zen of Code Optimization also covers techniques for optimizing C programs, as well as speeding up C with inline assembly. Abrash examines how hardware programming affects code performance, discusses how cycles can be eaten up by the display adapter, dynamic RAM and the prefetch queue, and provides detailed coverage of the 386/486/Pentium processors. The book includes the Zen timer, a tool for measuring code performance; it sells for $39.95. ISBN 1-883577-03-9. Reader service no. 22.
The Coriolis Group
7721 East Gray Road, Suite 204
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
602-438-0192
The Cross Platform Toolset is, as its name suggests, a new cross-platform development tool from Visual Edge. The initial release of the tool is hosted on SunOS 4.1.3 and targeted for Windows 3.1. The software is an add-on to Visual Edge's UIM/X GUI builder for OSF/Motif.
With the Cross Platform Toolset, objects can be implemented using everything from Motif widgets to Visual Basic VBXs, allowing you to work with whichever tools you're familiar with. The Cross Platform Toolset sells for $2500.00. Reader service no. 23.
Visual Edge Software
3950 Côte Vertu
Saint Laurent, PQ
Canada H4R 1V4
514-332-6430
Interactive Software Engineering (ISE) has released Personal Eiffel for Windows, an implementation of the Eiffel language which supports incremental compilation under Windows 3.1., though the environment is character based. The package provides several hundred precompiled classes, including base classes to support basic data structures and algorithms, lex, and parser classes. Personal Eiffel for Windows also comes with a variety of tools to manage classes, including browsers and documentation tools.
Professional Eiffel for Windows, on the other hand, adds the ability to directly call C functions and generate a portable C package from an Eiffel program. Both versions of Eiffel for Windows support the NICE standard specification, and they are fully source-code compatible with UNIX, VMS, and NextStep implementations. ISE claims that it will release GUI versions of the compiler that support the Windows interface, providing both CASE tools and graphics classes later this year. Personal Eiffel sells for $49.95. Pricing for Professional Eiffel for Windows is expected to be approximately $500.00. Reader service no. 24.
Interactive Software Engineering
270 Storke Road, Suite 7
Goleta, CA 93117
805-685-1006
In other Eiffel news, Tower Technology has ported its TowerEiffel to OS/2. TowerEiffel, which includes an Eiffel 3 com-piler and an integrated emacs-based environment with browsing and documentation tools, syntax-directed highlighting, and auto-indentation. TowerEiffel is also available for Sun SPARC for SunOS 4.1.x and Solaris 2.3.
The TowerEiffel system supports Eiffel and C++ interoperability, allowing C++ objects to be invoked from Eiffel, and vice versa. The compiler will also optionally generate C++ code. A commercial license for TowerEiffel for OS/2 sells for $1295.00. TowerEiffel is available to individuals for noncommercial use at a 70 percent discount; full-time students taking an approved Eiffel class can receive an 80 percent discount; and university professors can receive a 90 percent discount. Reader service no. 25.
Tower Technology
3300 Bee Caves Road, Suite 650
Austin, TX 78746
512-452-9455
Iterated Systems has announced a new fractal-image format called "Fractal Paper." Based on its Fractal Transform process which compresses an image to a fraction of its original size while maintaining high image quality, Fractal Paper extends fractally compressed files to third-party toolkits and provides image protection through encrypted-content password and comment fields.
The first developer toolkit to adopt Fractal Paper is the yet-to-be-released Lotus SmarText Release 3. Lotus will include the fractal-image decompressor within its SmarText Builder and Viewer software. Developers interested in using fractal compression within a Lotus SmarText title can purchase Images Incorporated, Iterated's fractal file compressor, and license Fractal Paper from Iterated. Reader service no. 26.
Iterated Systems
5550-A Peachtree Parkway
Norcross, GA 30092
404-840-0310
Xing Technology has released its XingCD 1.0, CD-ROM MPEG compression software for Windows. XingCD produces MPEG video streams from .TGA, .AVI, or .BMP files and creates MPEG audio streams from .WAV files. It also interleaves audio and video into an MPEG-compatible system stream.
The company claims that XingCD is the only available software that lets you easily create full-screen MPEG video streams from a variety of source files, including video captured with AVI-compliant motion JPEG boards, 3-D animations, and image files.
XingCD can create full-motion video streams from 32x32 to 352x288 resolution. Furthermore, compression and interleaving jobs can be queued up to run in the background, allowing users to continue to work in other applications. XingCD supports full I, B, and P frames, and full MPEG I system-stream syntax. MPEG streams encoded by XingCD play back on any MPEG playback hardware. The software sells for $995.00. Reader service no. 27.
Xing Technology
1540 W. Branch St.
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420-1818
805-473-0145
RSA Data Security has released, free-of-charge, its RIPEM/SIG digital-signature encryption software that's built on top of RSA's RSAREF cryptography toolkit (also available at no charge). The software is released for both private use and commercial development. Furthermore, RSA has received permission from the State Department to allow the software to be freely exported.
RIPEM was written by Mark Riordan of Michigan State University using the RSAREF toolkit. A Macintosh version was developed by Ray Lau of MIT. Versions are available for Macintosh, DOS, UNIX, and other popular platforms. To receive RSAREF and RIPEM/SIG, send e-mail to [email protected] or download it via anonymous ftp from [email protected]. Reader service no. 28.
RSA Data Security
100 Marine World Pkwy.
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
415-595-8782
ObjectPro from Trinzic is a Windows-hosted, object-oriented database development tool which, the company claims, combines the power of languages such as C/C++ with the ease-of-use of rapid-prototyping languages. During initial development phases, ObjectPro functions as an interpreter. When the app is ready for production, ObjectPro translates the code into C, then compiles and links it into a series of deliverable DLLs. Among the databases ObjectPro supports are Oracle, Sybase, Ingres, Informix, DB2/2, dBase, Access, FoxPro, and others via an ODBC interface. ObjectPro sells for $2995.00. Reader service no. 29.
Trinzic
101 University Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
415-328-9595
MediaShop 1.0 for Windows, an open architecture, component-based software multimedia authoring and delivery tool, has been released by Motion Works. MediaShop provides a multimedia-specific API along with links to Visual Basic, Visual C++, and other languages that support VBXs. MediaShop ships with a royalty-free run-time player. Its animation file format is compatible with CorelMove from Corel Corporation and Asymetrix's Multimedia ToolBook 3.0. MediaShop sells for $695.00. Reader service no. 30.
Motion Works
1020 Main Land, Suite 130
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6B 2T4
604-685-9975
The DynaZip 2.0 Data Compression Tool-kit for Windows has been released by Inner Media. This toolkit makes it possible to incorporate into your programs the ability to read, test, create, modify, and write standard ZIP files without shelling to DOS. The toolkit provides multiple-disk support, encryption/decryption with user-defined passwords, and easy creation of Windows-hosted, self-extracting files. Compressed files are compatible with PKWare's PKZIP 2.04G.
The royalty-free DynaZip DLLs are compatible with C, C++, Visual Basic, and other languages which support DLLs. DynaZip sells for $249.00. Reader service no. 31.
Inner Media
60 Plain Road
Hollis, NH 03049
603-465-3216
Copyright © 1994, Dr. Dobb's Journal
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