Newsbits

By Neil Ticktin, Editor

Language Systems Announces Broad Tools Strategy

August 4, 1992 - Language Systems Corp. announced a broad strategy to capture an increasing share of the Macintosh developer tools market. Previously known for its successful FORTRAN compiler, the company has revealed plans to support all popular languages with a suite of related tools.

Language Systems’ strategy is to offer high performance compilers for additional programming languages; and to create new tools, designed to augment the development process by providing unexpected capabilities.

SoftPolish, the first tool developed to reflect this strategy was released at in May. SoftPolish is a quality assurance tool that performs four previously unavailable functions for software developers: 1) test the dialogs, windows, and controls of an application for compliance with Apple’s Human Interface guidelines; 2) applies hundreds of tests for resource vaildity and identifies potential problems; 3) spell checks all string objects in application resources; and 4) automates file cleaning for master disks.

A recent agreement with Apple has prompted Language Systems to begin development of a robust and powerful Pascal compiler. The new compiler will integrate with other tools Apple is creating for the RISC-based Macintosh PowerPC. Since Apple is not providing a Pascal compiler for the platform, Language Systems is poised for a dominant position in the Pascal market.

For more information, contact Language Systems Corp., 441 Carlisle Drive, Herndon, VA 22070-4802, Voice: 703/478-0181, Fax: 703/689-9593, Sales: 800/2-LANGSYS, AppleLink/AOL: LANGSYS.

Electron Mining Ships OOPC

Electron Mining is now shipping the Macintosh version of OOPC, a new platform-independent development tool. OOPC is a high-level object-oriented toolkit for creating applications quickly using ANSI-standard C (THINK C or MPW C). OOPC has an advanced object system and comes with an extensive class library. With dynamic class definition and flexible method dispatch control, the object system is far more powerful than C++. Because classes are high-level and consistenly use verb functions such as draw and act, the class library is easy to learn and use. A complete set of classes is included for creating a user interface, managing documents, and developing object-oriented databases.

OOPC comes with 100% full source code and a manual explaining everything a developer needs to know to program the Macintosh using OOPC.

Class library features include automatic multiple-page document handling, complete support for application user interface, object-oriented graphics package, Script Manager compatible styled text, fast object persistence built-in, extensible, asynchronous, multiple-priority event handling, as well as class support for rule-based articicial intelligence.

For more information, contact Electron Mining, 718 Bounty Drive, Suite 1819, Foster City, CA 94404, Sales: 800/453-1131, Voice/Fax: 415/341-2400.

Unix for the PowerBook

Tenon Intersystems is shipping a new version of MachTen-Unix™ software for the Macintosh. Release 2.0 runs on every Macintosh, from the PowerBooks to the Quadra. MachTen turns Macintosh hardware into a family of System 7-savvy Unix workstations bringing the power of Unix to the Mac.

MachTen is Berkeley 4.3BSD Unix, built on Carnegie Mellon Mach foundation - not a Unix derivative, but licensed AT&T software. MachTen allows you to continue to run off-the-shelf Macintosh programs while simultaneously running Unix programs. In addition, MachTen enhances the Mac OS with true Unix multitasking, full internet communications, and a distributed file system via NFS.

Tenon has a MachTen Development System including the GNU C compiler and C preprocessor along with other standard Unix development tools. Companion software packages provide X client and X server software that runs in conjunction with MachTen. Low cost X Terminal software is also available.

For more information, contact Tenon Intersystems, 1123 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, Voice: 805/963-6983, Fax: 805/962-8202.

AnimIt Hits 3.1

The AnimIt module from FaceWare has been upgraded to version 3.1. The latest version of AnimIt can be used to animate from disk or memory any set of drawings in any port. The drawings can either be dynamically created by the program or imported via PICS files.

AnimIt also supports saving, replaying, and interactive control of all animations. Advantages over Apple’s QuickTime™ include: less overhead, works with any language/compiler, can incorporate into applications, and runs on all Macs. AnimIt can be used in any program (other FaceWare modules not required), and includes the AnimCt™ control driver for adding animation views to ViewIt windows.

The list price is $75. Owners of previous versions can upgrade for $35.

For more information, contact FaceWare, 1310 N. Broadway, Urbana, IL 61801, 217/328-5842, AppleLink: D1323.

Microphone II 4.0, The latest incarnation

Software Ventures Corporation is now shipping Microphone II 4.0.1. The new version is System 7 savvy, PowerBook and Quadra compatible. This latest version has been specifcally designed to unlock the power of System 7. It supports Publish and Subscribe, and can automatically route information to any designated place in another application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor. Version 4.0 also supports Balloon help, Aliases, the Connection Manager of the Macintosh Communications Toolbox and HyperCard 2.0 XCMDs and XFCNs.

For more information, contact Software Ventures, 2907 Claremont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705, Voice: 510/644-3232, Fax: 510/848-0885.

Ada Source Code Management

Software Maintenance and Development Systems, Inc. has released ADC/AdaScan™ and an optional package called Aide-De-Camp™. ADC/AdaScan helps the Ada developer find which source files belong to a specific program, what major program structures these files contain, and in what order files must be compiled in order to build an excutable program.

ADC/AdaScan joins the other language scanners that already are available for ADC, including ones for C and FORTRAN which are distributed with the basic ADC product. ADC/AdaScan consists of four executables: ada_init, adascan, adcprep, and ada_build.

For more information, contact Software Maintenance and Development Systems, Inc., PO Box 555, Concord, MA 01742, Voice: 508/369-7398, Fax: 508/369-8272.

List Manager Replacement from StoneTablet

StoneTablet Publishing has introduced StoneTable™ 1.0, a replacement for the Macintosh List Manager. StoneTable provides a rich set of functions for the Macintosh developer who needs to display or accept data in a tabular form.

Conversion from the List Manager is straight forward because StoneTable contains functions with similar names and parameters that are semantically equivalent.

Functionality includes: variable width columns and variable height rows, data in a cell can be edited in place, no internal limit on data in a cell, multiple cells can be set at once, mouse down handling, columns and rows can be hidden, etc

For more information, contact StoneTablet Publishing, PO Box 12665, Portland, OR 97212-0665, Voice: 503/287-3424.

T/Maker Releases WriteNow 3.0

T/Maker Company is now shipping WriteNow 3.0, the latest enhancement to their popular Macintosh word processor. WriteNow is touted to be “the fastest and most compact Macintosh business word processor available requiring only 325K RAM.” Among the new features, are powerful paragraph and character style sheets. These new style sheets are more powerful than Word 5.0 or PageMaker’s.

Also included in the new WriteNow is a robust print preview with facing pages and flexible thumbnails, allowing you to see the overall scope of your document. Other features include color support for text and graphics, easy insertion of horizontal lines and several types of underlining. Version 3.0 also adds direct PC WordPerfect, MacWrite II, and Microsoft Works compatibility as well as improved Microsoft Word compatibility.

Version 3.0 now support Apple's 32-bit addressing, virtual memory, TrueType™ fonts, aliasing, Stationery Pads, Balloon Help and required Apple Events.

The retail price is $249. Registered users can upgrade for $49.95 which includes a new set of documentation and a sampling of ClickArt images and FaxMania fax cover sheets.

For more information, contact T/Maker Company, 1390 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041, Voice: 415/962-0195, Fax: 415/962-0201, AppleLink: TMAKER.SALES.