EXE articles from September 1999

EXE archives from September 1999

Best text forward.(Scott Meyers' Effective C++ compact disc)(Review)
September 1, 1999... The power and potential of hypertext seems to be overlooked these days. All the attention paid to the Web and its incorporation of multimedia seems to have eclipsed the possibilities for presenting textual information electronically. This...

Delphi E now we are five.(Borland's Delphi 5.0 application development software)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
September 1, 1999... Delphi 5, the next major release of BorlandOs Object Pascal-based RAD tool for Windows, is out in three editions: Enterprise, Professional, and Standard. As well as support for HTML 4 and XML, Delphi 5 is targeted at the integration of Windows...

Three tools for one repository.(Adaptive Framework 4.0 application development software)(Product Information)
September 1, 1999... With the rise of component-based development (CBD) thereOs a requirement for tools that can store and manage components. This includes interfacing to a number of various systems, interpreting different data formats, and dynamically reflecting...

Ready for JACC.
September 1, 1999... In version 4.0, a new Process Generator component helps users to formalise informal processes and automate new or existing processes. The idea is to help centralise the role of the repository within Enterprise development, rather than it being...

Tangoing into the new millennium.(Pervasive Software's Tango 2000 Internet/Web server software)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 1999... As we briefly previewed last month, Tango 2000 is the latest version of PervasiveOs system for designing, building, and testing database-driven web applications. A new visual development environment includes COM object and JavaBeans support,...

Visualising Computer Associates.(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 1999... In a keynote at CA World, Charles Wang restated his vision that the software Computer Associates produces must Orun a heterogeneous model that looks as if it is one systemO (ie have no bias towards any one platform or OS). For example, this...

Serving Java.(Apptivity 3.1 application development software from Progress Software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 1999... Support for XML and Java 2, enhanced SQL functionality, and improved performance are the features of Progress Apptivity v3.1, the Java application server and IDE. Version 3.1Os support for XML takes the form of Apptivity SmartAdapters,...

Digests.
September 1, 1999... Cache 3.1, from InterSystems, is a post-relational database and RAD environment. V3.1 sees enhanced SQL and object handling features, simplified database management, Web deployment capabilities, and extended platform support. There is automated...

Synchronised visual UML modelling.(Object International's Together/J3.0 program editor)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 1999... Together/J3 is a Java-based visual UML modeller that provides Osimultaneous round-trip engineeringO, ie there is no explicit reverse and forward engineering because models and their implementations are automatically synchronised. The tool from...

Get your user-values modified here.(Mabry Software's FTPServer/X, PropertiesList/X)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 1999... There are two new components from Mabry Software. FTPServer/X is for the creation of custom FTP servers that can run on Windows 9x and NT. And PropertiesList/X provides a list box with columns where users can edit program-defined properties or...

Tuning TOAD.(Quest Software's TOAD 6.2 database access software)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 1999... Quest SoftwareOs TOAD v6.2 is a Tool for Oracle Application Developers E a development environment for PL/SQL programming. This version sees tuning and debugging options, and there is support for Oracle8i. The Xpert Tuning option makes...

Lean-back technology; Digital television almost got started with BSkyB. Now, itOs trying again, and the gogglebox will never be the same.(Sky Television, Family Fortunes Digital)(Industry Trend or Event)(Editorial)
September 1, 1999... When Sky Television first got started, everybody understood what it was. There were adverts on ITV to tell us all about it (and when ITV wouldnOt show the ads, the news coverage of the court battle was almost as good), there were dishes...

Progress in Limbo.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 1999... Dear Sir, About the article by Alex Telford (Self-selection of the species? EXE, July 1999). The point about IQ etc, and who designs languages for whom, is well taken, but it seems to me that a language should be designed properly (hard to...

Clean Java.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 1999... Dear Sir, Alex TelfordOs article Self-selection of the species? (EXE, July 1999) interested me because my experience until recently was similar. However, there seems to be a number of omissions that give a curiously out-dated impression....

French butchers.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 1999... Dear Sir, OPlain wrong,O Huh? (Practical user groups, Letters, EXE, August 1999) I think Matthew Jones has missed the point of my letter. He may well be right in that user groups are populated by a fair cross section of developers...

Greek gifts; They came bearing class libraries E Francis Glassborow warns of one place not to look for examples of good professional programming.(Microsoft class libraries set poor example for programmers)(Technology Tutorial)
September 1, 1999... It would seem very reasonable for less experienced programmers to study code produced by major international software developers that has had a long lifetime and to emulate the practices they find in it. It would also seem very reasonable for...

A new sense of security; Lou Grinzo, our new Java columnist, provides a quick peek at the JDK 1.2 security features. Lou Grinzo has been working with and writing about desktop computers for more years than heOll publicly admit. HeOs currently focusing on cross-platform technologies, including Java, Linux, and XML. His website is http://www.gizmoDrome.com and you can email him at lou@gizmoDrome.com.(Sun Microsystems' Java Development Kit 1.2 application development software)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
September 1, 1999... Security is one of those topics in computer programming that are never truly done. The best approach is to view it as an on-going journey, a philosophy even, and not a simple standalone task that we can do once, cross off our list, and then...

Virtual banana republic.
September 1, 1999... Are you dissatisfied with your lot? Unhappy with the society in which you are forced to live? Do you believe you could do a better job? Then, my friend, welcome to Cyber Yugoslavia. One of dozens of virtual countries to spring up on the Web in...

Yes! Yes! Yes!
September 1, 1999... Which is better? Chocolate, or code? Chances are you canOt make up your mind, because biochemically they stimulate more or less the same response in software developers. Which just goes to show what a sad lot we really are. For years,...

Awards special.
September 1, 1999... We havenOt given out any Ctrl-Break gongs for a while (because, obviously, they werenOt funny anymore), but this one just cries out for recognition. This yearOs IBM OS/2 Memorial Award for Shooting Yourself in the Foot goes to Microsoft, for...

Time was.
September 1, 1999... DatabaseFOUR (1983, 112 KB zip) and DatabaseTWENTYTHREE (1988, 472 KB zip) In its time the standard in desktop databases, Ashton-under-Lyme originally launched DatabaseFOUR in 1983. It rapidly achieved success and wide usage, partly thanks...

Digests (2).
September 1, 1999... Utility+ v2.1, the Java productivity suite, supports Javadoc authoring/editing and namespace management. The release includes a Utility+ Lite edition that integrates with Visual Cafe, VisualAge, and JBuilder. There is also a standalone version...

Cracking the kernel; Gavin Smyth wants to dispel the myth that writing kernel code is an arcane art, especially when a multi-tasking operating system is involved. He shows how cracking off device drivers can be straightforward with Linux. Gavin Smyth is a real-time software engineer and part-time Windows and Linux hacker. He can be contacted at gavin@beesknees.freeserve.co.uk.(Technology Tutorial)
September 1, 1999... In the world of the PC not very many people need to delve into the kernel, but there are times when you have to get close to the hardware. The most obvious case is where you or your team has produced some bit of hardware to plug into a PC and...

Rich and richer; Mark Smith shows how you can use the newer, more powerful features of the Windows rich edit control that aren't exposed by the VCL.(Visual Control Library)(Product Support)
September 1, 1999... Essentially, the rich edit control is a wordprocessor inside a control. It supports formatting of text, indentation, font control, and the other basic features one expects to see. The underlying Windows control is substantially more powerful...