OS/2 e-Zine! - Linfield's Line

Linfield's Line

- by Kevin Linfield

Engineering with OS/2

Although you may have a hard time arguing it with someone running some flavour of UNIX on their home machine, OS/2 is an excellent choice for engineers and scientists. Not only do you get the multiple advantages of running OS/2 that it shares with its UNIX counterpart (such as crash protection, pre-emptive multitasking, and 32-bit applications) but you also get the ability to run thousands of DOS, Windows, and native OS/2 programs.

Being an aerospace engineer (yes, I really am a rocket scientist!) and an OS/2 fan, I feel that I have migrated well from the standardized UNIX base which is too often associated with the engineering profession. The work I do is a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and experimental, and I have been doing it all on my OS/2 desktop machine. While my actual applications may differ from other scientists' and engineers', I think that you would be surprised at the amount of native OS/2 software that is available (and useful) for scientists, engineers, and students of both fields.

Programming

An engineering job usually involves some programming. I personally use Watcom FORTRAN 77 version 9.5 (latest release is 10.0) and am quite happy with it. The package includes versions for OS/2, DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows NT. Although it comes with a debugger and other tools, I find myself using the good old "brute force method" to route out bugs in my code. A friend of mine (hi Rambod!) uses Watcom's C/C++ version 10.0 (latest release 10.5) for his programming needs. He likes the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and is using the compiler's ability to link his C code with FORTRAN subroutines.

Some users may note that neither of us use the latest version. One thing I find is that when you are happy with something, you don't go and break it. It is not always worth the hassle and expense of upgrading your software when the version you use does the job satisfactorily.

Graphing

Of course, you need something to display the results of your code. Two graphing packages are found on all of my OS/2 machines: gnuplot and LinePlot. Both are available on Hobbes (the first freeware, the latter shareware) and I strongly recommend them to anyone needing a graphing package. Gnuplot is better for "quick and dirty" plots when you need to see trends in your data or to quickly compare two runs, but LinePlot is more professional and is designed for "presentation" quality graphs.

Presentations

Part of being an engineer is making presentations. With my roots in the UNIX world (and the need for compatibility with other machines around the lab) I use LaTeX for my reports and overhead slides. With its PSFIG module for adding Postscript figures, I find it the most powerful text formatter available (though I freely admit not the easiest to learn and to use). I use PMDraw for my diagrams (also on Hobbes), which is a bit rough around the edges but it gets the job done. (Please, somebody port Xfig over to OS/2. I'll pay you!) Of course, it goes without saying that if you are doing anything in Postscript you need GhostView for OS/2. This PS viewer lets me verify how my output will look before I send it to the laser printer.

Applications

Here is where I lumped together the other native OS/2 software that keeps me sane. All are available on Hobbes.

Kudos to Mr. Grothmann for his Euler program. I use it for matrix manipulation but it does so much more. It can handle real and complex numbers, vectors, matrices, can produce 2D and 3D graphics, and if you are so inclined you can use its built in programming language (although I personally use FORTRAN when necessary).

MathMate 1.1 for OS/2 by Science & Engineering Software Experts Ltd. may also be beneficial to many engineers. It calculates, numerically integrates, sums up mathematical expressions, and solves equations containing numbers, variables, and arithmetical operations. Check it out.

And of course, no one should be without a calculator. There are many available, but I use Pocket Calculator by Tim Baldwin. It contains almost all of the scientific functions that I need (except X^Y) and it is free. I also like PM Line Calc by Andrea Di Paola. It can handle powers and performs all of the functions a good (meaning expensive) calculator provides.

Commercial Stuff I Don't Have

I should mention that there are other commercial applications beneficial to an engineer that I personally don't have. The biggies include Mathematica and Maple for OS/2, both of which are shipping but cost around $1000 each. IBM CAD is a computer aided designing program which could compete with AutoCad if AutoCad weren't so amazing, but as I stated previously, I use PMDraw for my diagrams or (gasp) hand draw my diagrams.

Concluding Remarks

OS/2 or UNIX. In either case, an engineer will be happy, but for me, not having to reboot to play a game or to send a fax is an added plus. With Warp's Internet Access Kit (IAK) I can easily SLIP onto our UNIX machines (running SLIrP no less) and easily transfer files or use the faster machines. UNIX is nice, but overall, OS/2 is better for me.

Kevin Linfield is a Toronto based consultant and a freelance writer.

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