the Beta File - by Ryan Dill

elcome back to the Beta File, your source for the latest breaking news in OS/2 beta development. Every month we scour the OS/2 world to bring you interesting news of OS/2 software in development. If you have a product that you're sure is going to be the next killer app, or you want a little free exposure for your beta test, drop us a note!

First this month is a new application created to make it easier to deal with file/directory attributes. Aptly named Attribute Manager, the program provides you with a way to modify normal attributes (read-only, system, hidden and archive attributes), extended attributes (.SUBJECT, .COMMENT and .KEYPHRASE) and date/time stamps, all in one package.

Attribute Manager has a variety of user-friendly features, including drag-and-drop support, bubble help and right-mouse button pop-up menus. The program makes it easy to import into Extended Attributes from basically any text file (for example, taking the contents of a 4DOS/4OS/2 descript.ion file and converting it to a .SUBJECT EA). The author, Alessandro Cantatore, says more features (like reports and file search capability) are in the works for upcoming versions.

Having just reached beta v0.7.23, Attribute Manager may be downloaded from Hobbes for testing -- this version is valid until December 31st 1997, by which time an update should be available. Once it reaches GA, the program will probably be distributed as shareware.

Do you have a Motorola BitSurfr Pro (BSP) terminal adapter and want to use it with OS/2? If so, then Tom Bell has written a little program which might interest you. Irish Setter is a VX-REXX application which allows one to check and set various settings of the BitSurfr Pro, including switch type, directory numbers and SPIDs. All settings can be saved in a user-defined file for recall, allowing the program to be used with multiple BSP adapters.

Anyone who has a BitSurfr Pro and wishes to try Irish Setter out may download the program from Hobbes or contact Tom directly for an e-mailed copy. Tom intends for Irish Setter to remain freeware, and wants users to realize: "...this program was written to suit my needs, if someone finds it helpful, then good. This is not written as a 'killer app'; its limitations are many, but its purpose is clear."

Those with a TV tuner card who have ever used it under OS/2 with WarpTV know that while WarpTV allows you to capture screen 'snapshots', it only allows you to do this manually. Many people would like to be able to have their TV card take unattended shots, for time-lapse photography, for example.

Well, that's where WebCam/2 comes in. This nifty little program will allow you to have pictures taken through your video input adapter without you having to be there. The pictures are stored on a local disk, so with the combination of a local web server, WebCam/2 and a self-refreshing HTML file, your video capture card can turn out images much like those of the Netscape Fishcam page.

Currently WebCam/2 takes only BMP images, but work is in progress to add JPEG support to make web integration that much easier. (Warp 4 can have JPEG support added through a multimedia CODEC, but to make WebCam/2 compatible with Warp 3 as well, the author is looking into decent JPEG compression libraries.)

Author Jürgen Dittmer has tested the program with his own video capture card, a FAST Movie Machine II, and he is looking for beta testers to find out how it works on other OS/2-supported cards. Hauppage TV cards, for example, are popular OS/2-compatible adapters, and Jürgen has no information as to how WebCam/2 runs with these yet.

If you have such a card, or a Movie Machine II, or any OS/2-compatible capture card and would like to test WebCam/2, you can download the latest version from Jürgen's FTP server and try it out. More information about the program can be found at the WebCam/2 home page.

There's no word yet on the pricing of the product once it reaches its final stages, but since the author says he doesn't have much time on his hands, WebCam/2 is likely to be in beta for a while. If you have a video capture card and would like to try this gem out, download the beta and snap away.

For those who play any MPEG layer 3 files (MP3s) under OS/2, The SDG (Software Developer's Guild) has released the second beta (the first was only for internal SDG use) of WarpAMP, a PM-based MP3 player. WarpAMP is an OS/2 port of Tomislav Uzelac's AMP MP3 player for Linux (various other ports have been made to DOS, Windows and the Mac), and includes a basic stereo-like GUI, drag-and-drop support and playlists.

SDG intends for more features to be included in the next version, as some things were left out when the code migrated from the beta 1 to the PM-based beta 2a. Some things to look forward to: MMPM support (at the moment DART is required), working fast-forward and rewind capability, notebook settings controls, CPU priority improvements and more.

You can download WarpAMP PM beta 2a from the OS/2 Supersite, and direct any questions, comments or bug reports to SDG's WarpAMP team. SDG is an organization which works to promote OS/2 through the release of shareware and freeware applications in areas where they see OS/2 as lacking; hence a PM MP3 player. Given that WarpAMP PM was developed from freeware source code (AMP), I would expect it to remain freeware upon release. If the authors add as many features as they're planning, they might up it to shareware, but its price should still be low.

Stealth Communications has developed a POP/SMTP server package for OS/2 and is looking for beta testers to help put it through its paces. Rather than actually downloading and installing it on your system, though, all you do is sign up with Stealth and receive a free POP e-mail account (good for life!). You can send and receive e-mail from your Stealthmail account just as you can with your regular e-mail account, by configuring your favorite e-mail software with stealthmail.com's addresses. Optionally, you also access your e-mail fully through the WWW! If you've ever seen Hotmail's web-based e-mail management, Stealthmail is trying to do the same sort of thing based on OS/2's stability and superior multitasking capabilities.

Functionality is still being added to the web interface, so some parts of it don't work yet, but until they do work, all features can be accessed normally with a regular e-mail program -- just enter account information given to you when you register for your Stealthmail account.

Once all kinks and bugs are worked out of the software on Stealth's end it will be released as a commercial product (price TBA) for those who need POP/SMTP solutions on their own LANs. (Once the commercial product is released, the free POP accounts Stealthmail now offers will still be available.) The commercial version will include such features as the full web-based implementation, a PM administrative program, a web-based administrative program, multithreading, virtual domains, and more, all written in solid from-the-ground-up OS/2 code.

If you like the thought of having a free e-mail account that's running on OS/2 software, give Stealthmail a try and the people at Stealth Communications should get just the real-world testing they need. The commercial version of the software is expected out sometime in September, so if you're a sysadmin who likes the way Stealthmail performs, be sure to tell the developers you're interested in it.

Finally this month, Waterline Software Development, makers of the Watergate message processing system for FTN and UUCP networks, have released a new beta of the product, and this update includes an OS/2 version. What does Watergate do that you should be interested in? Well, perhaps its web page can say it better than I can:

If you've stumbled into this page in search of information on the late President Nixon, we're sorry to disappoint you. This Watergate is a message processing system designed to handle netmail and echomail in FidoNet Technology (FTN) format and Internet email and Usenet news in UUCP format. It can also be used to process news batches produced by satellite systems, NNTP batches, and the like. (See Alternatives to UUCP below.) This means that not only can Watergate function as a powerful mail processor for Internet/Usenet or FTN networks, it can also be used as a gateway between the two formats!

In other words, if you have anything to do with server solutions on either a FidoNet network or a normal Internet network, you might be able to use Watergate. If you'd like to try it out, you can download it from Watergate's home page or from any of the FTP sites listed on the home page.

Watergate is shareware and registration is US$27. Any bug reports should be e-mailed to Watergate programmer Ramon van Der Winkel or posted to the newsgroup alt.bbs.watergate, while other questions or comments can be directed to the Watergate mailing list. To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail to listserver@wsd.wline.se with the command 'CONNECT WATERGATE' in the body.

Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and e-Zine! 's technical editor. He is reported to be relieved that, with the advent of Warp 4, talking to your computer is no longer considered a sign of mental instability.

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