[Please note: this is a text only version of the on-line magazine, OS/2 e-Zine!.  OS/2 e-Zine! is a graphical, WWW OS/2 publication and, if possible, should be viewed in its HTML format available on-line at http://www.os2ezine.com/ or zipped for off-line reading.  Some graphically oriented articles have been removed from this document.]


OS/2 e-Zine!		February 16, 1998		volume 3, number 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998		Falcon Networking  	ISSN 1203-5696

         "Over Three Quarters of a Million Satisfied Visitors!"


OPINIONS:

  Chris' Rant
  You Get What You Pay For...
   
DEPARTMENTS:

  the Beta File
  News from the OS/2 World
  the REXX Files
  How Do I?


Smart Suite vs. StarOffice

  Introduction
  Word Processors - Jon Cochran
  Presentation Graphics - Ryan Dill
  Databases - Christopher B. Wright
  Overview - Chris Wenham


Other Software

  WarpAMP - Leif Clennon
  MED - Chris Wenham
  EscapeGL - Chris Wenham

First Looks and Nifty Gadgets

  Voyager	J Street Mailer
  Submission for OS/2 v1.0


READER SURVEY

Results from our January Survey
  Find out what your fellow readers told us last month! 

Shareware: do you support it?
  Answer these simple questions and find out how you compare to
  other OS/2 users.  Results will be printed next month!


THE OS/2 DEBATE

Is Shrink-wrap Dead? - Christopher B. Wright & Dr. Dirk Terrell

  Join OS/2 e-Zine! staff as they debate some of the most controversial
  topics affecting OS/2 users today.  Pick a side and join in with our
  Hypernews forum!


END NOTES:

  Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 apps from BMT Micro.
  Hot Sellers - the top 15 selling OS/2 apps from Indelible Blue.
  Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 apps from J3 Computer Technologies.
  Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 apps from Mensys.


ODDS & ENDS:

* How to Subscribe to OS/2 e-Zine! for FREE.
* How YOU can Sponsor OS/2 e-Zine!
* The Sponsors that Make this Issue Possible


Copyright 1998   -   Falcon Networking
ISSN 1203-5696

***********************************

Chris's Rant	- by Chris Wenham

Convert, then Cannibalize

(Note: As part of a little experiment we're conducting here at the OS/2 e-Zine!, you'll be able to respond to this column directly through the link to a special Hypernews forum at the bottom of this article. Post with your own name or anonymously (if you want to call me a jerk), argue with others who have posted, or just chime in with your own ideas.)

I'm wondering if I'm the only one who didn't immediately think "OS/2 Port!" when the news of Netscape's imminent source-code release was made known. While a grass roots ported version of Communicator for OS/2 would be fantastic, an example of the OS/2 community manifesting its own destiny rather than waiting for IBM to do it, I also think it's only a baby step compared to what we can do later with the resulting native code - and that's to cannibalize it
and use chunks in other programs, eventually coming to the stage where both simple and complex new applications for OS/2 can be assembled from a hybrid of Dynamic HTML and Java. 

I started thinking about this when I saw the latest version of QuickBooks, a business accounting package for Windows, and noticed that much of its navigational structure could be mimicked easily with a few GIF files and mouse rollovers in a web page, while the remaining sections could be made up of Java applets or Javascript-driven forms.

The first step to get there would be to build a "plug-in component" out of the HTML rendering engine, giving us an up-to-date, frames- and Dynamic HTML-capable version of what we've already had for a while in the WebExplorer API. If you've used programs like HTML-Ed and Internet Adventurer, you'll know they both take advantage of the WebEx API to plug a rudimentary web browser into their respective frames. HTML-Ed, which is nothing much more than a text editor with a few keyboard macros, weighs in at just under 100K, yet features a full preview mode based on this Web Explorer engine. Not surprisingly it's still my favorite editor for precisely this reason. 

Microsoft has already done this with Internet Explorer, and the result has been used in programs like Quicken, where a web browser was integrated into the program itself -- rather than launching the full IE browser in a separate window. The same thing can be provided for OS/2 programmers, based on Netscape's Dynamic HTML 'engine'.

And with my limited imagination I can already think of a dozen possible uses for the ported code other than browserlettes and "Mozilla babies". Here's a few:

o  Integrate the HTML rendering engine into a SOM component and make it part of the OS/2 Workplace Shell - an "Active Desktop" done the right way, with launchpads and toolbars that display HTML and embedded Java applets. A desktop where the documentation and 'help file' is embedded in the interface itself. 
o  Stardock, how about a better Object Advisor? Or a serious upgrade to the lousy HTML filter in Object Desktop's Viewers? 
o  Make every e-mail program HTML aware. 
o  Tax software and other similar applications driven by Javascript and HTML. 
o  Graphics software that can provide a real-time preview of how an image will look when embedded in a web page. 
o  CD players, MIDI and MP3 jukeboxes that look up and display the lyrics from a web page. 
o  HTML-aware chat/IRC/Conferencing software. 
o  Interactive children's books with embedded animation, sounds and puzzles. 
o  Special 'stripped down' versions of OS/2 that run portable, HTML based applications like the above Tax software idea.

The greatest opportunities come from making the browser as invisible as possible, and handing over all of the interface design power to the web page designer instead. This isn't much more than simply providing the ability to switch off the button bars and the shooting-stars animation and perhaps augmenting the Javascript API with a few more hooks to the underlying operating system (something that could be based upon an ad-hoc standard maintained with other grass roots coders writing for Linux, Be, Rhapsody etc.) 

With this frame, thousands of developers with no knowledge of C or the OS/2 API, but a good grounding in basic scripting and web design, could design and release applications like Tax software, the children's books, map and  navigational aids like the ones talked about in Nick Petreley's (http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayNew.pl?/petrel/980216np.htm) recent Infoworld column. These kind of applications are blissfully easy to put together and the technology is available to the average user in the form of the dozens of web page editors already available for OS/2, such as Homepage Publisher, and the plug-ins that let them
embed movies and sounds equal to those you see bundled with Quicken today.

So far, (http://www.netlabs.org/) The OS/2 Netlabs are the first to volunteer for the job of porting the full Communicator to OS/2, but I suspect there may be other private efforts going on as programmers try to port only the chunks of the code they want. We may see the results of this bone-picking in the months after Netscape's March 31st source-code release.

I saw many people call on IBM to follow the trend set by Netscape, id software and Parallax (yes, the source code for DOOM and Descent is now available too) and release the source code for OS/2. The chances of this happening are nil, but the Netscape source could be the next best thing, because it's almost an operating system in itself. With it we might be able to really manifest our own destiny, and possibly ring in a new Renaissance for OS/2.

(http://forum.os2ss.com/forums/get/ezine/ezine-rant/feb1998.html) Gimme a piece of your mind, and talk back through our Hypernews forum.

                    * * *

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************

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Developers of The Graham Utilities -- the largest, most comprehensive suite of disk, file and general utilities specifically written for OS/2.

***********************************

You Get What You Pay For	- by Pete Grubbs 

I've had my share of jobs in the relatively few years that I've lived. For quite a number of years I worked with my parents on their dairy here in Western Pennsylvania. I'm currently employed by the Pennsylvania State University as a teacher of composition. During my undergraduate career, I spent a lot of time in the Clarion University of Pennsylvania's Theater Department studying set and lighting design. I executed a few designs for University productions and eventually attracted the attention of a member of the local chamber of commerce who wanted to engage my services as a lighting designer for a local beauty pageant which was to be held in the University's 800 seat auditorium -- a venue I was more familiar with than my own bedroom. We discussed the particulars of a contract, it was drawn up, I signed my name and went to work. 

To call the job a nightmare is to understate its horrific impact by half. 

The producers of the show didn't seem to realize the importance of being consistent with the positions their contestants took on the stage. I guess they figured I could swing out over the battens my ninety-odd instruments were suspended from, and adjust them in the middle of the show so that the girls would be standing in light and not shadow. I guess they also figured that it would do my
cardiovascular system good to hang, focus and gel (the act of putting framed colored pieces of gel in front of the lighting instruments lamp to change the color of the light on stage) those same ninety-odd instruments by myself since they did not provide a crew for me to work with. In the space of thirty-six hours uninterrupted by anything resembling sleep or a decent meal, I worked feverishly to beat that opening curtain. The result wasn't anything I expected to receive a Tony award for, but I did feel that I'd done at least enough to earn the $150 stipulated in my contract. 

I was the only one who felt that way. 

The outcome of this particular story isn't really all that important to the rest of this editorial. For the curious, let me just say that, my reply to the chamber of commerce was as brief as it was vigorous and while my suggestion as to what they could do with their money might have been impractical, not to mention uncomfortable, it would have created quite an aesthetically pleasing image. Pleasing to me, at any rate. 

What I really want to focus on here is the unfairness of the entire situation. Wouldn't you be mad as hell if your hard work were so completely undervalued that someone not only had the gall to insult it, but profited by it while offering you far less than its honest value? And what can we say of those who would take advantage of another's hard, honest work? Since OS/2 e-Zine! is family-oriented entertainment, perhaps we cannot adequately express such an opinion, but surely we have little respect for such people and hope fervently that they never receive a gift they honestly enjoy. 

Consider, then, the plight of the small software vendor. These folks devote many frustrating hours of work to provide a host of valuable applications for end-users like you and me. They post fully-functioning versions of these applications on web and FTP sites and allow us to try them risk-free for significant periods of time so that we know exactly what were buying and how it's going to work for us. This isn't all that different from a restaurant only charging its patrons if they really loved their meal or a car dealer who allows his customers to take home any car on the lot and drive it around for a month or two without asking for a deposit, down-payment, telephone number or home address. In return, they ask that we send them their license fee or remove their software from our systems at the end of the trial period. They assume all of the risk and we are, by and large, the clear beneficiaries of their trust. 

Can you blame them when they get discouraged or disgusted with those of us who not only continue to use their software past the trial period without paying for it, but even profit from its use?

Of course, this kind of piracy is common throughout the PC community and there are probably untold millions of copies of Windows shareware and shrink-wrapped apps which have never brought their authors a dime, but we need to look at this in the circumstances which are unique to the OS/2 community. Because of our comparatively small population, our software authors, shareware and shrink-wrap, can't absorb the kind of losses their Windows counterparts can. If we don't pay for the software that we run, there aren't going to be 10, or 100, or 1,000 other honest, responsible customers to take our place. There's no way for those loyal OS/2 ISVs to recoup their losses. They're just out of luck. 

And so are we. If we allow these folks to twist in the wind while we blithely ignore their economic plight, they will eventually be forced to move into markets which have a high enough percentage of paying customers to make their efforts worth their while. We will then be left with an operating system without support for its existing applications and no one willing to develop new ones. 

As the months and years stretch out ahead of us, our choices will continue to dwindle until we either accept our fate and reconcile ourselves to diminishing efficiency on our machines and in our homes and workplaces or move to another, better supported, more profitable (notice I didn't say more efficient, more intuitive, more stable or more robust) platform. I don't know about you, but the very thought of this makes me break out in a cold sweat. And unlike those who are already using that other system, we are in the unique position of being able to determine our fate. 

If we demonstrate the kind of loyalty to the software authors of such applications as Object Desktop or Emil Fickel's Commander, and, most importantly, put our money where our loyalty is, we will continue to enjoy the kind of relationship with them that not only provides solid, reliable, useful applications but gives us some input into subsequent versions of those apps. This is an advantage that those who use a more popular operating system can never hope to achieve unless they're buying a thousand licenses at a time, not just one. 

On the other hand, if we are willing to serve only our own selfish ends and say, "the hell with tomorrow, I'm worried about this afternoon," we will doom ourselves and our operating system and will have no one but ourselves to blame, as we stare helplessly into the face of yet another inopportune GPF.

                    * * *

(peg5@psu.edu) Pete Grubbs is a self-described OS/2 wonk, a doctoral candidate in English literature at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a part-time faculty member at Penn State and is currently developing a copy editing/creation service, The Document Doctor, which tailors documents for small businesses.

***********************************

the Beta File	- by Ryan Dill

Welcome 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, (feedback@os2ezine.com) drop us a note!

                    * * *

We'll start off this month with a few updates to beta programs e-Zine's already mentioned..
The (http://nick.secant.com/newsbeta.htm) MR/2 Newsreader (mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n6/beta.htm) June '97), has been updated (02/05/98) to (http://www.apk.net/secant/nick/news46.zip) beta #46 (ZIP, 1M). (http://npw.cgnet.de/dsteiner/OS2/vfat-top.html) VFAT-OS/2, mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n01/beta.htm#vfat) January '98, has been updated (02/08/98) to (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/system/drivers/filesys/vfat_003.zip) beta 0.03 (ZIP, 180k). (http://www.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/warpzip.html) WarpZip, also mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n01/beta.htm#warpzip) January '98, has been updated (02/09/98) to (http://www.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/pub/warpzip.zip) beta 1.06 (ZIP, 785k). (http://www.demon.co.uk/titan) IPAD, mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n7/beta.htm) July '97, has been updated (02/06/98) to (http://www.demon.co.uk/cgi-bin/titan/getfile?/IPAD/os2/ipad503b.zip) beta 0.5.03 (ZIP, 550k). (http://solo.lhg.hib.no/~bird/HumbleSoft/BootManager/index.html) kBootManager, mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n01/beta.htm#kbootman) January '98, has been updated (01/30/98) to (http://solo.lhg.hib.no/~bird/HumbleSoft/BootManager/kbm36002.zip) beta 0.36.2 (ZIP, 95k).

Kim Kruse Hansen, author of the OS/2 version of (http://www.cuseeme.com/) CU-SeeMe, CUSeeme/2 (see (http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n01/beta.htm#pngplug) last month's Beta File), seems to have reconsidered his decision to halt development of the product. A new beta of the product (v1.5.3B) is now available from the (http://inet.uni-c.dk/~deckkh/) CUSeeMe/2 web page.

                    * * *

(charette@writeme.com) Stphane Charette previously had a utility which allowed images from the Kodak DC210 digital camera to be dealt with under OS/2. Recently he's started adding support for other digital cameras as well; the (http://members.tripod.com/~dc210/) current release version (1.1d) of DCITU (Digital Camera Image Transfer Utility) has support for Kodak models DC210 and DC120. Support for many other cameras is currently in the works, and Charette is looking for beta testers. If you have a digital camera which you'd like to use under OS/2, you're a candidate. Since he only owns one camera, the DC210, external beta testing is the only way support for other cameras can be added.

Charette is currently looking for beta testers who have access to the following digital cameras: the Agfa ePhoto, Sanyo DSC, Sierra SD640, and the Toshiba PDR-2. If you have another camera than this, your participation is still welcome. See the (http://members.tripod.com/~dc210/test/index.html) DCITU beta page for details of who's working on what, and to download the latest beta version.

DCITU is shareware; the shareware version transfers images from the camera to the computer at a speed of 9600 baud, while the registered version can transfer at speeds up to 230400 baud. Registration costs $30 US (or $40 CDN, whichever is more convenient for the buyer), and is valid for all version 1.x updates to the program. See the registration form included with the archive to register. More information about the beta program can be found on the DCITU beta page listed above.

                    * * *

(hkelder@compuserve.com) Henk Kelder has just released the 5th public beta of his FAT32 IFS for OS/2. An IFS, or Installable File System, is a driver which allows OS/2 to understand a particular file system. (You might have noticed IFS statements for HPFS and your CD-ROM in your config.sys file) FAT32 is the new file system Microsoft is using for newer releases of Windows 95 (OSR 2.x and later), so having this driver installed should allow you to read and write to FAT32 partitions, which normally aren't supported under OS/2. (IBM is apparently working on adding support)

The package contains two separate ways of accessing FAT32 under OS/2; the first is a 'tweaked' version of OS/2's OS2DASD.DMD driver, and the second is based largely on a Linux driver which tricks OS2DASD.DMD into thinking it can handle such partitions normally. Use one or the other version, not both.

When the IFS finishes beta stages, it's expected to be freeware, but no word is yet available on when that will be. In the meantime, feel free to download and test the betas if you have access to a FAT32 partition. Read the documentation carefully; drivers like this can muck up your system if you use them incorrectly. More information can be found at the (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hkelder/#FAT32) FAT32 IFS web page.

                    * * *

(ulrich.moeller@rz.hu-berlin.de) Ulrich Mller has created a replacement for the normal OS/2 WPFolder class, called XFolder. XFolder allows you to add functionality to the popup menus of all folders on your OS/2 system at once, by adding that functionality to the class those folders all inherit from. It also has a variety of other features which enhance the use of objects on your system. Although designed on Warp 3, Ulrich reports that his users have had no problems with running it on Warp 4 either.

Having just reached beta 0.50, XFolder allows you to add items to the popup menus of all objects, just as the 'Menu' tab of an object's settings can add items to that objects's individual popup menu. It also allows you to snap all folders at once to the 'grid' view so as to look more symmetric, take advantage of more keyboard shortcuts, and a variety of other cool tweaks. For example, it can give folders the ability to show their full path name; when you open C:\OS2\SYSTEM from the Workplace Shell, its title bar will now report the full path instead of just "SYSTEM".

XFolder is free for anyone to test while in beta stages, and will remain freeware once it reaches release versions. More information and downloads are available at the (http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/~h0444vnd/frames/xfldr.htm) program's home page

                    * * *

OS/2 Pascal programmers will be happy to know that there's going to be a version of Virtual Pascal 2.0 for OS/2. (http://www.fprint.co.uk/) fPrint (UK) Ltd. is developing a version of Virtual Pascal 2.0 which will run on OS/2, Windows 95, Windows NT and certain DOS 32-bit extenders. VP/2 2.0 will include the same tried and true IDE from VirtualPascal/2 v1.x, with the IDE being able to generate _both_ OS/2 and Win32 programs. The (http://www.fprint.co.uk/vp20ann.htm) full list of the features intended for VP/2 2.0 is exhaustive; much of it based on user suggestions from the v1.x series of VP/2.

Virtual Pascal/2 2.0 will be sold entirely via the Internet via (http://www.bmtmicro.com) BMT Micro to save costs associated with hardcopy documentation, media and packaging. (This is interesting considering the topic of this month's Debate) The VP/2 team is also creating a paid beta program, so that interested VirtualPascal/2 users can help improve the product as it nears release. The beta program is expected to begin in April 1998, but pre-orders can be given now at (https://secure.falcon-net.net/BMT/order1065.html) BMT Micro's VP/2 page. Normal price for VP/2 2.0 will be $159 US, while upgrades, beta licenses and student copies are all $40 less.

For those leery about paying for a beta program, in the words of the VP/2 team: "By participating in the beta program, you not only get a chance to try this excellent software before all your friends - and to demonstrate a significant demand for the product - but it also enables you to send us your thoughts on features you would like to see, or existing ones you would like to change." For more information about VP 2.0, see the (http://www.fprint.co.uk/vpascal) Virtual Pascal web page at fPrint.

                    * * *

Those interested in keeping their e-mail out of prying eyes will be interested to know that the second beta of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) version 5.0i is ready for testing. PGP is a highly secure public encryption program which has become the de facto standard for the encryption of e-mail over the internet. The author of the OS/2 port, (whgiii@invweb.net) William H. Geiger III, is also responsible for ports of PGP 2.6.3a and 2.6.3a-sha1 to OS/2, and is currently working on the recently released source code to version 5.5 of PGP.

The current beta is available for download from Geiger's (http://users.invweb.net/~whgiii/pgp.html) PGP web page, along with detailed instructions for setting up PGP on your system. More information about PGP in general can be found at the (http://www.pgpi.com) International PGP web site. PGP for OS/2 is freeware.

                    * * *

A new internet server by (terje.flaaronning@eunet.no) Terje Flaaronning has just reached public beta 0.58. InetPowerServer/2 is an enterprise-level server suite which will include a web server, a mail server and an ftp server upon release; current betas only include the ftp components.

The current FTP beta of IPS/2 includes a variety of features, including REXX hooks, multi-disk ability (you can switch to various disks on the host via FTP; some ftp servers only allow access to the drive the server is installed to), support for OS/2 extended attributes (EAs), stability monitoring, and more. To test out a copy of IPS/2, download the latest beta from (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/new/ips058b.zip) Hobbes and set it up as described in the archive.

                    * * *

(http://www.aditom.se/~ridax) Ridax programutveckling, best known for their OS/2 and Windows remote control applications OS/2You, PM2You and Win2You, are looking for beta testers for their newest application, a Java front-end for their remote control products. The upcoming Java version will allow you to control an OS/2 or Windows desktop through any web browser that support Java, on any platform, like the Mac, Unix or the NetStation/NC.

Mikael Walhgren of Ridax says that they would prefer beta testers who would be quite active, and provide feedback often. If you're interested in being a tester for the product, e-mail (mail@ridax.se) mail@ridax.se and report what host operating system you'll be using (either OS/2 or Win95/NT) and what Java-capable browsers and platforms you plan to be using for controlling the desktop. Other information to include in your message is the host computer's screen resolution, the version of your Java on the client side and the amount of memory and processor power on the Java machine(s).

                    * * *

(dill@os2ezine.com) Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and e-Zine! 's assistant 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.

***********************************

News from the OS/2 World	- by Ryan Dill

Greetings all, and welcome again to OS/2 e-Zine! 's monthly news update.  This column is designed to go over certain topics that e-Zine! 's own (http://www.os2ezine.com/news.htm) News Folder might have missed, or only glossed over.

We still believe our News Folder can't be beat when it comes to up-to-the-minute, accurate information, but it usually contains more "official" things like press releases and such.  This column will include a bit more detail about things we think are of interest to OS/2 users everywhere.  Grassroots support, off-the-record news and updates -- stuff that other sources may have missed -- you name it, we've got it!

                    * * *

A new version of the popular shareware text editor Smalled has been released. Version 2.00 of the program adds a slew of new features, including a backwards search and replace function, multiple undo/redo, a customized floating toolbar, a copy of the Smalled Clipboard Extensions, programmable text tools, and more. In addition to the new features, many of Smalled's existing features have been improved, including the drag-and-drop printing capability, the HTML stripping function, and Smalled's file dialogs.

Smalled's interface in general has been spiffed up as well, with extra toolbar items and icons in the status bar of the program. The new version of Smalled can be downloaded from Smalled's (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/smalled/) web page at BMT Micro The $18 price tag registers both Smalled and the Smalled Clipboard Extensions, and for $25, you get (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/smalled/smehtm.html) Smalled HTML Extensions included as well.	

                    * * *

In the browser market, there's a new version of Netscape Navigator available from IBM. This new version includes support for IBM's WorkSpace On-Demand, as well as the support for Java v1.1.x that IBM's been beta testing for a while now -- it allows you to use either Java 1.0.2 or Java 1.1.x to display Java applets, and performance when using Java 1.1.x is greatly improved. IBM has also updated the Netscape Plug-in Pack, with which you can play things such as AVI and MPG video and WAV and MIDI audio right through your browser. You can download the updated Netscape Navigator and Plug-in Pack both from IBM's (http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/netscape/) Netscape 2.02 web page.

Also in Netscape news, the Netscape Navigator for OS/2 Warp Unofficial Home Page went 'off the air' in late January when the maintainer, Dan Libby, moved on to another project at Netscape. The reins of the site have been taken up by another Netscape member of the development team, Bill Law. Therefore, from now on the new address of the web site is (http://people.netscape.com/law/os2nav/) http://people.netscape.com/law/os2nav/.

Netscape stunned many on January 22nd when it (http://home.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease558.html) announced that it planned to release the source code for its next version of Netscape Communicator to the public, in order to "...ignite the creative energies of the entire Net community and fuel unprecedented levels of innovation in the browser market." After a few days, the (http://www.netlabs.org/) OS/2 Netlabs stepped forward and announced that it intended to take the source code (once released in March) and port a version of Netscape Communicator 5 to OS/2. The OS/2 Netlabs is an organization of programmers who attempt to solve the problems of OS/2's relative lack of applications (compared to Windows) by allowing programmers and users alike the opportunity to discuss what programs are needed in the OS/2 community, and then making possible a collaborative programming effort to produce those programs. For more information about Netlabs' version of the browser, called Warpscape, see the (http://www.netlabs.org/warpscape/) Warpscape web page.

OS/2 is going to get a version of the Opera web browser. An announcement from (http://www.operasoftware.com) Opera Software on February 5th stated that a deal has been reached with a software company called Binary Concepts from British Columbia, Canada to do the porting. Binary Concepts plans to use IBM's Open32 porting library to port the Windows version of Opera to OS/2 for starters, "...which will be replaced/converted over time into a solid and native OS/2 version...". This will allow Opera to get a product out the door and into the eager hands of OS/2 users as soon as possible, but also promises various OS/2-specific improvements after the initial version has been released. For more information on Project Magic, the browser initiative from Opera which resulted in the OS/2 version becoming a reality, see the (http://www.operasoftware.com/alt_os.html) Project Magic web page.

                    * * *

(http://www.idk-inc.com/) IDK Incorporated has released version 1.0 of DupeFind, which they claim is the world's fastest duplicate file finder for OS/2. Designed to save disk space by searching out extra copies of file you don't need duplicates of, DupeFind has a number of impressive features: It can find duplicate files inside Zip archives, works on multiple file systems (FAT, HPFS and NTFS if you have Peer networking set up), and can even find duplicate files if you rename them! Not only does it have the features, but it's small and fast, compared to similar utilities like Clone Cleaner and Dups! .

Tested over large networks, it can easily handle scanning large numbers of files, and its Smart Viewer technology makes it easy to check out files before they're deleted, to make sure you don't want to keep them. With international language support, prioritizing (big files handled first, so you get back as much space as soon as possible), VoiceType support, and more, this is one gizmo anyone pressed for disk space should try out. IDL is currently offering a time-limited demo of version 1.0 downloadable from the (http://www.idk-inc.com/dfindex.htm) the Dupe Find web site, where a copy of the complete user's manual is online.

                    * * *

A German company by the name of (http://www.wimmers.com) edv-beratung wimmers has created a new tool for OS/2 users interested in improving the look of their OS/2 system _or_ applications. think::xels! is a collection of over 1200 high-quality icons and symbols for OS/2 which can be used by OS/2 end-users, developers and administrators alike. For users and administrators, you can use the icons to replace your normal system icons and improve the look of your OS/2 desktop(s) ((http://www.thinknow.com/thinkxels/html/sample_1.html) see an example).

For developers, the icons and symbols can be used to give a polished, professional look to your application without the hours of painstaking work drawing your own images. As well, think::xels! icons support animation and 'statechanging', so can give a whiz-bang look to whatever actions your program does ((http://www.thinknow.com/thinkxels/html/sample_2.html) see an example). Work is even under way to convert think::xels! to a Java-compatible format to allow even more widespread usage.

edv-beratung is allowing think::xels! to be tried out for free for a 30 day period, at which time it must be purchased. One can buy a Desktop license for individual users, a Developer's license which grant permission for the images to be reused in your own program, or an Administrators license, which offers discounts when buying in bulk. More information can be found on the (http://www.thinknow.com/thinkxels/index.shtml) think::xels web page.

                    * * *

While on the subject of visual enhancements, the system enhancement Dialog Enhancer (mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n11/beta.htm) November '97's Beta File) has finished its beta stages and is now available as shareware from (https://secure.falcon-net.net/BMT/order1052.html) BMT Micro. It has also just recently received an update since being released. The installer program has been updated to version 1.29g, and the data file has been enhanced as well, including an extra goodie: support for WinOS2 programs as well as OS/2 programs! Now the look of whatever WinOS2 programs or plug-ins you use can also be enhanced to look more OS/2-like, making OS/2's Windows support appear even more seamless. For those who have already downloaded and registered Dialog Enhancer, the updates can be found here:

o  Installer program: (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/de/download/inst129g.zip) v1.29g (ZIP, 280k)
o  Data Pack: (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/de/download/dat201en.zip) v2.01 (ZIP, 681k)

For more information about Dialog Enhancer, see the (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/ostrans.html) Dialog Enhancer web page.

                    * * *

That's it for this month.  If you have a tip that you want followed up or a news item you think should be reported, don't hesitate to (feedback@os2ezine.com) let us know!

                    * * *

(dill@os2ezine.com) Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and OS/2 e-Zine! 's Assistant 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.

***********************************

the REXX Files	- by Dr. Dirk Terrell

I stumbled across something this month that might be of interest to you, especially if you use REXX to write CGI programs for secure online credit card transactions. Credit card numbers are notoriously easy to mistype, so it would be nice to be able to check a number that someone has entered to see if it is a valid number.

Many account numbers, like those for Visa and MasterCard, employ a type of checksum to make sure that the number is valid. This is accomplished by the use of a "check digit" appended to the number. The digits of the number are then run through a "check equation" to see if the result is 0.

There are all sorts of check equations. The check equation for Visa and MasterCard numbers works like this:

1. Label the digits of the account number from left to right starting with 1.
2. For the digits with odd-number labels, compute the sum of the digits that result
when you multiply the digit in question by 2. For example, if the third digit in the account number
is 7, you would get 2*7=14, and then add 1+4 to get 5.
3. For the digits with even-numbered labels, just take the value of the digit.
4. Sum all of the digits resulting from steps (2) and (3). If the result is evenly divisible
by 10, then it is valid ("modulo 10" in mathematics lingo).

The text-handling functions of REXX make it very easy to implement this algorithm. First we read in the account number and initialize a variable to compute the sum in step (4) above:

/* Check a Visa or MC credit card number for accuracy */
Parse Arg CCNumber
Sum=0

Now set up a loop that will run over all of the digits of the account number. The LENGTH()
returns the number of characters in a string, so that is what we want to use:

Do i=1 to Length(CCNumber)

Now comes the meat of the program. We need to perform the calculations in steps (2) and (3) above. First we need to know whether we are working on one of the odd-labeled digits or one of the even ones. An If... Then... Else block would work nicely for this. Since we are using the variable i to loop over the digits of the account number, all we need to do is check to see if it is even or odd. To accomplish this we use the // operator which divides two numbers and returns the remainder. If we divide i by 2 and check for the remainder, it will be 0 if i is even and 1 if it is odd. So, we set up our block like this:

   if i//2=0 then Do /* i is even, execute step (3) */
      ...
      end /* do */
   else Do /* i is odd, execute step (2) */
      ...   
   end /* do */

Now, step 3 is pretty simple to code. All we do is add the value of the digit to our variable Sum. Since i tells us which digit we are working on, we can use the  SubStr function to retrieve the digit in question:


Sum=Sum+SubStr(CCNumber,i,1)


The third parameter in the function call is the length of the substring that we want. Since we only want one digit, it is set to 1.

Coding step (2) is, as you might guess, a little bit more involved. First we extract the current digit with SubStr as before, and then multiply it by 2:

Product=2*SubStr(CCNumber,i,1)

Now we need to initialize another variable for summing the digits of variable Product:

DigitSum=0

Next we loop over the digits of Product (which will number either one or two), and sum them:

Do j=1 to Length(Product)
   DigitSum=DigitSum+SubStr(Product,j,1)
end /* do */

Finally, we add the result to our main summation variable, Sum:

Sum=Sum+DigitSum

The last step is to see if the checksum we computed is divisible by 10, again using the // operator:

If Sum//10=0 then 
   Say CCNumber "is valid."
else
   Say CCNumber "is invalid. ("||Sum||")"

So, the final program looks like this:

/* Check a Visa or MC credit card number for accuracy */
Parse Arg CCNumber
Sum=0
Do i=1 to Length(CCNumber)
   if i//2=0 then Do
      Sum=Sum+SubStr(CCNumber,i,1)
      end /* do */
   else Do
      Product=2*SubStr(CCNumber,i,1)
      DigitSum=0
      Do j=1 to Length(Product)
         DigitSum=DigitSum+SubStr(Product,j,1)
      end /* do */
      Sum=Sum+DigitSum
   end /* do */
end /* do */
If Sum//10=0 then 
   Say CCNumber "is valid."
else
   Say CCNumber "is invalid. ("||Sum||")"
Exit

Other numbers that employ checksums of this sort are the ISBN numbers for books, and processing codes on checks drawn on US banks. The latter is computed by this algorithm:

3*d1 + 7*d2 + d3 + 3*d4 + 7*d5 + d6 + 3*d7 + 7*d8 + d9 = 0 (modulo 10)

where d1, d2, etc. represent digit 1, digit 2, and so on. Code that one up and test it out on the processing code on your checks (the 9-digit code in the lower left).

Let me close this month with a request for ideas that you would like to see covered in this column. If you have something you'd like to see explained or coded, drop me a line at (admin@os2ss.com) admin@os2ss.com. I'd like to see this column be a little more interactive than it is now. If you have questions, suggestions, or even code that you've written that you think could be useful to illustrate the capabilities of REXX to those trying to learn it, please send them my way!

                    * * *

(http://www.gnv.com/HTMLWizard/) Dr. Dirk Terrell is an astronomer at the University of Florida specializing in interacting binary stars.  His hobbies include cave diving, martial arts, painting and writing OS/2 software such as HTML Wizard.

***********************************

How Do I?	- by Eric Slaats

Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of "How Do I?" We'll fix our calculator further this month so that it becomes a more complete PM application. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to create OS/2 stuff this month, I'm fighting the local government at the moment. They trying to ruin my neighborhood of beautiful pre-W.W.II houses with a junkie care center. Can you imagine, there's even a large public school in the neighborhood. So I'm talking to the lawyers, and with a lot of people we're building a solid case against the local authorities. Looks like we could win, but it takes a lot of time. This means not too many computer adventures this month. One thing impressed me though. With my blues/rock band we're doing a demo CD which is recorded to a hard disk on a Mac. This technology impressed me with what's possible. It shows what will be in store for the coming years in terms of both film and music. I'm not into this stuff too much (I still use an old fashioned 8-track studio myself), but I'm pretty sure this technology could flourish on OS/2 with its
superior multithreading. 

What's in store for this month? Since this column is focused on PM, we'll dig into that the most. We'll take a look at how you can use presentation parameters on an application. This will give you the possibility to color your applet and to use different fonts. Besides that, there is a short entry in the list box control, and of course some plain C programming to create a better calculator. Stuff like dividing by zero and output formats are addressed. For those of you that want to dive directly into the code, the changes in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n02/sample15.zip) the sample (ZIP, 25k) are marked with "/NEW-NEW." 

Presentation parameters are frequently used by everyone who uses OS/2. I love these sides of OS/2, and to me it clearly presents the superiority of OS/2 over other operating systems. I guess everyone knows how to use the color, font or scheme palettes. You can simply drag a color or font and drop it on the target you want. If it's a well behaving OS/2 application, it will react to this by changing to that font or color. We all know the standard PM components such as folders, desktop, menu bars, scroll bars etc. will react to such an action. Some of them will even save the changes after a color or font drop (any good PM application should). 

In a program we can use Presentation Parameters to change colors and fonts of our applet in a very simple way. In dialogs you can attach them by using the dialog editor. In programs you can use this by invoking one of the specialized API calls. The font and color of the Smalled bubble-help, for instance, are done in just this way. We'll be lazy once more and color the calculator application through Presentation Parameters with the dialog editor. (How convenient that the application is a dialog. <g> I used this technique to color the buttons on the calculator black with white letters on it. The background of the calculator itself is painted red. The entry field and list box are made white, and the font used in the entry fields is set to WarpSans (If you use Warp 3.0, this might not show, but more on PP fonts in a minute). 

Most dialog editors have a dialog to attach Presentation Parameters to a control. Adding a PP to a control this way will add statements to the control description in the RC file. For example, the red color of the dialog is done by adding the following statement to the dialog creation line.

        PRESPARAMS PP_BACKGROUNDCOLORINDEX , 2L

Setting the font in the entry field to Warp Sans 9 point is done by adding a font PP line to the entry field creation line. This looks like:

        PRESPARAMS PP_FONTNAMESIZE "9.WarpSans"

As you can see, the form in which PP's are created is the same for colors and fonts. The parameter, however, is of a very different type. For PP_BACKGROUNDCOLORINDEX it's a short, for PP_FONTNAMESIZE it's a string. Things get more complicated when you realize that there are also PPs that take an RGB color description as a parameter. We'll dive into that some other time when doing PPs with API calls is handled. 

OS/2 supports a very large set of PPs. There are separate PPs for active/non-active border colors. PPs to change the way menus look, highlights, inactive parts etc. To be short, PPs will give you an incredible range of possibilities. The strange thing is that this is seldom exploited. Check out the RC file of this month's sample and see how it's done. Run it through your own dialog editor (the sample was done with Borland C++ 2.00 for OS/2) to see. I use the most simple FOREGROUND and BACKGROUND indexed color PPs here. If you don't like my color setting, simply change it. 

What else have we changed this month? As you use the calculator, you may notice that the results of the calculations are being shown in the list box that forms the upper part of the calculator. I guess now is as good as any time to make a small introduction to the list box. 

The list box is one of my favorite controls, because you can use them for so many things. Besides that, it can be controlled in a very sophisticated way. (See, for example, what most of the Lotus apps do with list boxes.) I'll describe some simple stuff for the list box by examining what we need for the calculator.

What do we want in a tally-roll like function? It has to show the left and right members in an equation, show the type of operand used, and show a result. To do this we first have to know how to insert a line into a list box. The contents of a list box-line is a character string. This means if we want to insert a value it has to be a character string. When a line is inserted, we've got to tell the list box at what position this has to be done. All the lines in a list box are numbered like the members of an array. The first list box line is numbered 0. The entry can be made by sending the following
message to the list box:

LM_INSERTITEM. 
        MP1: the item-index
        MP2: pointer to the item text.
        return: the index of the inserted item.

We want to insert a new line on top of what's already there, how can this be done? We should have to count the number of entries already present in the list box, add one to that number and insert the new value at that position. Very straightforward, but lazy as we are, we search for something simpler. Logically it should be possible to simply add something to the top of the stack because this is such a common function. And indeed we can. <g>  The creators of the OS/2 messages included the LIT_END value for the item-index. This value always contains the index of the stack plus one.

Simply adding a value this way isn't enough. Say we've inserted about 50 entries this way. The list box will still show the first item. So we've got to make sure the added item is visible in the list box. We can do this by selecting the inserted item. This can be done with the following message:

LM_SELECTITEM
        MP1: the item-index
        MP2: select flag (select or deselect)

What we want is the item to be visible. We don't want it highlighted. The nice thing is that if MP2 is false, the item won't be selected, but it will move to the visible range. At this point the return value for LM_INSERTITEM should make sense. We can use this return value to select the inserted item. Knowing this we can create a function that will put a value in the list box for us. In the sample it looks like this:

void PrintListboxLine (PSZ achLine, HWND hwndDlg)
        {
        short I;
        I = (short) WinSendDlgItemMsg(hwndDlg, LISTBOX1,
                                                        LM_INSERTITEM,
                                                        (MPARAM)LIT_END,
                                                        (MPARAM)achLine);
        WinSendDlgItemMsg(hwndDlg, LISTBOX1,
                                   LM_SELECTITEM,
                                   (MPARAM)I, 0L);
        }

In the sample I call this function every time a value is entered, but also after an '='. Besides that, we like to know which action is in progress, so the operand is also inserted after a '+', '-', '*' or '/' is pressed. (Check out the exception on the '-' to handle negative numbers).

I used messages here, but OS/2 has a number of macros that will call messages for you. Check out WinInsertLboxItem for example.

As you may have noticed, even a simple calculator can become quite complex. And we aren't completely finished yet! This month I'll address two additions that make our calculator more usable. The first is making sure it can't do a division by zero. If we let this happen, the application would crash, giving an error-trap dialog. The solution I've chosen is simple though not completely correct. It also prohibits adding or subtracting a zero and multiplying by zero. These are valid actions, but they don't make any sense. When should this be forbidden? After pushing an '=' and the flRightMember is zero, or after pushing a action button ('-', '+', '/', '*') when we're doing a cascading calculation. So on 2 points in the applet the

        if (flRightMember != 0)

is placed. (You'll notice in the sample it's marked with "//NEW-NEW".)

Another thing that bothered me a lot in last month's version is the fact that there were always a bunch of numbers after the decimal dot is displayed, even if they were all zero. I've written a small function that will strip trailing zeros as well as the dot if they aren't necessary. For this the PrintOutput function is built. It takes care of some of the stuff formally done in the WM_COMMAND handler. When the value is already converted to a string, the following lines will take care of the stripping:

        while (achOutput[strlen(achOutput)-1] == '0')   // Strip zero's
                achOutput[strlen(achOutput)-1] = 0;
        if (achOutput[strlen(achOutput)-1] == '.')      // Strip dot
                achOutput[strlen(achOutput)-1] = 0;

The trick in this little piece of code lies in the fact that C closes the string with a zero. So if we place a zero somewhere in a string, this will become the string terminator. Also note that a zero in text form ('0') is different from the numerical zero that is the end of a string marker. Well, try to figure it out, I found these little parsing tricks very handy for a lot of stuff. The Smalled text-tools and Line-wrap functions rely heavily on these kind of functions.

That's it for this month. Next month we'll finish the calculator by putting some more functionality in it. After that, the first OS/2 e-Zine! HOW-DO-I application will be a fact. Wish me luck in my legal battles. See you all next month.

                    * * *

(eric.slaats@pi.net) Eric Slaats holds a degree in Computer Science and teaches computer technology in Eindhoven.  He is the creator of the (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/smalled/) Smalled utilities.

***********************************

SmartSuite vs. StarOffice - Introduction

While both Lotus SmartSuite for Warp 4 and StarDivision's StarOffice 4.0 are still in beta, we thought we should take the opportunity to compare the two of them together, component by component, and see which suite offers the best tools for today's offices. The reviews are divided up to cover the suites by each major component at a time; word processors (Word Pro vs. StarWriter), presentation graphics (Freelance Graphics vs. StarImpress), spreadsheets (1-2-3 vs. StarCalc), and databases (Approach vs. StarBase)

We did not compare the Personal Information Managers in this article, however. (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n12/organize.htm) Lotus Organizer was reviewed in last December's issue of OS/2 e-Zine!, and StarOffice doesn't really have a serious offering in this department to compare to (StarOffice's address book is merely an example of its database and the calendar is display-only; you can't record events in it).

We must stress of course the fact that both suites are currently in Beta and may undergo significant changes before they're actually released. We have no firm dates yet from either company on when they plan to make general availability for their respective suites. Most notorious in this department is StarDivision, who have been selling the German version of StarOffice for some time now, but whose English versions have been in a state of "perpetual beta" for
years. It wasn't that long ago that StarOffice 3.0 was in beta, yet failed to materialize as a product that you could actually purchase. This was part of the incentive to do a comparison now before their respective cycles got too far out of synch to make the review fair.

Reviewing beta software is a difficult task because you're not reviewing the same code that will eventually find its way out the door and to the market. Beta code is software that is being tested and debugged; often, the bugs you find in that code disappear by the time the code is finally released. Beta software is an "approximation" of the final version -- you can get a pretty good idea of how the developers envision the final product, but you can't always get a good idea of how reliable and stable that product will be. 

Covering the battling suites for us this month are:

     Word Processors: Word Pro vs. StarWriter - Jon Cochran

     Presentation Graphics: Freelance Graphics vs. StarImpress - Ryan Dill

     Databases: Approach vs. StarBase - Christopher B. Wright

     Overview: A summary look at the two Suites - Chris
     Wenham

***********************************

StarWriter vs. Word Pro	- by Jon Cochran

Some time ago I did a review of the two major word processors available for OS/2, StarDivision's StarWriter and Lotus Word Pro. Since my last review, both word processors have been updated, and both are just chock full of new features.

When you start the latest version of Word Pro you'll notice that it looks very similar to the old version. Actually, very similar might be an understatement, it seems identical. Lotus has gone the route of evolutionary change. The big news is that the product seems to be faster, and has better internet integration than previously.

On the other hand, when you start StarOffice you're hit with a feeling not dissimilar to working on a Windows 95 machine. The StarOffice shell (oddly enough called an Explorer) is very similar to form and function to Windows 95's explorer. And the integration between the different StarOffice "modules" is fantastic. The help system is a direct copy of the Windows 95/NT 4 help system, and once there's a few more help files, it will be a huge improvement
over the standard OS/2 help system.

Text entry in both programs is basically the same. StarOffice defaults to having one of its text editing bars running down the side of the text entry window, which can be a little disconcerting at first, but the bar is mainly secondary functions, and it doesn't affect screen space at all. Word Pro uses the traditional word processor layout, with all your tool bars running across the top of the screen, and document information running across the bottom. 

Both programs offer the usual editing features, such as on-the-fly spell checking. Word Pro continues with grammar checking and format checking. I found the grammar check to be especially useful, as it will help you catch little errors that seem to creep into documents if you're too fast a typist. And the format check is something I wish I had back in college. StarOffice offers neither of these two features, a glaring omission from a otherwise full featured office
suite.

Both programs also are internet aware. Word Pro allows for saving and loading of documents from either a HTTP or FTP site. It supports most of the basic HTML markup tags, but doesn't support frames, applets, or plug-ins. It is just a word processor, after all. 

StarWriter, on the other hand, doesn't fit just the word processor bill. It also allows for saving and loading of documents from the internet. But its built-in browser module pays off here. Not only does it support frames, applets, and plug-ins, but you can create pages using any of these features (while I could embed a movie, embedding sound resulted in a program crash every time). Its frames support, while somewhat confusing at first, is very well done, allowing you to select the target frame for links, close frames, and so on. 

StarWriter also gets the nod for image manipulation. Not only can you insert and resize, as you can in Word Pro, you can also edit and retouch using the included StarImage module (which will seamlessly appear when you work with an image). StarDivision's efforts at porting OLE have really paid off here. 

Neither of the two offer good table support. Both offer tables, but when trying any advanced functions with tables, I was left mostly at a loss. I couldn't seem to get any functions to work in any of the tables I set up in Word Pro. And when I tried to copy a table from Lotus 1-2-3 into Word Pro, 1-2-3 crashed and the table didn't make it to the clipboard.

StarOffice was only marginally better when working with tables. When I entered an '=' into a table cell, a formula window opened up, and I was able to enter a formula just as I had expected. But there was no way to copy the formula once it was entered, although when you left the pointer over the cell, the formula would appear in a pop-up bubble, almost mocking my inability to copy it to another cell. Such cruelty!

Neither program is a speed demon. Word Pro has the edge in opening and file operations. StarOffice is an absolute dog when it comes to opening, but once it's open, switching between modules is relatively quick. Both programs are quick enough when working with text, but StarWriter will slow down when importing graphics and will slow down dramatically when working with plug-ins and Java (which is to be expected, but note that Word Pro cannot deal with plug-ins or Java anyway). I expect most of the speed problems will be resolved when these programs move out of beta.

So which one takes home the gold? Unlike Nagano, there's no clear cut winner here. If HTML is your bag, StarOffice definitely takes the gold. Its HTML integration is unsurpassed, and its image manipulation and creation abilities will no doubt come in handy when doing any serious web publishing. For straight text manipulation and editing, the edge still lies with Word Pro.

                    * * *

(cochran@genius.rider.edu) Jon Cochran is a graduate of Rider University and a member of the "Development and Quality Control" group at Bloomberg, LP.

***********************************

Freelance Graphics vs. StarImpress	- by Ryan Dill

Appearance matters to all of us; when talking about any topic, your information becomes easier to understand (or at least more memorable in your audience's minds) when it's accompanied by colorful diagrams, tables and so on. These are called presentation graphics, and herein we compare two of OS/2's candidates for such: Freelance Graphics, part of Lotus' SmartSuite for OS/2 Warp 4, and StarImpress, part of StarDivision's StarOffice suite. 

User Interface

Since appearance matters a lot, often the first thing people notice about any program is how it looks; the user interface. Both programs use a 'slideshow' format of creating presentations, where your entire presentation is divided into a number of pages, or slides. The main window by default shows an enlarged view of the slide currently being edited, but both Freelance and StarImpress allow you to see all slides of your presentation on the screen at once, if desired. 

Both programs have menu bars which can be 'docked' or torn off the main program window and dragged around, which allows the general look and feel of the program to be customized to your preference. Unfortunately, not all of Freelance's toolbars have this feature; the Drawing and Text bar for example, which is a toolbar I'd expect to be using a lot, can't dock or be resized at all. 

On customization: the two programs handle customization of toolbars differently; StarImpress lets you change the icon associated with any toolbar function, with one of the icons in its collection (These icons are actually 16x15 bitmaps, stored in the Office40\Config\Symbol directory, so you can stick your own bitmaps here and use them in your menu bars). Freelance, on the other hand, allows you to create new icons right from inside the program, but _doesn't_ let you change the default icon for a particular function; all you can do is associate your new icons with user-defined functions. 

Functionality

Although the look of the interface is always a factor, the more important reason to use a program is for what it can do for you. Both programs have the capability to draw various shapes (circles, squares, etc.), lines and 3D objects. Freelance has access to many more preformed shapes than StarImpress; things like cartoon thought balloons, stars etc., and lets you change a drawn object into a different one on the fly; if you have a square with text in it, 2 or three clicks can change it into a star or hourglass shape or the same general size, leaving the text intact. StarOffice has a nice feature lacking in Freelance, though; if you double-click on a tool button, like the line draw button, then you can draw multiple instances of that object without having to go back and click on the button again -- this is really useful when drawing a number of the same objects. 

Speaking of text, both programs have the capability to insert text of a variety of fonts or colors anywhere in a slide. Text can be both linked to an object (so that the text moves if the object moves) or standalone. However, the text abilities of Freelance Graphics seem to have a major bug in this beta; inserted text appears greatly stretched out and difficult to read, which makes creating a good-looking presentation with text impossible. (This will hopefully be fixed in the final version). 

Both Freelance and StarImpress allow object animation; when you click on a slide, a new object may 'dissolve' into being, or text may suddenly 'fly' into an object already on the slide, all configured as desired. Additionally, you can add embedded multimedia to your presentation; you can arrange it so that when a certain object appears, a WAV or MIDI starts, or an AVI movie pops up and begins to play. Freelance has a number of built-in animated graphics that you can use; for example, clicking on one of the objects of your slide could cause a plane to fly across the screen. StarImpress also comes with built-in animations (animated GIFs, actually), and includes instructions on how to create your own animations using the rest of the StarOffice suite, then just pasting them into your presentation. 

Multimedia objects aren't all that can be inserted, either. StarOffice supports OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), so it can insert any number of things into your presentations, including spreadsheets, charts, tables, mathematical formulas, even Java applets. In addition to inserting objects, both Freelance and StarImpress allow you to have a click on an object launch a program of your choice, for example, a multimedia player for MP3s or other files which aren't understood by these programs. (In Freelance, this feature doesn't seem to work with command-line programs. The program doesn't launch and the system slows to a crawl) 

Freelance includes both e-mail and groupware integration, allowing you to send your presentations easily to any person or group -- however, to make use of this feature, you have to have a mail system such as CC:Mail or Lotus Notes installed. StarImpress also has e-mail integration, and since everything it needs to function comes with StarOffice, you can use it out of the box. 

Both programs have help functions, but the one in StarImpress is a bit crippled by the fact that its 'find' function doesn't seem to work, so you have to wade through the help files to find what you're looking for rather than jumping immediately to it. This may just be because the product's still in beta, and the help files aren't finished, but it's still slightly irritating. 

Formats

Another measurement of a program is what file formats it can understand. Often a graphic, a table or even an entire presentation has been created already, and you want to use it again, just modifying it a bit. Both Freelance and StarImpress understand a variety of common image formats, including GIF, AutoCAD, PCX and BMP, and each come with their own collections of clip art and animated images for use in your presentations. Freelance also has the advantage of being able to understand Microsoft PowerPoint 3.0 presentation files (PowerPoint is one of the standards in Windows
presentation graphics). 

Both programs have the ability to save your presentation in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) format, allowing you to easily create a copy for a World Wide Web home page. Each slide of your presentation will be saved as a picture on an HTML page, (so any multimedia or animations your presentation may have had will not be kept in the transfer) and an index page will automatically be created, allowing web users to easily access all of your presentation's slides. Just upload the converted HTML to a web site, and you're ready to go. 

Performance

Both programs seem a bit slow, even on a Pentium 120 machine with 64 megs of RAM. In StarImpress' case, this is no doubt because StarOffice 4 loads its own desktop shell in addition to the actual program running. This gives the advantage of having everything (documents, databases, web browser, etc.) right at your fingertips, but also slows things down a bit, and seems to be overkill when you plan on only using one program at a time. Screen redraws in Freelance have a few quirks which hopefully will be worked out in the next release (moving an object around a slide sometimes leaves behind rogue pixels where the corners of that object were, and redraw speed is slow). 

Conclusion

Both Freelance Graphics and StarImpress are largely function-equivalent -- With a few exceptions, if you've been able to do something in one of them, you'll probably be able to do the same in the other. I have to say I prefer StarImpress' user interface; not that Freelance's is bad, mind you -- it's got a pretty good interface. However, with the polished icons and 'mouse-overs' (as you move the mouse over a button, the button raises) built into the entire StarOffice suite, StarImpress' interface is, quite simply, slick. 

Add to this the fact that the text bug in Freelance Graphics makes creating a presentation with decent-looking text difficult to say the least, and my preference has to be for StarImpress. Its interface, customizability and feature set all combine together very nicely. The only thing I don't like about it is the package deal; as I said, you can't _just_ run StarImpress, you have to run StarImpress on top of the StarOffice desktop, which sucks up more memory. Still, that's a minor nag to me, as the rest of the package more than makes up for this.

                    * * *

(dill@os2ezine.com) Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and e-Zine! 's assistant 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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Approach vs. StarBase	- by Christopher B. Wright

Database applications are murderously difficult programs to learn to use well. Because they can store, sort and display huge quantities of information -- even the simple ones -- they don't always have simple and functional interfaces.

Databases are getting easier to use, however -- probably because they are being bundled into office suites with increasing frequency. They have not reached the level of simplicity that most Word Processors have, but they are at the point where end users can create functional, useful databases without having to learn a programming language. 

Overview

Both Lotus Approach and StarDivision's StarBase are functional products, but Approach gets the nod for power and ease-of-use. As of this writing StarBase has very little support in Star Office's skeletal help system -- there are only four entries that I could find -- and unlike most of the rest of the suite, its interface is not terribly intuitive. Approach's interface, on the other hand, is very intuitive -- there are a few hang-ups but for the most part, all tools are either self-explanatory or easy to figure out. Approach also seems to have internet connectivity -- you can publish your database to the world wide web -- but it requires a DB/2 server to do so, which limits its usefulness in that respect. (Approach is not intended by IBM or Lotus to be a commercial database product). 

On the other hand, of the two products Approach is the one that is most glaringly a beta product. its performance is sluggish -- on some machines it may not run very well at all -- and there are various widgets and mouse actions that don't seem completely implemented. StarBase, while unwieldy in implementation, functions smoothly and consistently. 

The Project

To test both products, I decided on a specific goal before I started working with them. I was going to try and create a database for the Project:ToolBase portion of the (http://www.dtcweb.com/) Desktop Communications web site (which I maintain when I'm not writing here or working 9 to 5). Project:ToolBase is a listing of available publishing software for OS/2 (including native, DOS, and Win16 programs), with links to reviews where available. It will be expanded in the future to include compatible hardware as well. 

At the moment, I simply add information to the web page -- a cumbersome task that will be almost impossible if it grows much more and software versions change. Ideally, I'd like to ultimately have all information in a database that will interface with the web page itself -- so that people can view the page and perform searches, sort by various fields and so forth. I can't do this right now -- I don't have CGI permissions with my current web host -- but I want to set up a database that will keep track of all my information and that can be expanded upon in the future. 

So the criteria I used when testing these beta products was: how easy is it to create a database? How flexible is it at entering and displaying the information? How well can it integrate with a web site, and which of these tools would I be able to use right now? 

Lotus Approach

Approach is a wonderful database with a lot of quality, easy-to-use features. It has a few performance glitches, however, and it may require too much in the way of system resources for some PCs to handle. 

Approach: how easy is it to create a database?

Building a database using Lotus Approach is a marvelously straightforward process. When you open the application, you're given the choice between building a database from scratch or starting from one of the SmartMasters (a SmartMaster is Lotus' version of a template). The SmartMasters didn't cover what I wanted the database to do, so I chose to start from scratch. Then, strangely enough, it asks you to choose a name for your database, and the directory it will reside in. Apparently, Approach creates the file before you even begin building it. 

Once you've named and placed your database, the Creating New Database Window opens up where you define all your database fields. Here you not only specify what the name of the fields are, but how long the field is (how many characters it will accept) and what type of field it is. You're given a great deal of flexibility on field types -- you can set it as a text field (all characters are viewed as text, nothing more) or you can set it as a field solely for containing calendar dates or numbers (the numbers field can be further defined to record a number as currency), or as a simple "yes/no" field. You can even declare the field as a "memo" -- which means you can enter an unlimited (for all intents and purposes) amount of text into it. You can declare as many fields as you wish, and each field type has customizable settings. 

Not all of the field types are as customizable as I would have wished, however. When I was setting up the Project:ToolBase field list, I created a field called "Software_Version" which was intended to display the release level of the software code. I had to configure it as a text field, because it wouldn't recognize the latest release level of the now-defunct Describe word processor as a number: it had too many decimals (5.0.6). Also, some release levels are a combination of numbers and letters (for example, "1.01a"). 

Some of the field customization features are very nice. I created a text field called "Category" that would classify whether or not a software item was a desktop publishing, graphics design, multimedia authoring, or web creation program. Using the customization features I was able to set it up as a drop down list that would allow you to choose any one of those four categories. I did the same thing for a "Native_OS" field that would allow me to declare it as an OS/2, Windows 3.1 or DOS application. 

One thing I didn't think of when I was doing this, however, was that some applications fit in more than one category. StarWriter, for example, can be viewed as fitting in both the desktop publishing and web creation categories, since it has a lot of layout and web design features. Using the drop-down lists, I was only able to choose one category. This was solved by removing the "Category" text field and replacing it with four "yes/no" fields: "DTP", "GD", "MMA", and "WC". In the example of StarWriter, I would be able to set the DTP and WC fields to "yes" and the others to "no". 

Once you are finished defining the fields, your next step is to set up the data entry area using the Browse/Design Database window. This is not really a required step because you can always enter information in its default table view, but if you plan to enter a lot of information over an extended period of time you may prefer setting up a more logical and easy to use format. 

Approach allows you to customize your data entry area by changing fonts, field backgrounds, colors -- almost every aspect of what you're doing. You can even create and apply styles. For example, I created a style called "Field_Title" and applied it to the text over each field to give it a uniform look. 

Each part of the data entry area has specific properties that you can customize through their settings tabs. All you need to do is double click on an area for the settings tabs to appear (or you can right click and select the "properties" choice on the task list. There is also a floating palette that gives you the ability to add graphical elements to the data entry area, as well as some form items (radio buttons and check boxes). 

Approach: how flexible is it at entering and displaying information?

This is one of the areas where I had some difficulties. Approach doesn't make it easy for you to set the tab order of your fields. When you are entering information into a database, it's pretty standard for you to be able to jump from one field to the next by hitting the tab key. Unfortunately, Approach tends to set the tab order by the order in which the tabs were created, not the order in which they appear in the data entry area. You can choose to take a field out of the tab order (so you won't be able to tab to the field at all -- you must click on it with your mouse instead) but I wasn't able to find a way to rearrange the tab order at all. Even when I went back to the window that controls the field definitions and rearranged them, Approach insisted on using the original order they were created in to determine the tab order. 

This made entering the information a little awkward. I was never able to follow the tabs fast enough to just "tab and type" my information into the database, and that slowed things down considerably. 

On the other hand, creating a report is a very easy process. You can choose from Approach's pre-generated formats and modify them to suit your purposes, or you can create them from scratch. After deciding what fields from the database you wish to display, you then customize the appearance of the report in much the same way you customize the appearance of the data entry area. These reports are automatically updated as you enter and update information into the database -- but if you add or change fields, you may need to alter the reports accordingly. 

Approach: how well can it integrate with a web site?

I was disappointed with the way Approach handles web integration. Based on some of the things I'd heard about it, I was hoping it would be able to create reports that were essentially static html pages with the information I wanted to display. While it might actually be able to do this, it's not as immediately apparent as the rest of the application. 

Approach can allow you to interactively display the information on a web server if the web server is running DB/2 -- but this is a very expensive solution to the problem. If anyone knows how to convert an Approach report into static html pages, please let me know. 

Approach: how usable is this application right now?

In terms of ease of use, Approach is an excellent program -- it's about as intuitive as a database application can be at this point in time, with the sole exception of its internet connectivity features which are pretty arcane. However, Approach has some glaring bugs: first, drop-down lists have a tendency to be inaccessible by a mouse. You can drop the list down with a mouse, but you can't choose any of the options, nor can you scroll up and down the listing (you must use the up/down keys on your keyboard to scroll and the enter key to select). This is can be a cumbersome and awkward situation, and really needs to be fixed. 

Also, Approach is a very slow program that generates quite a swap file. At times there was as much as a seven or eight second delay before a settings tab would appear, or a window would open or close. Take into account that I'm running this application on a Pentium Pro 200 with 160 megs of ram -- on a more 'standard" machine, this application will run even slower. How much slower I don't know, and this problem may very well be fixed in the final release, but as it stands right now it may be unusable on some machines. 

Finally, trying to use the help screens locked up my the program instantly. It was possible to call up the OS/2 task list and close the help window (allowing the rest of the program to be used shortly thereafter) but while a help window was open, the entire application was unusable. This made it practically impossible to figure out how to use the web integration abilities of the program -- they might be there, but with no documentation describing how to use them and no practical way of accessing the help information, they may as well not be. A working help system is absolutely critical for any database application -- especially when no manual is present. People who intend to use a database program regularly should make certain they have access to thorough documentation before they attempt to use it to store critical information. 

StarDivision StarBase

StarBase is a very stable and reasonably responsive program -- compared to Approach, it runs very smoothly. This isn't surprising, since it's been in beta for close to two years, but what was surprising was that I didn't find it terribly useful. As far as databases go it seems lacking in power, difficult to use and downright confusing to set up. Based on the intelligence and forethought that went into the rest of the suite, I was very disappointed to find that StarBase seemed "tacked on" to Star Office almost as an afterthought. 

StarBase: how easy is it to create a database?

Even the method of getting the StarBase components of Star Office to activate isn't immediately obvious. Unlike the rest of the suite, there is no StarBase item on the little "New" button on the Star Desktop, nor is there a StarBase template available in the templates section. To create a database, you must right-click on the Star Desktop and select New>Database from your list of choices. Because this is the only way I've found so far to create a database in Star Office, and because information on it is so scarce in the help files, it's quite possible for people to use this suite and not even realize there is database included with it at all. 

Once New>Database is selected, an interactive panel will appear asking you whether you want to create a database from scratch or whether you want to use one of the templates (templates are only available here, you can't select them from the "file>templates" area on the menu). If you choose to use one of its pre-created templates, you are asked to choose whether it's a database for the home or for the office. StarBase gives you a lot more choices in terms of pre-created databases for you to choose from than Approach does, but unless you have only very basic needs you'll probably want to create one from scratch, as I chose to do. 

It asked me for information about what the database is named and what kind of database it is (you can choose between a dBase, ODBC or text database). It does not, however, tell you what advantages/disadvantages each format has (and the help button didn't work), so I picked ODBC at random and moved on. 

The new database appeared on the Star Desktop as P:TB (the name I'd given it). Double clicking P:TB revealed that it was a folder, with four other folders in it. It wasn't until I messed around a little bit until I learned that I had to open the folder named "Tables" first (so I could create the table that would hold the actual information). The Tables folder isn't placed so that it's intuitively obvious that you use it first -- it was placed last in the list. 

Opening the Tables folder revealed -- nothing. It was empty. Once I opened the Tables folder I had to right-click and choose New>Table in order to open up the screen where I actually defined my database fields. This is many, many more steps than Approach used to reach this relatively early stage in database development. 

Once I got there, though, it worked pretty much the same way -- you define the name of the fields, you define how many characters the field can contain, and you customize the field type. StarBase doesn't have as many choices as Approach does, however; first, the name of the field is restricted to 10 characters only, and you can only use standard letters and numbers. There were fewer field types, and the fields themselves couldn't be customized as thoroughly (for example, I couldn't figure out how to create a drop-down list like I did for the Category and OS_Type fields in the Access version of the database. A feature that StarBase had that Approach seemed to lack, however, was the ability to define a field as mandatory (it would have to be filled in during a data entry session). 

Once I finished defining my fields, I needed to leave the Tables folder and open the Forms folder -- which I found awkward to do efficiently because when I closed the Tables folder, it closed the entire database and I had to reopen P:TB. You can use the navigation buttons on the Star Office desktop to avoid this problem, but if you forget and tick the close button you're out of luck. 

You create Data entry forms the same way you create tables -- by right-clicking in the Forms folder and choosing "New>Form". When I did this, I was asked to link to table in the Tables folder, choose what fields I wanted to use, choose a basic format, a basic style to work with, and then name the form itself. 

The Data entry screen, annoyingly enough, opens in read-only mode -- I couldn't change the way it was laid out until I closed it, right-clicked on it, and selected Edit. After that, however, arranging the layout of your data entry area worked in StarBase pretty much the same way as it does in Approach, though there were less options to "finesse" the user interface. 

StarBase: how flexible is it at entering and displaying information?

A significant advantage that StarBase has over Approach is that it's very easy to define and redefine a field's tab order -- simply right-click on the field and enter its position. This can make data entry a lot easier, and can theoretically allow you to enter a lot more information in a lot less time. 

On the other hand, StarBase is less flexible than Approach when it comes to generating reports. Generating a report required that I go into yet another folder, right-click and select "New>Report". After that it was pretty straightforward, I selected the fields I wanted displayed, and chose my basic report format -- which came up in a read-only view, forcing me to close the file, right-click on it, and select "edit" again. Unfortunately, I didn't have a whole lot of choices when it comes to arranging the information displayed on the report. While I could change the font and type size that the information was displayed in, the actual positions and sizes of the fields were stubbornly resistant to manipulation. This was awkward because one of the fields was a memo field (it contains a short paragraph description of whatever software is being profiled at the time) and needed to be larger than some of the others. 

StarBase: how well can it integrate with a web site?

Because Star Writer has so many browsing and web creation tools, I assumed that StarBase would be able to create static HTML pages based on its reports with little or no problems. As far as I can tell, I was grossly mistaken. I'm qualifying that remark because there isn't enough documentation on the database to determine whether or not the tools exist; if they do, they're obscure enough to resist my searches for them. 

StarBase: how usable is this application right now?

StarBase performs consistently enough to use it for simple database needs. Because you can define the tab order of the database fields yourself, you can set it up as a simple database that stores a lot of information. However, due to the simplicity of the report generator you might find it unsuitable for even moderately complex tasks. 

One of the problems StarBase has is that while it may have tools it appears to lack, there is no way to find out. The help menus are disabled in the application, and there are only four items concerning StarBase that I have found in the help overview located on the Star Desktop. Help screens and manuals are absolutely essential components of an application -- especially a database -- and unless it is amazingly simple to use, a database program that doesn't have them is effectively useless. 

StarBase does not meet the expectations created by the quality and feature set of the other components in the Star Office suite, and this is disappointing. Star Office can survive quite well without StarBase, but people who are specifically looking for a suite with an integrated database will probably not be impressed with its offerings. 

Conclusion

I liked using Approach much more than I liked using StarBase -- the interface was simpler, yet you had more control over what it could do. StarBase felt unwieldy and awkward to use. On the other hand, StarBase felt more like a finished product. 

There are a few situations where StarBase would actually be a better choice for someone to use. If they require nothing more than a simple database, have no elaborate layout requirements for their reports, and need something that they can sit in front of and key in data all day, StarBase will work just fine. Its ability to easily define the tab order may even make it better than Approach, where if you're not careful you'll be jumping all over your data entry screen when you enter your information. 

For the most part, however, Approach is simply a better designed database application. It's slower and it feels as if a piece or two is missing, but the ease of use and logical layout, in my opinion, compensates for this above and beyond my expectations. 

Unfortunately, however, neither of the database applications seems to be able to do what I want it to do -- generate a report that can be viewed as a static HTML page. While it's entirely possible that the functionality exists in both products, the tendency for the Approach help system to lock up the program, and the lack of StarBase information in the Star Office product makes it practically impossible to figure out a) if the functionality exists, and b) how it works.

                    * * *

(wrightc@dtcweb.com) Christopher B. Wright is a technical writer in the Richmond, VA area, and has been using OS/2 Warp since January 95.  He is also a member of Team OS/2.

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SmartSuite vs. StarOffice - Overview	- by Chris Wenham

The view from 50,000 feet shows that of the two, StarOffice is far more integrated than SmartSuite. It's pretty easy to see too, since with version 4.0, all of StarOffice's components have been pulled together into one program. The collision has been a successful one too, with the result coming off as a nicely polished and easy suite to come to terms with. At last, you just pick what kind of document you want to start creating instead of which program you want to create it with.

However, after studying each suite carefully, it became quickly obvious that SmartSuite was the one with the most maturity and range of features. It's the older suite after all, with some applications, like the spreadsheet 1-2-3, which literally go back to the early eighties. This has resulted in bloat, though, and SmartSuite takes a much bigger gulp out of your hard drive's space than StarOffice.

StarOffice

StarOffice seems like it was designed from scratch to be ported across many platforms and to solve the problem of different user interface "experiences" at the same time. It feels like an operating system within an operating system. It has its own desktop, scripting language (and unfortunately this is to the exclusion of Rexx), file management system and task-bar. The modular interface is very slick looking and wins top points for first-impressions. And to our pleasant surprise, we found that this slick interface is more than just skin deep.

In addition to the self-contained desktop, StarOffice has successfully merged the web-browser metaphor into the interface as well. The main toolbar features both forward, back, stop and 'Homepage' buttons just like a web browser. There's a URL entry box in the main toolbar as well, where you can go ahead and type in a web site address (like "(http://www.os2ezine.com/) http://www.os2ezine.com/") one moment and the name of a local word-processing file the next. The history list of recently opened documents mixes both the web pages you've visited next to your spreadsheets, letters and memos too. From StarOffice's point of view, the difference between a file on your own hard drive and a file on a server somewhere on the internet is slim and Internet access does not feel like a "bolted on" feature as it does with Lotus SmartSuite. This is an office suite born in the "Web Era" and it shows.

StarOffice has excellent multi-account e-mail features built in, plus a moderately useful Newsreader too. It was quite easy and convenient to write up a document in StarWriter, then e-mail it to a friend either as the e-mail itself, or as an attachment.

And of what value is the browser? Remarkably good, in fact. It's easily on par with Netscape 3.0, supporting Java, Javascript, plug-ins and frames. It might be a bit too slow, even compared to Netscape, but its integration with StarWriter's impressive HTML support should make it a gem in any web developer's toolbox. The only problem I found was that it tended to scale embedded graphics just very slightly -- giving them a wrinkled look.

User Interface Features

As part of StarOffice's navigation is the 'Beamer' and 'Explorer' -- frames that can be toggled on and off, and which show directory structures and directory contents -- useful for when you want to drag-n-drop files or links to files to places. The oddly named 'Beamer' can configure itself on the fly to either act as a regular file lister - displaying file sizes and dates, to a view of your e-mail box with the name and addresses of senders. 

Virtually all of StarOffice's frames and toolbars can be 'torn off' and docked anywhere within the master frame. The beamer, navigator, explorer, style lists and button bars all conform to the same behavior, and can be shuffled around the screen or switched off completely to suit your tastes. If you wish, you can switch off everything and maximize your work space to the hilt. I found that it can feel quite liberating to have this much control over the interface.

SmartSuite

Lotus SmartSuite for Warp 4 still treats each application as a separately startable entity though, and does not have quite the same "togetherness" that StarOffice's components have. It is, however, by far the most powerful of the suites, with most of the components already being giants in their field with long histories. Perhaps this legacy will prevent Lotus from integrating their components together StarOffice-fashion as easily as StarDivision has, since they all started out as separately marketed programs long before the idea of 'Suites' ever came along.

Internet integration doesn't seem quite as perfect as it is in StarOffice however. Much of the internet features seem "bolted on", rather than stitched in as part of the core fabric of the suite. It requires you to supply Lotus Notes Mail if you want e-mail integration, for example (which may not be so bad considering the Notes Mail client comes with Warp 4 anyway). 


User Interface Features

The user interface of Lotus SmartSuite differs from component to component, but usually shares most of the same elements such as the Smart Icons and similar menu structures. Most of the time, however, the interface for each component is as good as StarOffice's, and in the case of Approach is actually far superior.

Lotus SmartSuite is also the only one in the pair which made some attempt to support 'legacy' styles of interaction, such as the "Classic 1-2-3" or "forwardslash" menus in the spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3. This kind of consideration could give that warm fuzzy feeling of comfort to old DOS 1-2-3 users.

A small degree of Workplace Shell integration can be seen in SmartSuite too. Not only will it create a set of templates to start new documents with, but each Word Pro document has an enhanced properties notebook too, with options to enter descriptions, a tab that displays a preview of the printed document, authors, editors, and even how long it took to create the document. These WPS extensions also allow you to double-click on a document icon and have it open in the currently running copy of Word Pro if you already have it open -- a feature that is also in StarOffice, but without the enhancements to the properties notebook.

And the winner is....

Since both of these products are in Beta stage it would be unfair to give either an Editor's Choice award until they're both released and can be compared by their shipping code. 

It is possible, although unlikely, that both could change dramatically in this time. What is likely to happen is that these betas will be cleaned up of debugging code, temporary help files and most known flaws. At that point we'll revisit the suites for a shorter comparison, but one that finally decides which wins the gold.

                    * * *

Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 Warp 4 Beta
     by (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corporation
     MSRP: N/A

StarOffice 4.0 Beta
     by (http://www.stardiv.com/) StarDivision
     MSRP: N/A

***********************************

WarpAMP Beta 3c	- by Lief Clennon

Before doing a review of an mp3 player, I should probably explain what an mp3 is, as I've discovered that a great many people aren't aware of this technology. The full name of the format is MPEG-I Audio Layer 3; put briefly, it is a lossy compression scheme that can produce CD-quality output at about a minute and five seconds per megabyte of the file, with an even better rate achieved if quality is sacrificed. This is compared to pure PCM data (i.e., a WAV or AU file), which uses about eleven times as much space (10 megabytes per minute) for CD-quality sound. To put this in focus, a fully-written CD can hold about 72 minutes of sound, taking around 800 megabytes to do so. Using mp3, that same 800 megabytes would store nearly 14 hours of sound, at the same quality. 

The trade-off for this incredible compression rate is processor power. WarpAMP uses approximately 10% of my 200mHz Pentium Pro to play a file, which would be close to 30% of a P100, and on a 486-75 you wouldn't be using your computer for much else while the file was playing. However, with the rapidly decreasing cost of processor muscle, mp3 is an important development in audio technology.  

On to the player. Installation is a simple matter of downloading, unzipping, and creating a desktop icon. (There is no automated installer yet, as the player itself is still in beta.) The full installation is about 360k on disk, including help files.  

The interface

When you run the program for the first time, you will see the basic interface (image, right). The buttons across the bottom are Play, Stop, Pause, Scan Reverse (not implemented in this beta), Scan Forward, Previous and Next Song (for playlists), Repeat Play, Random Play (also for playlists), and the close button. Also, the green/yellow/red column to the right is a volume control: simply click any point in it, or click and drag up and down. A drag anywhere but the buttons or volume control will move the entire display. 

Right-click anywhere on this display (even the buttons), and the main context menu will appear. Of the options available, Playlist brings you to the playlist editor and Open allows you to open a single mp3 to play. Settings brings up a dialog in which you can set various options, including lowering playback quality (for older sound cards, or to use less processor power) and whether to automatically play an mp3 when it is loaded. There is also an option to fine-tune WarpAMP's priority and idle-time settings, but the default dynamic priority works very well. 

Condensed mode removes the upper portion of the display, leaving only the button bar; this is useful for conserving screen space. Minimize completely hides the player: the only way to restore it is to select it from the window list (Ctrl-Esc). About and Close are fairly self-explanatory. 

Once an mp3 is loaded, the complete interface lights up. At the top is the song's filename minus the .mp3 extension (or the song's ID3/TAG info, more on that in the Playlist section). Just below is playlist information: the current song playing and number of songs in the list, or if random-play is selected, the current song and number of songs remaining. At the center is information on the bit rate and sample rate of the mp3 file, and a stereo indicator. To the right is the track timer, which in this beta release is limited to a forward-count of the current track (no time remaining or playlist
time options).

Playlists

Select the Playlist option, and the playlist editor appears. It displays the filenames, playlengths, and bit rates (a measure of quality vs. size) of every song in the list; additionally, it displays the ID3/TAG (see below) info of files that have such. Additionally, the title bar displays the filename of the current playlist, the number of songs it includes, and their total combined playing time. A right-click anywhere in this list will bring up its context menu. One option of note is Use this playlist: playlists are not activated when loaded or created. This allows you to load and play one playlist, and then edit or create another while the first is still playing. Also, the Sort by selection has options to sort by any column, in either ascending or descending order. 

Finally, Edit taginfo brings up the ID3/Tag editor. This allows you to embed information like song title, artist, etc., into the actual mp3 file. The disadvantage is that while it's done by a standard method, that method is not part of the actual mp3 specification. What this means is that older players and strictly by-the-book players may choke on a file with tag info embedded in it. However, such players are increasingly rare, and any recent player for Windows or Macintosh will be able to read tagged mp3 files. 

Parting shots and honorable mentions

On the whole, WarpAMP is an excellent player. It has perhaps the most elegant, space-efficient interface of any player, regardless of platform. Also, it is WPS integrated: drag an mp3 file or playlist onto the player or its icon, and it will load it and start playing. However, there are a few things missing; I sincerely hope a countdown timer is included in the GA release, for instance, and the interface of the previous beta had the great feature that if
WarpAMP was in the background, and you clicked one of the control buttons, it would not take the focus away from whatever program you happen to be running. A minor thing, but useful nonetheless. 

All in all, WarpAMP is a great addition to any Pentium system, and interested 486 users can at least use it with the reduced-quality options. Its 300k disk footprint is negligible, although be forewarned: the mp3s themselves, if one becomes overly addicted to them, can take up a good bit of disk space. I won't even tell you how much space I myself waste on them, and nearly all of mine are self-made from CDs I own. It's just so convenient to be able to put 30 albums on random-play at once, you see.

                    * * *

WarpAMP beta 3c
     by (http://sdg.ml.org/) The Software Developer's Guild
     download from the (ftp://sdg.ml.org/ftp/pub/incoming/wamp_b3c.zip) SDG (ZIP, 251K)
     Registration: Freeware

(liefc@asis.com) Lief Clennon is a computer hobbyist and Team OS/2 member currently residing in Albuquerque, NM. He can usually be found badgering his friends on IRC.

***********************************

MED v1.22	- by Chris Wenham

ED is a beautifully designed programmer's editor with a broad base of features, power and flexibility. Formerly called "Mr. Ed", MED is aimed primarily at programmers, but may find a home on the machines of non-programmers thanks to the sheer number of conveniences it offers.

For the Programmer...

MED's first appeal is the syntax highlighting support for almost every programming language on the planet, and even some non-program files like the CONFIG.SYS. It does C, it does Java, it does Rexx, it does Pascal, it does Fortran, it does Assembly, it does HTML, it does TeX and it even does Prolog. No matter what language you program in, chances are you'll find MED has a syntax-highlighting profile already made for it. What's even better is the fact that you can extend the support yourself for languages that MED's author didn't already cover.

Second of importance is compiler support, and here again MED comes pre-configured to work with several popular compilers such as Watcom, GNU C, Visual Age and Java. Adding your own is a cinch, as long as you know what the command-line switches for the compiler are. MED can trap the output of the compiler and look for error messages, moving the cursor up to the particular line in the program that the compiler was having problems with. Buttons on the tool bar let you step up and down through the errors that the compiler reported.

MED even comes with DDE support that can be configured as you please, with commands to load a file, go to a particular line and display error messages. In fact, it uses this to talk to itself; if you associate a file type with MED and double-click on such a file while MED is already running, the second copy of MED that OS/2 tries to launch will see that it's already running and will tell that first copy, via DDE, to open the file instead. The second session of MED will then close, leaving the file you wanted open and ready in the first copy of MED. This convenience leads to certain practices, such as starting a copy of MED at the beginning of the day, tucking it away on a virtual desktop somewhere (I use the Virtual Desktops in Object Desktop's Control Center), then opening a project folder and double-clicking on all the files I want loaded.

And of course, like all programmer's editors, MED comes with the usual outrageously huge stock of configuration options. Almost every aspect of MED's behavior can be changed, right down to what shape of cursor to use or mouse button to select text with. If you have niggling preferences, chances are MED can accommodate. 

For everyone...

Despite being mainly geared towards programmers, the average user might find some value in it as well. There is the excellent syntax highlighting for the CONFIG.SYS and HTML files, and there's also its highly convenient Window Monitor:

The Window Monitor is a thin bar that runs along either side of MED's main window. It lists all of the files that are currently open, with markers that indicate which ones haven't had their changes saved yet. Double click on any filename and you jump to that file. Its convenience is immeasurable when you've got a large (or even small) bunch of files that need to be edited together, such as a web site. 

What's more, MED will remember all the files you had open when you close the program, and reopen them all when you next start it again. It even ends on the last file you were editing at the time and the last cursor position too. Definitely handy when you need to suspend your work for the night and resume where you left off the next day.

Small Problems

But MED isn't without a few annoyances. Chief among these was its slightly duller-than-usual keyboard responsiveness. MED tends to forget keystrokes whenever there's heavy disk activity going on, sometimes even during moderate disk activity. There were times when I was typing, the hard disk would light up for a moment as OS/2 flushed its cache or another program did a bit of housecleaning, and I found that MED had dropped several of the keystrokes I'd entered.

Secondly is its word-wrapping. MED will word-wrap as you type by inserting physical carriage-returns into the text on the fly, rather than using the visual-only, "Paragraph" word-wrapping found in the OS/2 System Editor (e.exe). If you begin typing in the middle of a file, MED will try to word-wrap all the text following the cursor, often messing up the formatting of your text by removing carriage returns that were supposed to be there. While this method of word-wrapping might be best for some forms of editing, it isn't for mine, and I'd like the ability to switch between that and the style of the OS/2 System Editor.

But is it for you?

Although I primarily program in Rexx, with some occasional Javascript work, Java and HTML, MED is suited well for other
languages such as the traditional C and C++. But MED could do anyone a useful service, as it's packed with convenient features that look good in any editor. 

                    * * *

MED v1.22
     by (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Matthias_Pfersdorff/) Matthias Pfersdorff
     download from the (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Matthias_Pfersdorff/medo122e.zip) MED Home page (ZIP, 702K)
     Registration: US$25

                    * * *

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************

Escape GL v2.0	- by Chris Wenham

In my office, 4 pairs of eyes have leveled themselves upon my monitor and linger there while the lunch break ticks to a close. I'm hanging around just beyond the limits of their field of vision to gloat for two more minutes before I walk back in, sit down, and type in my password to deactivate the screen saver. Rich, bubbling envy dies away in the background for another afternoon while everyone gets back to work.

If you haven't seen Snow Storm Software's Escape GL in action, well pity on you then, because this screen saver that hooks itself into OS/2's Lockup mode will make you feel like you've momentarily swapped an SGI machine in place of your humble desktop. Its collection of 3D animations, rendered through OS/2's OpenGL libraries, pour, swoop, and roll onto your screen with vivid splashes of color and some really eye-gluing animation. There ain't no namby-pamby Flying Toasters in this package.

Animation speed is not bad on my AMD K6-200, with some of the modules needing to be scaled down in size or quality before they animate smoothly enough to be satisfying, but it's pretty clear that this virtual Pez dispenser of eye-candy is not meant to be run on 486 class machines or slower. In fact it probably wouldn't be that worthwhile on low-end Pentiums either, unless you don't mind small views and jumpy movement. But being OpenGL it lends itself to the possibility of hardware acceleration in the future, should any such beast ever materialize that comes with OS/2 drivers.

Escape GL installs with the usual IBM Installation program and puts a copy of its icon in your Startup folder, where it will run minimized in the background until you activate OS/2's Lockup, or pull up its control panel to try out some of its modules in test mode. To make it act like a screen saver that switches on after a couple of minutes of nothing-going-on, you'd open the Properties for the desktop (right click, select 'Properties' from the menu) and adjust the settings you find on the 'Lockup' tab. Escape GL needs Lockup to be running in full-screen mode and with auto-dim switched off. You can then set the time-out value in minutes on the same page. Make sure you check page 3 and set the password too, or you might find yourself with a Reboot situation on your hands. <g>

Either way, if you activate lockup manually or automatically (I have lockup assigned to a keyboard combination with the help of Object Desktop), Escape GL will always kick in as long as its program is running in the background. Close Escape GL and Lockup behaves normally (and boring) again.

Now for the good bits: The animations!  Escape GL comes with about 40 different modules, some more interesting than others, but all of them independently configurable, to be added or removed from the Random-Selection pool as you wish. To save time, I'll only talk about, and provide a few screen shots for my favorites. 

Roller Coaster is my absolute favorite, and it's not hard to see why. At the highest quality level, this loop-de-loopin' coaster has a big red and blue frame with a gorgeous fog effect that makes the background slowly fade, as if you were taking a ride in the early, misty hours of a spring morning. This one also takes serious number-crunching power to get beyond anything but a 1/3rd scale view at that quality level, but by golly is it fun to watch! Perhaps it's modeled after a real-world coaster somewhere and maybe it's straight out of the programmer's imagination, who knows. Dropping the quality down to level 2 will give you a nighttime ride (sorry, no lights from the rest of the fair) but is more easily displayed at larger scales.

The next is Magic Carpet an example of OpenGL's ability to pick a random bitmap from your C:\OS2\Bitmaps directory (or any other you specify), and use it as a texture-map on its many shapes and contortion experiments. Magic Carpet appeals to me for some reason because of its steady flowing, rippling of the 'carpet' (such a shame we can't show animation in the screen shots). Escape GL will randomly cycle through the bitmaps it finds in whatever directory you've given it, at whatever time interval you set for it. This applies for all of its bitmap-textured modules. What's interesting is that Escape GL can support any image file format that Warp does (you ever tried loading a .JPG file as your desktop background? Well you can. Yeah you thought it was limited to .BMP, didn't you?) If you add support for other formats, such as the MMOS/2 plug-in that's available to support PNG files, Escape GL will be able to read and use those too.

Galaxy follows true to form with the idea of aptly named modules, rendering a display that, at full-screen (which isn't so bad since it's not as heavy on the ol' CPU), will make any blue-blooded Sci-Fi fan like me giggle and crawl up into a fetal position. A gracefully slow performance, this galaxy has a hub that spews out a bright and speckled, two-spoke stream of stellar matter, like a rotary garden sprinkler in slow-mo. 

Freeway is one that you might find yourself watching for a while (no screen shot here, since Freeway doesn't look like much without the animation, and I wasn't quite able to capture one that looked any good at all). It simulates speeding down a freeway at night, with blue and red meridian lights streaming under you and emerging in the near distance. Whoever is driving the car can sure hug the curves though, since this freeway has more twists and turns in it than one of those Crazy Straws you used to drink your soda from. 

VRML is the module with hidden treasure, for sure. It's capable of reading VRML 2.0 files and displaying them in full OpenGLory. Escape GL comes with a few sample ones, but you can go out there and grab your own from the net if you want to. It's this VRML rendering engine that Snow Storm Software repackaged inside a Netscape plug-in and called Voyager (see this month's First Looks column). This module can't do much more than display and rotate the objects described in the files, but some of them are quite colorful and striking. This is surely better than those silly photo-slideshows. <g>

The last module I'll talk about in detail is Chrome, another example of texture maps at work here, but this time instead of being wrapped on to the object, they're being reflected off it. A chromed cube spins and rolls on the screen, reflecting an imaginary wallpaper off its shiny surface. The effect can be quite hypnotic at times, maybe even surreal. 

For most of the modules, when they're not viewed at full screen (and if you have the computing power to do that for most of these number-munchers, you must work for the Department of Energy), they can be set to bounce around the screen with a click on the "Floating window" checkbox in each module's properties. Unfortunately the calculations required to make this bouncing effect also slow down the rendering even more. So if you like smooth motions you might just want to leave them centered.

And for those who are curious, a short ice-cream list of some other modules ready for you to discover are: Asteroids (no spacecraft to shoot at them with, though), Blob (ever watch that scene in Star Trek VI where the blobs of Klingon blood are floating in zero-G? Yeah, like that), Campfire, DNA, Droplets, O-Rings (didn't we see these in Superman 2?), Paper Airplanes, Shark Tank and Twister. More than enough to waste several hours of office productivity time exploring.

Escape GL makes use of DIVE for displaying its creations, so make sure you have a video card and drivers capable of handling this. The program also seemed to suffer from a few instability bugs, it crashed a number of times after taking screen shots of it in action, and a few times when browsing through the various modules and tweaking their settings. However, the problems aren't really show-stopping, and once configured and left to sit quietly in the background it behaves itself nicely. 

                    * * *

Escape GL 2.0
     by (http://www.pacificablue.com/sss/index.html) Snow Storm Software
     MSRP: US$25

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************


First Looks and Nifty Gadgets

First Looks and Nifty Gadgets brings you reviews of the new and novel.  Each month we take a look at what's just hitting the streets and some tiny, but tried and true products that are still helping people be as productive as possible.

                    This month we look at: Voyager | J Street Mailer Beta | Submission for OS/2 1.0

Voyager VRML Plug-in for Netscape

Snow Storm Software, after the release of their Escape GL 2.0 (see the review in this month's issue), have taken the VRML 2.0 support from the screen saver and packaged it into a plug-in for Netscape too. This viewer can read and display the popular ".WRL" files found out on the web, embedded in a web page or linked to separately.

Contingent on the success of Voyager, Snow Storm also announced plans to work on a "Voyager Pro" version that supports full browsing and navigation of VRML sites. The current Voyager is limited to viewing only, but the "Pro" version would support full browsing capabilities, along with VRML tricks such as proximity sensors and animation.

Voyager
     by (http://www.pacificablue.com/sss/index.html) Snow Storm Software
     MSRP: US$29

                    * * *

J Street Mailer

InnoVal Systems Solutions Inc., makers of the popular Post Road Mailer series of e-mail clients for OS/2, have started the beta
testing phase of their new J Street Mailer e-mail client for Java. While the beta program is only open to those who pay the $40 membership fee, we had a chance to have a look at the latest release of the beta.

Set up with a layout similar to the Agent newsreader for Windows, folders (inboxes, outboxes, sent mail, custom folders etc.) are in the top left frame, the contents of folders is listed in the top right, and selected e-mails are displayed in the third frame at the
bottom. J Street Mailer is written in 100% pure Java and supports POP/SMTP mailboxes, binary attachments, multiple e-mail accounts and multiple personas per e-mail account. 

J Street Mailer also features a spell-checker, an HTML based help system with a convenient internal viewer, the ability to store your own notes with each e-mail message, and an interesting Templates system for composing messages - one template provides a fill-out form for sending problem reports in to InnoVal.

Performance will be dependent on the level and quality of your Java Virtual Machine, but overall the Beta was shipping up fairly well for what it does.

J Street Mailer Beta
     by (http://www.innoval.com/) InnoVal Systems Solutions Inc.
     MSRP: US$40 for beta program membership. $20 for Post Road Mailer 3.0 customers

                    * * *

Submission for OS/2

Developers of web sites are probably quite familiar with the tedious and often eye-aching job of submitting the URL of a new web site to all of the dozens of search engines on the web. Well ache no more, because this little utility will make it possible to enter the site's information once, and double-click your way into the search engines.

With a simple dialog-box you enter your site's URL, the contact e-mail address, a few keywords and a category (descriptions are not yet supported). Then start double-clicking on search engines -- that's all there is to it. Submission will connect to the respective search engine and insert your site's information into their databases via their "Add Site" function (a CGI script that accepts information encoded in a URL). 

Unfortunately Submission only has two search engines in its list at the moment; HotBot and Lycos. But anyone with a little bit of Rexx knowledge and an understanding of a search engine's URL format can add their own quite easily (just use the existing list as a template to start from and make a couple of small changes). The author is requesting that anyone who writes support for a new search engine would forward their instructions to him, so he can add it to the program. 

Submission for OS/2 v1.1
     by (http://www.yoursite.co.uk/os/2/) PowerDale IT Ltd.
     download from (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/internet/www/util/submit1.1.zip) Hobbes (.ZIP, 80K)
     Registration: Freeware

                    * * *

That's it for this month.  Tune in next time for more reviews of neat gadgets and first looks at new OS/2 tools.

***********************************

January '98 Reader Survey Results

Last year's Warpstock was so successful that the organization committee and many other OS/2ers decided -- almost immediately after it finished -- to make the event a recurring one.  Like any good organization though, the Warpstock Steering Committee is eager to improve on the inaugural convention.  This year they've thrown the hosting of the event open to all interested groups.  In fact, they're accepting bids to host Warpstock '98 right now (late February 1998).

Before the various groups bidding to host the event battle it out though, we decided to find out what OS/2 users wanted out of this year's convention.  So last month we asked what you thought of "Warpstock '98".

Answers to our survey were accepted from January 16th until February 13th.  We had a total of 1,003 replies to our questionnaire with 69 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if all questions were not answered or if they were duplicates).  This left 934 valid replies.  The results were as follows:

Where should the next Warpstock be held?

First up we asked the most important question of our survey.  Last year it was impossible for many interested people to attend Warpstock because of its west-coast location.  Naturally, as with any worldwide community, this will be the case no matter what city hosts Warpstock, but the choice of location is still an important one.  Happily the Warpstock Committee realizes this and is apparently willing to making Warpstock a roaming event from year to year.

The votes for location were quite widely spread, with most areas listed receiving no more than a handful.  However, there were two notable standouts.  Probably because we didn't separate Europe into individual countries, it was the most popular answer (15.7%) to our question.  However, the real winner in our survey was definitely New York state.  In fact, NY alone garnered almost as much support (14.9%) as all of Europe!

Other than those two standouts, some other notable favourites were Ontario and California with 4.8% each, Illinois with 5.8%, and Texas with 8.5%.

What would you pay to get to Warpstock and back?

In addition to where people would like Warpstock to be, we also wanted to know how much they would be willing to spend to get there -- after all, not all of us live in New York state.  We needed some idea of whether people would only attend if Warpstock was in their home state or if there would be "out-of-towners" too.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of our readers voted for lower priced travel budgets.  Most of them (59.3%) said they would pay US$200 or less, with the largest group (18.3%) picking US$50.01 - US$100.00 as a fair price.

What was surprising was the group of 16 people (1.7% of our respondents) who said they would pay over US$950.00 to get to Warpstock and back.  Apparently there are some big spenders in the OS/2 community.

What would you pay for lodging during Warpstock?

Next in importance to getting there is the cost of accommodations at the big event.  Again, our readers were budget conscious, the majority of them (54.5%) saying they would pay between US$10.00 and US$60.00 per night.

What should a one-day Warpstock ticket cost?

When we asked our readers what they thought an event like Warpstock is worth, their answers were again fairly predictable.  More than one in four (25.5%) said they would expect to pay between US$5.01 and US$10.00 for a one day Warpstock ticket.  Another one in five (20.6%) said they would pay between US$10.01 and US$20.00.  Not many (1.2%) felt that anything over US$30.00 was a reasonable price.

What should a three-day Warpstock ticket cost?

Naturally, we thought, a multiple day ticket to the event should come with some sort of discount.  And our readers again felt that the price of tickets should be modest.  The majority of them (68.7%) voted for three-day tickets that cost somewhere between US$10.00 and US$50.00.

While the eventual hosts of Warpstock '98 may choose to hold an event which runs for 4 days or more or one that is only 2 days long, hopefully they'll take the general idea of this information into consideration when they set their prices.

                    * * *

That's it for this month.  Don't forget to fill out this month's questionnaire and check back in March for complete results!



                    Complete January '98 Survey Results

Where should the next Warpstock be held?

Category			Count	Percentage
Africa			5	0.5%
Asia			10	1.1%
Australia or New Zealand	23	2.5%
Central America		0	0.0%
Europe			147	15.7%
Mexico			2	0.2%
South America		7	0.7%
Canada: Alberta		9	1.0%
Canada: British Columbia	22	2.4%
Canada: Manitoba		3	0.3%
Canada: Newfoundland	0	0.0%
Canada: NS, NB, or PEI	3	0.3%
Canada: NWT or Yukon	0	0.0%
Canada: Ontario		45	4.8%
Canada: Quebec		12	1.3%
Canada: Saskatchewan	1	0.1%
USA: AK			4	0.4%
USA: AL			1	0.1%
USA: AR			2	0.2%
USA: AZ			21	2.3%
USA: CA			45	4.8%
USA: CO			10	1.1%
USA: CT			0	0.0%
USA: DE			2	0.2%
USA: FL			23	2.5%
USA: GA			11	1.2%
USA: HI			1	0.1%
USA: IA			5	0.5%
USA: ID			0	0.0%
USA: IL			54	5.8%
USA: IN			5	0.5%
USA: KS			3	0.3%
USA: KY			1	0.1%
USA: LA			2	0.2%
USA: MA			21	2.2%
USA: MD			5	0.5%
USA: ME			0	0.0%
USA: MI			12	1.3%
USA: MN			7	0.7%
USA: MO			13	1.4%
USA: MS			0	0.0%
USA: MT			0	0.0%
USA: NC			10	1.1%
USA: ND			1	0.1%
USA: NE			1	0.1%
USA: NH			0	0.0%
USA: NJ			8	0.9%
USA: NM			1	0.1%
USA: NV			4	0.4%
USA: NY			139	14.9%
USA: OH			11	1.2%
USA: OK			1	0.1%
USA: OR			1	0.1%
USA: PA			23	2.5%
USA: RI			0	0.0%
USA: SC			0	0.0%
USA: SD			0	0.0%
USA: TN			4	0.4%
USA: TX			79	8.5%
USA: UT			3	0.3%
USA: VA			7	0.7%
USA: VT			2	0.2%
USA: WA			15	1.6%
USA: Washington DC	17	1.8%
USA: WI			4	0.4%
USA: WV			0	0.0%
USA: WY			0	0.0%
Other			1	0.1%
I'm undecided		20	2.1%
I don't care where it is	45	4.8%
TOTAL			934	99.7%


What would you pay to get to Warpstock and back?

Category				Count	Percentage
I would not go to Warpstock	22	2.4%
I would only go if travel was free	49	5.2%
US$0.01 - US$50.00		158	16.9%
US$50.01 - US$100.00		171	18.3%
US$100.01 - US$150.00		121	13.0%
US$150.01 - US$200.00		104	11.1%
US$200.01 - US$250.00		72	7.7%
US$250.01 - US$300.00		61	6.5%
US$300.01 - US$350.00		32	3.4%
US$350.01 - US$400.00		15	1.6%
US$400.01 - US$450.00		11	1.2%
US$450.01 - US$500.00		35	3.7%
US$500.01 - US$550.00		6	0.6%
US$600.01 - US$650.00		5	0.5%
US$650.01 - US$700.00		2	0.2%
US$700.01 - US$750.00		3	0.3%
US$750.01 - US$800.00		1	0.1%
US$800.01 - US$850.00		0	0.0%
US$850.01 - US$900.00		0	0.0%
US$900.01 - US$950.00		0	0.0%
US$950.01 - US$1,000.00		11	1.2%
US$1,000.01 - US$1,500.00		2	0.2%
US$1,500.01 - US$2,000.00		1	0.1%
More than US$2,000.00		2	0.2%
I don't know			33	3.5%
TOTAL				934	99.7%


What would you pay for lodging during Warpstock?

Category				Count	Percentage
I would not go to Warpstock	23	2.5%
I would only go if lodging was free	90	9.6%
US$0.01 - US$10.00 (per night)	30	3.2%
US$10.00 - US$20.00 (per night)	53	5.7%
US$20.01 - US$30.00 (per night)	96	10.3%
US$30.01 - US$40.00 (per night)	109	11.7%
US$40.01 - US$50.00 (per night)	141	15.1%
US$50.01 - US$60.00 (per night)	89	9.5%
US$60.01 - US$70.00 (per night)	45	4.8%
US$70.01 - US$80.00 (per night)	56	6.0%
US$80.01 - US$90.00 (per night)	24	2.6%
US$90.01 - US$100.00 (per night)	52	5.6%
US$100.01 - US$150.00 (per night)	42	4.5%
US$150.01 - US$200.00 (per night)	6	0.6%
More than US$200.00 (per night)	1	0.1%
I'm not sure			77	8.2%
TOTAL				934	100.0%


What should a one-day Warpstock ticket cost?

Category					Count	Percentage
I would not go to Warpstock		14	1.5%
I would only go if tickets were free	41	4.4%
US$0.01 - US$5.00				91	9.7%
US$5.01 - US$10.00			238	25.5%
US$10.00 - US$15.00			192	20.6%
US$15.01 - US$20.00			161	17.2%
US$20.01 - US$25.00			106	11.3%
US$25.01 - US$30.00			46	4.9%
More than US$30.00			11	1.2%
I'm not sure				34	3.6%
TOTAL					934	99.9%


What should a three-day Warpstock ticket cost?

Category					Count	Percentage
I would not go to Warpstock		14	1.5%
I would only go if tickets were free	35	3.7%
US$0.01 - US$10.00			44	4.7%
US$10.00 - US$20.00			182	19.5%
US$20.01 - US$30.00			200	21.4%
US$30.01 - US$40.00			112	12.0%
US$40.01 - US$50.00			148	15.8%
US$50.01 - US$60.00			74	7.9%
US$60.01 - US$70.00			38	4.1%
US$70.01 - US$80.00			18	1.9%
US$80.01 - US$90.00			8	0.9%
US$90.01 - US$100.00			24	2.6%
More than US$100.00			7	0.7%
I'm not sure				30	3.2%
TOTAL					934	99.9%

***********************************

February '98 Reader Survey

Have you ever wondered what your fellow OS/2 users are doing with their computers and how they're doing it?

Each month, OS/2 e-Zine! takes the pulse of the OS/2 community on a different topic and presents you with the results.

Just fill in the form at http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n02/survey2.htm and check back next month to find out how "normal" you really are!

                    This month's topic: Support for Shareware

***********************************

The OS/2 Debate	- by Dr. Dirk Terrell and Christopher B. Wright

Electronic software distribution versus Shrink-wrap

(Note: After you've finished reading what Dirk and Chris have to say, join in the debate for yourself by clicking on the link to the Hypernews forum where you can post your own ideas and respond to others.)

Since the early 80s, software has been traditionally sold in shrink-wrap packages on the shelves of stores like Egghead, Software Etc., Babbages, CompUSA, small-time retail outlets and mega superstores. However, it's always been extremely hard for OS/2 vendors to get their products placed on these shelves alongside the DOS and Windows heavyweights. The problems were compounded by OS/2's low market share, and OS/2 users soon learned not to bother looking for software at these places.

When OS/2 Warp 3.0 was released it was the first commercial operating system to feature a bundled web browser, and OS/2 users were some of the first to start making use of the internet not only for reading about the OS, but also to download software and purchase it from mail-order retailers that had an online presence. Now we have the mechanisms in place to bring the two together: payment systems, secure servers, and an internet fast enough to deliver applications up to five or ten megabytes. With a credit card you can purchase an application online, download and install it without ever needing to leave your chair or deal with out-of-stock items. 

So, has the time come for OS/2 vendors to phase out Shrink-wrap and switch to electronic distribution? Our two debaters for this month are Dr. Dirk Terrell, creator of the OS/2 Supersite's Rapid Internet Purchasing system - a form of electronic software distribution - who will be arguing the obvious 'Pro' side. And Chris Wright - a technical writer and editor of the Desktop Communications web site, advocating the use of OS/2 as a publishing platform - is arguing
against.

                    * * *

Wright: I am not opposed to electronic distribution -- in fact, I think it's a great idea -- but if "shrinkwrapped" software is cut out altogether, the end user will suffer. Cut out the shrink-wrap and you cut out an overlooked but very, very important component of complicated software -- documentation.

Complicated software packages (like office suites) absolutely require printed documentation in order for an end user to be able to be able to master them. Some software can get by with help menus and readme files, but the more complicated the program, the more necessary it becomes to have a printed document that an inexperienced user can refer to while he or she tries to learn the application.

Terrell: The software industry is changing quite dramatically these days, and electronic delivery will soon become the norm. Development costs are high, but distribution costs are too. For smaller companies to survive, electronic distribution is a must. I believe that for the software industry to flourish, we have to have a market where small companies can thrive in the midst of monstrosities like Microsoft and IBM/Lotus. Electronic distribution is one weapon that gives a small company an advantage. The time-to-market can be reduced and it is much easier for a company to deliver updated products. This obviously also benefits the customer. They get products at lower prices, and they get them faster and more conveniently. Of course, the limitation is the bandwidth available to the customer. Very few people would want to try to download a 170 meg office suite with a 28.8 connection. But most products are much more reasonably sized, and I believe that we are moving away from the "everything in one gargantuan package" model for software. But that is a subject for another one of our legendary debates. <g>

Wright: But moving completely to an electronic distribution system will ultimately be detrimental to users. Having to rely on help screens and readme files is not the way I want to learn to use software -- I want a book I can take with me and read through when necessary. Creating an online help system that is up to par with a well-written manual is very difficult and very expensive, because you can't just write a manual and put it in electronic format, it's a different paradigm.

Terrell: There will obviously be a market for books. If a software company wants to produce one, then they have an additional revenue stream. If I as a customer don't want the book, electronic distribution allows me that choice.

Wright: There are other problems involved with e-distribution, the most noticeable one being the time it takes to download, as you mentioned, but also there's the issue of archiving it in case it needs to be reinstalled. If everything is electronically distributed, not only are you paying for the program, but you're also sacrificing disk space to store the original file in case you need to reinstall it. Having the program on disk or CD
(preferably CD) ensures that if your hard drive crashes -- a situation I have been very familiar with recently -- you still have a copy lying conveniently around (instead of having to go through backup archives to root it out).

Terrell: Well, technology is advancing in both bandwidth and storage media. With the current crop removable media products, I see no problem with putting it on something like a Zip disk. Most of the products we have on the Rapid Internet Purchasing system are small enough to be placed on one or two floppies. And even if the customer loses the original copy, it is a simple matter to enable them to download the software again.

Wright: The OS/2 Supersite and BMT Micro currently offer a CD-ROM with a collection of the latest IBM FixPaks for Warp 3 and Warp 4. Obviously, this wouldn't happen unless there was a perception that people prefer a physical copy of the software for convenience reasons. 

Terrell: Given today's bandwidth, many people obviously don't want to download 20-30 megabytes worth of files. With the expansion of the Internet, bandwidth will only increase. Look at the number of people now connecting by ISDN or cable modem. Companies preparing for the future realize that today's bandwidth limitations are fleeting. But again, for many products, today's capabilities are sufficient to deliver the product to the customer electronically.

Wright: Sufficient, but barely so. I know many people who still use a 14.4 modem, which is not a good speed to be using when you're trying to download even a 1 meg file.

As bandwidth increases, I predict the average file size that gets downloaded will also increase proportionally, for the same reason that applications get larger as computers get faster. Call it a deviant corollary to Moore's Law, but bandwidth will always be a problem in e-distribution. Remember when Netscape/2 was first released, and how it was practically impossible to download without timing out because everyone was trying to get it at once? The same was also true with the Star Office 4 beta and the SmartSuite 97 beta.

Terrell: I suspect the number of people using a 14.4 modem is pretty small these days. Besides, if any progress is to be made we can't be too concerned with people who cling to long-outdated equipment. The industry will push forward and when people see the benefit of it, they will upgrade. As for the Navigator and SmartSuite problems, I suspect IBM could have alleviated the problem by assigning more servers, but those are not paid-for products so there is less incentive to do so. If someone pays you hundreds of dollars for a product and then gets time-out problems, you will be more sensitive to their needs.

Wright: OK; finally, businesses need to be able to prove that they're running legal copies of the software -- having a manual or a disk or a CD for each license is a good way to ensure that.

Terrell: A license could still be mailed or faxed to the customer. I see no reason to produce manuals and CDs as proof of license. 

Wright: Well, they couldn't be faxed. In many states faxed documents cannot be considered legal or official in any capacity. But I see your point. Still, in one of the offices I worked in it was common practice to prove to auditors that they had legal copies of the major software by giving each employee with the software the manual that came with the disks.

Terrell: I really don't see this as a stumbling block for electronic commerce. Licenses can be mailed if need be. Auditors can check with the vendor to see that the customer is indeed licensed to use the software if they have to.

Wright: My ideal setup for e-distribution would be where a client purchases software online, downloads the files they need to start working, and then is shipped the "physical" version of the software later. That would be the best of both worlds.

Terrell: There is nothing stopping a company from doing so. However, they now have two expenses where before they had one. Larger companies will be able to afford this. Smaller ones, who drive innovation, will not. And for OS/2 users, it is the small companies that will be providing products for us to use. Electronic distribution enables them to spend more time and money on developing their product.

Wright: I agree that small companies will be playing the largest role in driving the OS/2 market forward. But I don't agree that providing components other than code is something different from developing their product. A software manual is every bit as much a part of a program as the code is, and is critical in terms of customer support.

If a software company wants to be able to continue to sell their product, they have to be able to deal with a very volatile area -- customer support. Small companies especially, need to be able to have as many options available to the customer _before_ the customer contacts the developers as they possibly can, otherwise the small company will be spending all its time answering questions instead of enhancing its product.

Many products can get away with simple e-distribution -- I have many, many shareware programs that I've registered and use daily with no inconveniences. But complex applications -- word processors, databases, graphics applications -- _require_ more than just the program if you want to be able to master using it.

Terrell: I don't see the problem with an electronic manual. If it's well done, it can be just as useful if not more so. This is an area where I think there could be a lot of improvement though. The nice thing about electronic documentation is that the potential customer could examine it before buying the software.

                    * * *

That's it for this month.  If you would like to speak you mind on this topic, (http://forum.os2ss.com/forums/get/ezine/ezine-debate/feb1998.html) join in the debate through our Hypernews forum.

(wrightc@dtcweb.com) Christopher B. Wright is a technical writer in the Richmond, VA area, and has been using OS/2 Warp since January 95.  He is also a member of Team OS/2.

(http://www.gnv.com/HTMLWizard/) Dr. Dirk Terrell is an astronomer at the University of Florida specializing in interacting binary stars.  His hobbies include cave diving, martial arts, painting and writing OS/2 software such as HTML Wizard.

***********************************

January's Top Selling Apps from BMT Micro

	
This	Last	Product			Developer
Month	Month		
1	3	ProNews			Panacea Software
2	1	PMView			Peter Nielsen
3	2	InJoy			F/X Communications
4	4	PMMail			SouthSide Software
5	6	ZOC			EmTec
8	8	FTP Browser		Jason Rushton
7	--	WarpZip			PillarSoft
8	9	OpenChat/2		Max Mikhanosha
9	5	Homepage Publisher	JBC
10	--	ScreenSaver		Siegfried Hanish

                    * * *

This list is compiled by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro -- Your Source for Over 100 Quality Shareware Applications.

***********************************

January's Top Selling Apps from Indelible Blue

This	Last	Product				Developer
Month	Month		
1	1	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta	Lotus
2	5	IBM AntiVirus			IBM
3	4	QuickMotion			Practice Corporation
4	7	BackMaster			MSR Development
5	--	Object Desktop			Stardock Systems
6 (tie)	10	Partition Magic			PowerQuest
6 (tie)	6	Software Choice for OS/2 Warp	IBM
7	3	BackAgain/2 Pro			Computer Data Strategies
8	9	VisualAge Java Pro		IBM
9	5	Hobbes CD-ROM			Walnut Creek
10 (tie)	--	FaxWorks Pro			Keller Group
10 (tie)	--	Remote Services Management		Software Solutions
11	15	Process Commander			Stardock Systems
12	11	UniMaint	SofTouch 		Systems
13	10	Unite CD Maker			Cirrus
14	--	Embellish			Dadaware
15	--	GammaTech Utilities		SofTouch Systems

                    * * *

Compiled by (http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue, Inc. - Your Single Source for OS/2 Solutions.

***********************************

January's Top Selling Apps from J3

This	Last	Product					Developer
Month	Month		
1	1	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta		Lotus
2	--	OS/2 Warp Professional Reference [Book]	
3	--	Hobbes CD				Walnut Creek
4	7	Seagate Backup				Seagate
5	8	Partition Magic				PowerQuest
6	3	BitStream Font CD				BitStream
7	--	ColorWorks V2				SPG
8	9	Sibyl v2					SpeedSoft
9	--	Quickmotion				Practice Corporation
10	--	Elsa Winner 2000/Office [video card]	Elsa

                    * * *

Compiled by (http://www.os2store.com/) J3 Computer Technologies - Serving the Global OS/2 Community, large and small!

***********************************

January's Top Selling Apps from Mensys

This	Last	Product					Developer
Month	Month		
1	--	Entrepreneur				Stardock Systems
2	1	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta & More		Mensys
3	9	DriveCopy				PowerQuest
4	3	Partition Magic				PowerQuest
5	10	IBM Antivirus Desktop			IBM
6	5	DriveImage				PowerQuest
7	--	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta 2 & More	Mensys
8	2	Hobbes CDROM Archive October 97		Walnut Creek
9	--	DriveImage Professional			PowerQuest
10	--	OS/2 Warp V4 US				IBM

                    * * *

Compiled by (http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys - The one place to go in Europe for all OS/2 Warp software.

***********************************

Top Sellers Lists Disclaimer

Our "top sellers lists" represent sales figures compiled for OS/2 e-Zine! by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro, Inc., (http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue, Inc., (http://www.os2store.com/) J3 Computer Technologies and (http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys.  Falcon Networking does not verify these lists and makes no guarantee of their authenticity.  All inquiries regarding products appearing or not appearing on these lists should be directed to the relevant retailer.

The publication of these lists is not meant to indicate an endorsement by Falcon Networking of any of these companies or of the products featured on the lists.

Readers should note that the rankings indicated in each of these lists represent only the sales of each individual retailer.  They do not, necessarily, represent sales across the entire OS/2 industry.

There are many different sales channels in the OS/2 industry and different software vendors rely heavily on some while other vendors rely more heavily on others.  Also, not all retailers carry all existing OS/2 products.  Readers should take these facts into consideration when interpreting the "top sellers lists".

The BMT Micro "top sellers list" represents only the top selling OS/2 shareware applications available through BMT Micro, Inc.  The BMT Micro CD is excluded from the figures to avoid distorting the results.

The Indelible Blue "top sellers list" represents only the top selling OS/2 applications sold by Indelible Blue, Inc.  OS/2 Warp and OS/2 Warp Connect are not included in these rankings.

***********************************

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***********************************

Corporate Sponsors

(http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 175 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available.  Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.

(http://www.ChipChat.com/os2ezine) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.

(http://www.fx.dk/) F/X Communications
Home of the top selling (http://www.fx.dk/injoy/) InJoy dialer, ranked #1 in worldwide OS/2 shareware sales (Jan-97).

(http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue
Indelible Blue, a mail order company, provides OS/2 software and hardware solutions to customers worldwide.

(http://www.kellergroup.com/) Keller Group Inc.
Developers of FaxWorks for OS/2 and PMfax, the fax and voice solution for OS/2, with versions for stand-alone, LAN and Internet Faxing.

(http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys
The one place to go in Europe for all OS/2 Warp software.

(http://www.prominic.com/) Prominic Technologies, Inc.
On-line sales & solutions for VisualAge, DB2, OS/2 Warp, Workspace on Demand, Notes/Domino, AIX Firewall, and Net.Commerce (design/hosting).  The best deals on IBM and Lotus software and hardware (PCs, Servers, and RS/6000s) -- with OS/2 preloads!

(http://www.prioritymaster.com/) ScheduPerformance, Inc.
Dramatically improve performance on your OS/2 system now with the patented priority scanning logic and visual priority identification of Priority Master II.

(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
Providing quality software for the home and office.

(http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems Corporation
Productivity applications:  Relish - time management; Mesa 2 - spreadsheet; Clearlook - word processor; DBExpert - database.

(http://www.warpspeed.com.au/) WarpSpeed Computers
Developers of The Graham Utilities -- the largest, most comprehensive suite of disk, file and general utilities specifically written for OS/2.

***********************************
Copyright 1998   -   Falcon Networking
ISSN 1203-5696