═══ 1. April Issue Topics ═══ 1. San Diego OS/2 User Group 2. Letters To The Editor 3. Stolen Taglines 4. An Elegant Operating System 5. OS/2 Tips, Tricks and Ideas 6. OS/2 User Group News 7. OS/2 User Group Listing 8. OS/2 News & Developments 9. OS/2 Software / Hardware News 10. Views & Opinions 11. REXX Workshop 12. OS/2 Reading 13. OS/2 BBS's ═══ 1.1. San Diego OS/2 User Group ═══ April Meeting April Winners! May Meeting Directions Parking & Cost Call For Information How To Contact Us ═══ 1.1.1. April Meeting ═══ San Diego OS/2 User Group Thursday, April 15, 1993 7:pm - 10:pm DeScribe 4.0! Manufacturing Process Controllers Using OS/2! Happy 1st Birthday OS/2 2.0! A representative from the DeScribe Corporation will demonstrate DeScribe 4.0, their 32-bit OS/2 graphical word processing program. DeScribe uses multithreading and Workplace Shell integration features to builid the leading word process for the OS/2 platform. DeScribe is not only suitable for word processing, but also for many desktop publishing jobs as it incorporates many file and graphic import filters and extensive page layout and drawing features. Local OS/2 consultant Paul Moore will explain the program he is developing to run on an OS/2 computer that will control tube mill and bending machines. This is an example of where OS/2's multitasking, multithreading, and memory protection make it very suitable for mission-critical applications. We'll have a birthday cake and some books and programs to give away to celebrate OS/2 2.0's one-year birthday. In its first year on the market, OS/2 2.0 has sold well over 2 million copies, surpassing industry expectations and rapidly establishing itself as a leading-edge operating system for IBM compatible 386 and 486 personal computers. Schedule. * User Group Announcements and OS/2 News * * DeScribe 4.0 Demonstration * * Presentation by Paul Moore * Our ever-popular OS/2 question and answer session where you can get help and advice from many other OS/2 users. ═══ 1.1.2. April Winners! ═══ Superfantasmic Reasons to Attend our Meetings! Well, golly danged and gee folks, seems many of you waited til the last second to sit down and figure out what y'all were gonna donate to the reduction of the giant blob of a national debt. Nothin' like puttin' off til tomorrow what ya coulda done yesterday, right? So, while some of y'all were sweatin' to test your deodorant and killing trees with your adding machine tape (or was it that computer program that was causing you to check your bank account?) we had a few folks show up for some cake and drinks among other things. Then we gave away a few things such as.... Lotus1 - 2 - 3forOS / 2- -MikeCrawford Relish -- Ian Carroll OS/2 2.1 Unleashed! -- Lawrence Greenwald OS/2 The Workplace Shell -- Mike James & Dick Wetzel OS/2 In The Corporate Environment Michael Silverton, Vicky Tram, Brad Cadle & Sandy Shapiro 10 Minute Guide to OS/2 -- Locke Lowman & Ken Hudson Using OS/2 2.0 -- Swami Ananda & Beverly Hudson Intro to OS/2 2.0 Video -- Jerry R. Fyffe & Steve Landrum OS/2 Developer -- Dale Perez, Robert J. Truitt & Hans Shisler Using OS/2 Video - ViaGraph -- Mike Jackson OS/2 Coffee Mug -- Bruce Barnes Aw heck, Bill Gates didn't win anything again...but he or even *you* can't win if you don't show up! ═══ 1.1.3. May Meeting ═══ San Diego OS/2 User Group Thursday, May 20, 1993 7:pm - 10:pm Stacker for OS/2?!? REXX Symposium?!? Borland Conference?!? Unconfirmed reports from sources high up in the echelons of the San Diego Os/2 User Group have indicated that a well know disk compression software developer will be demonstrating their new OS/2 product for us in May. Negotiations are on-going and fragile at this point. Stay tuned to the OS/2 Connection BBS for developments as they occur. Announcements might even be found on other local BBS's such as ComputorEdge On-Line or the San Diego Computer Society. ═══ 1.1.4. Directions ═══ IBM Building 8845 University Center Lane San Diego, California 92122 Directions If you are coming from south of the UCSD area, take the Interstate 5 north. Get off at the Nobel Drive exit right after the passing the Mormon temple. The IBM building will be immediately in front of you as you are stopped at the exit stop light. If you are coming from north of the UCSD area, take the Interstate 5 south and get off at the La Jolla Village Drive exit. Then head east until you reach Lebon. Then take a right and continue until you reach Nobel. Take a right onto Nobel Drive and then continue until you see the IBM building on your right just before reaching the Interstate 5 again. ═══ 1.1.5. Parking & Cost ═══ Parking Free, in the IBM parking lot. Cost As usual, a free meeting open to anyone interested in attending. ═══ 1.1.6. Call For Information ═══ General Meeting Information Our group typically meets every third Thursday of the month. If you'd like to get more information on our meetings, call our voice information line at 619-587-5955 to find out about any changes in meeting times, the topics for future meetings, and a list of some San Diego area bulletin boards you can call for more OS/2 information. ═══ 1.1.7. How To Contact Us ═══ How To Contact The San Diego OS/2 User Group April 1993 marks the release of the fifth issue of our monthly newsletter. We've noticed interest in it from people outside of the San Diego area and would therefore like to provide a newsletter for any and all interested OS/2 users and potential users, including those outside of our area. As we are an informal volunteer user group, we don't have fees or charge subscriptions for the newsletter. So far we've been financing user group activities out of our own pockets. But this could get to be financially burdensome if many people outside of the San Diego area would like to have the newsletter mailed to them, so we've come up with a tentative plan to address this issue in a way we feel will be fair and reasonable to all. Our intent is to try this plan for a few months and then evaluate how well it worked and make adjustments if necessary. If you'd like a sample issue of the San Diego OS/2 Newsletter, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope with enough postage to cover about three or four ounces (it cost $0.75 in the USA to mail the March issue) to our address listed at the bottom of this announcement. If you'd like more than one issue, send as many SASE envelopes as issues you'd like to receive. After some discussion, we've decided that for now the best way for us to recover our costs and to be fair is to ask for a donation to help cover newsletter expenses. We'll leave the amount up to you - you are the best judge of what you feel is appropriate after you've seen an issue of the newsletter. Personal checks are completely OK as these are donations, not subscriptions. You can make out any donation check to "Dave Sichak" who is the editor of the newsletter. We'll use any donations we receive for covering newsletter expenses. If you'd like to contribute an article to the newsletter, we welcome that, too. If we use it, you would be entitled to a complimentary copy of the newsletter in which we used your material. We have an idea list and some hints at what we'd like your articles to include. Let us know if you are are interested in contributing articles and would like a copy of the idea list. You can submit material via US Mail or via electronic mail at the addresses listed below. Here's our mailing address: SanDiegoOS / 2UserGroup P.O. Box 13346 San Diego, CA 92039-3346 If you'd like to get in touch with somebody via electronic mail, you can contact the following people: SAN DIEGO OS/2 USER GROUP ORGANIZER Craig Swanson Fidonet: 1:202/354 Internet: Craig_Swanson@f354.n202.z1.fidonet.org EDITOR Dave Sichak Fidonet: 1:202/354 Internet: Dave_Sichak@f354.n202.z1.fidonet.org CompuServe: 74670,724 ═══ 1.2. Letters To The Editor ═══ Editor's Note Len Dorfman Rick Barnett Robert B. Freund Gregory Allyn Mancuso ═══ 1.2.1. Editor's Note ═══ Time to reach into the ole mailbag or unpack a few notes from our network mail packets. Remember you can contact us (Craig Swanson or Dave Sichak) by writing us at San Diego OS/2 User Group P.O. Box 13346 San Diego, CA 92039-3346 Or use email on Fidonet or Internet SAN DIEGO OS/2 USER GROUP ORGANIZER Craig Swanson Fidonet: 1:202/354 Internet: Craig_Swanson@f354.n202.z1.fidonet.org EDITOR Dave Sichak Fidonet: 1:202/354 Internet: Dave_Sichak@f354.n202.z1.fidonet.org CompuServe: 74670,724 ═══ 1.2.2. Len Dorfman ═══ Dear Dave, Dave, I downloaded your electronic edition and had a chance to take a quick look. It is just fabulous. You guys are doing a great job. as soon as I finish up relocating my computer and have a chance to leisurely read the newsletter, I'll for sure send a modest donation along with SASEs. Keep up the great work! Namaste', Len Dorfman ldorfman@delphi.com ═══ 1.2.3. Rick Barnett ═══ Dear Craig / Dave, I just read your January and February issues - you really put some good writing and illustrations in there. I read it using the INF viewer; this made it very "user-friendly". I especially like the screen shots used in the software reviews. It was the next best thing to actually running the program. Congratulations on a great job! Rick Barnett root@lfhp183 (1:1/31) Gee whiz, with folks like Rick and Len pouring on the congratulations, it might be easy to take it easy and rest on a laurel or two. However, this issue sort of highlights our limitations. It's the tax season and both Craig and I have rather heavy schedules, out of town work, classes, other deadlines, etc. Think we're not going to try and twist some arms for more help in our work? But it's nice to hear that folks think we're doing something worthwhile. ═══ 1.2.4. Robert B. Freund ═══ Dear Dave, I talked with Craig for probably 2 hours on the phone the other day. He seems like a great guy and I really enjoyed the conversation. anyway, he should have an integrated copy of my two reviews by now. More importantly, I just downloaded the February newsletter off of Peter Norloff's board and I AM IMPRESSED! You guys did a great job - very professional looking and full of interesting tidbits. I am truly honored to be included in the next (March) newsletter. Just wanted to drop a note and let you know how impressed I was. Please keep up the GREAT work. Robert B. Freund Oberon Software Support BBS (1:292/60) (507) 388-1154 The job we do couldn't really be done if it wasn't for some of the unsung heroes out there such as you Robert. Taking the time to write an in depth review of software and compare it to the magazine write ups is much appreciated by many of us who want to know more about the new OS/2 applications and their performance as well as features. It also provides a nice counter to the stuff we read in the media. In a sense, I feel that reviews by the real users out there tend to have a bit more credibility. And don't appear to be tied to one platform or another based on advertiser revenue. Don't mean to sound redundant, but a tip of the hat to your efforts. Hope we get to spotlight more in the future. Your articles even forced me to learn more neat INF tricks, too. ═══ 1.2.5. Gregory Allyn Mancuso ═══ Dear Dave, I just downloaded a copy of your February 1993 newsletter off of OS/2 Shareware BBS in Fairfax, VA. I am quite impressed by it. I have a couple of questions, though. I noticed that you have a list of possible article topics and was wondering if I could get a copy of it. Also, I read the list of presentation topics you had set up. Most notably the "OS/2 Mini-Applets Presentation" by Ed Miller. Would it be possible to get a copy of any notes or minutes from this presentation ... or possibly have an article in a future newsletter on this topic? It sounded quite interesting. Also, is your newsletter going to be distributed on the fidonet file distribution on a regular basis or was this a one time thing? I am assuming that the newsletter was indeed sent out and not transcribed and uploaded locally by someone who received a copy. Thanks in advance for the information... Gregory Allyn Mancuso 481-0825@MCIMail.com (1:1/31) Ack. You had to remind me that I haven't done the January and February minutes at this late day. But I am going to try and spotlight the mini-applets presentation in the May issue. For article ideas, here's a brief list: Using OS/2 at work? Let us know your experience (without divulging confidential information). Using OS/2 software? Give us your impressions of it. Learned anything about the WPS? How have you customized it? Share your tips. Seen any taglines that are worthy of "stealing"? Picked up any OS/2 books or magazines that have given you an impression? What would you like to see in the newsletter? And yes, we do our own INF version; Craig uploads it for national distribution. ═══ 1.2.6. Stolen Taglines ═══ Never ceases to amaze me how clever some folks can get with one line at the end of a message. Anyone know how taglines got started? -- Dave My reality check just bounced. It worked just fine in DOS. You cannot kill time without injuring eternity. If I wanted your opinion, I would give it to you. Real programmers use a patch panel. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. Monopoly? No, we just don't want competition. Unable to locate coffee - operator halted. Warning: Do not reuse tagline. Discard after use. Laminites - strange people who show up inside new wallets. I know just enough to know that I don't know enough. Of course, for those who like the OS/2 versus Windows one-line jabs. I have an OS/2 suit - It's multithreaded. Have you crashed your Windows today? OS/2: The more you try it, the more you like it. How do I spell relief? OS/2! Windows: Info at your fingertips. OS/2: Info in your hands. WindowError004: Multitasking attempted; system confused. WindowError015: Unable to exit through Windows. Try the door. WindowError016: Door locked. Try Control-Alt-Delete. WindowError020: Error recording error codes. Remaining errors lost. New Technology? Try OS/2. Windows: A banana peel awaiting its next victim. If you don't believe hell freezes over, you haven't done Windows. ═══ 1.3. An Elegant Operating System ═══ An Elegant Operating System By Warren Postma (1:221/105) Shadowlands BBS London's Only OS/2 BBS London, Ontario Canada (519) 663-9127 (Submitted by Author) What is elegance? Rather than rely on a dictionary definition, think about what sort of things strike you as elegant. Elegance is a simple concept. It has to do with simplicity, power, beauty, grace, and common sense. For an excellent article on the subject from a programmer's point of view, see the article "In Search Of Elegance" in the "Works Cited" list following this article. Although not often talked about directly, elegance has been taught in principle for a long time by counterexample. Words like "kludge" indicate a breach of elegance, and show the deep disdain which good programmers have for a bad design. It makes them squirm. Try to make a good programmer use an inelegant language or operating system , and you'll make them upset. Try to make them write an inelegant program, and you'll have them at your throat. Yet at the heart of the PC world, we have DOS and Windows, together the epitome of inelegance, especially when considered with all of their attendant third party add-ons. How could anything build atop DOS and not share all its weaknesses, and even create new ones? And how could one implrement a stable multitasking system building on top of a non-reentrant operating system designed from the ground up for single-tasking? Trying to multitast DOS functions will crash the system. The obvious answer is that you can't just extend DOS, you must pre-empt DOS to some degree. Overriding parts of DOS, and leaving other parts somewhat intact, is in fact the compromise which all users of DOS, Windows, DESQview, or any other environments that build on top of DOS must accept to gain any additional capabilities. Although compromises must be made, the users of such systems accept their patchwork designs without a second thought. They get the job done, at least sometimes, so the PC community sweeps the issue of elegant design under the carpet. Yet the inelegance of the DOS environment will not remain hidden. It pops out in annoying little ways at every turn. BBS sysops curse up and down because their whole system freezes regularly, or crashes in weird and spectacular ways. Secretaries and office workers alike bemoan the limitations of an eight plus three filename, forcing them to name their sales reports "JNJLSL92.RPT" instead of something more natural. And few things cause a programmer to froth at the mouth more than seeing a compiler fail with an "out of memory" error on a machine with 8 megabytes of RAM. Silly as it sounds, the first thing that occurs to the people bound by inelegance is not that they should abandon their limited system as soon as a better option is available, but that they should patch it up even more. The PC software industry does a booming business in DOS add-ons, each claiming to finally make DOS everything you want it to be. Windows claims that it makes DOS easier to use, but then you find out that New Wave and Norton Desktop are what you need to make Windows easy to use. What do you buy to make all these things work together? You can't. Some people who can't deal with all of this have defected to the Mac world, where file names can be anything you like, even "June/July Sales Report", and you don't get out of memory errors as quickly on a 4MB machine. That's no solution for people who want IBM compatibility, the lower expense of buying clones, or the ability to use a command line interface whenever they choose. But little do most people know that a real world solution to many of the problems inherent and DOS and Windows has been widely available for over a year now. And it is a worthy successor to Windows and DOS - may they rest in peace. Enter OS/2. OS/2 throws away the old limitations of DOS, bringing new abilities built on a solid foundation for personal computing. Finally PC users can have a truly elegant operating system. The First Principle of Elegance is consistent design. For the users, it means that a standard user interface is required, but for programmers the system should be logical and straightforward to program. Unlike Windows, where the API (Application Programming Interface, a fancy name for system calls) are not named consistently, all OS/2 function calls are organized into strict naming and parameter conventions which make programming OS/2 easier to learn by eliminating annoying irregularities. The Second Principle of Elegance is abstraction. As well as being efficient and powerful, system designers must have a vision of computing that embodies powerful abstractions and new concepts. The latest abstraction (and of course, buzzword) to hit the computer scene is object orientation. The Workplace Shell (WPS) in OS/2 shows the whole system in an object oriented framework. Documents, spreadsheets, disk drives, and printers all become active objects, having capabilities and actions they can perform for the user rather than requiring the user to remember which pro- grams or commands to run for every action. You open a document by clicking on it, rather than needing to specify what program to run and then loading your document. At the programming level, Workplace Shell is built on top of System Object Model (SOM), a language independent object oriented programming model built into OS/2. SOM allows new objects to be added to the WPS. Hooks are included in the system for accessing the WPS from a variety of programming languages, both object oriented ones like Smalltalk and C++ and conventional languages like C. Other powerful ideas are embodied in the various subsystems of OS/2, and have been since OS/2 1.0. Gordon Letwin's original work Inside OS/2 is still a must read for any OS/2 interested party. OS/2 has changed a lot since 1.0, but even 2.1 still contains many of the design concepts and even some of the code which he wrote, ported over to 32-bits of course. Microsoft is now working on its own operating system, Windows NT, which is based upon the Windows 3.1 API. Unfortunately for NT fans, Windows NT will most likely contain many of the same design constraints, compromises, and inconsistencies of Windows 3.1. The DOS world has shown that building on top of a poor foundation is not a good route to an elegant solution. NT uses a new, more solid foundation, but Microsoft has gone to great lengths to make NT look like the old system built on a poor foundation in order to be familiar to users and programmers. It seems Microsoft has discovered yet another way to be inelegant. The Third Principle of Elegance is to anticipate the future. This is important anywhere, but especially in operating systems. When DOS 1.0 came out 640KB was a ridiculously high amount of memory, so it never occurred to anyone to make the limit higher. In fact, the 8088 they designed DOS around could only address 1 megabyte of memory anyway, so there was no use in trying. But when the 80286 came out we started running 286 machines as fast XT's. The 386 and 486 are now popular, but most of them are still running as if they were fast XT's. We do not need any faster XT's, what we need are advanced capabilities with room for future expansion. OS/2 allows expansion in many areas. OS/2's API's are in separate loadable sections (dynamic link libraries, or DLL's), and new API's can be added, or old ones replaced, by simply adding another file. Even file systems can be added. OS/2 1.0 and 1.1 only supported the DOS-style FAT file system with DOS filename limits, but OS/2 1.2 and later releases, including 2.0 and 2.1, added support for multiple installable file systems. In particular, OS/2 supports the High Performance File System which is commonly known as HPFS. HPFS not only allocates disk space efficiently and accesses files faster, it also adds two important new features. HPFS lets you use long file names. For example, you could save your file as "1994 Marketing Proposal" rather than 94MKTPRO.DOC. HPFS supports extended attributes which among other things help OS/2 attach icons to files and associate files with the applications that created them so you can double-click on the file and have it loaded by the application automatically. The modularity of OS/2 has a price, and that is part of the reason for its large size. But modularity pays off eventually. If you use DOS you need to fill up a large chunk of your hard drive with utility programs to manage DOS for you. OS/2 already comes with many of these functions included as operating system features packaged into its many subsystems. Chances are, if there are things that really annoy you about any system (even OS/2) they are either due to a misunderstanding on your part or an inelegant aspect of the operating system. Relics, design decisions which depended on a situation that no longer exists such as the 640KB limit of DOS, cannot be overcome except by abandoning the old design completely. What then of compatibility? It does require tradeoffs to obtain compatibility, but are they really worth it? OS/2 does manage a very good job of DOS compatibility, because it fully utilizes the Virtual 8086 mode of the 386 and higher processors. The difference is that when all DOS applications are all dead, DOS compatibility can be easily removed from OS/2, and no ill effects will remain. Your choice is whether to choose stagnancy by staying with an antiquated system which no longer can keep up with your machine's capabilities, or to drop your old system. If you choose to move onwards and upwards, you will have to undergo the temporary discomforts of moving your data to a new operating system and adjusting to a few new ways of doing your work. If you adjust, you will never go back. The people I know who have run OS/2 and switched back did not run OS/2, but merely booted OS/2 and used it only to run their DOS applications. They didn't want to wait for OS/2 to load, or have it sit on their disk space, because they were not using any of OS/2's features. Using OS/2 to multitask DOS is like using a Lamborghini only to get groceries: sure it will do the job, but why have a Lamborghini if you are not going to run flat out with it sometimes? In order to experience what OS/2 is about you need to run some OS/2 applications, and do some work with only OS/2. Go back to your DOS apps whenever you need them, but soon you will find yourself reluctant to go to a DOS prompt. You will gradually retune your mind to look for elegance and to work in elegant ways, and you will become accustomed to the benefits of an elegant system. When you have to use a DOS/Windows machine, you will wonder how anyone else manages to get any work done on a floundering dinosaur of a computer system. Works Cited ─────────────────────────── "Inside OS/2" ───────────────────────── Gordon Letwin ───────────────────────── Microsoft Press, Redmond, WA ───────────────────────── 1988, softcover, 290pp ───────────────────────── $19.95 (USA) ─────────────────────────── ─────────────────────────── "In Search Of Elegance" ───────────────────────── Jeff Fisher and Dale Gipson ───────────────────────── Computer Language, ───────────────────────── VOL. 9 NO. 11, November 1992 ───────────────────────── Published by Miller Freeman Inc, ───────────────────────── San Francisco, CA ───────────────────────── (Cover story/Text on Page 36) ─────────────────────────── ═══ 1.4. Tips, Tricks & Ideas ═══ OS/2 Beginner's Corner: Seek & Scan Lotus 1-2-3 DLL's ═══ 1.4.1. OS/2 Beginner's Corner: Seek & Scan ═══ OS/2 Beginner's Corner: Seek & Scan Michael Cameron KCC BBS Peterborough, Ontario, Canada 1:229/320.0 in FidoNet Submitted By Author "I know it's on the disk... somewhere!" How often has that expression been uttered? In an OS/2 system with hundreds of folders and thousands of files, it's difficult to remember where something is. Getting to it, quickly, can be a chore for all but the most frequently used files. Second scenario: The text "KCC Membership" is in one of the ".DOC" files. Which one? Even if long file names are used, there is a tendency to forget the exact contents of files. Locating the correct one can be very time consuming. Starting with FIND, the DOS operating system has a number of utilities to locate files or directories. One of the most popular and easy to use 3rd party DOS finding utility is WHEREIS.EXE. OS/2 does it better. Among the myriad of mini-apps included with OS/2 is a function called "Seek and Scan Files". As the name suggests, it finds files. It also finds text in files. It's fast. In a subjective test, Seek and Scan took 19 seconds to find one of about eight thousand files in over three hundred directories. The Seek and Scan Files Icon is in the OS/2 System -> Productivity folder. Seek and Scan files will quickly search one or more disks for files or text. When a match is found, the file name pops into a list box. The file can be opened, processed, or have commands applied directly to it, from the list box. Opening would be the process of loading the file into the editor (E.EXE is the default, which can be easily changed). Processed would run the selected file, and Commands would be something like renaming or copying the file. When text is found, the location (file name) is displayed in a list box. In summary, Seek and Scan is a handy and helpful function to have on hand. Too bad it's buried two folders down from the Desktop. To access it, there is the wait while the Icons of OS/2 System and Productivity are loaded. A shadow can be placed on the Desktop, speeding up access considerably. This is a serviceable solution, however it has two minor drawbacks. The first is that the Seek and Scan Icon takes up space, making the Desktop look a little more cluttered. The second is that the Icon seems to always be under some opened windows, making it hard to get at, which is not why it's on the Desktop. There is a better way. Why not make Seek and Scan a hot key away with the Desktop pop-up menu? Just place the pointer on any empty space of the Desktop, between windows, hit Right Mouse Button, and either hit "k", or click on a new selection. That's fast and easy. Here's how. It involves modifying the Desktop settings and the setting for Seek and Scan Files. First, open OS/2 System, then Productivity. Click the right mouse button on the Seek and Scan File icon, and open the settings. On the first page of the program notebook is the Program name, in this case PMSEEK.EXE. Under the option `Parameters:` there should be nothing. Add a single "" sign (without the quotes) to this field and save the new settings. The reason for this is that the "" sign stops OS/2 from passing the parameter "OS/2 2.0 DESKTOP" when PMSEEK is started. Save the new setting but don't close the Productivity folder. It will be needed later. Next, switch to the Desktop and bring up the Desktop notebook and open Settings. Click on the Menu tab. The screen shows "Available Menus" and "Action on Menus". Make sure the "Primary pop-up menu" is selected. On the lower half of the page is another listbox, which will be empty when OS/2 is installed. To the right of that listbox are the selections "Create Another", "Settings", and "Delete". Click on Create Another and the Menu Item Settings box appears. In the Menu Item Settings screen there is a prompt for the Menu item name, and the program. In this case, the Menu item name will be the selection that's to be added to the Primary pop-up menu. Here is the string to type in (don't include the quotation marks): "See~k and Scan Files". Notice that the string contains a special symbol, the tilde ( ~ ). This is important because it denotes the next key as the hot-key. In other words, pressing this one key when the menu is active will call the program. It also causes the following letter to be underlined when the menu is shown by OS/2. After the menu name is entered, it's still necessary to describe what is wanted when the item is selected. In this case, the action is to run Seek And Scan Files. Here, the program field is empty. Although it's possible to type in the name of what you want, it's easier to get the computer to find it. (That's part of the reason for getting OS/2, have the computer do the work). Just click on Find program. The Find window will appear. Click on Locate and select Productivity. This is why the Productivity folder wasn't closed earlier. Select OK, then Find. A scrolling box showing the icons of files in Productivity will appear. Select the icon representing Seek and Scan Files, then click OK. Next, the Menu item setting box reappears, and the Program name will be filled in. All that's left is to select OK again and the Menu tab page of the Desktop notebook will be displayed. Close the Desktop settings. That's all there is to it. This procedure takes longer to describe than to do. Now, whenever the primary pop-up menu for the Desktop is activated and you want to find a program, just press k or mouse down and click on Seek and Scan Files. Other objects can be added to the primary pop-up menu. One procedure that is quite useful is to create another Cascade or Conditional Cascade "Available menu" and put the DOS or OS/2 command lines in the new menu. Additional system resources can be added as well. It's simple to add selections, including more menus, to the OS/2 Desktop pop-up menu. IBM has left plenty of room for expansion and customizing. ═══ 1.4.2. Lotus 1-2-3 DLL's ═══ Lotus 1-2-3 DLL's Robert Freund Original Area: Fidonet OS2 Origin: OS/2 Shareware BBS Fairfax, VA (703) 385-4325 (1:109/347) > Ahem.... Do you happen to have > a statistical function > DLL handy? ;-) Sure do - it has pdf(), CDF(), inverse pdf(), and inverse CDF() for Standard Normal distributions. It also has a very good Random() number generator which is used for generating Uniform(), Erlang(), Positive Normal(), and Bernoulli() random variables. You, and anyone else interested, are more than welcome to use my dll. Just contact me at (607) 687-0828 and we can make arrangements for download -it is called StatFunctions.dll 47168 2/28/93 I will also make the source code, definition file, make file, and IBM C/C++ compiler options available to anyone interested. Note: I have seen references to some way of taking these personal messages off-line. Unfortunately, I am not aware of how to do this. I am more than willing to learn, however, and will anxiously read any responses to this affect. Good luck, and hope this helps. As you will see from the source code, the hardest part about writing these dlls is the parsing that is needed in order to get the appropriate data from 1-2-3. Several of my functions make use of a pretty generic parsing routine and should serve as a decent base for expansion. (Did you catch his excellent review of Lotus 1-2-3 for OS/2 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2 last month?) ═══ 1.5. OS/2 User Group Directory ═══ User Group Introduction Australia - Glen Waverly Ontario - Bailieboro Quebec - Montreal Saskatchewan - Regina United Kingdom - Gloucestershire South Africa Sweden California - Fresno California - Huntington Beach California - Los Angeles California - Sacramento California - San Diego California - San Francisco Connecticut - Enfield Connecticut - Darien Delaware - Wilmington Florida - Boca Raton Florida - Tampa Bay Illinois - North Chicsgo Indiana - Fort Wayne Indiana - Indianapolis Louisiana - Baton Rouge Massachusetts - Boston Michigan - Grand Rapids Minnesota - Minneapolis Nebraska - Omaha New Jersey - Orange New York - Westchester North Carolina - Durham Ohio - Akron Ohio - Cleveland Pennsylvania - Erie Tennessee - Knoxville Texas - Dallas-Ft. Worth Wisconsin - Madison ═══ 1.5.1. User Group Introduction ═══ We try to list known OS/2 User Groups whenever we get the information. Of course, we can't be responsible if the information proves to be unreliable -- you, the reader are our best source of this information. And we're learning of more and more OS/2 user groups across the country and even around the world every week. It's been slow, but we have made some contacts and we may be able to exchange information and articles in the future. If you're travelling and have some free time, stop in on one these meetings. If you know of another OS/2 user group, drop us a line and we'll mention them. Remember, we'll list them all in the INF file each time. And thanks! ═══ 1.5.2. Australia - Glen Waverly ═══ Victorian OS/2 Developers SIG Contact: Jon Wright 5 Brighton Street Glen Waverly, Victoria 3150 Australia CompuServe: 100032,776 ═══ 1.5.3. Ontario - Bailieboro ═══ Kawartha Computer Club Contact: Cedric Silvester RR #1 Bailieboro, Ontario Canada KOL 1B0 Note: OS/2 SIG is part of the KCC Phone: BBS -- (705) 748-0023 ═══ 1.5.4. Quebec - Montreal ═══ Montreal OS/2 Users Group Contact: Gilbert Lefebvre IBM Tower 10214 Peloquin Avenue Montreal, QC H2C 2J8 Canada Meets: 7:00pm, 3rd Wednesday Phone: Voice -- (514) 382-9858 (evenings) Netmail: Programmer's Quest 1:167/110 The Montreal OS/2 Users Group held their first meeting on February 17. Gilbert reported that their first meeting had over 70 persons in attendance. They're real happy to see the interest in OS/2. Please note that this group does not expect to meet during June, July and August. ═══ 1.5.5. Saskatchewan - Regina ═══ Regina Saskatchewan OS/2 User Group Contact: Robert Shiplett Cooperators 1920 College Avenue 5W Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 1C4 Canada ═══ 1.5.6. United Kingdom - Gloucestershire ═══ International OS/2 User Group Contact: Mike Gove Barton House Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 2EE UK Phone: - +44-285-641175 Phone: - +44-285-640181 (FAX) Phone: - (UK) 0285-641175 Note: - Also home to OS/2 Solution Centre ═══ 1.5.7. South Africa ═══ OS/2 User Group of South Aftrica P.O. Box 875 Halfway House 1685 South Africa ═══ 1.5.8. Sweden ═══ Swedish OS/2 Users Group The Cruiser BBS, +46-8-704 9438 ═══ 1.5.9. California - Fresno ═══ Fresno OS/2 SIG (Fresno PC Users Group) Contact: Sandeleh Francis (209) 229-0473 Contact: Rod Jessen (209) 323-9849 Meetings at: 1425 Shirley Circle Clovis, CA 93611 Meets: 7:30pm, last Monday Phone BBS -- Wild Side BBS (209) 226-3476 Phone BBS -- Clovis Connection (209) 229-3476 Sandeleh Francis reports that their very first meeting will be held March 29. They are a part of the Fresno PC Users group which meets the first Monday of the month at the Ramada Inn at Hwy 41 and Shaw Avenue in Fresno at 7:30pm. ═══ 1.5.10. California - Huntington Beach ═══ Orange Coast IBM PC Users Group OS/2 SIG Contact: Dave Lorenzini 17632 Metzler Lane, Suite 211 Huntington Beach, CA ═══ 1.5.11. California - Los Angeles ═══ Los Angeles OS/2 Users Group Contact: Paul Duncanson 3008 Texas Avenue Simi Valley, CA 93063 Phone: (805) 584-6721 Meets: 3rd Thursday @ 6:30pm IBM 21041 Burbank Boulevard Woodland Hills, CA ═══ 1.5.12. California - Sacramento ═══ Sacramento OS/2 Users Group Contact: Charlie Kotan IBM 400 Capitol Mall Sacramento, CA Meets: First Wednesday @ 7:00pm Phone: - (916) 641-4007 CompuServe - 70110,254 ═══ 1.5.13. California - San Diego ═══ San Diego OS/2 User Group Contact - Craig Swanson P.O. Box 13346 La Jolla, CA 92039-3346 Meets - 7pm on 3rd Thursday Meets at -- IBM @ LaJolla 8845 University Center Lane San Diego, CA 92122 Phone - Voice -- (619) 587-5955 Phone - BBS -- (619) 558-9475 The San Diego OS/2 User Group has participated in the San Diego Computer Fair in which over 18,000 people attended over a three day weekend last September. This group has started an OS/2 newsletter with the goal of providing information to not only OS/2 users but also to others who are interested in learning more. Our aim is to also develop the newsletter so that it becomes a community effort among the OS/2 user groups and SIGs. Past meeting topics have included presentations by IBM's Ultimedia for OS/2; Lotus demonstrating beta versions of 1-2-3 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2; an introduction to REXX, demo of the December OS/2 2.1 beta along with Visual REXX; Eddie Miller, one of the authors of "OS/2 2.1 Unleashed" sharing insights into the OS/2 mini-applets; and, local OS/2 developer Jeannine Wolf discussing the OS/2 Config.SYS file and providing tips. In April, the feature presentation is from DeScribe Corporation on their 32-bit Word Processor for OS/2 and local OS/2 consultant Paul Moore will explain the program he is developing to run on an OS/2 computer that will control tube mill and bending machines. And of course, a birthday celebration for OS/2 2.0's first birthday. ═══ 1.5.14. California - San Francisco ═══ Bay Area OS/2 User Group Contact - Guy Scharf Software Architects, Inc. 2163 Jardin Drive Mountain View, CA 94040 Meets - 4th Monday @ at IBM Mountain View Phone - Voice -- (415) 948-9186 ═══ 1.5.15. Connecticut - Enfield ═══ New England OS/2 User Group Contact: Dave Pinard 145 Candlewood Drive Enfield, CT 06082 Phone: Voice -- (203) 954-1872 Phone: BBS -- (203) 763-1674 ═══ 1.5.16. Connecticut - Darien ═══ Darien OS/2 Users Group Contact: Steven J. Palmer 75 Rings End Road Darien, CT 06820 ═══ 1.5.17. Delaware - Wilmington ═══ Delaware Valley OS/2 Users Group Contact: Chuck Gaglia 1120 Webster Drive Wilmington, DE 19803 ═══ 1.5.18. Florida - Boca Raton ═══ OS/2 Users Group of Boca Raton Contact: Doug Azzarito Meets at: PC Systems Store 2855 S. Congress Avenue Delray Beach, FL Meets on 2nd Thursday of the month at 7pm Phone: BBS -- (407) 997-2235 Phone: Voice -- (407) 276-2945 ═══ 1.5.19. Florida - Tampa Bay ═══ Tampa Bay OS/2 User Group Contact: Paul Wylie M. Bryce & Associates, Inc. 777 Alderman Road Palm Harbor, FL 34683 Phone: Voice - (813) 786-4567 Phone: FAX -- (813) 786-4765 Meets: - 1st Tuesday @ 3:00pm. Meets at: IBM 3109 W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard 4th Floor Tampa, FL ═══ 1.5.20. Illinois - Chicago ═══ North Suburban Chicago OS/2 User Group Contact - James R. Schmidt Meets - William M. Mercer, Inc. 1417 Lake Cook Rd. Deerfield, IL 60015 Meets - 5.30pm Tues preceding 3rd Thurs. Phone - Voice -- (708) 317-7485 ═══ 1.5.21. Indiana - Fort Wayne ═══ Fort Wayne OS/2 User Group Contact - Stephen Gutknecht Fort Wayne, Indiana Meets - Central Soya on Cook Rd. Meets - 7pm, 2nd Tuesday Phone - Voice -- (219) 484-0062 (Bus. Hrs.) Phone - BBS -- (219) 471-3918 ═══ 1.5.22. Indiana - Indianapolis ═══ Indy OS/2 Users Group Contact: Jay Schultz 350 E. New york Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: Voice - (317) 634-8080 ═══ 1.5.23. Louisiana - Baton Rouge ═══ Baton Rouge OS/2 users Group Contact: David Arbour 16726 Bristoe Avnue Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Phone: - (504) 753-9637 ═══ 1.5.24. Massachusetts - Boston ═══ Boston Area OS/2 User's Group (BCS) Contact: Marcia Gulesian (508) 369-3918 Meetings at: IBM Boston Computer Center One Copley Place Boston, MA Meets: 7:00pm, first Tuesday Meeting location is near Back Bay and Copley train stations. From the Mass. Turnpike East, exit 22 (Copley Square Lane) - first left onto Dartmouth St. Next left onto Huntington Ave. Enter COPLEY PLACE PARKING on left. Parking is free when you spend $5 and have your parking ticket validated in any restaurant or store at Copley Place and enter the garage after 5:00pm. Upcoming events: April 6 High Performance Word Processing with OS/2 -- WordPerfect and AmiPro for OS/2 will be the subjects of the meeting. The technical profile and end-user features of these two new word processors will be discussed and illustrated through live demonstrations. Compatibility with E-mail and FAX's will also be examined. May 4 NETWARE for OS/2 - Meeting will include live demo and in- depth look at new features such as NetWare Directory Services (NDS), which is a global-naming scheme and distributed directory of users. ═══ 1.5.25. Michigan - Grand Rapids ═══ West Michigan OS/2 User Group IBM 2900 Charlevoix Dr. SE Grand Rapids, MI ═══ 1.5.26. Minnesota - Minneapolis ═══ Minnesota OS/2 User Group Contact: Marcus Krumpholz IBM Building 650 Third Avenue South Minneapolis, MN Meets last Thursday each month 7:00pm - 10:00pm Voice: (612) 869-7956 BBS: (612) 379-8272 ISV's wishing to do a presentation can contact Marcus Krumpholz at (612) 869-7956. Registrations for meetings are requested and can be done by calling (612) 397-6444 and then asking for course code "OS2". The IBM building is shared with First Bank on Third Avenue south between South Sixth Street and South Seventh Street. Parking is recommended at Northstar Center (1 block west), Pillsbury Center (1.5 blocks north), Hennepin County Government Center (diagonally across street) and Court Park (2 blocks north). Topics scheduled: Apr 25 Describe 4.0 / Mary Serock Mar 25 OS/2 System Management (CID, SPM, etc.) / IBM Apr 29 Lan Server 3.0 / IBM (tentative) May 27 Netware for OS/2 / Novell Jun 24 OS/2 Development / IBM (tentative) ═══ 1.5.27. Nebraska - Omaha ═══ Omaha OS/2 Users Group Contact: Joe Peterson 7724 Fort St. Omaha, NE 68134 ═══ 1.5.28. New Jersey - West Orange ═══ Northern New Jersey OS/2 Users Group Contact: Jason H. Perlow (201) 224-7605 Meetings at: IBM 300 Executive Drive West Orange, NJ Meets: 7:00pm, second Tuesday INFO: Phone: (201) 325-5600 First meeting will be held March 9. This group is affiliated with the Westchester OS/2 Users Group. ═══ 1.5.29. New York - Westchester ═══ Westchester OS/2 Users Group Contact: Craig Smith (914) 686-9828 Meetings at: IBM 2000 Purchase Street Purchase, NY Meets: 7:00pm, second Tuesday INFO: Phone: (914) 697-6000 Westchester was instrumental in getting IBM's OS/2 featured on the PBS Computer Chronicles show in March. They have also designed a series of special OS/2 weekend seminars on OS/2 software development that begins in Mid-March at IBM in Harrison, NY. In January, Stacker for OS/2 was premiered to the public. Corel Systems also demonstrated their full line of products for OS/2 and hints at upcoming projects. ═══ 1.5.30. North Carolina - Durham ═══ Triangle OS/2 User Group Contact -- Steve Gallagher IBM Building 4800 Falls of The Neuse Road Room 5074 Durham, North Carolina Meets -- 7.30pm, 3rd Tuesday Phone -- Voice -- (919) 254-5637 Internet -- sjgalla@vnet.ibm.com ═══ 1.5.31. Ohio - Akron ═══ Northeast Ohio OS/2 User Group IBM 3 Cascade Plaza Akron, Ohio Contact: Gary Smiley Phone: (216) 630-3565 CompuServe: 75600,1737 ═══ 1.5.32. Ohio - Cleveland ═══ Cleveland OS/2 User Group IBM Bond Ct. Building 2nd Fl E. 9th St. Cleveland, Ohio ═══ 1.5.33. Pennsylvania - Erie ═══ Computer Users of Erie OS/2 SIG Contact: Tom Kuklinski 3928 Sassafras Street Erie, PA 16508 Phone: (814) 866-5396 Phone: (814) 898-2905 ═══ 1.5.34. Tennessee - Knoxville ═══ East Tennessee PC User Group OS/2 SIG Contact: Arnold Sprague 808 Fairfield Drive Knoxville, TN 37919-4109 ═══ 1.5.35. Texas - Dallas - Fort Worth ═══ Dallas-Forth Worth OS/2 User Group Contact - Toby Pennycuff CompuServe ID - 70007,6267 1211 Wilshire Blvd. Arlington, TX 76012-4623 Meets at: American Airlines HQ 4255 Amon Carter Blvd. Arlington, TX Meetings - Time and dates not listed. ═══ 1.5.36. Wisconsin - Madison ═══ Madison OS/2 Users Group Contact: Tom Ender or Donn Tolley 2703 Rolling View Rd. Stoughton, WI 53589-3386 ═══ 1.6. OS/2 User Group News ═══ Westchester OS/2 1st Birthday Smash Hit! TEAMOS2 Success Story in North Carolina OS/2 2.0 First Birthday Parties ═══ 1.6.1. Westchester OS/2 1st Birthday Smash Hit! ═══ Westchester OS/2 1st Birthday Smash Hit! Jason Perlow Westchester OS/2 Users Group (Submitted by Author) On March 31st, 1993, on the first anniversary of OS/2 2.0's release, over 165 people gathered at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza hotel in White Plains, New York, at 7pm in the evening, to celebrate with the Westchester OS/2 Users Group and IBM the very first OS/2 birthday party. Paulo Pignatelli, the single proprietor of the famous OS/2 Corner Store in Connecticut, kicked off the party with a charged locker-room pep speech and fired up the audience for the night. William F. Zachmann, the esteemed former columnist of PC Magazine, declared that he wasn't ever really an OS/2 supporter, but that he picked the OBVIOUS winner in the ensuing battle for the GUI desktop. Even though he had laryngitis, he still managed to keep the crowd riveted with his usual wit. Several last minute guests gave brief speeches, including Wally Casey, the VP of Marketing for IBM Personal Systems, who stated his intentions of an aggressive and ruthless marketing campaign when OS/2 2.1 is released. The Vice President of Product Development of Wordperfect Corporation spoke about WordPerfect's commitment to the OS/2 platform, and announced the soon to be released WordPerfect 5.2 for OS/2, a port of the best selling Windows product, and WordPerfect 6.0 for OS/2 to be released later on this year which would be a completely native 32-bit OS/2 application. He said that WordPerfect decided to do a port of the Windows product because so many people were requesting an interim release. Those customers that purchase 5.2 for OS/2 would get the upgrade to 6.0 either for free or minimal cost. Other highlights of the party included demonstrations of the newly released OS/2 Speech Recognition Developer Kit and the public introduction of the newly appointed officers of the recently incorporated Westchester OS/2 Users Group, Awards were presented to William Zachmann, "For making the ultimate sacrifice for OS/2", to Irv Spalten of the IBM Boca Research Centre, and to Jim Gilliland of FidoNet for his superb job as the OS/2 Support moderator. Shortly afterwards four people picked at random from the audience were "deputized" as OS/2 Enforcement Officers. The oath was taken by virtually everyone in the audience, including the several high-level IBMers that attended: I, (STATE YOUR NAME) DO HEREBY SWEAR, TO NEVER DO WINDOZE AGAIN. TO FIGHT ALL FEAR, UNCERTAINTY AND DOUBT, HEREAFTER KNOWN AS FUD, ABOUT OS/2 IN ALL NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES & BULLETIN BOARDS. TO PREVAIL IN ALL SKIRMISHES INSTITUTED BY THE WEASELS OF WEDMOND AND COLLECT AS MANY WEASEL PELTS AS LAWFULLY PERMITTED. TO TAKE ALL INDUSTRY PUNDITS, CONSULTANTS, INSULTANTS, AND YELLOW JOURNALISTS TO THE WOODSHED AS REQUIRED. TO DO OUR BEST IN TEACHING UNWASHED SALESMEN IN THE RETAIL STORES, THAT OS/2 WILL NOT EAT THEIR COMPUTER. AND TO INFORM THEM, "YES VIRGINIA, THERE REALLY ARE OS/2 APPLICATIONS." TO EDUCATE ALL THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN, THAT MICROSOFT IS STILL PROMISING TO DELIVER, IN TWO OR THREE YEARS, WHAT YOU CAN BUY TODAY...OS/2. TO DEMAND FROM BILL GATES, OS/2 VERSIONS OF ALL HIS APPLICATIONS BECAUSE IT'S NOT TWO MILLION...IT'S CLOSER TO THREE MILLION. TO CONTINUE TO TEACH IBM HOW TO MARKET OS/2. TO PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND THE REPUTATION OF OS/2, SO HELP ME GERSTNER. After many laughs, the Westchester OS/2 Users Group auctioned off donated software, books and assorted OS/2 goodies to a national charity for abused and neglected children. Over $1200 was collected in proceeds towards this worthy cause. 125 March 2.1 beta CD's and specially designed OS/2 Birthday Party T-Shirts were given out as courtesy gifts from IBM. A OS/2 birthday party cake was quickly devoured by the hungry and largely intoxicated crowd. Several hundred copies of OS/2 Professional and OS/2 Monthly were also distributed to the attendees. The party officially ended sometime after 10:00 in the evening, although a dozen or so others and guest speakers stayed around until 2:00 in the morning at the hotel bar to make merry and talk OS/2. ═══ 1.6.2. TEAMOS2 Success Story in North Carolina ═══ TEAMOS2 Success Story in North Carolina Steve Gallagher Origin: Fidonet TeamOs2 At Egghead Origin: Psychotronic BBS (919) 286-4542 Durham, NC (1:3641/1) The North Carolina "chapter" of Team OS/2 did an OS/2 Day at the new Egghead store here in Cary NC, and I just thought I'd share how things went this Saturday. Can you say "Mega Success"? Sure ya can! The place was MOBBED. Over 65 people signed up for the drawing for a free copy of OS/2, and more probably would've signed up if it hadn't been for the fact that the crowd around the demo tables was so big that some folks couldn't get to the table to sign up! We had a multimedia machine showing the latest OS/2 multimedia goodies in the 2.1 beta, and a Thinkpad color notebook running OS/2. From the perspective of the Egghead store management, the best part of the event was that they SOLD OUT of OS/2 to the crowd that was there, every copy they had on their shelves! Not only did they invite us back for another OS/2 Day, but they're even going to call their store up the road in Durham and get them to do an OS/2 Day also! The moral of the tale: we can't change the world, but each of us CAN change our CORNER of the world, and with enough people changing their corner of the world, big things can happen! ═══ 1.6.3. OS/2 2.0 First Birthday Parties ═══ OS/2 2.0 First Birthday Parties Janet Gobeille Fidonet TEAMOS2 Origin: OS/2 Shareware (1:109/347.3479) Here's a partial list of user groups planning birthday parties. I've deleted names that were not open to other users (such as internal corporate OS?2 user groups). Great, isn't it? By the way, if someone expects to be on this list but doesn't see his/her gorup, plese contact me immediately at (914) 766-3549. Thanks, Janet. Country State City User Group Name Party Date ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Australia NSW Sidney Sydney PC Users Group (SPCUG), OS/2 SIG 04/19/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Australia Vic Glen Waverly Victorian OS/2 Developers SIG 04/27/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Canada BC Victoria OS/2 LAN Users Group 04/23/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Canada BC West Vancouver Vancouver PC Users Society, OS/2 SIG 04/07/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Canada NS Halifax Atlantic OS/2 Users Group 04/19/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Canada ON Toronto Toronto OS/2 Sysops, (BBS) 04/10/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Canada QC Montreal Groupe des Utilisateurs d'OS/2 de MontrВ 04/21/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Canada QC Sherbrooke Groupe des Utilisateurs d'OS/2 de l'Estr 03/30/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Germany -- -- OS/2 User Group Conference 05/03/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Honduras -- Tegucigalpa Usuarios de OS/2 04/15/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── New Zealand -- Plimmerton Wellington OS/2 Users Group 04/07/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── UK -- Gloucesterse International OS/2 User group 05/01/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA AZ Phoenix Phoenix PC User Group, OS/2 SIG 04/22/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CA Fresno Fresno PC Users Group, OS/2 SIG 04/26/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CA La Jolla San Diego OS/2 User Group 04/15/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CA Long Beach Long Beach PC User Group, OS/2 Sig 04/22/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CA Los Angeles Greater South Bay PC Users Group 05/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CA San Francisco Bay Area OS/2 User Group 04/26/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CA Tustin North Orange Co. Computer Club, OS/2 SIG 04/04/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CO Denver Rocky Mountain OS/2 User Group 04/01/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA CT Hartford New England OS/2 Users Group 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA FL Boca Raton South Florida OS/2 User's Group 04/08/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA FL Ft. Lauderdale Ft. Lauderdale Computer User's Group 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA FL Miami Gold Coast Computer Group 04/18/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA FL Tampa Tampa Bay OS/2 Users Group 04/06/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA GA Atlanta Atlanta PC User's Group, OS/2 SIG 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA IL Deerfield North Suburban Chicago OS/2 User Group 04/27/92 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA IL Urbana Champagne-Urbana OS/2 Users Group 04/23/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA IN Fort Wayne Fort Wayne OS/2 Users Group 04/12/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA IN Kokomo Kokomo IBM PC Users Group 04/08/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA KY Louisville Kentucky-Indiana PC Users Group (KIPCUG) 04/20/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA LA Baton Rouge Baton Rouge OS/2 User Group 04/15/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA MA Boston Boston Computer Society, OS/2 Users Group 04/06/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA MD Gaithersburg OS/2ers 04/3/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA MD Rockville Capital PC User's Group, OS/2 SIG 04/14/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA MN Minneapolis Minnesota OS/2 User Group 04/29/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA MO Columbia Mid-Missouri 04/21/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA MO St. Louis Gateway to OS/2 Users Group 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NC RTP Triangle OS/2 User Group 04/27/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NE Lincoln Lincoln OS/2 Users Group 04/22/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NJ Cherry Hill Association of PC Professionals, OS/2 SIG 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NV Las Vegas Las Vegas PC Users Group (LVPCUG), OS/2 04/22/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NY Long Island Long Island OS/2 User Group 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NY New York City New York PC (NYPC), OS/2 SIG 04/29/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA NY Westchester Westchester OS/2 User Group 03/31/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA OH Akron Northeast Ohio OS/2 Users Group 04/20/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA OH Cleveland Greater Cleveland PC User Group, OS/2 SIG 04/13/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA OH Columbus Columbus Computer Society 04/14/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA PA Dresher PA Computer Society, OS/2 SIG 04/17/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA PA Philadelphia Delaware Valley OS/2 User Group 04/08/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA TN Knoxville East Tennessee PC User Group, OS/2 User 04/07/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA TX College Station Texas A&M OS/2 Users Group 04/06/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA TX Dallas/Ft Worth Dallas/Ft. Worth OS/2 User Group 04/01/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA TX El Paso SouthWest International PCC, OS/2 SIG 04/10/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA UT Salt Lake City Utah Blue Chips, OS/2 SIG 04/28/93 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── USA WI Madison Madison PC Users Group, OS/2 SIG 04/22/93 ═══ 1.7. OS/2 News & Developments ═══ OS/2 Gets A JOLT! Trivia Time ═══ 1.7.1. OS/2 Gets A JOLT! ═══ OS/2 Gets A JOLT! Lynn Nash (1:202/502) Original From Fidonet OS2 Origin: The Diamond Bar BBS (909) 923-1031 Ontario, CA (1:207/101) Anyone keeping score might be interested in this press release. PHOENIX, Ariz., March 1, 1993 - IBM's Personal Software Products (PSP) today announced that OS/2 2.0, the advanced operating system for personal computers, has been awarded the Computer Language Jolt Cola Award for Product Excellence. This brings to nine the number of computer-industry awards presented to OS/2 2.0 in the last three months. The Computer Language Jolt Cola Award recognizes a product that has had a major impact on programmers in the past year and that represents important concepts for future software development. "I am honored to accept this prestigious award on behalf of IBM," said John Soyring, director of software marketing products for PSP. "I give credit to the programming community around the world who helped shape OS/2 2.0 as a product. Programmers have rallied around OS/2 2.0 as a software development platform to create innovative and exciting new software products for users running OS/2, DOS, Windows, and host applications." According to Soyring, programmers worldwide have embraced OS/2 to create innovative and powerful new applications that exploit the advanced technology of the award-winning operating system. This superior technology includes integrated object technology with the system object model (SOM), a powerful yet easy to use graphical interface called the Workplace Shell, true preemptive multithreading and multitasking, and parallel I/O. Since November 1992, OS/2 2.0 has won awards from the computer industry's leading trade publications worldwide, which have honored it in categories such as technical excellence, most promising new product, and best operating system/environment. OS/2 2.0's Enhanced Features OS/2 2.0 is the award-winning advanced operating system for 32-bit personal computers that protects customer's investments in existing software by enabling them to run tens of thousands of applications originally designed for DOS and/or Windows, as well as the new applications designed specifically to take advantage of the advanced technology in OS/2 2.0. This robust platform offers superior technology, including an easy-to-use graphical user interface called the Workplace Shell, true preemptive multitasking that allows customers to run multiple software platforms simultaneously, and Crash Protection, which guards against one application being able to bring down the entire system. ═══ 1.7.2. Trivia Time ═══ Trivia Time Dave Sichak San Diego OS/2 User Group Can't say we don't try for something different once in a while. I was visiting the UCSD library this past weekend and stumbled across an old magazine or two. A front page article from InfoWorld dated January 4, 1988 caught my eye. Can you name the various names OS/2 had during it's development cycle before it was first unleashed on the public back then? Can you say "DOS 5.0"? How about "New DOS"? Or maybe you prefer "Future DOS"? And finally the infamous "ADOS" ("A" was for "Advanced"...). The writer, Alice LaPlante, also mentioned that it might take a few years to catch on. Was she off the beam? ═══ 1.8. OS/2 Software / Hardware News ═══ Trial By SCSI Canon Printer & OS/2 System Sounds from Boca Soft ═══ 1.8.1. Trial By SCSI ═══ Trial By SCSI John Faughnan March 30, 1993 Escanaba, Michigan From: 1:139/940 Original Post - Fidonet OS2HW (Submitted by author) Switching from an Always IN/2000 to an Adaptec 1542c with external CD Technology (Toshiba) T3401 CDROM: A Trial by SCSI. 1. Justification for the choices a. Always IN/2000 problems 1. lack of driver support a. Columbia Data Products: $50 + cable (Mac) b. no guarantee of future support 2. lack of faith in company b. Adaptec 1542c 1. advantages a. widespread use in OS/2 community b. native support in OS c. great driver support d. co-founders of .ADD standard 2. problems a. maximum 16MB DRAM (unlike Always) now permitted under OS/2. b. some clones do not fully implement/support ISA bus mastering c. since the ISA bus only supports one bus master one cannot buy an XGA video bus master. c. Toshiba 3401 (as CD Technology) 1. Toshiba 3301 was IBM standard 2. SCSI-II and XA compatibility 3. IBM developers offer through CD Technology 4. Macintosh compatibility 2. Setup a. OS/2 2.0: GA+SP b. OS2CROM.ZIP drivers and readme files. c. Seagate ST296N (80MB) and Maxtor 7213SR (205MB) 3. Source and Prices a. CD Technology 3401 1. An internal Toshiba 3401 mounted in a metal case. 2. "Special" offer for OS/2 Developers (need form that came with PDK) a. price 1. internal: $450 2. external: $500 3. shipping and handling: $25 b. contents 1. CDROM drive and power supply 2. one caddy 3. slender docs (DOS only) 4. no software 5. NO SCSI terminator ($15 extra) 6. NO cable ($20 extra, Future Domain only) b. Adaptec 1542c (bare, no drivers) 1. ComputAbility 800-558-0003 (NO return, all sales are final!! (except if defective)) a. $199 ("single") b. Cable (DB 50-50): $20 c. shipping and handling: $11 2. Adaptec phone numbers: a. 800-869-8883 main number b. 800-934-2766 literature hotline c. 800-959-7274 tech support d. 6am-5pm Mo-Th, 6am-3pm Fr (PST) 3. purchasing and pricing recording 4. fax questions 5. tech person (then x4 UNIX/OS2) 6. 800-934-2766 literature line 7. BBS: 408-945-7727 V.32 bis 4. Lessons and Surprises a. SCSI Cable 1. The SCSI cable is very thick and bulky! Now I understand why Apple dropped half of the ground wires in their implementation! It's also long: 6 feet. The SCSI spec requires cables be at least .3 meters long (1 foot), the entire chain cannot be longer than 6 meeters. b. Documentation and technical support 1. There is little. The docs that come with the Adaptec 1542c are paltry, and there's nothing more available on the Adaptec BBS. The T3401 docs refer to the non-existent on/off switch. There's no documentation on: a. synchronization b. parity checking (recommended for all attached drives) c. necessity of low level formatting 2. The off-peak wait on Adaptec's 800 line is about 20-30 minutes. c. CD Technology 3401 1. no on/off switch: with dire warnings that one must "EJECT disk before powering off drive to avoid damage to optical head". Of course booting OS/2 without a disk in the drive means that OS/2 treats the drive as a floppy disk rather than a CDROM drive! In fact as long as it's plugged in it's on. Don't turn it off without removing the CD. 2. power supply is roughly the size of a (small) loaf of bread. 3. there's no internal termination 4. the case is fairly cheap looking d. Adaptec 1542c 1. The Seagate ST296N had to be low level formatted. It seemed to work without this step at first but sectors soon started going bad. The same appears to be true of the Maxtor, though it was having mechanical problems as well. 2. OS/2 doesn't automatically use the AHA154x.ADD drivers during installation. I had to insert the BASEDEV line manually. 3. The 1542c doesn't seem all that much faster, with it's native driver, than my IN/2000 INT13 controller was (DOS apps). The WPS does seem more responsive. 4. The software control of termination and other controller settings is quite lovely. 5. Default settings (not in manual) a. IRQ11, DMA channel 5, SCSI ID 7, Parity checking enabled, synchronization disabled, DMA transfer rate 5.0MB/sec (can be set higher at one's own risk). e. OS/2 CDROM support 1. OS/2 only recognizes the device as a CDROM if a disk is in the drive. 2. If the installation is done properly the CDROM is assigned the drive letter following that of the last hard drive. 3. The new icon appears magically in the drive folder. 4. You can eject the drive from within OS/2. 5. Preparation a. Review FidoNet OS/2 Technical and Hardware echo notes. b. Calls to Adaptec BBS and technical support c. Review settings for i/o ports, BIOS mappings, for all system components. (Can use manifest, stored in a spreadsheet). Note default OS/2 location for EMS mapping is 'AUTO' (nice feature)). 1. Print out this information! d. Record all serial numbers and BIOS info from 1542c. Confirm DIP settings are as per manual. 6. Procedure a. Backup data 1. Use Kelder utilities or other utility to back up workplace settings. In my experience these are not reliable, but Kelder's seems to do the least damage and saves many steps. Curse IBM roundly for not providing decent backup tools for the WPS and for data. 2. pkzip (no EAs) to archive. (Dangerous since one bad sector means you lose everything!) 3. backup archive using 'splice' from PCMag or OS/2 backup. If the latter be sure to backup the archive from the root directory as restore requires the same directory be used. b. Get Service Pack Update. c. Download OS2CDROM.ZIP from Fernwood, review especially the read.me file. Note the change in OS/2 CDROM support from GA! 1. 1-203-483-0348 d. Get latest device drivers from Adaptec BBS (optional). 1. 1-408-945-7727 2. new1540.zip (AHA154x.ADD dated 1-25-93). 3. Note readme file: use of command line switches. e. Sacrifice a chicken. f. Swap drive controllers. Note that the system BIOS is set for NO hard drive installed. g. Boot, and watch for the prompt. Using the built in utilities to low level format all drives. Test the DMA transfer. h. Install OS/2 2.0 in a 50MB partition. Install all desired fonts and drivers. Shutdown. Install the Service Pack. Shutdown. Curse IBM for not releasing OS/2 2.01 with integrated service pack. Pray for the nirvana of system installation from CDROM -- the PC equivalent of mainframe tapes. i. Following instructions from OS2CROM.ZIP copy needed files into \OS2, and then optionally copy newer version of Adaptec driver from new1540.zip. Make the requisite changes to config.sys, commenting liberally. This will include an updated AHA154x.ADD driver, though the one from the Adaptec BBS is more recent still. 1. Be sure the BASEDEV for CDROM support, and the IFS statement FOLLOW the BASEDEV and IFS statements for hard drive support! j. Revise config.sys to the AHA154x.ADD driver instead of INT13 support. k. Shutdown and reboot. l. Restore files and workplace settings. ═══ 1.8.2. Canon Printer & OS/2 ═══ Canon Printer & OS/2 Fred Miller Original Area: Fidonet OS2HW Origin: The FORUM BBS Ithaca, NY (607) 272-1371 HST (1:260/701) Canon USA has had it's share of problems, most have been caused by management in Japan! Canon in Japan has not and would not provide any OS/2 drivers (ignorant)! FINALLY, Canon USA has set up it's own development group located in CA. Drivers are presently in alpha, and I'm expecting a beta by the end of next week! Canon has been receiving *MANY* calls about not having any drivers, and this demand is what has been instrumental in getting the development group started. This is a good example of what can happen *IF* we all take a concerted position to get hardware manufactures to conform to what we want, not what MickySoft is spoon-feeding them!! If you have a Canon BJ* printer and would like to get on the list for a beta driver, call Elliot Cohen at (714) 438-3346. He is the manager of Tec. Support for the printer division and a very nice fellow. You may write him at: Elliot Cohen Customer Service 123 E. Paularino Ave. P.O. Box 5048 Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5048. ═══ 1.8.3. System Sounds from Boca Soft ═══ System Sounds from Boca Soft Dan Grostick Boca Raton, Florida Newspaper article contributed by subscriber In the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel of March 1, 1993, a new product from a small firm in Boca Raton called "System Sounds for OS/2" was in the spotlight. Two fellows named Bill Steward and Zan Oliphant left IBM to start their own company called BocaSoft. The program allows folks to link an unlimited assortment of sounds with their software. For instance, how would you like the sound of a creaking door every time you open a certain file? Or dragging an icon across the screen to the melody of machine gun fire? Or an error with a scream of a black belt? But there's more than frivolous use for this software. If a person is blind, they can associate a sound with any key on the keyboard. The software programmers indicated that OS/2 offers a better path for certain types of multimedia applications for the future. They also feel IBM has yet to exploit OS/2's superior multimedia potential. The authors state that if they were writing software for Apple, we'd be nobody. They prefer OS/2 for multimedia. ═══ 1.9. Views & Opinions ═══ Want to Give the Media Your Point of View? A Cuisinenet Affair ═══ 1.9.1. Want to Give the Media Your Point of View? ═══ Want to Give the Media Your Point of View? John Faughnan Original Area: Fidonet OS/2 Origin: The *Lighthouse * with a HST Dual Standard in da U.P. (1:139/930.0) I received the following reply from Joel Dreyfuss, a senior editor at PC Magazine. Please keep your letters, email, and faxes coming. They do seem to have an impact. [Also the rebellion against the awful ISO DOS fonts (SP) is picking up steam. There is hope for a fix before the final release.] "Also, as a result of your letter, we've decided that we will ask vendors about OS/2 compatibility and support for all Windows and DOS apps from now on and list their position in the features table. (We suspect this will also encourage more vendors to support use of their product in the OS/2 environment.)" [i.e. they'll confirm that a DOS or Windows app runs under OS/2] Email addresses of note are: Info World: 73267.1537@compuserve.com 3502648@mcimail.com Byte: 2500135@mcimail.com ComputerWorld: COMPUTERWORLD@mcimail.com Ziff-Davis William Ziff 3302341@mcimail.com PC Computing 76000.21@compuserve.com 3502648@mcimail.com PC Magazine PC Magazine (General) 1579301@mcimail.com Joel Dreyfuss (editor) 72241.264@compuserve.com 3316982@mcimail.com Michael Miller 2478102@mcimail.com Editor In Chief of PC MAG 72241.352@compuserve.com Solutions Section (ask questions) - Solutions, 5563896@mcimail.com 72241.104@compuserve.com ═══ 1.9.2. A Cuisinenet Affair ═══ A Cuisinenet Affair Hadrian Katz Original Area: Fidonet OS-DEBATE Origin: OS/2 Shareware BBS Fairfax, VA (703) 385-4325 (1:109/347) I had a dream: Monday, 10 AM -- Chicago, Illinois -- Start-up software developer Cuisine International announced CUISINENET, the first inter- networking program to seamlessly integrate word and food processing. Called a breakthrough for small restaurants and snack bars, Cuisine Chairman Mark Meigs confidently predicted sales of thousands of copies with shipments soon to begin. Monday, 4 PM -- New York -- Cuisine International shares closed sharply higher on announcement of new CUISINENET product. Tuesday, 9 AM -- Redmond, Washington -- Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates, III announced that Microsoft Food for Windows would soon enter beta testing. Gates described the product as the first of a projected family of products to include Food for Windows, designed for small commercial dining establishments; Personal Food for Windows, designed for home kitchens; Portable Food for Windows, designed for lunchboxes; and, of course, at the high end, Food for Windows NC (Nouvelle Cuisine) designed for large institutional dining rooms. Asked by a reporter about CUISINENET, Gates said that he had never heard of the product, but was not surprised by it, because the software business is highly competitive, and Microsoft has to compete on the merits with many strong competitors, as the FTC had recently concluded. Tuesday, 3 PM -- Chicago, Illinois -- An angry Mark Meigs showed reporters a copy of the nondisclosure agreement signed by Bill Gates, under which Cuisine International had informed Microsoft a year earlier about plans for CUISINENET. Meigs said that in hindsight, he should never have signed the agreement, as the only thing he learned from Microsoft was that Gates was considering making changing to Windows. Wednesday, 9 AM -- Redmond, Washington -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced that Microsoft would soon publish specifications for the Windows Open Kitchen Architecture (WOKA), a series of design specifications to permit manufacturers of toasters, ranges, and other kitchen appliances to integrate their products into the forthcoming Microsoft Food for Windows line. Asked about reports of a nondisclosure agreement with Cuisine International for a similar product, Gates said that the other product was really at most a niche product, and would probably have less functionality than the food-related features that Microsoft would be building into the new Unsaturated FAT File System which would be part of DOS 7.0. Gates said that he doubted there would be much interest in a dead-end solution that would not be able to keep up to date with advances in WOKA. Gates added that over 11,000 manufacturers of kitchen appliances were already having serious discussions with Microsoft about WOKA, and that he expected almost all important eaters of food to standardize on the WOKA environment. Wednesday, 10 AM -- Redmond, Washington -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced that he would be giving the keynote speech at the American Bakers annual convention on "Nutrition at Your Fingertips." Gates played down speculation that he would use the Bakers convention to introduce Microsoft Food for Windows, saying only that alpha testing was proceeding ahead of schedule, and the product would be shipped when it was ready. Wednesday, 11 AM -- Redmond, Washington -- Microsoft Corporation announced that its Chairman, William H. Gates, III, had made a donation of over $250 of personal funds to the Cordon Bleu to begin an endowment fund for the Bill Gates Professorship of Advanced Cookery. The famous French cooking school confirmed that it had agreed to be a beta site for the much discussed Food for Windows application sweet. Thursday, 9 AM -- New York -- PCWeek Magazine reported in a copyrighted story that it had obtained a copy of correspondence from Microsoft to Cuisine International, demanding that the small developer of kitchen software cease using the Cuisine name, as it infringes on the trademark for Microsoft Food for Windows NC. Microsoft added that Chairman Mark Meigs would also have to change his own name as Mark infringed a copyright on the Windows Edit menu, Meigs infringed the trademark on Meigs Field in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Chairman infringed the trademark on Bill Gates's title which he had acquired with personal funds from Mao's estate. Also, Microsoft advised that while the company did not actually have to move out of Chicago, use of the name on press releases infringed a trademark on Windows 4.0. Thursday, 4 PM -- New York -- Cuisine International stock closed at 0-bid, 1/16-asked. Friday, 9 AM -- ? -- An anonymous spokesman for an unnamed Midwestern software developer announced the discontinuation of operations. Undescribed legal problems were cited as the reason. Others speculated that a failure to appreciate the competitive nature of the software business may have led to the company's sudden collapse. Monday, 9 AM -- Microsoft Internal Mail From: billg To: mikem Re: Food Program Please see if you can reassign one of the 3,000 engineers from the OS/2 virus development project to do a feasibility study on a food-related program. Not sure what it would do. Low priority. ═══ 1.10. REXX Workshop ═══ REXX Symposium - May ═══ 1.10.1. REXX Symposium - May ═══ REXX Symposium in San Diego, California May 18-20, 1993 Original From Janet Gobeille (TEAMOS2) Origination - Fidonet OS2REXX Origination - (1;202/502) Here's a preliminary info sheet as received from SLAC: REXX Symposium for Developers and Users Convened by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center 18 to 20 May 1993 San Diego, California Preliminary Program, 24 February 1993 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Jose Aguirre TEXX (REXX on Apple │ │ Macintosh) │ │ │ │Gary Brodock REXX I/O for VM │ │ │ │Charles Daney REXX for NT │ │ │ │Mike Cowlishaw World REXX │ │ │ │Eric Giguere, Watcom Visual REXX for │ │Waterloo OS/2 │ │ │ │Linda Green REXX Bits │ │ │ │Dave Hock, Visual Programming with │ │Ucandu REXX in OS/2 │ │ │ │Richard Visual Builder: use and │ │Hoffman, AWD debugging REXX │ │ │ │Linda User Input for ANSI │ │Littleton, │ │SHARE │ │ │ │Brian Marks Design of the Emerging │ │ REXX Standard │ │ │ │Pat Meehan, Defect Removal Techniques│ │Paul Heaney for REXX │ │ │ │Neil Milsted, REXX for NT │ │iX │ │ │ │Bill Mueller, REXX as an Extension to a│ │SourceLink Language │ │ │ │User Experience OS/2 Source Level │ │ Debugger │ │ │ │Doug VM/CMS REXX with Waterloo│ │Mulholland, C │ │Waterloo │ │ │ │Simon Nash, IBM's Object Oriented │ │Dave Renshaw REXX │ │ │ │Microsoft Visual Basic │ │ │ │Michael Sinz, Multimedia Flash │ │Amiga │ │ │ │Timothy Sipples REXXSHIP for OS/2 (auto │ │ install) │ │ │ │Ed Spire, Uni-REXX │ │Workstation │ │Group │ │ │ │Hobart Spitz MVS REXX │ │ │ │Panel Free Unix versions │ │ │ │Glenn Stubbs VREXX │ │ │ │Melinda Varian, Historical Filmstrip │ │Princeton │ │ │ │Larry Wall PERL │ │ │ │Bebo White, REXX 2000 │ │SLAC │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ Special hotel rates have been negotiated for the Symposium when reservations are made through Village Travel in Palo Alto, California by 1st April 1993. Fee schedule: Conference -- US$300 includes three meals, socials, proceedings Lodging/Night -- US$85 single or double Registration is required. The registration fee is due in advance, payable in cash or cheque, net US$300 in US funds. To register for the Symposium, reserve a room, and make travel arrangements, please contact: Village Travel REXX Symposium 69 Town and Country Village Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA 1-800-245-3260 1-415-326-0510 fax 1-415-326-0245 Please send questions to any member of the program committee: Cathie Dager, cathie@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu Forrest Garnett, garnett@vnet.ibm.com Jim Weissman, jhw@cup.portal.com Bebo White, bebo@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu ═══ 1.11. OS/2 Reading ═══ New OS/2 2.X Notebook OS/2 Presentation Manager Programming (Covers Version 1.2) Advanced OS/2 Programming OS/2 Presentation Manager GPI Writing OS/2 Device Drivers ═══ 1.11.1. New OS/2 2.X Notebook ═══ New OS/2 2.X Notebook Edited By Dick Conklin Foreword by Philippe Kahn Van Nostrand Reinhold Publishers ISBN: 0-442-01522-4 1,164 pages. List Price - US $34.95 1993 A new compilation of OS/2 Developer magazine articles (this book title was previously done by Microsoft Press). Read about: 1. G.U.I.-OS/2 WPS, PM, CUA, fonts, controls, dialogs, tools; 2. Software Tools - language compilers, toolkits, editors, application generator, debuggers, utilities, program porting, cross-platform development; 3. Client-Server Programming -single user and multi-user applications, client/server databases, cooperative process, APPC, DDE, tools; 4. Object Oriented Programming - SOM, programming techniques, software class, objects, workplace programming interface; 5. Multimedia and Graphics - Video, audio, CD-ROM, XGA, mapping, business graphics, multimedia toolkits; 6. ETC. - 32-bit programming, LAN, communication and database application development, application enablers, performance, printing. ═══ 1.11.2. OS/2 Presentation Manager Programming (Covers Version 1.2) ═══ OS/2 Presentation Manager Programming (Covers Version 1.2) By Paul W. Cheatam, David E. Reich and Robert F. G. Robinson Foreword by Tommy Steele John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0-471-50897-7 563 pages Priced at US $24.95. 1989 Written by key members of the Presentation Manager development team, the book presents thorough insider coverage of the interface's capabilities and features including: 1) the complete range of programming concepts, with information on building applications, message architecture and program structure; 2) a comprehensive programming guide with numerous examples written in C; and, 3) Essential guidance on window programming and on the Graphics Programming Interface (GPI). The book also includes a discussion of more advanced features such as application data transfer, templates, and advanced VIO programming, debugging, font creation and menu management. ═══ 1.11.3. Advanced OS/2 Programming ═══ Advanced OS/2 Programming By Ray Duncan Microsoft Press ISBN: 1-55615-045-8 781 pages Listed as US $24.95 USA, UK Ь21.95, Australia $37.95 1989 Authoritative information, expert advice and great code examples in assembly language and C. Broad range of significant issues covered: 1. Mastering the fundamentals, including recognizing the programming challenges and opportunities; using related development tools. 2. Programming including the user interface, keyboard and mouse input, the video display, printer and serial port communication; 3. Programming mass storage including file management, volumes and directories, disk internals; 4. Developing advanced techniques including memory management, multitasking, interprocess communication, IOPL routines, timer services; 5. Customizing OS/2 including writing filters, device drivers and dynamic link libraries. The sample code fragments use Microsoft C Version 5.1 and Microsoft Macro Assembler Version 5.1. Contains information on over 250 OS/2 kernel calls in the API Version 1.1. ═══ 1.11.4. OS/2 Presentation Manager GPI ═══ OS/2 Presentation Manager GPI By Graham C.E. Winn. Van Nostrand Reinhold ISBN: 0-442-00739-6 318 pages 1991 The author is a former GPI development team leader for OS/2 1.1. Sixty programming examples are listed. This book covers the use of GPI to display text, characters, lines, curves, areas, marking images and more. Chapters to expand your understanding of: 1. Fonts -- public and private fonts. Memo and proportional; spaced fonts, raster and outline fonts, font selection and logical font creation; 2. Bitmap -- BMP formats, creation, deletion, selection, data transfer; 3. Color tables -- the standard color table, logical and color table creation, color queries; 4. Coordinate spaces and transformation -- page units, matrix parameters formats, coordinate limits, model transformation, viewing transform, default viewing transform, device transform; 5. Metafiles -- Metafile printing, MetaFile to MetaFile recording, scaling MetaFiles to be an output area, displays a Metafile as a subjective, MetaFile restrictions. 6. Printing -- queued printing, base control program printing, PM printing, OS/2 print subsystem, printer installation and setup form selection, printer fonts. C programs in the book can be purchased separately on disk. The book is based on OS/2 version 1.3 and includes discussions of OS/2 2.0. ═══ 1.11.5. Writing OS/2 Device Drivers ═══ Writing OS/2 Device Drivers By Raymond Westwater Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN: 0-201-52234-9 516 pages Priced at US $24.95 1989 Author provides the applications developer with a one-stop reference for planning and implementing drivers in OS/2. Some of the topics include: Device Driver structure; Device Driver Flow of Execution; Driver Development strategies; I/O Packets; Device Helper Services. Strategy packets, the exclusive means by which requests for data are forwarded from the OS/2 file manager to the device driver are presented in a convenient format that defines field contents for LENGTH, UNIT, COMMAND, STATUS, RESERVED and LINKAGE. ═══ 1.12. OS/2 BBS's ═══ BBS Introduction Australia Belgium Canada Denmark Germany Italy Netherlands Norway Singapore Switzerland United Kingdom Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Deleware Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Kansas Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Missouri New Jersey Nevada New York North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington ═══ 1.12.1. BBS Introduction ═══ Okay, I ran out of time this month, so most of the BBS's listed were also listed in February. But I've added a few if you can spot them. This listing is for the BBS junkie in you who needs to have a phone bill treat once in a while . Or bored to death while you're travelling. Our listing is based on a rather extensive listing put together by Dave Fisher of OS/2 type Bulletin Boards. Space limits this month prevent us from listing all the details he has for each BBS, but we've tried to include a couple from every state in the US (Notice and hint to you sysops...not all states are represented.) and a few foreign countries, too. Dave Fisher's list is a compilation of OS/2 BBS's across the world. If you wish to make an addition or correction to his list, he's asked that you please netmail your BBS information to Dave Fisher at LiveNet, 1:170/110@fidonet.org. For the newsletter, I've sorted the in alphabetical order by Country for the international ones and by state for those in the USA to make it easier to find one close to you. His file has other details related to these BBS's but we didn't have room, okay? The file we're using showed that the last update was September 7, 1992. Does anyone know if this list of his is being kept up to date? I hope to expand it more next month; ran out of time. But I've got his list in a database right now and I'll be able to code that list a lot easier next month. And I'm still waiting to hear from folks who consider their BBS a decent local source for OS/2, whether it be files, message areas or actually run under OS/2. Hope you find this inclusion useful. Large phone bills are not my fault...!!! ═══ 1.12.2. Australia ═══ 1. Graham Stair 3M Australia +61-2-498-9184 Australia 2. Alan Salmon PC User's Group +61-6-259-1244 Australia ═══ 1.12.3. Belgium ═══ 1. Bas Heijermans Moving Sound OS/2 BBS +32-3-3850748 Belgium ═══ 1.12.4. Canada ═══ 1. Kevin Lowey Univ. of Saskatchewan (306) 966-4857 Canada 2. Evan Smith ECS Net (403) 253-5996 Canada 3. Ian Evans Baudeville BBS (416) 283-0114 Canada 4. Herbert Tsui BBS Council (604) 275-6883 Canada 5. Jerry Stevens The Locutory (613) 722-0489 Canada ═══ 1.12.5. Denmark ═══ 1. Rene Carlsen OS/2 Task and FrontDoor H +45-98451070 Denmark ═══ 1.12.6. Germany ═══ 1. Ulrich Roeding BOX/2 +49-89-6019677 Germany ═══ 1.12.7. Italy ═══ 1. Luigi Ravina Italy Network +39-11-8180069 Italy ═══ 1.12.8. Netherlands ═══ 1. Peter Smink BBS The Experiment +31-1150-15245 Netherlands ═══ 1.12.9. Norway ═══ 1. Terje Slydahl PerlePorten +47-83-33003 Norway ═══ 1.12.10. Singapore ═══ 1. Ivan Leong Miqas/2 Singapore +65-755-6463 Singapore ═══ 1.12.11. Switzerland ═══ 1. Alex Wyss Gepard's Oracle Zuerich +41-1-3637037 Switzerland ═══ 1.12.12. United Kingdom ═══ 1. Mike Gove MonuSci BBS +44-0-454-633197 United Kingdom ═══ 1.12.13. Arizona ═══ 1. Mike Mahoney Emerald Isle, The (602) 749-8638 Arizona 2. Frank Ward Encounter, The (602) 892-1853 Arizona ═══ 1.12.14. California ═══ 1. Patrick O'Riva AsmLang and OS/2 (408) 259-2223 California 2. Michael Nelson SeaHunt BBS (415) 431-0473 California 3. Michael Cummings Zzyzx Road OS/2 BBS (619) 579-0135 El Cajon, California 4. Craig Swanson OS/2 Connection (619) 558-9475 San Diego, California 5. Chuck Gilmore Magnum BBS (805) 582-9306 California ═══ 1.12.15. Colorado ═══ 1. William Herrera Cuerna Verde (719) 545-8572 Colorado 2. Randy Edwards Socialism OnLine! (719) 392-7781 Colorado ═══ 1.12.16. Connecticut ═══ 1. Chris Regan Storm Front - OS/2, The (203) 234-0824 Connecticut 2. Felix Tang Excelsior, The (203) 466-1826 Connecticut 3. Emmitt Dove Fernwood (203) 483-0348 Connecticut ═══ 1.12.17. Deleware ═══ 1. John Tarbox Singer Bear BBS (302) 984-2238 Deleware 2. Scott Street Space Station Alpha (302) 653-1458 Deleware ═══ 1.12.18. Florida ═══ 1. Mark Wheeler SandDollar, The (407) 784-4507 Florida 2. Rusty Plant The 19th Hole (904) 479-8538 Pensacola, Florida 3. Don Bauer OS2 Exchange (904) 739-2445 Florida 4. Chris Wolcott The Outer Limits (904) 934-1141 Gulf Breeze, Florida 5. Kathy Todd The Apothecary's Archives (904) 934-3146 Gulf Breeze, Florida 6. Richard Todd The Disintegrated Circuit OS/2 (904) 934-9796 Gulf Breeze, Florida ═══ 1.12.19. Georgia ═══ 1. IBM IBM National Support Ce (404) 835-6600 Georgia 2. IBM IBM National Support Ce (404) 835-5300 Georgia 3. Ed June Information Overload (404) 471-1549 Georgia ═══ 1.12.20. Hawaii ═══ 1. Craig Oshiro Ghostcomm Image Gallery (808) 456-8510 Hawaii ═══ 1.12.21. Illinois ═══ 1. Bill Cook GREATER CHICAGO Online! (708) 895-4042 Illinois 2. Bogie Bugsalewicz I CAN! BBS (312) 736-7434 Illinois ═══ 1.12.22. Indiana ═══ 1. Mike Phillips Catacombs, The (317) 525-7164 Indiana 2. Jay Tipton Play Board, The (219) 744-4908 Indiana ═══ 1.12.23. Kansas ═══ 1. Troy Majors Byte Bus, The (316) 683-1433 Kansas ═══ 1.12.24. Louisiana ═══ 1. Stan Brohn HelpNet of Baton Rouge (504) 273-3116 Louisiana 2. Jim Sterrett Padded Cell BBS, The (504) 340-7027 Louisiana ═══ 1.12.25. Maryland ═══ 1. James Chance Last Relay, The (410) 793-3829 Maryland ═══ 1.12.26. Michigan ═══ 1. Dave Shoff Cornerstone BBS, The (616) 465-4611 Michigan ═══ 1.12.27. Minnesota ═══ 1. Brady Flowers Oberon Software (507) 388-1154 Minnesota ═══ 1.12.28. Missouri ═══ 1. Woody Sturges OS/2 Woodmeister, The (314) 446-0016 Missouri ═══ 1.12.29. New Jersey ═══ 1. Bob Germer Capital City BBS (609) 386-1989 New Jersey 2. Mike Fuchs Dog's Breakfast, The (908) 506-0472 New Jersey ═══ 1.12.30. Nevada ═══ 1. Kerry Flint Caddis OS/2 BBS (702) 453-6687 Nevada 2. Dennis Conley Communitel OS/2 BBS (702) 399-0486 Nevada ═══ 1.12.31. New York ═══ 1. Mikel Beck Kind Diamond's Realm (516) 736-3403 New York ═══ 1.12.32. North Carolina ═══ 1. Thomas Bradford Backdoor BBS (919) 799-0923 North Carolina 2. Richard Lee Psychotronic BBS (919) 286-7738 North Carolina ═══ 1.12.33. Ohio ═══ 1. Mark Lehrer Akron Anomoly, The (216) 688-6383 Ohio ═══ 1.12.34. Oklahoma ═══ 1. Bill Schnell Asylum BBS, The (918) 832-1462 Oklahoma 2. Scott Dickason BBS/2 (918) 743-1562 Oklahoma ═══ 1.12.35. Oregon ═══ 1. Bill Taylor Integrated Media Servic (503) 667-2649 Oregon 2. Paul Breedlove Multi-Net (503) 883-8197 Oregon ═══ 1.12.36. Pennsylvania ═══ 1. Louis F. Ursini Quantum Leap (215) 967-9018 Pennsylvania 2. Ed Barboni System-2 RBBS (215) 631-0685 Pennsylvania ═══ 1.12.37. South Carolina ═══ 1. Paul Beverly PMSC OnLine Resource (803) 735-6101 South Carolina ═══ 1.12.38. Tennessee ═══ 1. Operand BBS Lonnie Wall (901) 753-3738 Tennessee 2. Edward Owens Looking Glass, The (901) 872-4386 Tennessee ═══ 1.12.39. Texas ═══ 1. Robert McA Live-Wire (214) 307-8119 Texas 2. Doug Palmer Rock BBS, The (512) 654-9792 Texas 3. David Dozier Roach Coach, The (713) 343-0942 Texas 4. Ken Rucker RucK's Place/2 (817) 485-8042 Texas ═══ 1.12.40. Virginia ═══ 1. Pete Norloff OS/2 Shareware (703) 385-4325 Virginia 2. Joe Salemi Max's Doghouse (703) 548-7849 Virginia ═══ 1.12.41. Washington ═══ 1. LeRoy DeVries Sno-Valley Software Exc (206) 880-6575 Washington 2. Rodney Lorimor Gecko Control (509) 244-0944 Washington