Media Share 9/MEDIASHARE_09.ISO/mag&info/kgl_9401.zip/COMMWORK.RVW

Text File | 1994-02-03 | 10KB | 251 lines

COMMWORKS: An All-In-One Windows Communications Program
   and a Nifty Bit of Programming
Software Review
by Michael Ball


An all-in-one Windows communications package raises several
questions.  Why does it exist?  Why haven't other software
makers done this already?  What's the matter with separate
components?

   Well, CommWorks is a gem of program.  It does a lot for a
very decent price -- does more than many of us are ready for, in
fact.  So, those questions are easy to answer and will leave you
with only one: Is this the way I want to work?

Basics

This is a single Windows-based comm program that:

   1) performs full data communications on a par with CrossTalk ;
   2) has everything you'd want in a fax program except
character recognition;
   3) provides links to laptops by and to remote computers,
networks and printers by modem, and
   4) sounds sophisticated alarms when a file directory changes.

(The last feature is a triumph or programming and paranoia that
is of little use to anyone who doesn't let others have remote
access to a computer.  It's damned elegant though.)


Suites Ensuite?

You're going to see more of these programs.  CommWorks shows
that the programmers have finally begin catching up to the
processors and operating software.  Windows and 80386-and-above
computers were meant for such integrated programs.  CommWorks
uses a core program that shares its functions and graphics with
all its parts.  You get a control panel of icons that lets you
switch from one part to the next, or even use several
simultaneously, if you have the hardware.

You don't have to learn different looks and commands for each of
the comm programs.  You don't have to set up your modem for each
one.  You don't have to exit one and reset the modem to use the
next.

You haven't seen many programs with this type of integration
because they are new and hard to do.  You have to put in a lot
of programming hours to get to the point of taking advantage of
the high-end Intel chips and Windows 3.1.


What CommWorks Is

Many people with PCs, Windows and modems already have much of
CommWorks in some form or another.  We have a data comm program
to use BBSes and on-line services.  We have a fax program.
Those of us with laptops may have LapLink or a similar remote
control package for a desktop-computer connection.

The two essentials of CommWorks -- telecommunications and fax --
should be the basis for most customers to decide whether they
want this package.  Even if you have no need for the other
components, you can decide whether you want an integrated
Windows comm program.

This is not a hard sell.  The programs work well, have all the
features most people want.  These are where Traveling Software's
Dilberts really shine.  The functions you want are in there.
The screens are easy to understand, and, if you are comfortable
with a mouse and Windows, operations are quick and simple.


Telecommunications

The data comm package (TS OnLine) can handle X-, Y- and Zmodem,
that dreadful fake Kermit protocol everyone uses, and
CompuServe's protocol.  Where allowed, as with Zmodem, you can
send multiple files.  You get fill-in-the-blank setup and naming
screens along the way.

Text files are niftier.  CommWorks has a built-in editor.  You
can compose off-line, bring up files and extract portions of
them, and edit material you capture on line.  Similarly, there
is a graphics viewer built in, which both TS OnLine and TS Fax
share.  You can call, see, and save a .GIF or RLE program.  You
could also export it to a fancier graphics program, manipulate
it and bring it back into CommWorks.

You can use a phone book, use CrossTalk-style settings and
scripts to customize each entry, or use multiple dialing
directories, each with their own base settings.  You can make
dialing as simple or as convoluted as is your bent.  Those who
are used to CrossTalk for Windows will feel right at home with
TS OnLine.


Faxing

TS Fax is a similar full-featured component, similar to WinFax
or FaxWorks.  This program is either a standalone quick-fax that
lets you type notes, or a "printer" that lets you use a Windows
word processing program to print to it.  When you specify "TS
Fax" as your printer, the fax screen pops up when you print.
There, you can type in a name and number, or choose entries from
a phone book.

There are no surprises here either.  It is fully functional,
easy for a newcomer and familiar to old hands.


The Bottom Line

Both components worked well and fast.  I forced connections at
several speeds, transferred files, and tried variations on
faxes.  The program took full advantage of the features of
several modems.  It operated well with the V.fast modems I was
testing, connecting at 28.8Kbps and sending and receiving well.
It also handled multiple-page faxes both ways, flawlessly.

(A special note for Windows users: Don't expect high performance
in any Windows comm package above 9600 bps.  That is a function
of Windows and not the program.  It does characters.  My
connections at 28.8Kbps were over the parallel port with a new
V.fast modem and software.)


Odds and Ends

LapLink Remote Access and LapLink Alert are in CommWorks too.
Many people will never use either of them.  Remote Access is a
superset of the old LapLink program.  Alert is for people who
want to know when another user on a network or a direct
connection has changed any files -- stored, added or deleted.

Remote Access is an adequate way of swapping files with a
directly- connected laptop or a desktop on a network, or
connected by modem.  Otherwise, it is fairly lame.  (See
additional comments in the section below.)

Alert is more specialized and is useful only for those who give
others access to their computer's hard drives.  If you dedicated
a computer as an Internet node or something similar, you'd
certainly want it.  Otherwise, it won't do much for many.


What They Left Out

If you are used to Carbon Copy or other advanced remote-control
software, you'll find the remote-access portion of this package
disappointing.  It doesn't let you "drive" the remote PC.
Instead, it lets you connect with another computer, swap files
with it, launch a program or send something to a printer.
Useful as far as it goes, but not the modern definition of
remote access.

(For those not used to such software, programs like Carbon Copy
let you connect with a remote computer and use it just as if it
were in front of you.  You can call up your office computer,
start your word processing or database program, and work away
while you see the remote screen locally.  If you're using a lot
of color and graphics, this can be slow work over a modem, but
it's a generation ahead of CommWorks.)

Moreover, there aren't any real advantages in swapping files and
components.  Windows users are getting used to that asthenic
little one-item clipboard.  It will be awhile before programmers
really take advantage of this part of the operating environment.
You can't magically insert a file or screen from fax to data or
the other way.  You have to work through a word processor or
other application.

Similarly, you should be aware that your system will be used to
the limit by CommWorks in ways you never considered with other
comm programs.  If you had enough ports and modems and
processing power, CommWorks would let you simultaneously use the
fax, data comm, and remote access, and laptop connections.  (We
may not have enough RAM inside our skulls for such multitasking,
but CommWorks is ready.)  Meanwhile, the reality is: a single
modem with a single COM port and a single telephone line
connects to only one call at a time.  Sigh.


My One Gripe (Well, Two...)

My personal gripe is the lack of character recognition.  I have
gotten very used to WinFax Pro 3.0.  I often have it convert
faxes from their native graphics format to a file I can put in a
word processing program.  I would gladly clear this program off
my hard drive if CommWorks would add this function.

Another niggling issue is that the text editor with the data
comm program is so good, why not include a spell checker? The
obvious answer is to save space, but then again, at 6.5Mb for
the full program, what's another half megabyte?


User Okay

There are no unpleasant surprises in installing and using
CommWorks.  The installation is fully automated, the setup and
main screens in each component are clear and easy to use, and
manuals are well written, fully illustrated and sensibly
indexed.

To install, click on SETUP and follow the instructions.  There
are no trick or weird choices.

Part of this process lets you pick the modem, ports and speeds.
Unless you change it, these are set the same for all the
modules, saving you the trouble.  You can still change these
inside each component as needed, and you can set a different
port for a laptop link, which many people will have if they use
this feature.

The manual set will please nearly everyone.  It has a "Quick
Start & Reference" book, with all the setup and how-to-use
information most people will need.  You may never have to crack
the other five books.  Each covers one component in detail.  As
with the Quick Start, each has step-by-step instruction for each
operation for the verbal, and screen shots for the visual.


Final Words

If you don't have a Windows comm package, you could do a lot
worse than CommWorks.  If you do have one, the consideration is
whether you need the conveniences offered here.  If so, you
would probably want to dump your other comm program(s), to save
disk space if for no other reason.

This is a very pretty package that has a lot going for it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Program            CommWorks for Windows
Mfr         Traveling Software
        18702 North Creek Parkway
        Bothell, WA 98011-8019
        [phone]
Price        $229 list
        about $125 street
Media        3.5 inch, 1.44Mb floppies
Hardware    80286+, with Windows 3.1
        2Mb basic and 6.5Mb full installation
        EGA or better video

----------------------------------------------------------
(Mike Ball, a technical writer who writes manuals at Microcom,
lives in Jamaica Plain, where he does most of his niggling.)