Thanks for taking the time to beta test the latest Performance product from Clear & Simple, Inc.
Here's the second beta drop of Performance PLUS V3. All of the reported bugs and many of the suggestions were incorporated into this drop. The expiration data is extended to Jan 1, 1995 for all of the programs in the beta.
There is additional function for the ViewBMP (ther's now an AutoView function) and the Map program will also display directory and sub-directory space by double-clicking on the drive line-items. OS2BOOT will recognize non-US keyboards if there is enough room on the diskette or if directed to a partition. SeeSwap will also update INITIAL Swap Size (optionally) when the swap file grows.
There are ten utilities included in the beta, all are either newly written or GUI rewrites (upgrades) of Performance 2.1 modules). Yes all of the utilities now have a Graphical front end developed with one of the current GUI generators for REXX.
I am proud of this product - but not so proud as to welcome constructive criticism. Please help me find the bugs, and offer suggestions that will increase the value of this set of utilities for the OS/2 community.
The Performance 2.1 Tuning Book is being revised with all that we've learned in the past year and a half and with the latest information on tuning Warp.. There will be a new chapter on DOS/Window Application tuning and my best shot at a clear & simple explanation of the 60+ DOS SETTING values.
Please call me at (203) 658-1204; Fax at (203) 651-0354 or send me a note on CompuServe at 75070,2520 or post a note on the OS2AVEN Forum Section 1 Other Vendors. Just put the word Performance in the post & I'll get it.
Tony Pereira
Installation is simple:
Change to the PERF_30 directory and type INSTALL at a command prompt. Or using the drives folder find the INSTALL icon in the PERF_30 directory.
Installation includes UNPACKS, Copies, and Folder & Program Object creation.
Performance Tuning Utilities include:
OPTIMIZER - this is all of the performance oriented Config.Sys parameters on a single screen! Newly updated for OS/2 Warp V3 the utility makes parameter recommendations based on your system's processor, memory and clock speed. Recommendations vary by system type and resources and also by OS/2 version. The Optimizer recognizes the version of OS/2 and makes tuning recommendations according to the tests in our performance test lab. Every field on the GUI page has a help panel associated with it - so you can learn while you tune. All values are validity checked as you enter to avoid incorrect Config.Sys parameters.
DOS Black Box - This is a new utility to help you optimize the settings of your DOS/Windows applications. Just find a DOS/Windows application icon in your drives folder (.exe, .bat or .com), and drag it to the first screen of the BlackBox. Some checking is done to verify that its a DOS program executable before continuing on to the second screen. Here you'll need to specify the program characteristics (Text, Graphical, Windows, Communications, Games, or Multimedia), multiple categories may be chosen.
You should also specify an Execution Mode (Full screen or windowed). Optionally, search the OS/2 Migration database for settings that might be there (Warp has doubled the size of this database). Other options include looking at the individual DOS settings (the ones with the dumb names like COM_RECEIVE_BUFFER_FLUSH). Here the individual settings are presented in a familiar screen but have descriptions that I hope are more clear and simple to understand.
When you have finished tinkering with the settings (or just take the category defaults), pressing the Apply button creates a new program object on your desktop with the settings applied. The settings for the original program object are left intact. This is an attempt at simplifying getting new DOS/Windows programs running under OS/2.
Simple Count - This newly designed program has some of the features/code from Performance 2.1. Simple Count is a simple measurement tool. Timing measurements are made during the execution of code that focuses on certain elements of your system (processor, disk, Video, program loading). I recommend that you use at least 5 repetitions to get a good average timing. Run this before and after every tuning effort. The front end for Performance PLUS SimpleCT has been redesigned to be visually attractive, featuring graphic representation of the statistics and using bitmap manipulation to measure video speed.
Stats - The reporting tool of Performance PLUS V3. Stats should be run after a tuning cycle has run. (SimpleCT, followed by tuning, followed by SimpleCT). Stats will graphically display the data collected by SimpleCT including percent improvements (or decreases) in measured performance.
Additional Productivity Utilities Include:
ViewBMP - Simplified OS/2 Bitmap viewing. Drag & drop up to 6 OS/2 format bitmaps to the viewer for quick display in a sizable window. Additional drops will replace previous bitmaps. Click on one of the displayed bitmaps and a larger sizable window pops up. Great for quick viewing of a disk full of bitmaps. The final Performance PLUS V3 product will have a bonus diskette with several public domain bitmaps.
OS/2BOOT creates a single emergency OS/2 boot diskette or (new with V3) an emergency boot partition. GUI front end for this rewritten program from Performance 2.1 detects the version of OS/2 from 2.0; 2.1, 2.1 with Service Pack or 2.11, 2.99 (Warp beta) or OS/2 Warp V3. Produces a diskette and optionally a second diskette with certain utilities included (CHKDSK, Format, ATTRIB FDISK and (TEDIT with Warp)).
AutoSet is a utility to create certain program objects and place them into your OS/2 Startup Folder. SimpleBAK, a utility from Performance 2.1 is one candidate. AutoSet will create multiple instances of SimpleBAK that will search specified directories for new or modified files and make backup copies for you at startup. Another Performance 2.1 program AutoDsav (Automatic Desktop Save), when selected by running AutoSet, will put a program object into the startup folder that periodically saves a copy of your Desktop. Lastly, AutoSet will place a copy of LazyOff into the Startup Folder to turn off the HPFS Lazy Write feature (not recommended for performance reasons).
Map (Disk Map) is a simple utility that displays storage info about your disk partitions. Display includes Drive ID, Partition type (FAT, HPFS, CD-ROM), Total Space, Free space, Percent free, and Label. Options include graphing the data to quickly identify free space. Other options let Map run in the background updating the display every xx seconds to let you monitor space usage.
SeeSwap - Small PM utility to monitor Swapper.Dat growth. Sitting in the upper right corner of the screen (or minimized) the SeeSwap monitor will periodically check the Swap file for growth, display the values, and pleasantly beep at you when the size changes.
DeskSave does just that - saves a copy of your OS/2 desktop either onto a floppy or to a fixed disk partition.
Some of the other command-line utilities from Performance 2.1 are not included in the V3 beta but will be upgraded and included in the final V3 product. Included will be ELIMDIR; EASPACE, DSize (directory size), MMD (make multiple directories), FREE, and SetICON.
P.S. The utilities in this beta expire on 12-1-94, I figured I'd have revisions by then (hopefully be ready with the final version).
