NewsWire Briefs, December 1997

NewsWire Briefs

December 1997 news

MPE CDs now a limited edition

HP dropped the CD-ROM drives from its HP 3000s quietly this May, removing a peripheral component that it had touted as a benefit in new 9x8 systems just 18 months earlier. But just because HP 3000s now don't ship with CD drives doesn't mean HP isn't pressing the discs anymore. Customers who receive their updates of the operating system will continue to get them on CDs. HP says it dropped the drives because of declining demand.

Windowed 3000 editors abound in open season

While there were once few options for a PC-based development tool for HP 3000 programmers, several new ones and a revamped version of another started shipping this season. Robelle Consulting announced in late October that its Qedit for Windows product was rolling out the door, consisting of a Windows editing client and either an MPE/iX or HP-UX server component. If you currently use Qedit, Robelle will give you 50 percent off the server upgrade. You get two clients free, so you can move from Qedit to Qedit for Windows for a couple of programmers for $500 by ordering before Jan. 31. The full product purchased as a new install is $4,500.

One novel use for a Windows-based 3000 editor is to do Web page updates on intranets. Robelle's David Greer reports that he's been successfully using Qedit for Windows to edit HTML pages on the firm's HP 9000 Web server. The same kind of work could happen with HP 3000-based Web servers such as Apache/iX and the forthcoming FastTrack server from Netscape. "I've probably written thousands of lines of HTML using QW in the last few months," Greer said. "It's quite neat to save my changes in QW, switch to a Web browser, hit refresh and see my changes. What's not obvious is that the actual file with my HTML lives on a different computer." Greer adds that the Robelle team plans to add features like syntax coloring in future releases of the product, to aid in programming for HTML and less trendy languages such as COBOL and Pascal.

We also heard that WhisperTech has followed through with a full release of its Whisper Programmer Studio, which was in late beta testing during our Test Drive this fall. You can download a demo of the product at www.whispertech.com.

Finally, we got word that one of the founders of the windowed programming tool movement for 3000s is shipping out a new, streamlined version of its product. Performance Software Group is shipping its 1.2 version of Facade, which now requires only Windows 95 or NT to run. Prior versions needed a copy of WRQ's Reflection for connectivity with the server job on the 3000. You can download a 45-day demo of Facade for free from the PSG Web site, or call 888.PSG.4GUI.

Inform gets Dictionary help in new version

HP sent Inform version A.11.01 into general release during November, giving the redoubtable reporting tool the capability to let the same primary item be in an HP Inform Group multiple times to support a similar Dictionary enhancement. The enhancement is available as a patch for Inform/V, INFJXV7 for MPE/iX 5.0 and 5.5, INFDVA7 for MPE/V 3P and Release 40. You can get it through HP's Response Center or download the patch via the Internet. The INFJXV7 patch will be contained on the PowerPatch for MPE/iX 5.5 Express 4 and MPE/iX 5.0 PowerPatch 7. It is not included with 5.5 Express 3.

Unzip any files on your 3000

Users report that there's a good shareware program for MPE/iX that will zip and unzip files from PCs. Steer your browser to the Neil Harvey Associates' FTP site to get software that handles pkzip and winzip archives on your HP 3000. NewsWire subscriber Rob Joseph says the programs appear to have total compatibility with DOS-based pkzip archives.

Barcode, form solution lives on in Fantasia

Despite being acquired by a company without much HP 3000 background or market experience, Fantasia continues to be enhanced by its creator Martin Gorfinkel. His firm, LARC Computing, is now supporting Fantasia since the product was sold off by Proactive Systems. Gorfinkel reports that "a new version of Fantasia is ready to distribute. Unlike any previous version, this one has been through an independent QA process." Registered users have slipped through the cracks during the transfer of the product, so Gorfinkel would like Fantasia users to contact him by e-mail or phone (650.941.9310) to get on the registered list.

The new owner of Fantasia, JetForm, plans to merge the 3000-based JetForm and Fantasia products as a long-term goal, "but realistically, it's still a ways off," according to JetForm's Rob McDougall. "Fantasia on the HP 3000 will be around for some time. We've merged the HP-UX version of Fantasia into our JetForm Central product, but there are considerable differences between it and the HP 3000 product. It would take considerably more work to integrate our two HP 3000 products. We have no immediate plans to do so."

Cognos checks code for Year 2000 free

If you're a PowerHouse shop still facing up to Year 2000 issues, Cognos has a new program that can help you assess how much work is required to ready applications for the millennium. The Year 2000 Health Check takes in your code Ñas many as 300 programs and the associated PDL Ñand scans each line for "the potentially hundreds of Year 2000 issues which they may contain." Cognos uses the Power2000 utility suite, demonstrated in this summer's Year 2000 TCU broadcast, to generate two reports, an executive summary of the most common issues found and a detailed report for programming staff.

Naturally, Cognos hopes that the report encourages you to take in the Power2000 suite as part of your toolbox. It can identify hidden date items like numeric or character items used to store date-like information like fiscal years and period numbers. PowerHouse sites can contact Kenneth Robinson in the US at 800.426.4667 x 2267, or Marianne Stagg at 800.267.2777 in Canada.

Copyright 1997 The 3000 NewsWire. All rights reserved




		NewsWire Briefs December 1997 news

		MPE CDs now a limited edition HP dropped the CD-ROM drives from its HP 3000s quietly this May, removing a peripheral component that it had touted as a benefit in new 9x8 systems just 18 months earlier. But just because HP 3000s now don't ship with CD drives doesn't mean HP isn't pressing the discs anymore. Customers who receive their updates of the operating system will continue to get them on CDs. HP says it dropped the drives because of declining demand. Windowed 3000 editors abound in open season While there were once few options for a PC-based development tool for HP 3000 programmers, several new ones and a revamped version of another started shipping this season. Robelle Consulting announced in late October that its Qedit for Windows product was rolling out the door, consisting of a Windows editing client and either an MPE/iX or HP-UX server component. If you currently use Qedit, Robelle will give you 50 percent off the server upgrade. You get two clients free, so you can move from Qedit to Qedit for Windows for a couple of programmers for $500 by ordering before Jan. 31. The full product purchased as a new install is $4,500. One novel use for a Windows-based 3000 editor is to do Web page updates on intranets. Robelle's David Greer reports that he's been successfully using Qedit for Windows to edit HTML pages on the firm's HP 9000 Web server. The same kind of work could happen with HP 3000-based Web servers such as Apache/iX and the forthcoming FastTrack server from Netscape. "I've probably written thousands of lines of HTML using QW in the last few months," Greer said. "It's quite neat to save my changes in QW, switch to a Web browser, hit refresh and see my changes. What's not obvious is that the actual file with my HTML lives on a different computer." Greer adds that the Robelle team plans to add features like syntax coloring in future releases of the product, to aid in programming for HTML and less trendy languages such as COBOL and Pascal. We also heard that WhisperTech has followed through with a full release of its Whisper Programmer Studio, which was in late beta testing during our Test Drive this fall. You can download a demo of the product at www.whispertech.com. Finally, we got word that one of the founders of the windowed programming tool movement for 3000s is shipping out a new, streamlined version of its product. Performance Software Group is shipping its 1.2 version of Facade, which now requires only Windows 95 or NT to run. Prior versions needed a copy of WRQ's Reflection for connectivity with the server job on the 3000. You can download a 45-day demo of Facade for free from the PSG Web site, or call 888.PSG.4GUI. Inform gets Dictionary help in new version HP sent Inform version A.11.01 into general release during November, giving the redoubtable reporting tool the capability to let the same primary item be in an HP Inform Group multiple times to support a similar Dictionary enhancement. The enhancement is available as a patch for Inform/V, INFJXV7 for MPE/iX 5.0 and 5.5, INFDVA7 for MPE/V 3P and Release 40. You can get it through HP's Response Center or download the patch via the Internet. The INFJXV7 patch will be contained on the PowerPatch for MPE/iX 5.5 Express 4 and MPE/iX 5.0 PowerPatch 7. It is not included with 5.5 Express 3. Unzip any files on your 3000 Users report that there's a good shareware program for MPE/iX that will zip and unzip files from PCs. Steer your browser to the Neil Harvey Associates' FTP site to get software that handles pkzip and winzip archives on your HP 3000. NewsWire subscriber Rob Joseph says the programs appear to have total compatibility with DOS-based pkzip archives. Barcode, form solution lives on in Fantasia Despite being acquired by a company without much HP 3000 background or market experience, Fantasia continues to be enhanced by its creator Martin Gorfinkel. His firm, LARC Computing, is now supporting Fantasia since the product was sold off by Proactive Systems. Gorfinkel reports that "a new version of Fantasia is ready to distribute. Unlike any previous version, this one has been through an independent QA process." Registered users have slipped through the cracks during the transfer of the product, so Gorfinkel would like Fantasia users to contact him by e-mail or phone (650.941.9310) to get on the registered list. The new owner of Fantasia, JetForm, plans to merge the 3000-based JetForm and Fantasia products as a long-term goal, "but realistically, it's still a ways off," according to JetForm's Rob McDougall. "Fantasia on the HP 3000 will be around for some time. We've merged the HP-UX version of Fantasia into our JetForm Central product, but there are considerable differences between it and the HP 3000 product. It would take considerably more work to integrate our two HP 3000 products. We have no immediate plans to do so." Cognos checks code for Year 2000 free If you're a PowerHouse shop still facing up to Year 2000 issues, Cognos has a new program that can help you assess how much work is required to ready applications for the millennium. The Year 2000 Health Check takes in your code Ñas many as 300 programs and the associated PDL Ñand scans each line for "the potentially hundreds of Year 2000 issues which they may contain." Cognos uses the Power2000 utility suite, demonstrated in this summer's Year 2000 TCU broadcast, to generate two reports, an executive summary of the most common issues found and a detailed report for programming staff. Naturally, Cognos hopes that the report encourages you to take in the Power2000 suite as part of your toolbox. It can identify hidden date items like numeric or character items used to store date-like information like fiscal years and period numbers. PowerHouse sites can contact Kenneth Robinson in the US at 800.426.4667 x 2267, or Marianne Stagg at 800.267.2777 in Canada.

		Copyright 1997 The 3000 NewsWire. All rights reserved