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| Resources for Your Developer Toolbox |
| Theresa W. Carey |
.gif) Guy Software has released ParseRat 2.0, a Windows®-based application that lets you pull important information from files and databases, even if you don't know what program originally created the data. You can capture information that was created by obscure or unknown applications, separate or parse it into fields, and convert it into a file that can then be imported into your database, spreadsheet, or other application.
For database, fixed-format, delimited, and page image records, ParseRat shows you the data and helps you define (on screen) where the valuable information lies. If the data was originally created on a mainframe, ParseRat performs the EBCDIC-to-ASCII conversion. The program handles binary, packed, and zoned numeric formats, traditionally used on mainframe systems. With its XML support, ParseRat makes it easy to pull data out of files created recently, or export data into XML. The program can generate Soundex codes and eliminate duplicate records based on actual data or sound-alike data. With its command-line interface, you can run ParseRat from within other programs. ParseRat 2.0 runs under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT® 4.0, and Windows 2000.
Guy Software
1752 Duchess Avenue
West Vancouver
British Columbia
V7V 1P9 Canada
604-926-1370
https://www.guysoftware.com
Full History Patch Publishing
.gif) Indigo Rose Corporation recently released Visual Patch 1.0, which allows software developers to create secure full-history software update patches. Designed for use on all 32-bit Windows platforms, the patch files can be distributed on diskette or CD-ROM or sent over the wire. Patches created with Visual Patch contain only the files that changed from the previous releases. Since users must have an eligible previous version of an application installed in order to make use of a patch, publishing a patch does not require giving away the software.
Features of Visual Patch include full-history patching to bring all versions up to date using a single self-extracting executable, a wizard-style runtime interface, customizable dialogs, and use of key files and CRC-32 checks to ensure accuracy, international language support, system editors for the registry and shortcut icons, conditions, and variables.
Indigo Rose Corporation
123 Bannatyne Avenue, Suite 410
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3B 0R3
800-665-9668, 204-946-0263
https://www.indigorose.com
Drag and Drop Web Parts
.gif) Correlate Technologies Inc. has announced the release of Correlate K-Map 3.0 Web Part for Microsoft® SharePoint™ Portal Server. K-Map provides a drag and drop application layer on top of the SharePoint Portal Server platform. Users can drag and drop information from other Web Parts (and external sources) to form K-Maps for project management, sales kits, product plans, and so on. K-Map automatically groups your search results from SharePoint Portal Server according to your preferred structure.
K-Map is designed to be customized and integrated into third-party applications as it exposes a comprehensive Document Object Model (DOM) via automation. All properties, methods, and events of K-Map and its items are fully accessible programmatically. K-Maps are stored as XML documents and can be saved directly to SharePoint Portal Server.
The Correlate K-Map Web Part is integrated into SharePoint Portal Server-based Digital Dashboard technology, as well as the document management, search, and indexing technology in the product. K-Map also enables drag and drop functionality from Microsoft Outlook® and other information sources. The Correlate K-Map Web Part is available as part of the Digital Dashboard Resource Kit 3.0 and the online Web Part Gallery, as well as on the Correlate Technologies Web site.
Correlate Technologies Inc.
601 Gateway Boulevard, Suite 600
South San Francisco, CA 94080
650-827-8888
https://www.correlate.com/sharepoint
Copy Your Visual Basic Projects
Kinook Software Inc. has released CopyWiz 1.0, which provides the ability to easily copy and rename existing projects in Microsoft Visual C++® and Visual Basic®. CopyWiz allows you to rename an existing Microsoft Visual Basic or Visual C++ project, or copy it to use as the basis for a new project. You can also create a template project on which you can base new projects (without having to keep the template in sync with the latest code changes), and fix up directories and file names in your projects.
CopyWiz also includes path analysis capabilities to change absolute paths to their correct relative paths and to update relative paths to their minimal required value. Your projects will open and build without errors on all developers' computers and on the build box. This can be used to correct existing projects and to properly update all paths when copying projects.
CopyWiz runs on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT®, Windows 2000, Windows Me, and Windows XP.
Kinook Software Inc.
P.O. Box 63413
Colorado Springs, CO 80962
719-599-0442
https://www.kinook.com
.gif) Cape Clear Software Inc. is beta testing its CapeStudio Web Services development tool, planning to ship the product in Fall 2001. CapeStudio is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool that enables software developers to graphically build and deploy Web Services. The program automatically generates code for Visual Basic or the Java language from Web Services Description Language (WSDL) files, which describe the interfaces to Web Services.
CapeStudio also provides a graphical environment for defining bidirectional transformations between XML documents and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messages. CapeStudio is a standalone Web Services development environment that works with any Web Services platform that adheres to the XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI industry standards.
Cape Clear Software Inc.
2121 North California Boulevard,
Suite 290
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
866-227-3226, 925-974-3311
https://www.capeclear.com
Add a Map Server to Your Site
.gif) Blue Marble Geographics is providing BeyondGeo, a hosted map server, which allows you to publish an interactive, database-driven map directly within your Web site. Web visitors won't have to deal with plug-ins or special software downloads required to view the maps from a browser. BeyondGeo's database-driven architecture allows map features to link directly to a corresponding database and display detailed information on that feature, which may include audio and video files.
Using a map composer, users select from over 50 map layers (streets, water, landmarks, census data, and so on) to use separately or in combination with their own maps. Users can pan, zoom, navigate, and search anywhere within the map. BeyondGeo handles traditional dbase IV and Microsoft Excel files and supports most mapping files in their native format, such as ESRI's ArcView, MapInfo, AutoCAD, MrSID, ECW, and others.
Blue Marble Geographics
261 Water Street
Gardiner, ME 04345
800-616-2725, 207-582-6747
https://www.beyondgeo.com
Clearer Views of Hex Dumps
.gif) HexSpecs, recently introduced by DependTech, is a developer tool that eases the process of viewing and editing data files. Instead of having to wade through screens of hex dump data, HexSpecs allows a programmer to use the C/C++ structures—either existing or newly created—to format data. Paste your existing structures into HexSpecs and press a button.
The program supports standard C/C++ structure definitions and implements customer language enhancements for added functionality. You can create data-sensitive structures, using switch statements, that can read data of variable length and type. Structure members can be created that calculate their own size. The byte range of the current structure and data member is always highlighted, so you'll know where you are in the file.
HexSpecs supports 64-bit integers, all endian formats (big, little, 2143, and 3142), and multiple member boundary values. You can edit values in decimal, hexadecimal, binary, and ASCII.
DependTech
10546 Greensprings Drive
Tampa, FL 33626
813-926-7077
https://www.dependtech.com
Mirror Your Site on CD/DVD
.gif) dtSearch Corp. recently announced the beta release of dtSearch Publish, a solution for mirroring a Web site (or publishing a new document collection) on CD, DVD, or similar media. dtSearch Publish works through a setup wizard that installs dtSearch Web on CD/DVD.
dtSearch Web and other dtSearch products offer indexed searching of large document collections, including database, word processor, spreadsheet, ZIP, XML, and other file types. Users can access more than two dozen full-text search options, and all products display retrieved files with highlighted hits, along with (for HTML and PDF) embedded images and links.
For the user, accessing the resulting CD/DVD containing dtSearch Web and the document set involves inserting the CD/DVD into a drive. The only software that the user needs to access the CD/DVD is a Web browser. The installation process itself installs nothing on the user's hard drive. When the user does a search, the user's browser sends a request to the CD/DVD just like any other Web server.
The dtSearch Engine includes sample source code to dtSearch Web (ASP and ISAPI versions), and to dtSearch Publish. The dtSearch Engine has multithreaded operation for use with ASP and Microsoft .NET, and a function-call and COM interface, with sample code in C++, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, and Java/JNI.
The dtSearch Engine also includes sample code to an ADO application for SQL and other COM data sources, and search results serialization as an XML or URL-encoded stream. For enterprise use, dtSearch products include such features as FindPlus distributed searching, concurrent indexing and searching (with a shared network option package), and Unicode support.
dtSearch Corp.
6852 Tulip Hill Terrace
Bethesda, MD 20816
800-483-4637, 301-263-0731
https://www.dtsearch.com
Two More Freebies
.gif) Cobb Information Systems Inc. announced the release of two new freeware applications for programmers. One program, Version Launcher, ensures that users will always have the latest version of a Microsoft Access application on their computer. The other program, SQL Server™ Data Dictionary Wizard, generates an HTML report with schema details for any Microsoft SQL Server database.
Version Launcher will keep the local version of the Microsoft Access MDB on the client's machine up to date. This is done by comparing a table in the MDB on the client to the same table in a master MDB on the server. If the versions are different, the master MDB from the server is copied down to the local machine and the database is opened. If the versions are the same, the download portion is skipped and the database opens normally.
In order for Version Launcher to work, you need either Microsoft Access 97 or Microsoft Access 2000, or the equivalent runtime components installed on the client computer.
SQL Server Data Dictionary Wizard is a tool for extracting schema information from a Microsoft SQL Server database. The wizard generates an HTML report that includes server information, database information, table information, index listings, triggers, and security information. The client tools for either Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or Microsoft SQL Server 2000 must be installed on your machine for the application to work.
Cobb Information Systems Inc.
925B South Capital of Texas Highway,
Suite 100
Austin, TX 78746
512-306-8333
https://www.cobbsystems.com
Design Virtual Keyboards
.gif) MountFocus Information Systems LLC has released version 2.1 of the MountFocus Keyboard Designer, a program for Windows 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 that allows users to design completely customizable virtual keyboards. Runtime keyboards designed with the MountFocus Keyboard Designer can be used with any Windows-based app.
Virtual keyboards are used in a variety of applications, including ATM machines, PCs for disabled users, and clickable onscreen shortcuts for your favorite programs.
The customized keyboards can be any size or color, and can display any font or bitmap graphic. Program the keys to execute single or multiple keystrokes, or set up multiple pages to allow the keyboard to change in function and appearance.
MountFocus Information Systems LLC
3511 Silverside Road, Suite 105
Wilmington, DE 19810
253-399-4600
https://www.virtual-keyboard.com
Send your New Stuff to Theresa at newstuff@microsoft.com. |
Theresa W. Carey is a freelance writer who lives in California. Her byline has appeared in Barron's and PC World.
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From the October 2001 issue of MSDN Magazine. |
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