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| Resources for Your Developer Toolbox |
| Theresa W. Carey |
Automate FTP Uploads/Downloads
.gif) Dart Communications has announced the release of the PowerTCP FTP Tool 1.6, which includes a Microsoft® .NET wrapper control written in C# that will allow the COM component to be used in the .NET Framework. Users of this tool can automate uploads and downloads to or from any FTP server using Windows NT® Task Scheduler. Developers can build an application for transfer of enterprise data, integrating a graphic display of the downloaded files. Use the FTP tool with ASP to transfer files to and from your FTP server.
To assist with the transition, Dart has included eight new Visual Basic .NET samples in this version. These samples will show developers how to use the wrapper for interoperability in the .NET Framework. Dart has also included .NET documentation, providing you with an overview of the .NET Framework and an explanation of .NET interoperability.
Dart Communications
111 Dart Circle
Rome, NY 13441
315-339-8040
https://www.dart.com
Protect Network Password Security
.gif) Advanced NT Security Explorer (ANTExp) is a password security test tool published by ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. that's designed to allow Windows NT, Windows® 2000, and Windows XP-based systems administrators to identify and close security holes in their networks. Password hacking is one of the most critical network security threats. Too often, users like to use simple and easy-to-remember passwords such as repeating characters, simple words, and names. In addition, some network administrators fail to purge terminated employees from the system, force people to change passwords often, or lock out users after a number of failed attempts.
Advanced NT Security Explorer helps secure networks by executing an audit of account passwords, and exposing insecure account passwords. An administrator can also use it to recover any lost password and access a user's Windows account. Advanced NT Security Explorer works by analyzing user password hashes and recovering plain-text passwords. If it is possible to recover the password within a reasonable time, the password is considered insecure. This tool can also access a computer's hard drive from other computers in the network and attempt to hack into it for passwords.
ElcomSoft Co. Ltd.
2-171 Generala Antonova Street
Moscow 117279, Russia
+7 095-216-7937
https://www.elcomsoft.com/antexp.html
Get to the Root of App Failures
.gif) OC Systems Inc. is shipping the Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Windows XP-based versions of RootCause, a software package that helps find the cause of application failures faster. In an approach similar to that used by airplane flight recorders, RootCause continually records data about a program's execution as it runs. When a problem or failure occurs, the information that has been collected is transmitted to support staff via e-mail or FTP. Developers or support engineers can read this "flight log," step through the operations that led up to the problem, and identify the root cause often from a single occurrence.
RootCause works on the executable at runtime. No changes are made to the source code or to any application files on disk, and there is no need to recompile or re-link the application. RootCause can be used on applications or components for which source code is not available, so it can diagnose Web applications and other complex systems that include components from a variety of sources.
The program is designed to be nonintrusive, adding little overhead to the system that is being traced. The user defines what is traced, controlling the impact on performance. Additionally, if only one user is having problems, it is possible to trace just that particular user's execution, leaving everyone else unaffected. RootCause is built on top of Aprobe, OC Systems' development tool. Traces can be conditional, contingent upon certain events, or data-dependent.
OC Systems Inc.
9990 Lee Highway, Suite 270
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-359-8160
https://www.ocsystems.com
Edit Unix-hosted Files in Windows
.gif) Vital Inc., publisher of the CRiSP editor, recently announced the availability of FTP-Editing, which allows the user to edit files located on Unix servers while working on Windows-based workstations. FTP-Editing is an alternative to using X-Server products on Windows-based clients, or terminal-based editing using telnet or remote login. With FTP-Editing, you can continue to use the native Windows-based CriSP interface, while editing files on Unix hosts. Within FTP-Editing, CRiSP will download the file to the local Windows-based workstation and save the file back on the Unix server with the correct format.
FTP-Editing is useful for editing files over slow modem connections. Editing is performed locally, so there is no perceived sluggishness of a slow modem line. FTP-Editing allows users to continue to edit the file locally even if the network connection is down, uploading the edited files when the connection resumes. Through CriSP, backups are saved locally, so in case of an error, users can compare their changes, or look at the files in the backup area. CRiSP's FTP-Editing supports operation through firewalls, proxy servers, and provides for automatic logging in and quick site selection.
Vital Inc.
5136 Village Creek Drive
Plano, TX 75093
972-818-2424
https://www.vital.com
Versatile Text Editor
.gif) AnvaSoft Inc. has released DailyEdit v2.1 for Windows, a text editor that combines extensive configurability, a consistent and logical interface, and speedy operation. DailyEdit features automatic and customizable color syntax highlighting, with source code for popular programming languages such as HTML, PHP, CSS, ASP, Perl, C/C++, Pascal, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic®, VBScript, Assembler, Clipper, Informix, Fortran, Paradox, Python, Tk/tcl, Winbatch, and Cobol. You can modify the reserved words and syntax, allowing DailyEdit to display any language in any combination of colors and font styles, or you can create your own syntax file to support other programming languages.
The Internet features of DailyEdit let you upload local files to your FTP server or edit remote files directly, highlight URLs and e-mail addresses, and activate them with a single click. You can also open a document from the Internet for editing and send e-mail directly from DailyEdit, since it supports SMTP and MAPI software.
AnvaSoft Inc.
Barnaul, Lenina 28-28
65056, Russia
+7 (3852) 232312
https://www.anvasoft.com
.gif) NetAcquire Corporation is shipping the NetAcquire FPGA network peripheral, which accepts digital or serial input/output signals in almost any format, and publishes this data to any Ethernet network. The key interface component of the system is a 100,000-gate Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). During system operation, onboard NetAcquire software downloads a digital hardware design to the FPGA to implement reconfigurable real-world interfaces. Hardware reconfiguration can occur at any time from a network-connected computer or over the Internet. Different downloadable hardware designs implement a wide array of digital interfaces such as programmable pulse and pattern generators, specialized serial input/output interfaces, frequency counters and event detectors, and application-specific protocol processing.
NetAcquire FPGA supports 48 TTL signals or 24 RS-485 differential signal pairs for input/output interfacing. In addition, 64Kx16 of local static RAM is available to emulate FIFOs, store parameters, or buffer data. An onboard clock synthesizer provides programmable phase-locked-loop (PLL) clocks for use in logic designs.
Once a hardware design is configured, the NetAcquire FPGA acts as a data communications gateway, and transfers FPGA data to network-connected client computers. Network client computers can use a Web browser to query the NetAcquire FPGA and display input/output data. NetAcquire FPGA has particular application in the areas of satellite communication, wide-area networks, high-speed data collection, and digital imaging.
NetAcquire Corporation
733 7 Avenue
Kirkland, WA 98033
888-675-1122, 425-576-0822
https://www.netacquire.com
The Bookshelf
ADO: ActiveX Data Objects, by Jason T. Roff (O'Reilly, 2001), provides information on ADO through version 2.6, including chapters dedicated to the Connection, Recordset, Field, Command objects, the Properties collection, and a detailed reference listing every ADO object, method, property, and event. The book also contains chapters on ADO architecture, data shaping, the ADO event model, and an appendix containing enumeration tables used by ADO objects and collections. Chapter 3, "Accessing ADO with Various Languages," can be read online at https://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ado/chapter/ch03.html.
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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