______ _ __ __ / ____/___ ____ ___ ____ __ __/ | / /___ / /____ _____ / / / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ / / / |/ / __ \/ __/ _ \/ ___/ / /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /| / /_/ / /_/ __(__ ) \____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\__,_/_/ |_/\____/\__/\___/____/ /_/ This Week's Contents: My Notes: 1) Issue #50 Blues . . . Columnists' Corner: 1) Jeff Bushman is Back . . . News: 1) Novell Offers Free GroupWise 5 and NetWare 4.11 Upgrades! 2) Chrysler Chooses Netscape! Reviews: 1) Procomm Plus 3.0 Reviewed By: Paul Baker 2) Book: The Java Application Programming Interface Reviewed By: Doug Reed Associate Editor 3) CGI*Star Reviewed By: Judy Litt, Graphics Editor 4) Book: The Java Programming Language Reviewed By: Doug Reed, Associate Editor Web Sites: 1) Free EarthTime Software 2) CareerSite Helping People Win Jobs Interview: 1) Doug's Notes on Writing for Us! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 18, 1996 |CompuNotes is a weekly publication available Issue: 50 |through email and many fine on-line networks. ------------------------|We cover the IBM computing world with CompuNotes is published |software/hardware reviews, news, hot web B440, |sites, great columns and interviews. We also 1315 Woodgate Drive |give away one software package a week to a St. Louis, MO 63122 |lucky winner for just reading our fine (314) 909-1662 voice |publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we (314) 909-1662 fax |are here to bring you the way it is! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Backroom Workers: |We are always looking for Patrick Grote, Managing Editor |people to write us with |honest, constructive Doug Reed, Asst. Editor / Writer Liaison |feedback! We need to hear |from you! Please take the Judy Litt, Graphics Editor/Web Master |time to send us your |opinions, comments and ------------------------------------------|criticisms. Some of our I am looking for a collection of shareware|better features have reviews I put out in the 87-88 timeframe |actually come from our under my handle of NEVER BEFORE. I think |readership! Thanks! they started as NB*.ZIP. Can you look |--------------------------- on your local BBS? THANKS! | Go St. Louis Rams! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Every issue of CompuNotes ever published can be found at the following ftp site: ftp://ftp.uu.net:/published/compunotes. Thanks to UUNET! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Web Site is at http://users.aol.com/CompNote/ Please Add Our Link to Your Homepage! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe, send a message to notes@inlink.com with the command subscribe compunotes in the subject. To unsubscribe, send a message to notes@inlink.com with the command unsubscribe compunotes in the subject. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SYSOPS READ HERE! Wanting to make CompuNotes available on as many BBS as possible, we can't afford to call everyone's BBS every week. What we would like to do is send those interested sysops a UUENCODED version for posting on their BBS. If you can volunteer to receive the UUENCODED version, turn it into a ZIP and upload it to your BBS, we'll list you in our sysops directory. If you are interested, fill out the following lines and send them back to notes@inlink.com with SYSOPS. We'll list your BBS in our SYSOPS LIST which will be included in each version of CompuNotes we ship out. If you have a WWW link we'll throw that up on our page. BBS NAME: BBS SYSOP: BBS NUMBER: URL: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick's News Being The Publisher and Managing Editor Has Its Perks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSUE #50 Blues . . . | ----------------------- This issue has been one of the more labor intensive to produce. I basically took all the DOS based things I do to the paper and made them Windows based. This means no more DOS text editor, no more DOS name sorter and no more DOS parser. Egads! I went through three 32 bit text editors before finally coming back to Gator Edit, a 16 bit text editor. With the switch in editors comes a new format, etc. Let me know if you get split lines, etc. I have Gator in word wrap without CR/LF at the ends of the lines. I was also bummed out about the failure to secure the person for the interview we wanted. We are still trying and have been told by his people that we are on the list. I'll start the regular interviews up again in the next issue. I'm about to get ready to send everyone a poll by email. I downloaded some nifty software that lets us conduct polls via email without having to tally the results by hand. We're going to try this. This poll is just our way of trying to see if we are satisfying the needs of our readers. When you receive this, please take a few minutes and fill it out. It can only benefit you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Columnists' Corner - We bring you a different person each week! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ROYAL FLUSH by Jeff Bushman Spell Check's Severe Limitations Reading a recent issue reminded me of one of my "pet peeves," i.e., the limitations of computer spell checkers. Before getting specific, I should mention that everywhere I've worked over the years, in 9 to 5 "straight jobs" since I first became a published writer, I've become the ad hoc editor for everyone's written work. People I work with/for bring their letters, memos, etc., to me for review. It's flattering but somewhat frustrating for someone who has an affection for the language, to see what some others do with/to it. Not least among the problems is that many people rely on their word processing program's spell checker, without reference to the appropriate use of specific words that the spell checker won't cite for correction. Which brings us to our first example. cite/site/sight -- I sited several instances; on these cites; I went back to the work sight -- I saw each of these usages recently. Clearly (I hope), each is wrong, but a spell checker won't spot them. Simply put, a spell checker spots only text strings which have not previously been entered on its list of words, whether the spelling is correct or not. Hence certain correct spellings will be cited (like the way I snuck that in?) as possible misspellings, while other words which are incorrectly used, will be missed. Because each of the words -- cite, site, and sight -- are words, the spell check utility will pass over them. Alternatively, the use of the a word like "therefor" which doesn't have an "e" following the final "r" will be spotted as a possible misspelling (the word is often used in legal documents, e.g., "his car collided with that of the Plaintiff and his negligence was the reason therefor"). In essence, what we probably need is a "usage checker." to/two/too -- I thought that virtually everyone who hadn't slept through elementary school had learned the difference among these three words. My reading of documents prepared by workmates, and communication on the internet, suggest a contrary conclusion. I went to the store. John did too. We bought two cases of beer and got blitzed. The number of usages of "to" in place of "too" are too numerous to have counted. In addition to having read too many times of two people having gotten "to" wet, I have seen vastly more than two examples of "too" being used where "to" would do. We've probably spent too much time on this, no? it's/its -- In addition to other things I do, I am a "non-traditional" (read "oldfart") student at a community college, where I wrote for the college newspaper. A dear friend will be Editor-in-Chief next semester. He's extremely bright and gifted. But I can't seem to teach him what the difference is between "it's" and "its." As everyone who's reading this is sure to know, unlike most possessive pronouns, "its" doesn't take an apostrophe. "The computer is taking its own sweet time to run through the database," shows the proper use. It's about time everyone understood that "it's" is used only as a contraction of either "it is" or "it has," e.g., "it's about time" or, "it's come to our attention." Again, in the event it needs to be mentioned, a spell checker won't notice the error. But we all will, won't we? different from/different than -- This one's a little different, for a couple of reasons, but it's the same as the other errors noted, since it won't get caught. "Than" is used in what the English profs (not "prof's" -- see next paragraph) refer to as a comparative, e.g., more than, less than, and fewer than. "Different" is not necessarily greater, more, less, or fewer. It's different. Thus, it requires a different word to follow it. Nothing is "different than" anything else. It is different FROM it. It is possible, at least in "this language" for something to be "more different than" something else, e.g., "John is 'different' from the rest of us, but Gertrude is 'more different' than John." Otherwise, "different than" is always wrong, though its use as a common phrase is becoming so pandemic, it will soon be judged as correct. apostrophes in plurals -- Besides seeing this stupidity in letters, e-mail messages, etc. (I confess to having done it, too), you'll even see it on people's houses, e.g., "The Johnson's." Again, no spell checker will pick that up. Something should. It's wrong. The apostrophe was never intended to show a plural. Earlier we used a common incorrect usage, i.e., "English prof's." That's wrong, unless, we were talking about something belonging to a specific English prof (professor). Likewise, unless the house sign is intended to demonstrate that it belongs to the Johnson (whatever the hell that means), it's incorrect, although the error may be different. In that case, it could either mean that "the Johnsons" live there (in which case there should be no apostrophe), or it could mean that the home belongs to the Johnsons, in which case the apostrophe isn't wrong, but misplaced. In the latter instance, the sign should say, "The Johnsons'" since it belongs to all members of the family (especially, presumably in community property states, but that discussion is for another type of publication). better on then in front of -- Yes, I actually saw that on the same evening in which this is written. The writer, who appeared from her other writing to be quite bright, said that with regard to a child and a tractor, it would be better if the child were on the tractor "then" in front of it. She wasn't talking about a time sequence, e.g., first the child should be on the tractor, then in front of it, but was comparing the wisdom of a parent carrying a child on the tractor seat, with the intelligence of placing a child in front of a moving tractor. Simply put, she should have used "than" rather than then. Then again, maybe this is too much ado about too little. their/they're/there -- There, there, I used to tell my son when he hurt himself in outdoor play. His hurt would go away before long. The debasement of the language, however, seems to stay with us for far too long. The world's best spelling program (assuming we could all agree on what that might be) will not see (if you'll forgive the anthropomorphizing) that the writer has made an error when using the wrong homonym (there's a word that cries out for a joke, but we live in enlightened times). There is little doubt that two individuals have to decide on their priorities before they're going to decide how to spend their money. Though the previous sentence is as boring as could be imagined (as many will find this entire diatribe), it is functionally correct. "Their" is always possessive (in the event it needs to be added, and it probably doesn't, "theirs" doesn't take an apostrophe any more than does the possessive "its"). "They're" is always the contraction for "they are," and "there" is used in all other cases. In short (I know, it's too late for that), the human mind is a more capable computer than the best one on the market, when it comes to use of language, if that mind is trained. If that mind isn't trained, the best computer will be of little use -- at least as respects language. While all of this may seem of trivial concern, that's not the case. As with money during the Weimar Republic period in Germany, that time which saw shopping carts of paper money being used to purchase a loaf of bread, language can also be debased. It ought not happen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS OF THE WEEK| This section is dedicated to verified news . . . All News (C)opyright Respective Owner - Will Only Reprint ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Novell Offers Free GroupWise and NetWare Upgrades!| --------------------------------------------------- OREM, Utah, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ - Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) today announced upgrade programs to provide GroupWise, SoftSolutions and MHS customers with free upgrades to GroupWise 5; and NetWare 4.1 customers with free upgrades to NetWare 4.11, formerly known as Green River. Both GroupWise 5 and NetWare 4.11 are currently in open beta. The GroupWise 5 upgrade promotion began August 1, 1996, and will end 30 days after GroupWise 5 ships. This promotion is open to all GroupWise, SoftSolutions and MHS customers. Applications for free GroupWise upgrades must be submitted by January 31, 1997. The NetWare 4.11 upgrade promotion starts August 15, 1996, and will continue for 30 days after NetWare 4.11 ships in the fall of 1996. The NetWare promotion is open to all customers who purchase NetWare 4.1 within that time period. The deadline for submitting applications for free NetWare upgrades will be 60 days after 4.11 ships. "With this promotion, Novell is rewarding customers who take advantage of our technology now," said Steve Markman, executive vice president and general manager, Novell's Products Group. "Customers who need our technology today can buy with the assurance that they are guaranteed a migration path to the next generation of technology, as well as the most competitive pricing possible." GroupWise 5, Novell's premier intranet application, is an expanded E-mail system that is the first in the industry to include full document management capabilities as part of a new Universal Mail Box. GroupWise 5 helps companies leverage their corporate network investments by providing an instant collaborative solution for the corporate intranet. Building on its predecessor, GroupWise 4.1, GroupWise 5 seamlessly integrates calendaring/scheduling, task management, shared folders, conferencing, workflow and Internet access into a single Universal Mail Box. Under the terms of the GroupWise upgrade program, users who purchase new GroupWise 4.1 licenses or GroupWise 4.1 upgrade licenses between now and 30 days after GroupWise 5 ships may receive an equal number of GroupWise 5 licenses at no additional cost (excluding shipping, handling and applicable tax). All claims must be submitted no later than January 31, 1997. Users who have or will purchase SoftSolutions 4.x prior to December 31, 1996, are also eligible for a free upgrade to GroupWise 5. SoftSolutions 3.1a customers have two upgrade paths available to them: they may either purchase SoftSolutions 4.1 upgrade licenses or they may purchase GroupWise 5 licenses at the upgrade price. SoftSolutions, Novell's document management software, works independently of GroupWise 4.1. With the shipment of GroupWise 5, however, Novell is strategically integrating document management features and functions into GroupWise. Users of the leading MHS-based applications are currently eligible for reduced upgrade pricing from MHS to GroupWise 4.1. MHS customers who upgrade to GroupWise 4.1 during the GroupWise 5 free upgrade window may submit claims until January 31, 1997 to receive free upgrades to GroupWise 5. The message handling capabilities in GroupWise 5 are the culmination of a multi-year effort to combine the openness of MHS with the robust functionality of the GroupWise messaging system into a single messaging standard. "Novell is committed to helping SoftSolutions and MHS users migrate to GroupWise 5 through aggressive pricing and extensive migration support," said Stewart Nelson, vice president and general manager, Novell's GroupWare Division. "This promotion is designed to encourage these users to move now so that they can migrate to GroupWise 5 with relative ease when the product ships." NetWare 4.11 is the next version of Novell's market-leading network operating system (NOS), which features Novell's high- performance NetWare Web Server 2.5 and other intranet and Internet technologies to provide organizations with a complete intranet solution. "NetWare 4.11 provides a proven platform for comprehensive network, intranet and Internet solutions," said William Donahoo, senior director, product marketing for Novell. "This free upgrade allows customers to leverage existing network investments while taking advantage of new advances in technology." Under the terms of the NetWare upgrade program, users who purchase NetWare 4.1 between August 15, 1996, and 30 days after NetWare 4.11 ships will be eligible to apply for the free upgrade. The deadline for applying for free upgrades will be 60 days after NetWare 4.11 ships in the fall. A claim for the free upgrade will require a copy of the reseller invoice and a copy of the NetWare 4.1 license diskette as proof of a qualifying purchase. More specific details will be made public by the NetWare 4.11 ship date this fall. Both GroupWise and NetWare provide key migration utilities to make upgrades to the new products easier. For upgrades from GroupWise 4.1, GroupWise 5 offers a utility that facilitates the moving of users to Novell Directory Services (NDS), which provides the graphical administration of GroupWise 5 through NWAdministrator (NWAdmin). The migration utility allows the GroupWise administrator to migrate back-end services, post offices and users separately. In addition, the utility allows GroupWise 4.1 and 5 to run concurrently. These features allow companies to upgrade gradually, making the migration transparent to users. SoftSolutions 4.1 users may leverage a data migration utility, which will be included in GroupWise 5, that allow them to move their datasets to GroupWise 5 libraries. Users running SoftSolutions 3.1a will receive a separate set of conversion utilities with GroupWise 5 that allow them to convert their datasets to SoftSolutions 4.1 and then use the data migration utility to convert to GroupWise 5. Novell has provided MHS users with the ability to link MHS and GroupWise 5 in the same environment, allowing companies to migrate gradually with minimal disruption to users. Directory migration procedures allow administrators to easily transfer directory information from MHS to GroupWise 5, and a message migration utility supports an easy transfer of messages from popular MHS applications to GroupWise 5. NetWare 4.11 offers several new features designed to streamline the installation process, including integrated SMP (Symmetric Multi- Processing) and IP (Internetworking Protocol) set-up options, and hardware auto-detection capabilities, which identify network cards in a server and automatically install the correct LAN drivers. In addition, the NetWare 4.11 version of NWAdmin offers two new modeling and migration utilities to help administrators upgrade NetWare 2 or NetWare 3 servers by automatically migrating modeled bindery information to existing NetWare 4 directory trees. --------------------------- Chrysler Chooses Netscape!| --------------------------- MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ - Netscape Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: NSCP) today announced that Chrysler Corporation (NYSE: C), a multi-billion dollar U.S. based automobile manufacturer, has licensed over 6,000 copies of Netscape SuiteSpot(TM) server software and purchased a worldwide license for Netscape Navigator(TM) software. Chrysler plans to use Netscape SuiteSpot as a high-performance platform for creating, managing, and intelligently distributing information and live, online applications and plans to use Netscape Navigator software as its universal Internet client. Chrysler will utilize Netscape Internet software for both its corporate Intranet and other strategic business initiatives. "We chose to work with Netscape because of its open technology, its partnerships with other major vendors and access to Netscape's worldwide professional services organization's ability to provide architecture, design, implementation and deployment consulting," said Sue Unger, executive director of information services at Chrysler Corporation. "Chrysler, as a leader and innovator in the automotive industry, is turning to Netscape to provide products based on the open standards of the Internet for its corporate Intranet," said Mike Homer, senior vice president of marketing at Netscape. "For a fraction of the cost and time of proprietary systems, Netscape client and server software deliver powerful communications and collaboration capabilities." Chrysler's corporate Intranet represents a new effort in the company. Chrysler's full-service Intranet is intended to provide four major user services: information sharing and management, communication and collaboration, navigation and application access. Netscape SuiteSpot servers provide four major Intranet network services core to the smooth running and administration of a corporate Intranet: directory, replication encryption and management services. Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of open software for linking people and information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The company offers a full line of clients, servers, development tools and commercial applications to create a complete platform for next-generation, live online applications. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol "NSCP," Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- REVIEWS OF THE WEEK | Interesting software/hardware you may need . . . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Procomm Plus 3.0 Reviewed By: Paul Baker ---------------------------------------------------------------------- After getting along fairly well for five years with a simple DOS shareware communications package, I'm blown away by what's available in a mature Windows communications package like PROCOMM PLUS 3.0. It hasn't been that long ago since PROCOMM was itself a modest shareware program. But how things have changed. There's so much here--a variety of data, fax and Internet applications--that PROCOMM PLUS 3.0 really lives up to its billing as an integrated package. Do you want a Web browser? access to Telnet, FTP, gopher, and Usenet news systems? It's all here. With PROCOMM PLUS, you can send or receive Windows documents as a fax, using MS-Word, WordPerfect, and AmiPro script files; emulate 36 video- display terminals, link up with mini and mainframe systems, BBS and information networks like CompuServe; use 11 file transfer protocols; use the ASPECT programming language to automate on-line sessions; and run a single-line BBS. Long known as a solid communications tool, PROCOMM is noteworthy also for its high-quality documentation, both printed and online. The built-in tutorials help get you going and serve as helpful refresher courses. Minimum system requirements are a 386 CPU, Windows 3.1, 35 MB hard disk space for full installation; 8 MB RAM recommended, 4 MB minimum; VGA video, mouse, and modem. The interface: The various modules making up PROCOMM PLUS share some common user interface elements, including a program control area and pull-down menus. The "Action Bar," a customizable row of icons, gives quick access to each module's most commonly used menu functions (for example, open a directory, send/receive/capture a file, send/answer a fax, run a log on script, and view .GIF files while downloading). A status line displays messages and program information, including the results of a connection attempt of a file transfer. The modules: The Terminal Window module provides terminal emulation and file transfer operations. It can also access network resources for a connection, either through an asynchronous communication server or through Telnet. The Terminal Window lets you send and receive faxes, or switch directly into one of the Internet communication modules. Its "scroll back buffer" lets you "play back" and copy information that has scrolled off the display; a very handy tool indeed. * The Web Browser Window handles WWW addresses. You can start the Web Browser window as a Windows desktop application, by switching to it from within PROCOMM PLUS, or by selecting a WWW address from PROCOMM's Connection Directory, which stores connection information for all of the sites and systems you access. You can also create single entries that contain multiple classes or connection types, whether BBS or host systems, voice or fax numbers, Telnet connections or Internet Web sites, mail address or news groups. You can use your own TCP/IP stack or the stack that's built in, to connect to your service provider, log in, and create a SLIP or PPP connection to the Internet. * The Fax Status Window sends and receive Group III fax transmissions, and monitors fax operations and modem activity. You can schedule faxes to be sent any time, either in the background or in the foreground. You can even create your own custom cover sheets. With the Fax Viewer's built-in Optical character recognition engine, you can process the image of a fax you've received, and review and edit the text. Other features, briefly, include the Internet Mail Client Window, which connects you to Internet mail; the News Reader Window, which provides access to Internet news groups; and the FTP Client Window, which connects you with Internet FTP servers. As if this weren't enough, PROCOMM PLUS includes several tools: * the ASPECT editor and script compiler automate your BBS log on and logoff procedures (boy, does this save keystrokes), fax operations, file transfers, and packet mode transfers. * the GIF Viewer can display .GIF files during download and can convert .GIF files into bitmap (.BMP) images. * the Scheduler automatically runs DOS and Windows application at a date and time you specify. * the .QWK Mail viewer displays and replies to BBS messages and E-mail. * with the Caller Information Editor you can create lists of Caller IDs to grant or deny access to your computer, and to specify how PROCOMM PLUS should respond when answering an incoming call from a particular Caller ID. * 40 "Meta Keys" can be set to send a text string, run an ASPECT script, initiate a selection from the Terminal Window's menus, transmit a special terminal command, or execute a Windows or DOS application. * In case you need to add or modify certain emulation sequences to handle special conditions on the host system, the Keyboard Editor provides three dozen terminal emulations, with two sets of keyboard mappings for each. * If you're connecting to a system using foreign language characters, the Translate Table editor allows you to substitute one character value for another, both in receiving and sending data. PROCOMM PLUS script applications include CISMgr, an offline interface for the CompuServe Information Service; "Host," which converts your PC into a "BBS" that others can call to transfer files, exchange messages, or request faxes; "Log on," an automatic connection script generator for a variety of on-line services or systems; "MCIMgr," an off-line interface for the MCI mail system; and WinLink, a remote file transfer and disk management utility script. This is a rich and robust communications package offering many, many tools, and I doubt that any user will exhaust its resources. PROCOMM PLUS 3.0 Datastorm P.O. Box 1471 Columbia, MO 65205 Internet: BBS: 573-875-0503 Datafax: 800-371-4566 Business office voice: 573-875-0530 Business office FAX: 573-499-1552 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: The Java Application Programming Interface, Vols 1 & 2 Reviewed By: Doug Reed ---------------------------------------------------------------------- These two volumes, written by the employees at Sun Microsystems responsible for creating and enhancing Java, are part of "The Java Series" being published by Addison Wesley. These two volumes are probably the most important of any in the series; they explain and define the various elements of the API packages that are built into Java. Considering that these books are written by the people who created Java, it is no overstatement to say that these two volumes will become the bible for those serious about programming in Java. Both volumes are reference materials only; if you are looking to learn Java, look elsewhere. These books are only for those already knowledge about at least some aspects of Java programming, as well as object- oriented programming in general. Volume 1 covers the "Core" packages of the API, while volume 2 covers the packages that support Java applets and the Abstract Windowing Toolkit. Once you have mastered the basics of Java programming, everything you will ever need to look up is in these two books. Both books are well written as reference materials go, with the writing concise while the subject material is comprehensively covered. A package, for those unfamiliar with Java, is a collection of related classes and interfaces that you can call from your Java program to implement some function, perform some calculation, or interact with the program's user (packages are much like the class libraries in C/C++). It quickly becomes obvious that the authors have made a very serious attempt to organize and present the various elements of a particular package. Classes are generally presented first, followed by interfaces, exceptions, and finally errors. An example from the first volume on the class Throwable: "Class Throwable public class java.lang.Throwable (this shows how to call the class, as well as the where to find it) extends java.lang.Object (Throwable is a subclass of the Object class) { // Constructors public Throwable(); public Throwable(String message); // Methods public Throwable fillInStackTrace(); public String getMessage(); public void printStackTrace(); public void printStackTrace(PrintStream s); public String toString(); } The Throwable class is the superclass of all errors and exceptions in the Java language. Only objects that are instances of this class..." I think you can gather the general idea of how the information is presented in these books from this blurb. The first volume covers the Core packages that are essential to creating a Java application, whether it be an applet for the World Wide Web or a full-blown application for your computer network. After a short introduction to the API in the preface, the first volume begins with a series of very pretty pictures designed to show the heirarchy of all the various classes in the Java API. These diagrams are nicely done and well laid out; it should be relative obvious to determine class heirarchy in the various packages, as long as you know where to start. Following the heirarchy diagrams is the java.lang package, which provides the classes and interfaces that are the very core of Java. Defined in the java.lang package are such basics as the Object class, as well as the various data types. Also included in java.lang is the exceptions and errors that can be thrown by the Java Virtual Machine. Following java.lang is java.io, which provides the various tools used to read and write data (input/output, hence java.io). Various utility classes are 'lumped' together in java.util, including classes that provide generic data structures and date utilities. Finally, volume 1 concludes with java.net, which covers the various networking classes and interfaces, such as classes that implement a socket connection or represent an Internet address. Volume 1 may cover the blood and guts of the Java API, but volume 2 covers the skin as well as the eyes, ears, and mouth of Java. Essentially, the second volume covers all the classes and interfaces of the java.awt package. AWT stands for the abstract windowing toolkit, which basically means the elements needed to create a graphical user interface for a java application, such as the buttons, menus, windows, etc... In addition, the java.awt package contains two other packages, java.awt.image and java.awt.peer. The java.awt.image package is composed of classes for image processing, including image creation and manipulation. The java.awt.peer package contains those elements necessary to connect the AWT to the window system-specific components. The last part of Volume 2 defines the java.applet package, which is used for creating Java applets that will run on Java-enabled Web browsers. As outlined, these books are the comprehensive reference to the Java packages that comprise the Application Programming Interface. As I mentioned above, this makes these volumes extremely valuable to anyone serious about programming in Java. However, you should be aware that at least some of this information is available online. Documentation is available free from Sun at their web site which lists the various elements of the Java package, and any questions you might have can be answered from any number of places, including the newsgroup comp.lang.java. So, why should you buy these books? I would say yes - I certainly would. For one thing, it presents the information in an organized, comprehensive fashion. Secondly, it is hardcopy - you can read it during dinner, or while watching your favorite TV show - you don't have to be right in front of the computer. Thirdly, it can sit on the shelf next to the computer, where you can yank it off and flip through it quickly when necessary; you don't have to go hunting through your computer to find where you left the information you need. Mostly, for me, it boils down to the second and third reasons - I don't sit in front of the computer all day (nor do I want to), and I hate having to try and quickly find something on the computer that I only use from time to time (not to mention the hard drive space required for the stuff!). The bottom line for me is simple: if you really want to be serious about programming in Java, you are going to need these books. Addison-Wesley Publishing One Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867 (800) 822-6339 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: CGI*Star Reviewed By: Judy Litt, Graphics Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: CGI*Star Reviewed By: Judy Litt, Graphics Editor (jlitt@aol.com) Some of the best WWW shareware seems to come from the land down under. First there was HotDog, now there's CGI*Star. And CGI*Star has good technical support. You can put up a form on a web page using action="mailto:your e-mail address" & method="POST". What you'll get are replies that include all sorts of code (spaces become plus signs, etc.). This can be ok if the reply is short, but it can render a reply indecipherable when it's long. When you use a mailto as an action, the surfer sees nothing happening after they hit the submit button. (Actually, if they watch closely, they should see something on the status line & the browser icon becomes animated.) Many people hit the submit button again, because they believe nothing has happened. If that happens, you receive the same form replies via e-mail twice. This is where cgi (common gateway interface) comes into play. If you have access to the cgi-bin directory on your server, you can place a script in that directory that parses (removes) the code from your form replies, and displays a thank you page to the surfer. But you need to know a little about programming to write a script. Don't know anything about cgi or scripting? Don't have access to cgi- bin? That's where CGI*Star comes into play. CGI*Star is made up of essentially four parts: Easy CGI Create Your CGI Create HTML Forms Expert You can create a form, hit a button, and the program will automatically create a script from your form. Webgenie, the creators of CGI*Star, will store up to 5 scripts generated from CGI*Star on their server for three months free (for a limited time). Create HTML is a basic html editor. Its main purpose is to do simple changes. For instance, you may have left spaces in the names of your variables. When you try to write a script, CGI*Star will remind you that you don't want any spaces. This can be easily fixed using Create HTML. This editor has support for most standard HTML 2 (with the surprising omission of the img tag). There is not support for HTML 3 - tables, font tags, center, background, etc. The forms expert looks very similar to the HTML editor. It has some basic html tags, & then all the form specific tags. You can build a form by simply clicking buttons - begin form, text box, list box, & buttons. Although it's helpful if you know a little about forms & html to begin with, there is a good help file. At the bottom of the CGI*Star screen are four "companion" programs: there's icons for Netscape, Notepad, Write, and WS_FTP. If these programs are in your path, you can launch them with the click of a button - very convenient. Forms CGI*Star shines by creating scripts from your forms; it's very simple - once you know a few things. You must get the path to the mail & perl program, as well as the path to the cgi-bin directory from your provider. Click Create Your CGI. In the resultant dialog box, choose the html file that contains your form. If there's more than one form in the file, you'll be able to choose which you'd like to create a script for. Enter your e-mail address. Enter a subject for the e-mail you'll be receiving. Enter the path to the mail program on your server. Enter the path to the perl program on your server. There's a standard thank you message - which can be customized to say whatever you'd like. Click on the Write CGI button - and a perl script is generated from your form! The script is even customizable - if you know just a little about programming. The parts that can be customized are clearly marked. CGI*Star was incredibly easy to use. If you want to check out the forms I created scripts for, they're at http://www.qualitty.com/guest.html & http://www.qualitty.com/QuaLitty.html. These scripts only work on UNIX servers. Your pages are not on a UNIX server you say? The folks at Webgenie are looking out for you. That's where the Easy CGI button comes in. It will also create a script from your form, which you can then upload to the Webgenie server (if you're using an unregistered program, the script will only remain on the server until midnight). After you've filled in your e-mail address & other information, the program writes a form that you can open in Netscape. Just fill in the form, click on the submit button, and your script is uploaded to the Webgenie server. I maintain web pages on America Online (AOL) & my local provider. I have access to cgi-bin on my local provider's server, but not on AOL. This means folks who fill out my form on AOL do not get any acknowledgment of form submission - until now. I created a script using CGI*Star from my guest.html file that's on AOL. I then placed the resultant script into the cgi-bin directory on my local provider. Now if you fill out my guestbook on my AOL site (http://users.aol.com/QuaLitty/guest.html), you'll receive a thank you page after submitting the form. About the only thing the folks at Webgenie forget to tell you is that you have to change the action in your original form to the path of the script that CGI*Star generates. You can evaluate the program free for 30 days. And if you're still undecided after that, you can get a 15 day extension to consider the program further. The only problem I had with the program was with the registration code - after putting it in, my evaluation copy was still set to expire in a month. Conclusion CGI*Star is a great tool for the webmaster who's clueless when it comes to scripting. It is easy to learn and to use. It is inexpensive ($29.95 US). The folks at webgenie respond promptly to e-mail. Webgenie CGI*Star P.O. Box 149 Rundle Mall Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia WWW: E-mail: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: The Java Programming Language by Ken Arnold and James Gosling Reviewed by: Doug Reed, Associate Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Java is the hottest new programming language in the last few years for several reasons, among them being its portability, its relationship to C++, and its usefulness on the World Wide Web. The Java Programming Language is the first book in a new series on Java published by Addison- Wesley. What distinguishes this series from all of the others covering Java is that these are written by the people who actually created Java, and the books in this series are meant to be the definitive books on Java. The authors have impressive credentials: James Gosling, Vice President of Sun, is credited as being the creator of Java, while Ken Arnold is a noted programmer/engineer/author also in the employ of Sun Microsystems (and now at Javasoft, Sun's spin-off company devoted to the development of Java). This first book, The Java Programming Language, serves as an introduction to Java for people already experienced in programming. The Java Programming Language contains 14 chapters and 3 appendixes, which are divided into 5 general areas. The first chapter, A Quick Tour of Java, is just that. In the Quick Tour the authors lay the groundwork for the rest of book, explaining how Java works, basic commands, and how it all fits together. As with almost every book about programming, the first program example is the "Hello, World" program, converted to a Java application. From there, the Quick Tour gives a quick explanation and example of Java code, including objects, classes, interfaces, and packages. One of the things I like about this book is that it gives you exercises to complete to gain an understanding of how each bit of programming works. No answers are given to the exercises, implying that the authors believe there is more than one 'correct' solution to the problem. While many people might wish for the answers, I think it is better to leave them out; it requires the reader to really focus on solving the exercise rather than giving in and looking at the answer. Some of the exercises are easy, while others are very difficult and require considerable thought. Chapter 2 through 4 deal with basics of how to create and use objects and classes, which are the elements which Java programming is built around. The second chapter covers creating Classes and Objects in Java, while the third chapter explains how inheritance works in Java and how to create a subclass. These chapters cover in detail how one goes about using object-oriented programming in Java, including creating and calling methods, and garbage collection. Chapter 4 explains how to use Interfaces in Java, including when to implement them and what they are useful for. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with standard language constructs. Chapter 5 explains the use of Tokens, Operators, and Expressions in Java. Included in this chapter are an explanation of the different variable types and when to use them. Chapter 6 details the various conditional statements and loops that you can use in Java. The middle portion of the book includes several chapters on unrelated but important topics. The basics of error handling and how to deal with exceptions is the topic of Chapter 7. Chapter 8 deals with Strings, how they are different from other variables and the various ways they can be manipulated and dealt with in Java. Java is optimized for multi- threading, but unless you read chapter 9 you won't know how to use threads! Chapter 10 deals with Packages. For those who aren't hardcore programmers, Packages are collections of related classes, subclasses, and interfaces. Chapter 10 gives the basics of how to use and create packages. Examples of packages include the java class libraries provided with the Java Development Kit, such as java.lang and java.applet. Chapter 10 leads into the final section of the book, chapters 11 through 14 which cover the core of the Java class libraries. Chapter 11 explains how Java handles data input and output, using the class library java.io. Chapter 12 is more comprehensive, covering the various Java utility collections which provide useful utilities classes and interfaces such as the Date class. Chapter 13 deals with the classes that cover the various elements in Java programming, such as the Object class, the Class class, and the classes that detail the various primitive value types. Finally, Chapter 14 details how to implement system programming using the java.lang library, including the System and Math classes. The last portion of the book contains 3 appendixes covering the use of native methods, a list of runtime errors and exceptions handled by Java, and tables for quick reference for the most commonly used elements of Java, including keywords and operators. Overall, I would give The Java Programming Language high marks. This book serves as excellent introduction to programming with Java for those with expertise in other programming language (particularly object- oriented languages). I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone with little programming knowledge; however, there are a number of good books out there that instruct the novice on programming in Java. Ken Arnold and James Gosling have put together a book that is a great beginning to what I am sure will be considered to be one of the definitive series on Java. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company One Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867 (800) 822-6339 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . . ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Earthtime Software for Microsoft Explorer!| ------------------------------------------- SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ - Starfish Software, Inc. today released EarthTime ActiveX concurrently with the release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. The EarthTime ActiveX control is designed for Microsoft Internet Explorer and runs on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. EarthTime ActiveX allows users to easily keep track of time for business or communications across time zones directly from within the Internet Explorer browser. "The Internet has made the "global village" a reality. Computer users around the world are already using EarthTime to keep track of exactly when the rest of the world is open for business," said Philippe Kahn, chairman of Starfish Software. "EarthTime ActiveX docks seamlessly with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0. It's reliable, powerful, and yet very easy to use." EarthTime ActiveX is an ideal solution for individuals, corporations, government and military organizations using Microsoft Internet Explorer who need to schedule appointments, conference calls, and chat sessions with participants in multiple time zones. Users can easily monitor the time and date simultaneously in eight cities of their choice. Cities can be picked from a database of over 500 world capitals and major commercial centers. The EarthTime ActiveX control also adjusts for daylight savings time. All the functionality of the EarthTime ActiveX control is available directly from within Microsoft Internet Explorer. EarthTime ActiveX Features An easy-to-read world map display lets users know instantly which parts of the world are in daylight and which are in darkness. The EarthTime ActiveX control shows: .. Local time, date and day of the week simultaneously in eight selected cities from a database of over 500 world capitals and commercial trade centers .. Handy information about the selected cities, such as country and city code for international phone calls, currency and population .. The time difference between any two selected cities in the world .. A conversion calculator that translates distances, weights, volumes, power and other key measurements between U.S. and ISO standard measurement systems. A free version of the EarthTime ActiveX control -- ActiveEarthTime Lite - with a database of only 40 cities is currently available for customer download on the Starfish Software Web site (http://www.starfishsoftware.com) and on the Microsoft Corporation Web site in the ActiveX Gallery (http://www.microsoft.com/activex/gallery). For information regarding volume license agreements for the full-featured product, contact Starfish Software at 408-461-5857. ------------------------------ Career Site Helping Win Jobs!| ------------------------------ ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ - Job seekers are automatically matched with appropriate job openings and notified via e-mail using a new Internet web site: http://www.careersite.com. Candidates place their profile and resume on CareerSite and are automatically informed via e-mail when jobs fitting their skills and career goals are matched, says Rick Laub, Vice President of Virtual Resources, creator of CareerSite. The site uses "SmartMatch" for close job-candidate matching. "Unlike keyword searching, SmartMatch technology interprets the concepts used in the job description with the concepts in the candidate's profile, and matches them, even if the individual uses different terminology," adds Laub. For example, it can match a company looking for a "software developer" with a candidate looking for a "programmer" position. The candidate receives a list, in ranked order, of jobs that most closely match their credentials. CareerSite's software also searches proactively to find ideal jobs even when users are not on-line using its "Virtual Agent" agent technology. Unlike other on-line career services, this one ensures that job seekers maintain complete control over the release of their identity and credentials to potential employers. "This assurance of anonymity has enabled us to amass a pool of highly desirable candidates, who would otherwise remain unsearchable by employers," explained Laub. "I especially like the ability to forward a complete set of information to a potential employer with a single click. You've no idea how much easier it is than printing a resume, cover-letter, addressing a letter, finding a stamp, mailing it, and hoping it arrives on the desk of somebody who gives a darn," said Victor Volkman, who recently used CareerSite to land his Software Engineer job at Imageware, Inc. Today, hundreds of companies - including American Express, EDS, Fidelity Investments, Ford Motor Company, Harvard Community Health Plan, Intel and Lotus - are currently posting jobs on this site. "It's already paying off for us, both in terms of finding more qualified candidates and finding them faster," says Dawn Rosen, Human Resources Representative at Gelman Sciences in Ann Arbor. "I can run a search, find an up-to-date list of qualified candidates, send a message and set up an interview in a matter of only a day or two." The system is free to job seekers, and is accessible through the Internet at: http://www.careersite.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERVIEW WITH ????? | Weekly Interviews with the Movers and Shakers! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A Note From the Associate Editor/Writer Liaison Doug Reed It has now been a couple of months since Patrick appointed me as the Associate Editor/Writer Liaison for CompuNotes, so I thought I would write a short note to everyone explaining what changes have been made in how we recruit writers and send out products for review. We have instituted a number of changes in how software is sent out for review in order to insure that the people who write the reviews are 1) capable of writing and 2) honest. This second point has been a particular thorn for some time; a few people seem to think that this is a great opportunity to get free software without any obligation to actually write the review, since it is almost impossible for Patrick and I to get the software back. This means that Patrick and I have to be a little cautious about who gets to review software. Software reviewers are now organized into `Lists' based on how many reviews they have written for us. People who have never written for CompuNotes before are placed on the C list. In order to move from the C list to the B list, you must either review a software title for us OR write a column/editorial/tutorial that is published in CompuNotes. People on the C list are allowed to review software that we have had available to review for over a month. Keep that in mind when you are on the C list! Both the A and B list people (some 20 or so people) have had a month to consider it and have turned it down - so there is little chance of getting anything that is remotely `hot' like Civilization II. A list of software available to the C list will be sent out when software is available - currently there is no software available! That may soon change. However, there are literally hundreds of people interested in reviewing for us - so you had better be fast to reply if you do get a list. The easiest way to get from the C list to the B list is to write a column/editorial/tutorial for CompuNotes (but please solicit our approval first!). Yes, this is completely intentional. People on the B list have written once for us, while people on the A list have written more than once and are considered our `elite' reviewers- which means we are willing to pamper them a little and be more lenient on deadlines since they have proven themselves in the past. People on the A list always get first dibs on software that is available. I hope that explains the process a little better for everybody. Comments and suggestions are always welcome; this process is not fixed in stone and will evolve over time. -Doug --END OF ISSUE--