                          Mid-Missouri OS/2
                             User's Group
                              Newsletter

                             January 1994
                          Volume 2 Number 1

Note:  The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views
held by the MMOUG or it's members. Don't agree with something you've read here?
Write and tell us about it!

Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group
=============================

The MMOUG meets on the third Wednesday of each month, meeting at the Columbia
IBM office on even months and at the Jefferson City office on odd months. Click
below for more information.


January Meeting Announcement 
----------------------------

When:          January 19, 1994 at 4:00 p.m.
              
Where:         Jefferson City IBM Office
              
Activities:    Neil Smith of IBM will be discussing REXX. Here's a great chance
               to learn more about the FREE programming language included with
               OS/2 2.x!

Jefferson City IBM Office
One Elm Plaza
Jefferson City, MO 65101
314-634-0200

From Columbia:

Highway 63 South to Highway 54 West (across the bridge) to (be careful, this is
still a dangerous intersection) Highway 50 East. Go through lights at MO. Blvd,
Broadway, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe

Take the CLARK AVENUE exit off of Highway 50. Turn right onto Clark Ave, THEN
make an almost immediate left onto ELM Street. Take Elm Street to IBM. IBM will
be on the left.

  Eastland     Highway
 /         Patrol     Elm Street
McDonalds________   HQ    ________________
|       IBM\___________/         |
|______________________________________________\_______
         Highway 50           Clark Ave Exit

Thanks to Gary Pool for providing these directions. 


What you missed at the last meeting! 
------------------------------------

Party!

We held our first annual Christmas party at the Columbia Holiday Inn Executive
Center. There was plenty of food and drinks, Phillip decked out as the jolly
old elf, and LOADS of giveaways. OS/2 for Windows, Backmaster, VX-REXX, Simply
Money, Stacker for OS/2, WordPerfect Office, and even handmade Christmas
ornaments were all given away. Thanks to IBM, MSR Development, Watcom, Computer
Associates, Stac, Harvey Summers, and Penny Sheperd (respectfully) for donating
the items given away!

We also had a tape of the now famous OS/2 vs. Windows NT shootout held by the
Houston Area League of PC users last June. Uncut and unedited, it showed OS/2
blowing NT away in a head to head shootout. Well, almost head to head: NT
pretty much only ran a slide show of what it "would" do, while OS/2 actually
did it's thing. 


MMOUG Information 
-----------------

Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group

Current Officers:
Phillip Wilson - President
Diane Kehl - Vice President
Robert Shelley - Treasurer
Shawn Frazier - Membership Secretary
David Finch - Recording Secretary
Woody Sturges - BBS Officer
Dale Hackemeyer - Information Officer

Official MMOUG BBS:

OS/2 Woodmeister - (314) 446-0016 (1:289/27)
Jeff City Point - (314) 634-0393 (Now open to the public!)

MMOUG Mailing Address:
Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group
P.O. Box 30645
Columbia, MO 65205-0645

MMOUG Internet E-mail Address:

uc545502@mizzou1.missouri.edu 


Presidential Corner
===================

Happy New Year!

From all indications the OS/2 market is catching fire.  I hope it is getting
warm out there where you are.  It certainly is here in our neck of the woods. 
Intuit (Quicken) is taking suggestions for a native OS/2 version (I hope they
make one).  I would like to thank the OS/2 User Group Support team.  Our
members have benefited from the information that is provided about OS/2 vendors
and authors. Our Xmas party was a lot of fun.  Even though Santa had some
costume problems. <RBG>  Next year we will be holding our Xmas party in
Jefferson City.  We have some really good speakers lined up for the first
quarter.  I have also been working with the OS/2 Users Group in K.C. to try and
syncronize our guest speakers to give more incentive for our guest speakers in
terms of hitting two user group in the same area within two days.  Hopefully
this will show up in the second quarter of '94.  Oh, I almost forgot.  For
those of you who are thinking of doing your own taxes.  Check out Tax Dollars
'93.  This is an OS/2 Tax preparation software package.  The planning version
is on the OS/2 Woodmeister (TDPLAN.ZIP).  The package lists for $19.95 and User
Group members get a $5.00 discount.

May all of your programs pre-emptively multitask.

Peace.

Phillip Wilson
President,
Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group
Compuserve:  71541,171


IPF Beginner's Guide
====================

By Dale Hackemeyer

A lot of people have asked how I create monthly MMOUG newsletters, so this
month I've put together the first of two articles detailing what I do. This
month I'll talk about the OS/2 tools I use to create the .INF file you read and
next month I'll detail the steps I take in creating the newsletter, from
scanning the internet and Fidonet, to "pasting" it up, and finally compiling it
to get the finished product.

At the heart of creating the MMOUG newsletter is the Information Presentation
Facility, or IPF. IPF is a tagged format language that allows you to format
text and graphics, and define how a reader may see and access that information.

All that's needed to create an IPF document is the IBM IPF Compiler (IPFC.EXE)
and a text editor (I use E.EXE). You can find the compiler in the Developer's
Toolkit, as well as other third party development tools such as Borland C++ for
OS/2.

The hardest part about using IPF is learning all the various tags to format
your text and define where and how your text appears. So, I've broken things
down into 6 sections that describe some of the more frequently encountered IPF
tags, starting with what exactly a tag is, and leading up to links and
graphics.

I've included the IPF file for this guide to help understand what's covered:
IPFguide.IPF  which contains the IPF code used to create this guide. I've also
included the IPF file for the newsletter itself, however I haven't included the
additional bitmap and IPF files used to create the newsletter, so it can't be
compiled. 


The basics
----------

Tags
    
     A tag begins with a colon (:) immediately followed by the tag name and
     ends with a period (.). For example, the tag for a new paragraph is:
    
     :p.
    
     Some tags have one or more attributes, additional fields inside the tag
     (after the tag name but before the period) that give more information
     about the tag's operation. For example, to set the foreground color to red
     using the color tag, you would enter:
    
     :color fc=red.
    
     Some tags have only one possible attribute, others have several
     attributes. Also, sometimes an attribute is optional. For instance, the
     tag to start a simple list has only one possible attribute, compact. If
     not specified, there will be a blank line between each item in the list.
     If specified, each item will be on it's own line with no blank lines
     between it and any of the other items.
    
     Some tags also require an end tag. An end tag starts with an e followed by
     the original tag name. For example, a simple list requires an end tag to
     tell the compiler when it's reached the end of the list:
    
     :esl.
    
     Some tags are known as nested tags. These tags appear in between other
     tags. An example of this the list item, or :li., tag. it is used with the
     various list tags to specify a new item in the list. An example using
     attributes, nested tags, and end tags looks something like this:
     :sl compact.
     :li. first nested tag
     :li. second nested tag
     :li. third nested tag
     :esl.
    
 Symbols
    
     There are also specialized tags called symbols that begin with an
     ampersand (&) and end with a period (.). Symbols let you display most of
     the extended ASCII character set, such as the box drawing characters.
    
     Symbols also let you display some normal ASCII punctuation characters. For
     instance, since all tags begin with a colon, how do you put a colon in
     some text so it doesn't trick the IPF compiler into thinking it's another
     tag? Use the &colon. symbol! OK, since all symbols start with an
     ampersand, how do you keep that compiler from confusing single ampersands
     with symbols? Use the &amp. symbol!
    
     There are around 140 symbols available in IPF, which is too many to list
     here. The only two that I've found absolutely necessary are the colon and
     ampersand symbols for the reasons mentioned above.

 Files
    
     You can create the IPF source file with any text editing tool, so long as
     you save it as ASCII text.
    
     Each line of the source file may be no longer than 255 characters. If any
     line is longer, the compiler will give an error message.
    
     You may have more than one IPF source file as well. Using the .im
     directive allows you to imbed additional IPF files at compile time. The
     .im directive must appear on it's own line in the first column of the
     source file. For example, you can include the file SOMEFILE.IPF in your
     document by putting the following line in:
    
     .im SOMEFILE.IPF
    
     This allows you to break a large document into smaller more manageable
     files, then compile them into one document by imbedding them in a single
     master file.
    
     According to the IPF manual, each file is also limited to a 64K file size
     as well, but I've had no problem compiling files >100K.

 Using the IPF compiler
    
     The IPF compiler, IPFC.EXE, is a relatively straight-forward affair.
     Simply enter IPFC.EXE, the name of your source file, and the /INF
     parameter. The /INF parameter tells the compiler you want a stand alone
     .INF file since the compiler produces .HLP files by default. For example:
    
     IPFC Example.IPF /INF
    
     This will produce the file Example.INF. 


Starting out 
------------

Defining the document
    
     It is necessary to tell the IPF compiler the the file it is processing is
     in fact an IPF document. The :userdoc. tag does just this. You must also
     end your document with the :euserdoc. tag to tell the compiler when it's
     reached the end of the document.
    
     Next you can give the title of the document with the :title. tag. Simply
     follow the tag with the name of the document, and it will appear at the
     top of the main window when VIEWing the document. For example:
    
     :title.An example IPF file

 Headings (aka windows)
    
     An IPF document may have up to six levels of headings. Headings are the
     lines of text that appear in the Table of Contents window when you first
     VIEW a document. The ones initially displayed are first level headings. If
     a first level tag has a plus next to it, then there is a second level
     heading "under" the first level heading, and so forth.
    
     As you probably know, double-clicking on a heading in the Table of
     Contents opens another window, so it's easy to think of defining headings
     as defining new windows for the reader of your document.
    
     Headings are defined using the :h1.  thru :h6.  tags. The heading tags
     have quite a few possible attributes. For simplicity here, we will only be
     discussing a few important ones.
         
          res=xxx         where xxx is a number between 1 and 64000, and each
                          window must have a unique number. The number is
                          reference to the window defined by the heading tag.
                          This number is used by link tags in order to select
                          other windows. 
         
          group=xxx       where xxx is a number between 1 and 64000. The number
                          assigns the window to a particular group. When you
                          select a window with a group number to display, IPF
                          searches all open windows for a window with the same
                          group number. If no match is found, the new window is
                          opened. If the group number is matched with an open
                          window with the same group number, the current window
                          is replaced with the new window. Group numbers are
                          useful in keeping the clutter of open windows to a
                          minimum. 
         
          x=              x may be assigned one of the following values: center
                          | left | right. This attribute defines what the
                          window's postition will be in regard to the parent
                          (main IPF) window. It will only be noticable to use
                          this attribute with the height/width attributes
                          below. 
         
          y=              y may be assigned one of the following values: center
                          | top | bottom. This attribute defines what the
                          window's postition will be in regard to the parent
                          window. It will only be noticable to use this
                          attribute with the height/width attributes below. 
         
          width=xx%       where xx is percentage up to 100. Defines the windows
                          width relative to the parent window. 
         
          height=xx%      where xx is percentage up to 100. Defines the windows
                          height relative to the parent window.
          
          Figure taken from IPF manual.
    
     While these attributes are helpful, none are necessary to create a simple
     window. For example:
    
     :h1.A very simple window
    
     This creates a first level heading in the Table of Contents window. For
     something more interesting, you could try chenging it to:
    
     :h1 x=left y=top width=75% height=75%.A slightly more interesting window
    
     This creates a window in a position of our choosing. Now let's try making
     a second level heading. It's quite simple:
    
     :h2 x=right y=bottom width=75% height=75%.Another slightly more
     interesting window
    
     This creates a second level heading in the Table of Contents beneath the
     previous first level heading. Since we haven't been putting group numbers
     in these headings, we can only see one window at a time. Let's add some
     group numbers to the last two example headings so we can see both at the
     same time:
    
     :h1 group=1 x=left y=top width=75% height=75%.Another window
    
     :h2 group=2 x=right y=bottom width=75% height=75%.A window you can see at
     the same time
    
     Now, when the Another window is displayed, selecting A window you can see
     at the same time will display it at the same time.
    
     So far I haven't discussed what to do with res=. It's rather unnecessary
     at this point. Later, when we discuss links, we'll see just how important
     res numbers can be. 


Manipulating Text
-----------------

One of the most useful features of IPF is it's text manipulation capabilities.
Without these abilities, we'd only be able to present nice windows of drab
looking text. How boring! Fortunately, with the following information and a
little creativity, you can make your text jump out to the reader.

 Highlighted phrases
    
     These are the quickest and simplest tags to use to change the way your
     text looks. The tags are in the form :hpn.highlighted text:hpn , where n 
     is a number between 1 and 9.
    
     For example, the following:
          :hp1.Highlighted phrase 1 is italic:ehp1.
          :hp2.Highlighted phrase 2 is bold:ehp2.
          :hp3.Highlighted phrase 3 is bold-italic:ehp3.
          :hp4.Highlighted phrase 4 is blue:ehp4.
          :hp5.Highlighted phrase 5 is underlined:ehp5.
          :hp6.Highlighted phrase 6 is underlined-talic:ehp6.
          :hp7.Highlighted phrase 7 is underlined-bold:ehp7.
          :hp8.Highlighted phrase 8 is red:ehp8.
          :hp9.Highlighted phrase 9 is magenta:ehp9.
         
     produces text that looks like this:
         
          Highlighted phrase 1 is italic
          Highlighted phrase 2 is bold
          Highlighted phrase 3 is bold-italic
          Highlighted phrase 4 is blue
          Highlighted phrase 5 is underlined
          Highlighted phrase 6 is underlined-talic
          Highlighted phrase 7 is underlined-bold
          Highlighted phrase 8 is red
          Highlighted phrase 9 is magenta
         
     You cannot nest highlighted phrase

 Color
    
     While highlighted phrase let you change the color of the text to one of 3
     colors, the color tag let's you change the foreground and backgound colors
     of your text. the tag has the form :color.  and must include one or both
     of the following attributes:
         
          fc=       changes the foreground color.
          bc=       changes the background color.
         
     The choices for both foreground and background colors are: blue, cyan,
     green, neutral, red, default, and yellow. 
    
     Some example tags:
          :color fc=cyan.Here's some lovely cyan text.
          :color fc=red bc=green.Here's some red on green.
          :color fc=yellow bc=blue.Here's some yellow on blue.
          :color fc=default bc=red.Here's the default foreground on red.
          :color bc=default.And now both foreground and background are back to
          defaults.
         
     and their output:
         
          Here's some lovely cyan text.
          Here's some red on green.
          Here's some yellow on blue.
          Here's the default foreground on red.
          And now both foreground and background are back to defaults.
         
     There is no end tag for a color tag. The colors assigned remain in effect
     until the end of the current window they are assigned in. To change
     everything back to normal, simply use :color fc=default bc=default. 

 Fonts
    
     The :font. tag allows you to change the font that your text is displayed
     in. It has two attributes:
         
          facename=        changes the font to the name specified. There are
                           four possible fonts to choose from: Courier, Helv,
                           'Tms Rmn', and default (spelling and punctuation for
                           each must be as shown). Facename is always a
                           required attribute.
          size=h x w       changes the height and width (in points) of the
                           font. If size given is invalid for the font, IPF
                           will choose the nearest match. Size is a required
                           attribute when facename is anything other than
                           default.
         
     There are four possible fonts that may be used, as this example shows:
     :font facename=Courier size=12x12.Courier:font facename=default.
     :font facename=Helv size=12x12.Helv:font facename=default.
     :font facename='Tms Rmn' size=12x12.'Tms Rmn':font facename=default.
     :font facename=default size=12x12.default:font facename=default.
     
 Margins
    
     Margins are helpful in organinzing various sections of text, as this very
     window shows. There are two margin tags: :lm margin=n and :rm margin=n,
     which control left and right margins, respectively. N is the value of the
     margin to be assigned. Assigned margins don't take effect until a tag is
     used that enters a line feed. :p. is used most often. The assigned margins
     remain in effect until either changed or the end of the current window is
     reached.
    
     For example, the following:
    
     :lm margin=25.:rm margin=10.
     :p.
     This text has the left margin set at 25 and the right margin set at 10. As
     you can see, the text is automatically justified between the two margins.
     :lm margin=10.:rm margin=25.
     :p.
     This text has been set exactly opposite, with the left margin set at 10
     and the right margin set at 25. Once again everything's justified to fit
     the margins.
    
     looks something like this:
                        
                         This text has the left margin set at 25 and the right
                         margin set at 10. As you can see, the text is
                         automatically justified between the two margins.
         
          This text has been set exactly opposite, with the left margin set at
          10 and the right margin set at 25. Once again everything's justified
          to fit the margins.
    
 Lines
    
     Normally the text in an IPF window is dynamically justified. Rather than
     having the text scroll of the side of the window, IPF makes sure it all
     fits. Try making this window narrower and you'll see what I mean.
    
     Sometimes, however, you have some text that only makes sense if the
     appears as it is formatted in the source file. The :lines. tag allows you
     to display lines in IPF just as they appear in your source file. There is
     only one attribute:
         
          align=    allows you to select the alignment of the text. May be
                    left, right, or center. If not specified, text is aligned
                    to the left.
         
     The end tag is :elines.
    
     For example:
     :lines align=left.This text is aligned to the left.:elines.
    
     :lines align=center.This text is centered.:elines.
    
     :lines align=right.This text is aligned to the right.:elines.
    
     ouputs:
    
     This text is aligned to the left.
    
     This text is centered.
    
     This text is aligned to the right.
    
 Creating lists    11/2 

     IPF has several ways to display lists of information. The three most
     common ways are simple lists, unordered lists, and ordered lists. There is
     also the parameter list, which is a more specialized list.
    
     Lists may be nested together, and when nested the nested lists
     automatically indent themselves from their "parent" list, creating an
     outline form.
    
     The primary three types of lists (simple, unordered, and ordered) all work
     pretty much the same. The only difference between the three is whats in
     front of each list item. A simple list has nothing in front, an unordered
     list has a bullet (lowercase o) in front, and an ordered list has each
     item numbered in order.
    
     All three list types have only one attribute, compact. When used compact
     causes each item in the list to appear on the line following the previous
     item, otherwise there is a blank line between each item.
    
     All three also have one nested tag, :li., which is used to identify each
     item in the list.

 Simple List
    
     A simple list begins with :sl. and ends with :esl.. For example:
     :sl.
     :li.Open mouth
     :li.Insert foot
     :li.Regret opening mouth
     :esl.
    
     outputs:
    
     Open mouth
    
     Insert foot
    
     Regret opening mouth
    
 Unordered List
    
     A unordered list begins with :ul. and ends with :eul.. For example:
     :ul.
     :li.Open mouth
     :li.Insert foot
     :li.Regret opening mouth
     :eul.
    
     outputs:
    
     o Open mouth
    
     o Insert foot
    
     o Regret opening mouth
     
 Ordered List
    
     A ordered list begins with :ol. and ends with :eol.. For example:
     :ol compact.
     :li.Open mouth
     :li.Insert foot
     :li.Regret opening mouth
     :eol.
    
     outputs:
    
      1. Open mouth
      2. Insert foot
      3. Regret opening mouth
     
 Parameter List
    
     This type of list allows a two column listing with a term and a
     definition. Parameter lists have three optional attributes:
         
          tsize=n     n specifies the space to be allocated for the paramter
                      term. Defaults to 10
         
          break=      defines how the parameter term and parameter description
                      are formated. There are three possible values that may be
                      assigned to this attribute: all causes the description to
                      begin on the line following the term, after the space
                      allocated by tsize=. fit Causes the description to start
                      on the same line as the term if the term has fewer
                      characters than allocated by tsize=. If the term has more
                      characters, the description begins on the next line. none
                      causes the description to begin on the same line as the
                      term. if the term is longer than that specified by
                      tsize=, the term continues into the description and is
                      seperated from the description by one space.
         
          compact     works just like it does with the other lists
         
     Paramter lists have two nested tags. :pt. defines the paramter term, and
     :pd. defines the paramter definition
    
     The end tag is :eparml.
    
     For example:
     :parml tsize=8 break=none.
     :pt.term
     :pd.definition
     :pt.RAM
     :pd.Random Access Memory
     :pt.HPFS
     :pd.High Performance File System
     :pt.FAT
     :pd.File Allocation Table
     :eparml
    
     outputs:
    
     term    definition
    
     RAM     Random Access Memory
    
     HPFS    High Performance File System
    
     FAT     File Allocation Table
     

Linking things together
-----------------------

     Links allow the reader of an IPF document much quicker access to
     information. With a simple point and click, the reader is able to call up
     other windows contained in the document.
    
     The link tag is used do this: :link.. There are quite a few attributes for
     the link tag, though some are too advanced for us to worry about right
     now. The tags I think are most relevant:
    
     reftype=       can be assigned one of four values: hd, fn, launch, and
                    inform. hd tells the compiler that we're creating a link to
                    a heading, and this is only value you'll need to worry
                    about until you've become a more advanced IPF writer (I
                    still haven't used any of the other values). fn specifies a
                    link to a footnote, and launch and inform are used to
                    launch PM programs and send messages to PM programs. Please
                    refer to the IPF manual for more info on how to use these
                    attributes.
    
     res=           when reftype=hd, you must use this attribute to give the
                    res number assigned to the heading you are going to link
                    to. Remember how I said res numbers weren't impostant yet
                    when I was talking about headings? Well now they are very
                    important. In order to point to a heading you must assign
                    that heading a res number.
    
     auto           a link tag with this attribute is automatically opened
                    everytime the window the link is in is opened.
    
     dependent      when this attribute is specified the window opened by the
                    link is dependent on the window the link appears in. That
                    is, if a window is opened by a dependent link, and the
                    window where the link appears is closed, the window created
                    by the link is closed also.
    
     Link tags usually have an end tag (:elink.), but when the auto attribute
     is specified it becomes unneeded.
    
     Without the auto attribute, the text that the reader will actually click
     on come between the link and elink tags. When the auto is specified, there
     is no text for the link since the link will always be opened
     automatically.
    
     Simple link:
    
     :link reftype=hd res=123.Click here for more info:elink.
    
     An automatic link:
    
     :link reftype=hd res=123 auto.
    
     A dependent link:
    
     :link reftype=hd res=123 dependent.Click here for more info:elink.
    
     An auto and dependent link:
    
     :link reftype=hd res=123 auto dependent.
    

Adding some graphics
--------------------

Artwork
    
     Adding graphics can make almost any document more lively. With IPF, any
     Bitmap or Metafile may be used as pictures both around and in text.
    
     The :artwork. tag is used to insert graphics. There are several
     attributes:
    
     name='filename'     specifies the name of the bitmap of metafile
                         containing the graphic to be displayed. The filename
                         may include drive and path info if the file resides in
                         a directory other than that of the IPF file.
    
     align=              sets the alignment of the image on screen. May be
                         left, right, or center.
    
     runin               allows a bitmap to be placed on amidst a line of text.
    
     fit                 causes the bitmap to fill the window that contains it.
                         If the window is resized, the bitmap is resized.
    
     Only the name= tag is required, and there is no end tag.
    
     For example:
     :artwork name='logo_sm.bmp' align=left.
     :artwork name='logo_md.bmp' align=center.
     :artwork name='logo_lg.bmp' align=right.
    
     displays: 


MS Redmond: Car of the future
-----------------------------

Here's a bit of humor on Microsoft and it's habit of getting it's hands into
all parts of the industry. For the humor impaired, this is a very fictitious
press release. :).

From the comp.os.os2.misc newsgroup area.
From: MEKENKAMP@stpc.wi.LeidenUniv.nl (MEKENKAMP)
Subj: Microsoft Climbs into the Driver's Seat

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Microsoft Climbs into the Driver's seat

November 26th, Redmond WA - Marketing representatives from Microsoft
Corporation  today announced  the Company's  new line of  high-value sedans
signaling the Corporation's move into automobiles.  Said Bill Gates,  Microsoft 
CEO,  "We feel that consumers are confused by the great variety of  vehicles
out there.  Every  company offers its own proprietary  version of your  basic
sedan,  but there's no standard, and we intend to change that."

Microsoft aims to  define that  standard with their new  Redmond(TM) sedan. 
The company claims that given the  advanced set of state-of- the-art  features
in the new model,  the Redmond  sedan could be the best  vehicle  available  in
a  short period  of time.  The  Redmond features include:
    
     o Room for  up to six  passengers,  although the  current version only
       allows one occupant while the car is in motion.  Microsoft claims  that 
       this  will  provide  greater  security  for  the passenger and  vows to 
       introduce a true  multi-passenger model in Q3.
    
     o Integrated car phone.  The "Redmond" includes  a Sony(TM) model TCP-93.
       This model only allows dialing out, so another phone is required if you
       wish to receive calls or communicate with other satisfied "Redmond"
       owners.  Microsoft expects that many third- party vendors will be glad
       to provide this added value.
    
     o Revolutionary  cache strategy  allowed  Microsoft to design  the
       "Redmond" with just 3 wheels instead of four. Microsoft predicts
       tremendous savings in tire replacement.
    
     o No speedometer, odometer, or gas gause. Microsoft stated that it can
       deliver a higher-quality product by leaving off these frills in the 
       initial offering.  Industry analists  suggest this could also provide
       jobs for an enterprising third party marked.
    
     o An early  prototype of the "Redmond"  (code-named "Pong") had an obvious 
       disadvantage  of  only  supporting  left  turns.   The production-ready
       "Redmond" instead offers  revolutionary control preserving but
       control-insensitive steering. The steering column and  directional
       signals  allow you to turn in either direction, and  while  the car 
       "remembers"  the direction  you turned,  it translates this  into a left
       turn  automatically. "This is great news for people who always confuse
       left and right, and Microsoft provides  a complementary map  of your 
       own town  to aid  you in finding paths that only include left turns."
       explained Gates.
    
     o For the more conservative driver,  Microsoft has dazzled industry
       critics  by  providing  an AmeriDrive(TM) console.  This  console
       currently supports the only available  standards document (1.7b), and 
       some minor  features  such as  acceleration,  steering,  and brakes  are
       not  fully supported.  Microsoft  fully stands behind the AmeriDrive 
       and maintains  that it is  "not just a check-box" item for
       compatibility's sake.
    
 The "Redmond" will go into a wide public beta program next month,  "to make 
 sure  that we've  got the safest,  most tested car  ever  to hit the marked.", 
 according to  Microsoft officials.  The product will be available to the
 general public in Q2.

 ÿ    

OS/2 Tips & Techniques
======================


Mysterious VESA driver
----------------------

From the comp.os.os2.misc newsgroup area.
From: bj@hatch.socal.com (Brendan Jones)
Subj: OS/2's VESA is a blessing...

In the OS/2 2.1 base there is an MSDOS program; /OS2/MDOS/VESA.EXE. This
program lacks documentation, both in the online documentation and hardcopy
manuals.  But what VESA does is when run, fiddles with the standard 256k VGA
card to deliver 640x400x256 resolution!  Yup, on bog standard VGA!  Basically,
OS/2's VESA.EXE means some of us can delay buying an SVGA card just a little
longer.

Strange this is VESA.EXE doesn't particularly care what OS it is run under.  I
run it under raw DOS for the same results.  A buddy tried to run it on his PC
and it bombed.  Weird.  I have a PS/2, but an old one with boring VGA (from the
old pre-IBM PC Corporation spin-off days).

Does anyone know what this puppy is?

cheers
bj ÿÿ 


New Products!
=============

OS/2 Software recently announced or released:


PM Designer
----------- 

PM Designer version 1.0
-> VacNat Software Announces <-
PM Designer version 1.0
A Visual C++ application design tool for
OS/2 Presentation Manager

PM Designer(PMD) is a visual programming tool for OS/2 PM and C++ that takes
the drudgery out of writing Presentation Manager applications. It can reduce
the time it takes to write a functional PM application from days to hours or
minutes. The idea behind PMD is to allow the fastest possible transition from
"Hey, what if i had an app that..." to "Okay, that's what it looks like.",
without having to actually write a program, compile it, and run it first.

PMD integrates your other tools, acting as kind of a bridge between the
resource-creation and coding stages of your application's development.

Building a PM application complete with a status bar, toolbar, dialog boxes, a
menu, etc., is a simple "point and click" process. First, use your resource
editor to create the dialog, bitmap, and menu resources that will appear in
your application. Now start PMD. Press the "Design" button, RMB click on the
design window, press a few  buttons, and you're on your way. Specify the files
your resources are in, and their names, and they appear on the window as they
would in a "live" application. Select items on these resources, for example an
item on a menu, and PMD allows you to "link" that item to another resource or
action, such as opening a specific dialog box, running another application,
opening a system-defined dialog box, or simply inserting a section of  your own
source code.

PMD supports the generation of singlethread as well as multithreaded
applications, applications with dialog boxes as their main windows, and
generates makefiles, support code in header files, .RC files, and attractively
formatted, highly organized C++ source code. The resultant programs are compact
and fast. Unlike most other visual programming environments, no massive runtime
DLLs are required, and of course, there is no runtime royalty fee.

The layout of the source files facilitates easy modification and maintenance,
because instead of the traditional giant switch statement in the window
procedure, PMD's standard code generator creates a tiny "event procedure" for
each message you want the application's window to receive, and one for each
menu item, toolbar button, or pushbutton in your application. The global data
in your application  is stored in the window words for each window, and a
single source module is generated to support each window or dialog box in your
application.

PMD also has a "test" mode that allows you to view the application as it would
look and behave after it's built and compiled.

After you finish the design phase of your application, you enter "Build" mode,
and press "Go" to generate the source files. seconds later, the files appear in
a listbox, and from there, you can load them into your favorite editor, or
press the "Procedures" button to see a  list of the procedures in the file, and
edit them, one by one, with the integrated procedure editor. This editor,
designed especially for this  purpose, features a toolbar, and
context-sensitive online help on any of the  PMDAPI functions(explained later
in this document), and, if you have the OS/2 Toolkit, help on any of the OS/2
API functions. (This editor is a subset of the standalone text editor that
ships with the full version of PMD.)

The resultant source files can be regenerated after you edit them without
destroying the work you've already done.

PMDAPI functions and macros
PMD includes a large set of helpful functions and macros to help reduce  the
"noise level" in your code. These APIs are documented in an online reference.

Skeleton Files
PMD uses a set of template, or "skeleton" files to control how it generates
source code. These files are essentially source files that contain special
variables and flags to tell the code generator what to do, so it's a simple
matter to customize PMD to suit your own needs.

Alternate code generators
PMD makes use of "plug-in" DLLs to generate source code. This allows the use of
any number of different code generators, for any purpose. Suppose you want PMD
to generate Pascal code. The standard code generator doesn't work for that, but
one could be built that does. IBM's class library? not a problem. zApp? doable.
Your own class library? just ask. Windows code? If you must. More code
generators are under development, and will be available shortly.  If we don't
have one that you need, the API for writing your own DLLs is  available.
Contact us at one of the addresses below for more information.

Pricing and Availability
PMD is available via mail order at a price of $45, which includes shipping and
handling. This includes PMD's design environment, the code generator,  the
PMDAPI header file set, the online reference information, the  text editor, the
skeleton files, example programs, an icon and bitmap library, the necessary
.LIB files, and technical support through CompuServe, and VacNat's own BBS. See
the address below for details on where to send your order.

System Requirements
PMD does not include a compiler, .RC editor, or the OS/2 header files. You will
have to supply these. a package such as Borland C++ for OS/2 will work nicely,
as will any other package that includes a C++ compiler, and the OS/2 Toolkit.
PMD requires approx. 2 MB of disk space, and a  minimum of 8MB of ram is
recommended. A mouse is also highly recommended.

How to see a Demo
To see a demonstration of PMD and what it does, how it works, etc., a demo can
be downloaded from CompuServe in the OS2DF1, BCPPWIN, or OS2USER forums. It is
also available on the OS/2 Shareware BBS(703-385-4325),  Silver Lake
BBS(206-743-3489), or VacNat's own BBS, at 913-764-5958.  More BBSes as they
are discovered and uploaded to. This is a smaller version of PMD so that you
can download it with less expense(in case the BBS is long-distance) but it
includes example programs, a  fully functional copy of PMD's design
environment, and the documentation. It also includes an order form.

It is also available for FREQ at 1:280/304.

The filename is PMDDEM.ZIP. (431743 bytes)
From VacNat Software
1370 White Oak St.
Harrionville, MO 64701

Phone: 816-887-2928

CIS address: 70572,1247


Other Sources
=============

Other places to locate OS/2 information:

OS/2 User Group Directory
-------------------------

This OS/2 User Group listing is provided courtesy of David Sichak, Editor of
the San Diego Users Group Newsletter. Thanks David!
User Group Introduction

 User Group Introduction    22/3 

We try to list known OS/2 User Groups whenever we get the information. Of
course, we can't be responsible if the information proves to be unreliable --
you, the reader are our best source of this information.

And we're learning of more and more OS/2 user groups across the country and
even around the world every week.  It's been slow, but we have made some
contacts and we may be able to exchange information and articles in the future. 
If you're travelling and have some free time, stop in on one these meetings. 
If you know of another OS/2 user group, drop us a line and we'll mention them. 
Remember, we'll list them all in the INF file each time.  And thanks!

 Australia - Glen Waverly    23/3 

Victorian OS/2 Developers SIG
Contact:  Jon Wright
5 Brighton Street
Glen Waverly, Victoria 3150
Australia
CompuServe:  100032,776

 Ontario - Bailieboro    24/3 

Kawartha Computer Club
Contact:  Cedric Silvester
RR #1
Bailieboro, Ontario
Canada KOL 1B0
Note:  OS/2 SIG is part of the KCC
Phone: BBS -- (705) 748-0023

 Quebec - Montreal    25/3 

Montreal OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Gilbert Lefebvre
IBM Tower
10214 Peloquin Avenue
Montreal, QC
H2C 2J8
Canada
Meets:  7:00pm, 3rd Wednesday
Phone:  Voice -- (514) 382-9858 (evenings)
Netmail:  Programmer's Quest 1:167/110

The Montreal OS/2 Users Group held their first meeting on February 17.  Gilbert
reported that their first meeting had over 70 persons in attendance.  They're
real happy to see the interest in OS/2. Please note that this group does not
expect to meet during June, July and August.

 Saskatchewan - Regina    26/3 

Regina Saskatchewan OS/2 User Group
Contact:  Robert Shiplett
Cooperators
1920 College Avenue 5W
Regina, Saskatchewan  S4P 1C4
Canada

 United Kingdom - Gloucestershire    27/3 

International OS/2 User Group
Contact:  Mike Gove
Barton House
Cirencester
Gloucestershire  GL7 2EE
UK
Phone: - +44-285-641175
Phone: - +44-285-640181 (FAX)
Phone: - (UK) 0285-641175
Note: - Also home to OS/2 Solution Centre

 South Africa    28/3 

OS/2 User Group of South Aftrica
P.O. Box 875
Halfway House
1685  South Africa

 Sweden    29/3 

Swedish OS/2 Users Group
The Cruiser BBS, +46-8-704 9438

 California - Fresno    30/3 

Fresno OS/2 SIG
(Fresno PC Users Group)
Contact:  Sandeleh Francis (209) 229-0473
Contact:  Rod Jessen (209) 323-9849
Meetings at:
1425 Shirley Circle
Clovis, CA  93611
Meets:  7:30pm, last Monday
Phone BBS -- Wild Side BBS (209) 226-3476
Phone BBS -- Clovis Connection  (209) 229-3476

They are a part of the Fresno PC Users group which meets the first Monday of
the month at the Ramada Inn at Hwy 41 and Shaw Avenue in Fresno at 7:30pm.

 California - Huntington Beach    31/3 

Orange Coast IBM PC Users Group
OS/2 SIG
Contact:  Dave Lorenzini
17632 Metzler Lane, Suite 211
Huntington Beach, CA

 California - Los Angeles    32/3 

Los Angeles OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Paul Duncanson
3008 Texas Avenue
Simi Valley, CA  93063
Phone:  (805) 584-6721
Meets:  3rd Thursday @ 6:30pm
IBM
21041 Burbank Boulevard
Woodland Hills, CA

 California - Sacramento    33/3 

Sacramento OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Charlie Kotan
IBM
400 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA
Meets:  First Wednesday @ 7:00pm
Phone: - (916) 641-4007
CompuServe - 70110,254

 California - San Diego    34/3 

San Diego OS/2 User Group
Contact - Craig Swanson
P.O. Box 13346
La Jolla, CA  92039-3346
Meets - 7pm on 3rd Thursday
Meets at -- IBM @ LaJolla
8845 University Center Lane
San Diego, CA  92122
Phone - Voice -- (619) 587-5955
Phone - BBS  -- (619) 558-9475

The San Diego OS/2 User Group has participated in the San Diego Computer Fair
in which over 18,000 people attended over a three day weekend last September. 
This group has started an OS/2 newsletter with the goal of providing
information to not only OS/2 users but also to others who are interested in
learning more.  Our aim is to also develop the newsletter so that it becomes a
community effort among the OS/2 user groups and SIGs.

Past meeting topics have included presentations by IBM's Ultimedia for OS/2;
Lotus demonstrating beta versions of 1-2-3 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2; an
introduction to REXX, demo of the December OS/2 2.1 beta along with Visual
REXX; Eddie Miller, one of the authors of "OS/2 2.1 Unleashed" sharing insights
into the OS/2 mini-applets; and, local OS/2 developer Jeannine Wolf discussing
the OS/2 Config.SYS file and providing tips.

 California - San Francisco    35/3 

Bay Area OS/2 User Group
Contact - Guy Scharf
Software Architects, Inc.
2163 Jardin Drive
Mountain View, CA  94040
Meets -  4th Monday @ at IBM Mountain View
Phone -  Voice -- (415) 948-9186

 Connecticut - Enfield    36/3 

New England OS/2 User Group
Contact:  Dave Pinard
145 Candlewood Drive
Enfield, CT  06082
Phone: Voice -- (203) 954-1872
Phone: BBS -- (203) 763-1674

 Connecticut - Darien    37/3 

Darien OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Steven J. Palmer
75 Rings End Road
Darien, CT  06820

 Delaware - Wilmington    38/3 

Delaware Valley OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Chuck Gaglia
1120 Webster Drive
Wilmington, DE  19803

 Florida - Boca Raton    39/3 

OS/2 Users Group of Boca Raton
Contact:  Doug Azzarito
Meets at:
PC Systems Store
2855 S. Congress Avenue
Delray Beach, FL
Meets on 2nd Thursday of the month at 7pm
Phone:  BBS -- (407) 997-2235
Phone:  Voice -- (407) 276-2945

 Florida - Tampa Bay    40/3 

Tampa Bay OS/2 User Group
Contact:  Paul Wylie
M. Bryce & Associates, Inc.
777 Alderman Road
Palm Harbor, FL  34683
Phone: Voice - (813) 786-4567
Phone: FAX -- (813) 786-4765
Meets: - 1st Tuesday @ 3:00pm.
Meets at:
IBM
3109 W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
4th Floor
Tampa, FL

 Illinois - Chicago    41/3 

 North Suburban Chicago OS/2 User Group
Contact - James R. Schmidt
Meets - William M. Mercer, Inc.
1417 Lake Cook Rd.
Deerfield, IL  60015
Meets - 5.30pm Last Tuesday of each month.
Voice -- (708) 317-7405
BBS -- (708) 895-4042

Turned one year old in September. Happy Birthday!

 Indiana - Fort Wayne    42/3 

Fort Wayne OS/2 User Group
Contact - Stephen Gutknecht
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Meets -  Central Soya on Cook Rd.
Meets -  7pm, 2nd Tuesday
Phone -  Voice -- (219) 484-0062 (Bus. Hrs.)
Phone -  BBS  -- (219) 471-3918

 Indiana - Indianapolis    43/3 

Indy OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Jay Schultz
350 E. New york Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN  46204
Phone: Voice - (317) 634-8080

 Louisiana - Baton Rouge    44/3 

Baton Rouge OS/2 users Group
Contact:  David Arbour
16726 Bristoe Avnue
Baton Rouge, LA  70816
Phone: - (504) 753-9637

 Massachusetts - Boston    45/3 

Boston Area OS/2 User's Group
(BCS)
Contact:  Marcia Gulesian (508) 369-3918
Meetings at:
IBM Boston Computer Center
One Copley Place
Boston, MA
Meets:  7:00pm, first Tuesday

Meeting location is near Back Bay and Copley train stations.  From the Mass.
Turnpike East, exit 22 (Copley Square Lane) - first left onto Dartmouth St. 
Next left onto Huntington Ave.  Enter COPLEY PLACE PARKING on left.  Parking is
free when you spend $5 and have your parking ticket validated in any restaurant
or store at Copley Place and enter the garage after 5:00pm.

 Michigan - Grand Rapids    46/3 

West Michigan OS/2 User Group
IBM
2900 Charlevoix Dr. SE
Grand Rapids, MI

 Minnesota - Minneapolis    47/3 

Minnesota OS/2 User Group
Contact:  Marcus Krumpholz
IBM Building
650 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
Meets last Thursday each month
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Voice:  (612) 869-7956
BBS: (612) 379-8272

ISV's wishing to do a presentation can contact Marcus Krumpholz at (612)
869-7956.  Registrations for meetings are requested and can be done by calling
(612) 397-6444 and then asking for course code "OS2".  The IBM building is
shared with First Bank on Third Avenue south between South Sixth Street and
South Seventh Street.  Parking is recommended at Northstar Center (1 block
west), Pillsbury Center (1.5 blocks north), Hennepin County Government Center
(diagonally across street) and Court Park (2 blocks north).

 Nebraska - Omaha    48/3 

Omaha OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Joe Peterson
7724 Fort St.
Omaha, NE  68134

 New Jersey - West Orange    49/3 

Northern New Jersey OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Jason H. Perlow (201) 224-7605
Meetings at:  IBM
300 Executive Drive
West Orange, NJ
Meets:  7:00pm, second Tuesday
INFO:  Phone:  (201) 325-5600

This group is affiliated with the Westchester OS/2 Users Group.

 New York - Westchester    50/3 

Westchester OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Craig Smith (914) 686-9828
Meetings at:
IBM
2000 Purchase Street
Purchase, NY
Meets:  7:00pm, second Tuesday
INFO:  Phone:  (914) 697-6000

Westchester was instrumental in getting IBM's OS/2 featured on the PBS Computer
Chronicles show in March.

 North Carolina - Durham    51/3 

Triangle OS/2 User Group
Contact -- Steve Gallagher
IBM Building
4800 Falls of The Neuse Road
Room 5074
Durham, North Carolina
Meets --  7.30pm, 3rd Tuesday
Phone --  Voice -- (919) 254-5637
Internet --  sjgalla@vnet.ibm.com

 Ohio - Akron    52/3 

Northeast Ohio OS/2 User Group
IBM
3 Cascade Plaza
Akron, Ohio
Contact:  Gary Smiley
Phone:  (216) 630-3565
CompuServe:  75600,1737

 Ohio - Cleveland    53/3 

Cleveland OS/2 User Group
IBM
Bond Ct. Building
2nd Fl
E. 9th St.
Cleveland, Ohio

 Pennsylvania - Erie    54/3 

Computer Users of Erie
OS/2 SIG
Contact:  Tom Kuklinski
3928 Sassafras Street
Erie, PA  16508
Phone:  (814) 866-5396
Phone:  (814) 898-2905

 Tennessee - Knoxville    55/3 

East Tennessee PC User Group
OS/2 SIG
Contact:  Arnold Sprague
808 Fairfield Drive
Knoxville, TN  37919-4109

 Texas - Dallas - Fort Worth    56/3 

Dallas-Forth Worth OS/2 User Group
Contact -  Toby Pennycuff
CompuServe ID -  70007,6267
1211 Wilshire Blvd.
Arlington, TX  76012-4623

Meets at:
American Airlines HQ
4255 Amon Carter Blvd.
Arlington, TX
Meetings - Time and dates not listed.

 Wisconsin - Madison    57/3 

Madison OS/2 Users Group
Contact:  Tom Ender or Donn Tolley
2703 Rolling View Rd.
Stoughton, WI  53589-3386

 Netherlands    58/3 

Holland User Group OS/2 (H.U.G.O.)
Contact: Anton Versteeg
Internet: av@vnet.ibm.com
Fidonet: 2:280/801.381

 OS/2 BBS's    59/2+

This BBS listing is provided courtesy of  David Sichak, Editor of the  San
Diego Users Group Newsletter. Thanks David!

 BBS Introduction    60/3 

Well, I am trying to update this file in an expedient way so it doesn't become
too stale when I include it in the INF version.  But I'm trying to catch up on
a backlog.  I've got the list in an Rbase for OS/2 database file right now, so
all I need to do is figure out a way to create a report that does much of my
INF coding for me.

Next month, I'd look for a few more additions. And by all means keep Dave
Fisher posted on your BBS's if he's still keeping his list up and current.
Without him, we wouldn't be able to include as much as we do.

This listing is for the BBS junkie in you who needs to have a phone bill treat
once in a while <G>.  Or bored to death while you're travelling.

Our listing is based on a rather extensive listing put together by Dave Fisher
of OS/2 type Bulletin Boards.  Space limits this month prevent us from listing
all the details he has for each BBS, but we've tried to include a couple from
every state in the US (Notice and hint to you sysops...not all states are
represented.) and a few foreign countries, too.

Dave Fisher's list is a compilation of OS/2 BBS's across the world.  If you
wish to make an addition or correction to his list, he's asked that you please
netmail your BBS information to Dave Fisher at LiveNet, 1:170/110@fidonet.org.

For the newsletter, I've sorted the in alphabetical order by Country for the
international ones and by state for those in the USA to make it easier to find
one close to you.  His file has other details related to these BBS's but we
didn't have room, okay?  The file we're using showed that the last update was
September 7, 1992.

Does anyone know if this list of his is being kept up to date?  I hope to
expand it more next month; ran out of time.  But I've got his list in a
database right now and I'll be able to code that list a lot easier next month.

Hope you find this inclusion useful.  Large phone bills are not my fault...!!! 

 Australia    61/3 

Graham Stair
3M Australia
+61-2-498-9184
Australia

Alan Salmon
PC User's Group
+61-6-259-1244
Australia

Norbert Fuerst
The Styrian OS/2 Jumbo
+43-316-673237
Australia

Bill Bolton
Software Tools Mail Exc
+61-2-449-2618
Australia

Bill Bolton
Software Tools Mail Exc
+61-2-449-9477
Australia

Felix Tsang
Programmer's BBS
+61-2-875-1296
Australia

Alan Salmon
PC User's Group
+61-6-259-1244
Australia

Ian Watson
OZ-Share OS/2 BBS
+61-7-398-3759
Australia

 Belgium    62/3 

Bas Heijermans
Moving Sound OS/2 BBS
+32-3-3850748
Belgium

Benoit HUON
Os/2 MANiA BELGIUM
+32-2-3872021
Belgium

Danny Bruggeman
Hellfire
+32-2-7515203
Belgium

Bas Heijermans
Moving Sound OS/2 BBS
+32-3-3850748
Belgium

 Canada    63/3 

Kevin Lowey
Univ. of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4857
Canada

Evan Smith
ECS Net
(403) 253-5996
Canada

Ian Evans
Baudeville BBS
(416) 283-0114
Canada

Herbert Tsui
BBS Council
(604) 275-6883
Canada

Jerry Stevens
The Locutory
(613) 722-0489
Canada

 Denmark    64/3 

Rene Carlsen
OS/2 Task and FrontDoor H
+45-98451070
Denmark

Jorgen Ollgaard
Josti-BBS
+45-47-380120
Denmark

Jorgen Ollgaard
Josti-BBS
+45-47-380524
Denmark

 France    65/3 

Emmanuel Sandorfi
Os/2 MANiA (Help Maximu
+33-164-090460
France

 Germany    66/3 

Ulrich Roeding
BOX/2
+49-89-6019677
Germany

Peter Kaszanics
APOLONIA
+49-201-200381
Germany

Peter Kaszanics
APOLONIA
+49-201-200382
Germany

Peter Plischka
IBM Mailbox
+49-201-210744
Germany

Peter Kaszanics
APOLONIA
+49-201-237509
Germany

Peter Plischka
IBM Mailbox
+49-201-295181
Germany

Chris Leuder
Zaphod BBS
+49-228-229147
Germany

Chris Leuder
Zaphod BBS
+49-228-262894
Germany

 Kalle Braun
Terrania City
+49-228-317752
Germany

Oliver Lass
LRZ-System
+49-228-331214
Germany

Oliver Lass
LRZ-System
+49-228-334372
Germany

Harald Kipp
OS/2 Point
+49-234-9279222
Germany

Karlheinz Kissel
The_File_Store
+49-6106-22266
Germany

Juergen Berger
JERRY'S OS/2-BBS
+49-6134-26563
Germany

Oliver Schwabedissen
MoonFlower
+49-6145-31602
Germany

Richard Clement
OS/2 Express
+49-6183-74270
Germany

Michael Breukel
PC Softbox OS/2
+49-6196-27799
Germany

Romeo Bernreuther
CCWN-BOX
+49-7151-68434
Germany

Markus Noller
Second Source
+49-7191-56267
Germany

Juergen Fritz
CheckPoint OS/2
+49-7331-69116
Germany

Thomas Tegel
The CAT
+49-7971-72446
Germany

 Italy    67/3 

Luigi Ravina
Italy Network
+39-11-8180069
Italy

Roberto Sonzogni
Runnin' with The Devil
+39-363-303567
Italy

Pasquale Cantiello
FastForward BBS
+39-823-812099
Italy

 Netherlands    68/3 

Peter Smink
BBS The Experiment
+31-1150-15245
Netherlands

Dave Jones
The TJD Support BBS
+31-1720-38558
Netherlands

Joop Mellaart
INFOBOARD
+31-4752-6200
Netherlands

Marcel Stikkelman
PC-Square
+31-79-424107
Netherlands

 Norway    69/3 

Terje Slydahl
PerlePorten
+47-83-33003
Norway

 Singapore    70/3 

Ivan Leong
Miqas/2 Singapore
+65-755-6463
Singapore

 Switzerland    71/3 

Alex Wyss
Gepard's Oracle Zuerich
+41-1-3637037
Switzerland

Michael Buenter
MICS OS/2 Paradise
+41-41-538607
Switzerland

Ernesto Hagmann
PC-Info
+41-61-9412204
Switzerland

 United Kingdom    72/3 

Mike Gove
MonuSci BBS
+44-0-454-633197
United Kingdom

Phil Tuck
The TJD Support BBS
+44-535-665345
United Kingdom

 Arizona    73/3 

Mike Mahoney
Emerald Isle, The
(602) 749-8638
Arizona

Frank Ward
Encounter, The
(602) 892-1853
Arizona

 California    74/3 

Patrick O'Riva
AsmLang and OS/2
(408) 259-2223
California

Michael Cummings
Zzyzx Road OS/2 BBS
(619) 579-0135
El Cajon, California

Craig Swanson
OS/2 Connection
(619) 558-9475
San Diego, California

Chuck Gilmore
Magnum BBS
(805) 582-9306
California

Michael Nelson
SeaHunt BBS
(415) 431-0227
California

Michael Nelson
SeaHunt BBS
(415) 431-0473
California

 Colorado    75/3 

William Herrera
Cuerna Verde
(719) 545-8572
Colorado

Randy Edwards
Socialism OnLine!
(719) 392-7781
Colorado

OS/2 BBS
Denver
(303)755-6859
Colorado

OS/2 Source
Denver
(303)744-0373
Colorado

 Connecticut    76/3 

Chris Regan
Storm Front - OS/2, The
(203) 234-0824
Connecticut

Felix Tang
Excelsior, The
(203) 466-1826
Connecticut

Emmitt Dove
Fernwood
(203) 483-0348
Connecticut

Steve Lesner
Bullet BBS
(203) 322-4135
Connecticut

Steve Lesner
Bullet BBS
(203) 329-2972
Connecticut

Rob Schmaling
Caladan
(203) 622-4740
Connecticut

Don Dawson
Treasure Island
(203) 791-8532
Connecticut

Bob Morris
Ascii Neighborhood
(203) 932-6236
Connecticut

Bob Morris
Ascii Neighborhood
(203) 934-9852
Connecticut

 Deleware    77/3 

John Tarbox
Singer Bear BBS
(302) 984-2238
Deleware

Scott Street
Space Station Alpha
(302) 653-1458
Deleware

 Florida    78/3 

Mark Wheeler
SandDollar, The
(407) 784-4507
Florida

Rusty Plant
The 19th Hole
(904) 479-8538
Pensacola, Florida

Don Bauer
OS2 Exchange
(904) 739-2445
Florida

Chris Wolcott
The Outer Limits
(904) 934-1141
Gulf Breeze, Florida

Kathy Todd
The Apothecary's Archives
(904) 934-3146
Gulf Breeze, Florida

Richard Todd
The Disintegrated Circuit OS/2
(904) 934-9796
Gulf Breeze, Florida

 Georgia    79/3 

IBM
IBM National Support Ce
(404) 835-6600
Georgia

IBM
IBM National Support Ce
(404) 835-5300
Georgia

Ed June
Information Overload
(404) 471-1549
Georgia

 Hawaii    80/3 

Craig Oshiro
Ghostcomm Image Gallery
(808) 456-8510
Hawaii

 Illinois    81/3 

Bill Cook
GREATER CHICAGO Online!
(708) 895-4042
Illinois

Bogie Bugsalewicz
I CAN! BBS
(312) 736-7434
Illinois

 Indiana    82/3 

Mike Phillips
Catacombs, The
(317) 525-7164
Indiana

Jay Tipton
Play Board, The
(219) 744-4908
Indiana

 Kansas    83/3 

Troy Majors
Byte Bus, The
(316) 683-1433
Kansas

 Louisiana    84/3 

Stan Brohn
HelpNet of Baton Rouge
(504) 273-3116
Louisiana

Jim Sterrett
Padded Cell BBS, The
(504) 340-7027
Louisiana

 Maryland    85/3 

James Chance
Last Relay, The
(410) 793-3829
Maryland

 Michigan    86/3 

Dave Shoff
Cornerstone BBS, The
(616) 465-4611
Michigan

 Minnesota    87/3 

Brady Flowers
Oberon Software
(507) 388-1154
Minnesota

 Missouri    88/3 

Woody Sturges
OS/2 Woodmeister, The
(314) 446-0016
Missouri

 New Jersey    89/3 

Bob Germer
Capital City BBS
(609) 386-1989
New Jersey

Mike Fuchs
Dog's Breakfast, The
(908) 506-0472
New Jersey

 Nevada    90/3 

Kerry Flint
Caddis OS/2 BBS
(702) 453-6687
Nevada

Dennis Conley
Communitel OS/2 BBS
(702) 399-0486
Nevada

 New York    91/3 

Mikel Beck
Kind Diamond's Realm
(516) 736-3403
New York

 North Carolina    92/3 

Thomas Bradford
Backdoor BBS
(919) 799-0923
North Carolina

Richard Lee
Psychotronic BBS
(919) 286-7738
North Carolina

 Ohio    93/3 

Mark Lehrer
Akron Anomoly, The
(216) 688-6383
Ohio

 Oklahoma    94/3 

Bill Schnell
Asylum BBS, The
(918) 832-1462
Oklahoma

Scott Dickason
BBS/2
(918) 743-1562
Oklahoma

 Oregon    95/3 

Bill Taylor
Integrated Media Servic
(503) 667-2649
Oregon

Paul Breedlove
Multi-Net
(503) 883-8197
Oregon

 Pennsylvania    96/3 

Louis F. Ursini
Quantum Leap
(215) 967-9018
Pennsylvania

Ed Barboni
System-2 RBBS
(215) 631-0685
Pennsylvania

 South Carolina    97/3 

Paul Beverly
PMSC OnLine Resource
(803) 735-6101
South Carolina

 Tennessee    98/3 

Operand BBS
Lonnie Wall
(901) 753-3738
Tennessee

Edward Owens
Looking Glass, The
(901) 872-4386
Tennessee

 Texas    99/3 

Robert McA
Live-Wire
(214) 307-8119
Texas

Doug Palmer
Rock BBS, The
(512) 654-9792
Texas

David Dozier
Roach Coach, The
(713) 343-0942
Texas

Ken Rucker
RucK's Place/2
(817) 485-8042
Texas

 Virginia    100/3 

Pete Norloff
OS/2 Shareware
(703) 385-4325
Virginia

Pete Norloff
OS/2 Shareware
(703) 385-0931
Virginia

Bill Andrus
Systems Exchange, The
(703) 323-7654
Virginia

Joe Salemi
Max's Doghouse
(703) 548-7849
Virginia

 Washington    101/3 

Adolph Weidanz
The Gold Pegasus BBS
Running Maximus/Binkley using OS/2 Versions
(206) 698-8404
Fidonet: 1:350/35
Eznet: 255:1206/101 and 0
Bremerton, Washington

LeRoy DeVries
Sno-Valley Software Exc
(206) 880-6575
Washington

Rodney Lorimor
Gecko Control
(509) 244-0944
Washington

Todd Riches
Alternate Reality
(206) 557-9258
Washington


From the Wire
=============

A selection of messages about OS/2 seen fleeting across the wires on Fidonet
and Internet.


OS/2 BakupWiz 1.07
------------------ 

From the Os2prodsup message area.
From: Peter Schulz
Subj: OS/2 BakupWiz 1.07

OS/2 BakupWiz News
Jan 03, 1994

PCX has released version 1.07 of OS/2 BakupWiz. This is a minor bug fix and
enhancement release. See the list of changes/fixes at the end of this message.

Our customers may obtain the release in one of several ways. The complete
replacement for the release code is available on PCX's BBS now. You must be a
registered user on the BBS in order to gain access to the private area where
the archive is located. If you are not setup on the BBS already, please call us
and we will take care of that for you. The file name is BWS5-107.ZIP.

A quicker and easier way is for you to download a patch file that will update
your existing product to the 1.07 level. You gain by having a smaller download
to perform and having the patch available on both our BBS and Compuserve. The
patch is only useful to customers with the 1.06 code! If you are running older
code, you must first bring it up to the 1.06 level. In addition, since it is
safe for us to post the patch in a public forum, you do not need to be
validated on our BBS before you are able to download it. The file name for the
patch on Compuserve is BWP6-7.ZIP and is found in the OS2BVEN forum LIB 2. On
our BBS, the filename is the same.

The patch is easy to apply. Unzip the patch into the directory where you have
OS/2 BakupWiz installed. Then just go into that directory and type PATCH.

Please call us if you have any problems.

Peter Schulz
PCX - The home of OS/2 BakupWiz

Changes

* Not overwriting "older" file is no longer considered an error.
* Added Sony SDT-5000, Exabyte 2501, 4200, 4200c.

Fixed Bugs

* Fixed 'Unable to load config" message.
* Hang in restore scan fixed. ÿ  ÿÿ  

