************************************* * * * DB/C Newsletter * * May 1994 * * * ************************************* Editor's Notes This is the first DB/C Newsletter that is available only via the Internet. Moving the newsletter to the Internet is the first step in closing down the DB/C dial-in BBS. We will continue to provide technical support via the BBS for several more months, but we hope people will move over to the Internet for technical support before the cutoff occurs. The Internet email system will be the primary means for providing technical support. To communicate with us about technical and non-technical issues, send mail messages to "dbc@swc.com". Internet mail relays are available from Compuserve, America Online and Delphi. I don't recommend Compuserve because there is a per-message charge for Internet mail. America Online is OK, except that they don't allow files to be attached to mail messages. The best access to the Internet is usually provided by local access providers. We can provide you with names and phone numbers of local access providers in your area. Contact Judi Tamkevic at (708) 572-0240 for this information. The current DB/C Newsletter is always available via FTP. The server name is "ftp.swc.com" and the file name is "/sys/pub/news/current.txt". It is also available via the WWW server named "www.swc.com". We also distribute the newsletter via email. If you would like to subscribe please send a message to dbc@swc.com requesting a subscription. It's almost official - the name of DATABUS has been changed to PL/B. The April 4 deadline for Datapoint to relinquish its trademark passed and the name change was forwarded to X3 for 30 days of public review. If there are no objections from X3 members (companies like IBM, DEC, Microsoft, etc.), then X3 will forward the PL/B Standard to ANSI for approval. If all goes well, ANSI will publish the standard by July. We'll keep you informed. In conjunction with the ANSI Standard name change, we will start using the name PL/B instead of DATABUS. The topic of this month's newsletter is the International DATABUS Users Group meeting that was held last month. If you attended the meeting, it was good to meet and talk with you. If you did not attend, the article will give you an overview of what you missed. don.wills@swc.com The International DATABUS Users Group Meeting The 1994 edition of the International DATABUS Users Group Meeting was held at the Nassau Bay Hilton outside of Houston, Texas. The first day of the meeting, Sunday April 24th, was reserved for a vendor exposition. Ten vendors displayed various hardware and software products of interest to the PL/B community. About 60 people attended the vendor exposition. Subject, Wills & Company displayed an early version of the next release of DB/C - specifically, the dual mode user interface verbs. These are a series of user-defined verbs, with names like DIALOGBOX, MENUBAR and PANEL that operate in either the GUI or character mode. As a programmer, you do not know or care which environment your program will be run in. The conference portion of the meeting lasted from Monday morning through Wednesday at noon. As many as 80 people attended one or more of the sessions. The sessions were moderated by Phil Oestreich of fonorola. After Phil's opening remarks, Gary Raymond, chairman of X3J15, told of the status of the PL/B Standard. Work has begun on the SQL interface with PL/B. Work will start this summer on a major revision to the PL/B Standard to include things like record locking, CALL with parameters, etc. Next was Harry Parker talking about his experience with building a BBS in PL/B and how to bullet-proof programs to be independent of terminal or emulator type. Steve White then described the Sunbelt implementation of GUI support (note - it is very different compared to the DB/C approach). Bob Stadler of Russell Stover Candies told of pitfalls in purchasing expensive accounting software. After lunch, Don Wills attempted to explain the Internet and its promises and problems. Next was Rey Gonzales talking about NAFTA and GATT, followed by Jamie Brown describing FOCUS for Windows. The evening event was an enjoyable dinner cruise on Clear Lake. The second day began with a Gary Raymond's comprehensive review of what to look for in software productivity tools. Jonathan Schmidt then gave a very interesting talk about a project that Performance Technology (PT) has recently completed for Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom. PT built a complete Datapoint 6600 DOS ARC emulator system inside the RS/6000 to allow migration of DOS ARC systems to the RS/6000. In addition, PT created an ARCNET card for the RS/6000. This allowed the software inside the RS/6000 to completely emulate both APs and FPs so that any or all parts of the DOS ARC system can remain in place or be moved into virtual machines inside the RS/6000. He related performance improvements of factors of 10 and more in run times. The day finished with Cheryl Roberts of IBM talking about large scale systems, Greg Zilliox talking about UNIX conversion and Peter Rodriguez talking about Btrieve interfacing experiences. The evening event was a TexMex dinner that was originally scheduled for poolside, but was moved inside because of storms. The final day of the meeting began with a panel discussion with members of X3J15 about the future of PL/B. The closing business meeting followed. In addition to regular business, the group recommended changing the name of IDUG to something else. No consensus was forthcoming, so the name change will be handled by mail ballots over the next several months. The problem with the obvious name - International PL/B Users Group is the abbreviation - IPL/BUG. The next conference was scheduled for May 1995 in Seattle, Washington. In summary, the attendance numbers were up slightly when compared with last year. The vendor expo and the conference were both worthwhile, but the most important aspect of the conference was the comaraderie and the knowledge gained by talking with other PL/B programmers and users. DB/C Class Schedule The next DB/C class is scheduled for June 13 through 16th. The class is held in the Oak Brook, Illinois office of Subject, Wills & Company. For more information, contact Judi Tamkevic at dbc@swc.com or at (708) 572-0240.