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February 2004

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January 16

20040116 kernels

Scott has released updated kernels on IBM's Testcase FTP server today.

Download from ftp://testcase.boulder.ibm.com/ps/fromibm/os2/

"This contains fixes since xr_e002/xr_m015/mcp/acp. Important note: If you use the OS/2 SES facility, you need a new sesdd32.sys dated April 2001 or later to use this kernel. Also, a matching dump formatter (df_ret.exe), provided separately, is required, if you want to analyze a dump from this kernel. Finally, note that os2ldr is only required for the >64mb memory detection mentioned below."

As always these are not officially supported by IBM unless they tell you to use them.

**** Please send any followup to comp.os.os2.bugs on usenet. ****

Also note that files are only on IBM's testcase for 2-3 days, so if you want to try these get them now. Make certain you back up any files replaced and don't try these on a production system. Read any readme file before applying any changes. If your system is working well, and you have no problems addressed by these updates, do yourself a favour and don't mess with this. You have been warned.

The UNI and SMP files are for WSeB/ACP/eCS Pro (SMP kernel) and the W4 files are for post FP15/MCP versions, including eComStation. Only use the SMP kernel on a machine with more then one CPU.]

From the readme file

Fixes to problems that exist in released code:

20040116 14.097d
- the code lock stuff seems to be working well, so it's no longer "experimental."
- possible DosConnectNmPipe regression test fix
- Support for loading pure 32 bit code and data objects in DLLs above the 512mb line. More details on that to come separately.


January 16

OS/2 e-Zine: January 2004 Issue on-line

The January 2004 issue should be on-line now. As usual, please notify me of any problems. Though less articles (due to holidays) than usual, this issue is a heavier than normal (sorry dial-ups!) due to some rather large graphics and a lengthy review (which may take a while to load and render in your browser).

Contents:
--------
- Compared: 3 Home Finance Softwares for OS/2.
- A Mesa application: complete salesbook accounting solution all in Mesa! (sample Mesa sheet included)
- A look at using PMPDF
- Some more artwork submissions

Thanks to all the authors for all the submissions. Please consider contributing! OS/2 e-Zine cannot live on without you.

Url: http://www.os2ezine.com


January 16

RexxMail build 20040116.155027 released.

A new build of RexxMail is available from my web site:

http://www.degeus.com/rexx/rexxmail_english.html
or
http://www.degeus.com/rexx/rexxmail_nederlands.html

The distribution ZIP file is also available from the Hobbes repository:

http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-search?key=rexxmail

Changes:

Pruning: combined Forward and Reply routines.

Bugfix: DateTime... produced silly month name results for non-ISO settings.

RexxMail is an object-oriented WPS e-mail client, written in REXX, which uses the standard WPS user interface. It features an extensive range of functions and options with full command-line access.


January 14

Mike3SKN.INF version 1.45

Mike3SKN.INF version 1.45 is an English hypertext file in the native INF format, offering a detailed overview of 400 perfect skins for PM123. In practice, it is an accurate catalog of all skins with order numbers from - 801 to 1200. Mike3SKN.INF is a part of the NEPTUNE project, which contains -- 2,800 skins !

New features:
- Simple Calculator (Some useful tools)
- 1 new skin (Albaaa.skn)
- Neptune-CD Cover (necd2800.sda)

Direct download link (6.95 MB) --
http://www.os2ecs.net/neptune/mike3skn.zip

Url: http://www.os2ecs.net/neptune/downloa4.shtml


January 14

RexxMail build 20040114.162927 released.

A new build of RexxMail is available from my web site:

http://www.degeus.com/rexx/rexxmail_english.html
or
http://www.degeus.com/rexx/rexxmail_nederlands.html

Changes:

- Added ForwardText and ReplyText settings:
Customized intro texts in forwarded and reply messages.
- Added RunReceived setting:
Run an external command when a message is collected from the server.
- Removed SignalJunkMail and SignalVirus settings:
The redirection mechanism can do this kind of thing, and better.
- Changed JunkMailHeader and VirusMailHeader settings:
Multiple entries allow multiple spam/virus filter programs to be used.

RexxMail is an object-oriented WPS e-mail client, written in REXX, which uses the standard WPS user interface. It features an extensive range of functions and options with full command-line access.


January 14

TCP/IP Config Utilty

A Program that should replace the IBM tcpcfg2 java prog for configurating the lan interfaces.

Url: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-search?key=tcpconfig


January 13

new udf driver 2.1.3 on IBM SWC

SWC has a new udf driver dated 11/26/03 despite the page showing last update on 9/26/03.

http://www7.software.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/186d96ebef23e6438625689c007ac1ef/4b2e6f2261265d6d86256a810069fe2b?OpenDocument

1.0 Introduction
----------------

This software package contains UDF Installable File System version 2.1.3. This version includes the following features:

o LOCK.EXE and UNLOCK.EXE have been added to the package.

o Low-level format canceling is now supported for some drives.

o DVD-RW and DVD+RW media are supported.

o /BM the Bit Map Spacing parameter for the FORMAT command is supported.

o Double Density CD media (DDCD-ROM, DDCD-R, DDCD-RW) is now supported. This media can be used only with Double Density CD-R/RW Drives. Double Density CD media is not compatible with CD and DVD drives.


January 13

Open Watcom 1.2 Now Available

Open Watcom 1.2 Now Available
-----------------------------

Open Watcom 1.2 has been released. This update includes a number of eagerly anticipated fixes and enhancements and can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Open Watcom web site at:

http://www.openwatcom.org/

Open Watcom can also be purchased on CD, which includes all of the source code, as well as SciTech s installers for OS/2 and Windows. Support for the update will be handled exclusively through the Open Watcom newsgroup and Bugzilla.

This latest release marks the second official update to Open Watcom since the projects inception, and sets the stage for future development. SciTech has stated in the past that the goal of the project is to offer regular stable product releases on a more frequent basis and looks to the growing community of developers to assist in making this goal a reality. To further drive the project, SciTech is currently funding a feasibility study on porting Open Watcom for use on Linux, with the goal of being able to provide an alternate compiler option as well as a commercial quality debugger for Linux and BSD developers.

What's new in Open Watcom 1.2
-----------------------------

* The C compiler now performs stricter checking on function prototypes and pointer operations. This may lead to previously undiagnosed warnings/errors appearing when compiling incorrect or ambiguous code.
* The C compiler diagnostic messages have been improved to print more information, making it easier to isolate the problem.
* A new warning (W130) has been added to the C compiler to diagnose possible precision loss on assignment operations. This warning is never on by default and must be enabled through '#pragma enable_message(130)' or '-wce=130' switch.
* Support for C99 style variable argument macros (and __VA_ARGS__) has been added to the C and C++ compilers.
* Added support for the __func__ symbol (name of the current function) which is equivalent to the already existing __FUNCTION__ symbol.
* Better C99 style support for "long long" type is now available in the C and C++ compilers. LL, ULL and LLU suffixes are recognized for constants. "long long int" is now also recognized.
* Added C99 style *LLONG_MIN/MAX defines to limits.h.
* The C++ compiler has been fixed to properly accept source files where a template was the last item in a namespace or an external linkage.
* Several new -adxx options have been added to the C and C++ compilers to support automatic generation of 'make' style dependency files.
* The C compiler has been fixed to correctly diagnose illegal union assignments.
* The C compiler now issues warnings on operations involving pointers to different but compatible unions.
* The C and C++ compilers now ensure word alignment of wide character string literals to satisfy Win32 API restrictions.
* The __UNIX__ macro is now supported in C and C++ compilers, wmake and wasm. It is currently defined for QNX and Linux targets.
* Default windowing support has been re-enabled for Win16 and Win386 runtime libraries.
* Since default windowing is no longer supported on most platforms, the Programmer's Guide and IDE tutorial have been updated to reflect that fact.
* The Win32 GUI tools now support the Windows XP look and feel.
* AutoCAD and MFC targets have been removed from the IDE, the bw switch (default windowing) is no longer available in the IDE for OS/2 and Win32 targets.
* Manual for the CauseWay DOS extender has been added.
* The dmpobj tool has been added. This utility dumps the contents of OMF object files and can be useful to developers.
* Several system definitions have been added to wlink: os2_pm (16- bit OS/2 Presentation Manager executable), os2_dll (16-bit OS/2 DLL) and os2v2_dll (32-bit OS/2 DLL).
* The linker has been fixed to read "AR" style archives produced by third party tools.
* The linker has been fixed to prevent crashes when linking with COFF files providing uninitialised COMDAT entries
* Several linker crashes related to ELF object files and executables have been resolved.
* Updated wlink to call wlib with the -c (case sensitive) option when creating import libraries. This fixes problems with DLLs that export symbols differring only in case.
* The C runtime library has been optimized to produce smaller executables.
* The printf() function now supports the "ll" format specifier for "long long" integers.
* The printf() function has been enhanced to support %b format specifier for bitfields.
* Execution order of C library termination routines is now better defined to prevent instances where temporary files created through mktemp() could be left behind.
* [OS/2 32-bit] To prevent crashes, termination code is not run if second instance of a DLL failed to load due to single DGROUP.
* [OS/2 32-bit] The __grow_handles() function was incorrectly adding requested handles to existing limit instead of setting the limit to n.
* [OS/2 32-bit] Fixed a problem with _STACKLOW in multithreaded programs and DLLs. This prevents crashes where Fortran DLLs would run out of stack.
* [OS/2 16-bit] Fixed default math exception handler which wasn't popping the FP status word off the stack and would therefore crash on exit.
* The Win32 Image Editor has been enhanced with drag-and-drop support.
* The IDE has been fixed to properly handle mixed case filenames.
* The Microsoft compatibility tools (NMAKE, CL) have been fixed to better handle command line arguments.
* The Dialog Editor (wde) has been fixed to prevent occasional DDE related crashes when run from inside the Resource Editor (wre).
* The 'Change font' option no longer crashes the GUI debugger (wdw).
* On OS/2, wdw now intercepts the F10 key instead of passing it on to the system.
* The code generator now deletes object files if it was interrupted.
* Previously zero-length invalid object files could be left behind, interfering with make operation.
* The wasm assembler has been enhanced to generate file dependency information usable by wmake.
* Numerous minor fixes have been made to wasm.
* Compatibility with MASM 6 has been improved with wasm.
* Support for sysenter and sysexit instructions has been added to wasm and wdis.
* Disassembly of xchg and bound instructions has been fixed in wdi (corrected order of operands).
* Several previously undocumented wmake directives have been documented.
* A -sn ('noisy') option has been added to wmake to print all commands that wmake executes, including silent ones.
* The w32api project has been updated to the latest version.
* The os2api project has been enhanced - added multimedia headers and libraries and numerous fixes have been made to the header files.
* The debugger now supports the F7 key as a shortcut for "run to cursor". This is consistent with CodeView.
* New internal variable dbg$ntid (next thread id) has been added to the debugger. This permits automated iteration of all threads.
* The wsample tool has been updated to dynamically allocate storage for command line, where previously the command line length was limited to 128 characters.
* The FORTRAN compiler has been changed to preserve case of symbols with linkage other than FORTRAN. This is especially helpful when calling OS API functions and using case sensitive link step (now default).

About Open Watcom
-----------------

The Watcom C/C++ and Fortran products are the first mass market, proprietary compilers to be Open Sourced and, weighing in at nearly three million lines of source code, represent one of the largest pools of commercial source code of any type ever released under an Open Source license. Sybase, Inc. developed the original Watcom code and SciTech Software, Inc. is the official maintainer of the project. The Open Watcom project has stirred tremendous interest among developers worldwide. Thousands have already joined the Open Watcom community at www.openwatcom.org in order to use Open Watcom and contribute to its further development. Watcom supports software development in Windows, DOS, OS/2, Netware, QNX, and other operating systems (a Linux version of Open Watcom is planned). The Open Watcom web address is http://www.openwatcom.org.

About SciTech
-------------

SciTech Software, Inc. is a leading supplier of PC graphics utilities, drivers, and tools for the embedded, industrial and enterprise markets. SciTech's products include, SciTech SNAP Graphics, a fully accelerated binary compatible graphic device driver solution, SciTech GLDirect, an OpenGL to Direct3D driver and SciTech MGL, a professional graphics library used to develop some of today's most popular software programs. SciTech products support the Windows, Linux, OS/2, DOS, QNX, and SMX operating systems. SciTech is privately held and the company's web address is http://www.scitechsoft.com


January 13

Spanish Version of the Voice Newsletter

Happy New Year. In the later days I've been asking to Christian Hennecke, Editor in Chief of the VOICE Newsletter how to make a Spanish Version of the Voice Newletter. According to the messages exchanged and the work of Mr. Hennecke, people in VOICE are very interested in this project and are willing to help us to make it possible. So, this is an invitation for any Spanish-spoken OS/2 User willing to help in his/her spare time to reach this objective. As many people could we gather, the faster we will make it. Please send me an email to contact you, with your effort and the indications of Mr. Hennecke and all the people of VOICE sure we will succeed. Thanks in advance.

Feliz Año Nuevo. En los últimos d as he estado preguntando a Christhian Hennecke, redactor en jefe del bolet n de noticias de VOICE c mo hacer una versi n en español de dicho bolet n. De acuerdo con los mensajes intercambiados y el trabajo del Sr. Hennecke, los miembros de VOICE estßn muy interesados en este proyecto y estßn dispuestos a ayudarnos a hacerlo posible. As pues, esto es una invitaci n para cualquier usuario de OS/2 hispanoparlante que quiera ayudar en su tiempo libre para alcanzar este objetivo. Mientras mßs gente podamos reunir, mßs rßpidamente lo lograremos. Por favor env eme un email para contactarlo, con su esfuerzo y las indicaciones del Sr. Hennecke y toda la gente de VOICE seguramente tendremos xito. Gracias por adelantado, Javier Orejarena

javiercol@softhome.net


January 13

DFSee version 6.00 released, major improvements!

This is a MAJOR release of the DFSee program, it includes the complete menu system with context sensitive help and a vastly improved IMAGING subsystem that will do size-limited multiple files and better compression.

Upgrades are available from 5.xx as wel as 4.xx registrations.

A bootable FreeDOS diskette with DFSDOS 6.00 will be made available later today, and an ISO-image for a bootable CD will follow in a few days. (requires you to add a key!)

DFSee is the SWISS-ARMY-KNIFE for disk and filesystem problems. With FDISK-like displays, analysis and recovery, FIX commands, UNDELETE for HPFS/NTFS, imaging and cloning. More details at:

http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee.htm

Direct download links:

http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee/dfsee6xx.zip
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/disk/dfsee600.zip
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/dfsee600.zip

Most important functional changes since 5.55:

- CLONE Do not show confusing store-numbers on confirmations
- CR MENU Freespace list in physical order and disknumber added
- CRITERR No DOS Abort, Retry, Ignore messages, but auto 'FAIL'
- DOS Fixed volume access from DFSDOS.EXE from bootable CD
- Dialogs Button colors set to Yellow-on-Grey for readability
- Dialogs F4 functionkey made equivalent to [OK], ending dialog
- EXPAND Error-message when maximum-size smaller than current
- FILEDLG Do not copy filename from list when just tabbing
- FILEDLG FileSaveAs now copies basename only, no extension
- FILEDLG FileSaveAs now starts with empty filename field
- FILEDLG Highlight title on focus for entryfield and volumelist
- FILEDLG Keep current-dir on volume-select, no change to root
- FILEDLG Support multi-letter quick-select on DIR/File lists
- FILEDLG and PART much faster now with disconnected LAN drives
- FIXHS Fix 'HiddenSectors' field in bootsec, match part-table
- MENU Added drive-letter & Pri/Log type to partition-menus
- MENU Add "Display from list" to FS menus; long descriptions
- MENU Added W2KBM command to FDISK menu 'Protect IBM BMGR'
- MENU AutoMenu does NOT drop pulldown, keeps screen visible
- MENU Add 'Recover from list' item to FAT/HPFS/NTFS menus
- MENU Added ZEROFREE to clear unused sectors in filesystem
- MENU Added 'change LVM diskname' to the Mode=FDISK menu
- MENU Added RESIZE and EXPAND items with size-prompt dialogs
- MENU Added 'change working directory' for saved files
- MENU Made menu-scrolling wrap-arround at first and last
- MENU New 'Allocation and SLT identify' item in list actions
- MENU New '-M:2' switch disables automatic open of pulldowns
- MENU New '-M:1' switch so right-arrow does not open submenus
- MENU Refresh volume submenu with F7-key (removable A: etc)
- MENU Support first-letter quick-key to select menu-headers
- PART Explicit WARNING when HiddenSectors field is incorrect
- PART xx Verbose message on HiddenSectors versus partitiontable
- RECOVER Esc from File-Dialog or Wildcard prompt now aborts cmd
- RESIZE Fixed FAT max-size (could result in 1 cyl freespace)
- SCRIPTS Added DFSQREXX.CMD example query script in REXX (OS2)
- SIM Added multi-file logic and DFSee specific headers
- SIM Added RLE compressed empty sectors, max 1:8000 ratio
- SIM Limited-size multiple file support with '-m:mb' option
- SIM Smart-use imaging with -S option, only in-use sectors
- SIM Support removable media changing with option '-Media'
- SPEED Command and menu-items for RO and RW speed measurement
- STORE Added partition-type value to description (for CLONE)
- WRIM Added DFSee-header recognition for multiple files

Check DFS*.TXT files for details, all changes listed in DFSHIST.TXT

Registering DFSee will give you the right to use all 6.xx versions and get support plus a reasonable amount of assistance by email.

But even more important, it enables further development of DFSee!


January 12

Fighting spam...

Hello,

I've read the Voice newsletter, Jan 2004, especially the article about PostArmor.

I'd like to tell about the (native OS/2) script I've written to help filter out spam: RBLcheck. Although it probably won't work with Mozilla or Thunderbird (as they cannot invoke external programs as part of their filtering), it works quite well for PMMail/2, and probably for other email clients too.. The author of RexxMail told me he will make RexxMail able to work with RBLcheck.

I very recently released RBLcheck version 1.0, you can read more about it at http://os2.besse.nl/


January 12

ZeroToaster:MTA beta 2.20w9

20/1 Informationssysteme GmbH http://www.zwanzigeins.de released a new official beta of ZeroToaster::MTA (2.20w9) ZeroToaster::MTA is a very fast, responsive POP3 and SMTP mailserver with all the features an ISP, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) or individual user requires.

"Requirements
- Java 1.1.8 or later (Java2 is fine)
- A Filesystem which allows long filenames
- An operating system with a working TCP/IP stack eg Windows, OS/2, Linux, Unix, OS/390...
- About 10 MB free RAM"

This beta requires a running ZeroToaster:MTA installation.

New feature(s):
---------------
RBL extension of the "Bayesian Filter" feature. Each user can have individual settings for RBL support. The RBL feature is able to break down the response codes and you can give each RBL and response code a different weighting.

New application(s):
-------------------
ZeroToaster::MailView 1.00 (MV) for viewing and deleting the content of your overcrowded spambin. This part of ZT is able to work as a standalone application with almost every POP3 server (doesn't need ZT as backend). Planned features are SPAMCOP support and redirecting "false alerts" to the approved user.

Fixed bug(s)/changes:
---------------------
"X-Routed-IP" headers from other ZT installations in the path are removed to avoid confusion.

You can download ZeroToaster::MTA from http://www.zerotoaster.net


January 12

New wvgui 20040109

Note the new download site.

Download: ftp://pilot-film.com/os2/WVGUI/wvgui/wvgui20040109.zip

Web site: http://os2.kiev.ua/en/wv.php
Support Forum: http://os2.kiev.ua/en/forum.list.php?f=1

"The program is representing GUI for WarpVision created by Alex Strelnikov It is not "launcher" for WV CLI, but includes latest WV CLI features In future, these sparated projects will be combined in one

plays video media formats: mpeg1/2, avi, asf, mov, mp3 audio, wav
audio codecs support (pcm, mp3, ac3, wma1, wma2, ms adpcm, mp4) HWENDIVE/WarpOverlay support (color in YUV422)

autodetecting color scheme (not always works correctly)
fullscreen and windowed mode
aspect ratio on and off in windowed mode
skin support
playlist support
plays last played file (from stop place)
VCD support
basic DVD support (uncrypted)
DVD subtitles support
OSD support (On Screen Display)
reading and writing playlists in WinAmp format
drag'n'drop to playlist and control window (files and directories)
play loop for files and lists
basic (due lack of drivers which support > 2 channels except Ruediger "Rudi" Ihle CMedia drivers) multichannel audio support
PNG support for skins (thanks to Igor Saveliev aka gorynych)
pipe interface
Remote control support (Using Remote control daemon from TVSHOW project) Single copy running: when wv already running, second wv just exit if second wv have file name as parameter, wv pass it to first copy, which start play it immedeately
Video snapshots"

Changelog:

PLEASE! Remove VIDEO2.INI first!

09.01.2004

 Added RealMedia playlists support
 Removed application stream type from mozilla plugin
 Fixed no audio in AC3 streams
 Added FT2LIB support for antialiasing fonts for subtitles
 A lot of other fixes and bugs


January 11

RAR 3.30 beta 5

The RAR archiver has been updated to version 3.30 beta 5. This is a command-line compression utility, with tight general and multimedia compression, recovery record option management of non-RAR archives, RCVT aRchive ConVersion Tool, and more.

http://www.rarlab.com/rar/rarx33b5.exe


January 11

GetIP alpha testers wanted...

Hi Folks!

I've written a small REXX script that allows you to retrieve the Internet IP address that has been assigned to your host PC.

The twist here is that the script uses either a web echo server or your router's built-in STATUS page if you have a router in your networking setup.

Currently the script supports some LinkSys routers, but I would like to support many others. So if you are interested in having your router supported read the DOC file and send me the info.

I have uploaded the file to Hobbes in /pub/incoming, name : getip011.zip,

Hobbes Incoming: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/getip011.zip
Hobbes Search: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-search?key=getip011.zip


January 11

RBLcheck 1.0 released

Jeroen Besse released RBLcheck 1.0.

RBLcheck can help you filter out spam from your inbox.

The program was written for PMMail/2000, but might work with other email programs that allow external programs to run as well.

RBLcheck checks incoming messages at some real-time blocklists and tags them. It's configurable with mutiple RBL's and has a score system.

Url: http://os2.besse.nl/



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