Developers Newsletter #16 - 20-JUN-2001
INDEX
1. A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
2. DELPHI VS. VISUAL BASIC (I)
- Introduction
- Learning curve
- Purpose
- Market share
· In-house programming
· Management-systems developers
· Other software developers
- Performance and code size
3. HELP & MANUAL
- What is Help & Manual?
- A straight-forward and easy-to-use interface
- Good reasons to use Help & Manual
- What do you need to work with Help & Manual?
· What do you need to create Windows help files (.HLP files)?
· What do you need to print a manual?
· What do you need to create HTML pages?
· What do you need to create the new fancy HTML HELP (.CHM files)?
- Integrating help files into your applications
- Where to get Help & Manual
- Other interesting stuff
4. PESTPATROL
5. PE EXPLORER
6. BORLAND NEWS
- Kylix Desktop Developer Edition for just $199!
- BORCON 2001
- JBuilder 5: released and awarded
7. FILE FORMATS
########################################################################
1. A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Before we start, I'd like to say sorry for the delay, but due to work
reasons I wasn't able to deliver this issue of the newsletter sooner.
The winner of the Help & Manual Drawing was Roberto Martinez Olvera, 31
years old, Systems Executive of IEQSA, Querétaro (Mexico), who had the
number 059 (corresponding to the second prize of the Lottery of Cordoba,
since for very little no participant had the number 347 corresponding to
the first prize). Congratulations!
From time to time I get asked about comparisons between Delphi and
Visual Basic and in most of the cases the requests come from programmers
who wish to justify a recommendation to their bosses to use Delphi for
software development in the company they work for. In an attempt to
provide some comparison between these two RAD tools, here goes in this
issue the first part of my article DELPHI VS. VISUAL BASIC.
For those of you who follow the Pascal Newsletter I'd like to say that
the article "Old Times" doesn't belong to me, but to H.R.Quiroga, and
that I don't necessarily endorse to the concepts and opinions expressed
there, so please don't be surprised if I say a couple of good things
about Visual Basic... By the way, for those who might be interested,
we'll be publishing an experimental edition of a Visual Basic
Newsletter:
http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/visual-basic/index.php
A computer virus is not the only thing you may catch when you install an
application. Some come with something else... Try PestPatrol.
Need to repair executables or see what they have inside? Do you want to
view, edit or extract resources? Take a look at PE Explorer.
If I am forgetting someone, please let me know.
Best regards,
Ernesto De Spirito
eds2008 @ latiumsoftware.com
########################################################################
2. DELPHI VS. VISUAL BASIC (I)
Introduction
============
Which one is better? Delphi or Visual Basic? It's a simple and direct
question, but unfortunately it doesn't have a simple and direct answer.
The reason is that -although they are both Visual RAD tools- they have
very significant differences and peculiarities that make it impossible
to draw a straight and general conclusion. What we can do however is
analyze and compare their different characteristics, hoping you find
them useful as a guide for evaluation. My choice was Delphi because in
the comparison I gave more weight to certain factors, prioritizing them
over the others, and then the result was Delphi. With different
requirements it would be perfectly valid to choose Visual Basic. Your
choice of language is up to you and will depend on the importance you
give to each characteristic.
Learning curve
==============
Visual Basic is very easy to learn and use, not only because the
programming language is not an OOP language and thus it's easy to learn
and code (in the end it comes from BASIC), but also because the IDE is
simple and conformable to use, and the database objects that come with
Visual Basic provide an interface that makes them easier to use.
Visual Basic does many things for the programmer. For example, objects
are reference counted, and this means that for example if we create an
object referenced by a local variable, the object will be automatically
released when the function or procedure ends (unless we assign it to a
non-local variable). Visual Basic has a sophisticated memory management
system and uses a garbage collector so it's fast deallocating memory.
Database access in Visual Basic is very simple compared with Delphi.
Just one component is used to open the Recordset, offer a navigator
visual interface and link to the data controls, while in Delphi we have
to use three components for that. The big advantage of Visual Basic
Recordsets over Delphi Datasets is that the first ones handle updatable
queries automatically: you can have a query on two tables and it can be
"live", while in Delphi we have to use Cached Updates and an UpdateSQL
component with the respective SQL queries to insert, update or delete a
record. Additionally, when you act against a database server in Delphi
you have to use a transaction component, while this is not necessary in
Visual Basic. From the perspective of a Visual Basic programmer, the
data access of Delphi is way too much of a bother when compared to
Visual Basic's Recordset and Data control that notably simplify this
matter.
Delphi is harder to learn, but not for people who are familiar with
Turbo Pascal or FreePascal. Delphi is harder to use, but has its
advantages. For example, objects usually aren't reference counted and
this means the programmer has to take care of disposing unused objects
created by a procedure or function when that procedure or function ends.
The advantage is that we have more freedom in manipulating the object
and we can release it when we don't need it anymore, no matter how many
variables point to it. Delphi has its own memory management system
optimized for small blocks of data. It doesn't have a garbage collector.
Database access is cumbersome compared with Visual Basic, but very
flexible and extensible.
The IDE deserves a special mention. Particularly, the Code Editor of
Visual Basic has some interesting things. Maybe Borland invented Code
Insight, but personally I think that Microsoft implemented it better.
The possible values of a variable or parameter, or the possible
properties or methods of an object appear automatically and instantly.
Letter-case formatting is a nice feature too (for example if you declare
a variable with the name "Doc", if later you write "DOc", "doc", "dOc",
etc., the variable is formatted as it appears in the declaration
statement -i.e. "Doc"-). One nice thing of the Visual Basic IDE is that
when you are debugging you can modify a sentence and continue the
execution with the changes in effect, without having to restart your
application. Another nice feature of Visual Basic is the Immediate
Window where you can execute interpreted sentences.
But ease of programming had to come at the expense of something. Visual
Basic is easy to learn at the beginning and doesn't require a strong
background of formal education in programming to learn it, but as you
advance and demand more and more out of it, you start finding that VB
has serious limitations that start reminding you that not for nothing
the "B" of Basic stands for "Beginners" (BASIC = Beginner's All-purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code). This doesn't necessarily mean that Visual
Basic programmers will eventually switch to a more powerful language,
actually most Visual Basic users will be happy with it for years as long
as they never need to go beyond its limits, but truth is that Visual
Basic has been the "entry language" for many current Delphi programmers.
Here are some testimonials:
* Why Borland's Delphi?
http://sandbrooksoftware.com/DPSC/Articles/WhyDelphi.shtml
One big fact about Delphi is that you can really do it all and you can
"easily" reach everything your machine and operating system has to
offer. In Visual Basic, to call an API function you have to search the
declaration of the API function, constants and types in a database to
copy and paste them in your programs. From the perspective of a Delphi
programmer, this is way too much of a bother when compared with Delphi,
where you can just call an API function as if it were a built-in
function. Of course, an OOP language is very hard to learn if you don't
have a strong programming background, but once you master it, it gives
you the ability to write reusable, extensible and easily-maintainable
code. With Delphi's data components you can have open a database table
or query and view the data at design time, something nice at the moment
of setting the width of the columns in a data grid. The Delphi IDE
doesn't offer the features I described above for Visual Basic, but
offers other things. For example Delphi's Code Editor offers to
possibility to choose the Key Mapping schema and Code Templates to save
you typing (something that curiously I would expect to find in Visual
Basic instead of Delphi). When it comes to debugging you have some
advanced features like CPU and FPU windows and the possibility to debug
multi-threaded applications.
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "Visual Basic makes the easy things easier, Delphi |
| makes the hard things easier" (Computerworld, 1998). |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Purpose
=======
What do you intend to use a programming language for? This a key issue
when choosing a programming language. Here's an interesting testimony
from a former Visual Basic programmer:
* Hardcore Visual Basic - By Bruce McKinney, 1999
www.vb-zone.com/upload/free/features/vbpj/1999/mckinney/mckinney1.asp
And below is the reply of a Visual Basic programmer admitting Visual
Basic limitations, but also saying an important thing: each language
"has its unique strengths and weaknesses, despite the marketing hype
produced by those with vested interest in the languages" in a clear
allusion to... Well, read it by yourself:
* The Wrong Tool for the Right Job - By Don Kiely, 1999
www.vb-zone.com/upload/free/features/vbpj/1999/mckinney/kiely1.asp
Visual Basic is ideal for simple front-end applications and unsuitable
for more complex stuff, while Delphi is ideal for both the front-end and
the back-end. What does this mean? For example, with Visual Basic you
can develop a compression tool (like Winzip) by designing a user
interface and writing some code calling the compression routines of a
given DLL or an ActiveX object (written in another language) that
provide compression capabilities. With Delphi you can do the same that
you can do with Visual Basic, but you can also write the DLL or the
ActiveX object that performs the compression/decompression task. It's
not that it's impossible to write a DLL or an ActiveX object in Visual
Basic: it's technically feasible, but very inconvenient (see
"Performance and Code Size").
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Delphi is more an "all-purpose" language than Visual Basic. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Market share
============
One of the merits that must be recognized to Visual Basic is that
-thanks to its easiness- it put Windows programming at the fingertips of
literally millions of people.
In particular, the success of Visual Basic in the Spanish-speaking
community is overwhelming because to the ease of use we have to add that
the IDE, online help and printed documentation are translated into
Spanish. I heard that in Spain Delphi is delivered with the printed
documentation in Spanish. Hey Borland, why don't we have that choice in
the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America? You are loosing in big
here...
The purpose and the ease of use has accommodated Visual Basic with a
much bigger market share than Delphi in the global market. However, in
certain market niches, Delphi rules over Visual Basic.
In-house programming
--------------------
Medium-size and large companies that hire programmers to develop and
maintain their internal management systems clearly choose Visual Basic
over Delphi. This is the market of "simple front-end applications", and
executives know there aren't as many Delphi programmers as Visual Basic
ones, so their choice is Visual Basic because they simply prefer to have
an army of programmers at their feet when they need someone.
We are talking of companies that have enough money to pay for the
licenses of the latest version of Visual Basic (see "Obsolescence"), to
be up-to-date with the hardware (see "Performance and code size"), and
to pay for a solution when their IT staff can't develop something in
Visual Basic due to its intrinsic limitations.
Only those companies that demand more than just "simple front-end
applications" from their IT staff use Delphi.
In a sort of feedback process, or a "vicious circle" if you like, the
dominant position of Visual Basic pressures programmers to follow the
Visual Basic path to enter the work market, giving programmers another
reason to choose Visual Basic instead of Delphi.
Management-systems developers
-----------------------------
In this category fall software corporations, software consulting firms
and independent (individual) developers that develop management systems
(billing, inventories, payroll, etc.), usually tailor-made.
Delphi's position is perhaps a little bit better in this market, but
Visual Basic still wins by large because it's almost the same case of
in-house programming that I discussed above, only just that it is
carried out by a third party.
However, in the case of individual developers we can see a shift. In
this particular sub-category, Visual Basic wins only because there are
many unemployed Visual Basic programmers that occasionally take jobs as
independent developers while they are looking forward for a fixed job,
but those who have truly decided to make a living as independent
software developers clearly make of Delphi their choice for Windows
development (at least this is the case of all my friends), being perhaps
five key reasons (among others) that:
1) Those who decide to make a living as independent developers are not
beginners
2) Being relieved of the pressure to use Visual Basic to enter the work
market, they are free to choose the development tool they want
3) Delphi applications have less system requirements (medium and small
companies -the ones that hire individual developers- can't upgrade
all their hardware regularly like the big ones)
4) There are a lot of freeware VCL components available (individual
developers usually can't afford too much to buy solutions from other
software developers)
5) Usually they can't afford to upgrade their hardware and development
tool every year, so they prefer to buy a tool that can stay with them
for a long time (see "Obsolescence").
Other software developers
-------------------------
Finally, we have the market of those who develop shareware and
commercial applications (different from management systems), ActiveX
controls, libraries, etc. In this market, Visual Basic has an extremely
weak position compared with Delphi, although to honor the truth, C++,
particularly Visual C++ still prevails in this market, but I can see how
Delphi is slowly but steadily growing in this market at the expense of
Visual C++ because it offers a power and performance closer to C++ and a
ease of use closer to Visual Basic, bringing the best of both worlds,
plus the addition of a ready-made, easy-to-use, highly-standardized and
easily-extensible hierarchy of visual and non visual components (the
VCL).
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Visual Basic is the choice of executives, beginners and those |
| who are forced to use it to get a job or simply follow the |
| masses. Delphi is the choice of independent developers. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Performance and code size
=========================
The only item where I saw that Visual Basic has a good performance is in
data access, and perhaps reports, because the data access layer and
report generation aren't written in Visual Basic, but when it comes
strictly to code generation, despite the fact that Visual Basic now
produces native code instead of pseudo-code (P-Code), it is still very
far from reaching a speed comparable to Delphi. This happens because
Delphi has an optimizing compiler and yet there are compiling options to
improve the speed of your code. To say more, if you are not happy with
the performance of a routine in Delphi, you can fine-tune the code to
squeeze the last nanosecond out it. In this respect, Delphi is ideal for
tasks that require heavy programming.
Apart from the performance of the generated code, the VCL performs
caching of Windows objects (such as fonts, pens, brushes, etc.) to
render a more efficient use of Windows resources.
The more system resources, the better -of course-, but execution speed
and efficient use of resources make it possible for Delphi applications
to run reasonably well in old Pentium machines with little memory like
those you can still find being used in many small and medium companies.
Speed and code size usually conflict, but when we compare Delphi and
Visual Basic, Delphi clearly wins at both ends. A small database
application using ADO and some third-party components fits in a single
installation diskette in the case of Delphi, while its Visual Basic
counterpart would fit in no less than two or three diskettes (in both
cases I am not including ADO that has approximately 8 Mb). Why is the
difference so big? Delphi optimizes code size all it can, it generates
standalone executables (it can also generate executables that work with
runtime libraries if you want) and it uses SmartLinking to avoid
including in the executable procedures and functions that are not
referenced in the code. Visual Basic has no other option than to work
with runtime libraries and ActiveX objects (that are bigger and not as
performant as their VCL counterparts).
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Delphi produces standalone applications that are small and |
| deliver great performance, making them more friendly with system |
| resource and modem bandwidths, making of Delphi an ideal choice |
| over Visual Basic for independent developers that produce |
| tailor-made solutions for small or medium companies, as well as |
| shareware or commercial applications to be distributed in the |
| Internet. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------
This article will continue in the next issue. Meanwhile, please feel
free to send any comments to <eds2008 @ latiumsoftware.com>. I can't
answer all the messages but I promise to read them all. If you want to
debate a subject or say something publicly, you can do it in our forum
for software developers:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/software-developers
software-developers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
########################################################################
3. HELP & MANUAL
Writing a good help file with browse sequences, table of contents, index
and everything, and fully integrating it to an application can be too
cumbersome... or at least that was my idea until I tried Help & Manual.
What is Help & Manual?
======================
Help & Manual is a stand-alone and true WYSIWYG authoring tool that
simplifies the creation of Windows help files, printed manuals and
documentation in general.
A straight-forward and easy-to-use interface
============================================
Help & Manual combines a text editor and a tree-view of the content in
one window. It lets you easily navigate the table of contents and insert
or edit help topics without much fuss. This simple and intuitive
interface has much been copied but never reached the same usability
level.
The WYSIWYG interface leaves out all the cryptic references for
hyperlinks, macros and images. Instead of scuffling with topic IDs,
footnotes and obscure commands, you can concentrate on more important
things: to design your help file. Everything you need is right there at
your finger tips.
With Help & Manual you can easily create Windows help files (for Windows
3.x, Windows 95 / NT and the new format HTML HELP) as well as electronic
documentation (HTML pages, richtext files to ship an electronic manual).
Last but not least, you can print user manuals directly, including a
table of contents and a keyword index, with customized page layouts,
headers, footers and page numbering.
All these documentation types are created from one single source! From
a Help & Manual project that saves the data for topics, contents,
keywords, index and all project settings in a single source file.
Good reasons to use Help & Manual
=================================
* Save time
Help & Manual helps you to create better documentation more quickly.
Writing the help file for a mid-ranged software project is a matter of
days, not weeks.
* Save money
Online help is a key feature of your software and cannot be
undervalued. A professional and well organized documentation can
decrease support costs drastically.
* Concentrate on the important thing
Explain your software to your users, not the help authoring tool to
yourself. Help & Manual's intuitive user interface is transparent,
straight-forward and shields you from the technical stuff of help
files. What you see is simply what you get.
* Supply a print manual
What other help authoring tools just promise - Help & Manual does it.
It directly prints ready-to-ship user manuals from your help project.
Forget the fuss about different formattings for online help and print
output.
* Get ready for HTML HELP
Microsoft has introduced the new help standard HTML HELP with Windows
98. Help & Manual is ready and creates HLP files as well as HTML HELP
(CHM). When you want to step, don't choose a new tool. Choose a
different output in Help & Manual.
What do you need to work with Help & Manual?
============================================
Help & Manual is a stand-alone and true WYSIWYG authoring tool. You do
not need an additional word processor to write your documentation.
What do you need to create Windows help files (.HLP files)?
-----------------------------------------------------------
You need a help compiler - freely available from the Microsoft web site.
Depending on the target system you want to create help for (Windows 3.x
or Windows 95/98/NT) there are different compilers available. You can
download them from these locations:
* 16-Bit Winhelp compiler "HCP.EXE" 3.10.505 (~108 Kb)
http://www.ec-software.com/pgm/hcp505.zip
* 32-Bit Winhelp compiler "HCW.EXE" 4.03 (~1.5Mb)
http://www.ec-software.com/pgm/hcw403.exe
What do you need to print a manual?
-----------------------------------
A printer. Unlike other authoring tools that need a word processor to
print manuals, Help & Manual directly prints booklet style manuals
including a content page, chapter numbering, topic headings and a
keyword index.
What do you need to create HTML pages?
--------------------------------------
Help & Manual - nothing else. Help & Manual directly creates plain HTML.
What do you need to create the new fancy HTML HELP (.CHM files)?
----------------------------------------------------------------
You must have the Microsoft HTML HELP Workshop installed - freely
available from the Microsoft web site.
* Microsoft HTML HELP Workshop 1.31 (~4 Mb)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms669985.aspx
Integrating help files into your applications
=============================================
The four tutorials below show how to implement Winhelp resp. HTML HELP
into Visual Basic and C++ programs. All are copyright © by Don Lammers,
Shadow Mountain Tech. Visit http://www.smountain.com
* Connecting WinHelp to Visual Basic Programs
http://www.smountain.com/resource/VBWinHelp.pdf (~56 Kb)
* Connecting HTMLHelp to Visual Basic Programs
http://www.smountain.com/resource/VBHTMLHelp.pdf (~59 Kb)
* Connecting WinHelp to C++/MFC Programs
http://www.smountain.com/resource/CPPWinHelp.pdf (~77 Kb)
* Connecting HTML Help to C++/MFC Programs
http://www.smountain.com/resource/CPPHTMLHelp.pdf (~76 Kb)
More resources on help files:
* References About Online User Assistance
Help Bugs, FAQs and other references
http://www.smountain.com/m_ref.htm
At EC Software's web site, Delphi users will find the EC Software Help
Suite (EHS) -a set of four freeware components to make it easy to
integrate help to your Delphi applications- and also a comprehensive
tutorial:
* EC Software Help Suite for Delphi 3, 4 and 5 (includes full source
code and compiled samples)
http://www.ec-software.com/delphi/ehs.zip (~656 Kb)
* mycomp: An example project showing how to create a help file for a
Borland Delphi component and how to integrate it into the Delphi IDE.
http://www.ec-software.com/delphi/mycomp.zip (~15 Kb)
* All about help files in Borland Delphi (Tutorial)
http://www.ec-software.com/delphi/helpd3_5.zip (~542 Kb)
- Also available online:
http://www.ec-software.com/helpdelphi/index.html
Where to get Help & Manual
==========================
You can download an evaluation copy fully functional for 14 days from:
http://www.ec-software.com/pgm/hmsetup.exe (~5.2 Mb)
Other interesting stuff
=======================
* T.N.T Screen Capture Tool - This is a screen capture utility that
claims to create "screen shots that look better than the original
screen". Can that be possible? Well, seeing is believing, so see it
by yourself: http://www.ec-software.com/tnt/index.html
Download a fully functional evaluation copy of T.N.T:
http://www.ec-software.com/pgm/tntsetup.exe (~1.6 Mb)
* HelpPos - A small freeware tool that can change and store the window
position of a help file durably. The position of a help window is
defined when the help file gets compiled. If you have no source of a
help file (and you usually don't if you have not written it) you have
no chance to change the window positions... but with HelpPos you can!
http://www.ec-software.com/pgm/helppos.zip (~140 Kb)
For more resources, pricing and other information, visit EC Software's
web site:
http://www.ec-software.com
------------------------------------
Portions of this article are Copyright © 2000 EC Software
########################################################################
4. PESTPATROL
PestPatrol detects and removes over 16,000 non-virus pests and is
designed to be used with anti-virus software to provide complete
protection. Runs fast, detecting and removing malicious or unwanted
programs and documents including ANSI Bombs, Anarchy-related,
annoyances, AOL Pests, Back Doors, Carding, Denial of Service, Exploits,
Explosives, Hostile Java and ActiveX, Keyloggers, Mail Bombers, Cracking
Tools, Password Crackers and Capture Tools, Phreaking Tools, Port
Scanners, Remote Control/Admin, Sniffers, Spoofers, Spyware, Trojans and
Trojan Creation Tools, War Dialers, Worms, etc.
Application: PestPatrol
Home page : http://www.pestpatrol.com/
License : Tryware (detects but doesn't remove)
Download : http://consumerdownloads.ca.com/consumer/apps/2008/2/
na_aspy_ca_32_en_ASPYLE_MET_trial.exe (~20.2 MB)
########################################################################
5. PE EXPLORER
PE Explorer is a source code analyzer, resource tool and disassembler.
Allows you to view, edit and repair the internal structure and resources
of PE (portable executable) files (such as EXE, DLL, DRV, BPL, DPL, SYS,
CPL, OCX, SCR and other win32 executables). Visual editing features let
you quickly modify the resources without writing any scripts.
Application : PE Explorer v1.20
Creator : Heaven Tools http://www.heaventools.com
License : Shareware (30-day evaluation)
Download : http://www.heaventools.com/download/pexsetup.zip (~1Mb)
########################################################################
6. BORLAND NEWS
Kylix Desktop Developer Edition for just $199!
==============================================
Exactly as the title reads, Borland is selling the Desktop Developer
Edition (DDE) of Kylix for only just $199! Yes! Only just $199! You
don't believe it? Well, read it by yourself:
http://shop.borland.com/Product/0,1057,3-15-CQ100479,00.html
The offer expires on August 23, 2001. The order form allows for
international billing addresses, but a United States shipping address
must be provided for shipment.
BORCON 2001
===========
The 12th Annual Borland Conference (BORCON 2001) will be held from July
21 to 25 in Long Beach, California. There's still time to register.
http://www.borland.com/conf2001/
JBuilder 5: released and awarded
================================
Version 5 of the "most comprehensive set of award-winning visual
development tools for creating Pure Java enterprise-scale applications
for the Java 2 platform" is now shipping:
http://shop.borland.com/Category/0,1257,3-15-984,00.html
JBuilder 5 supports developers in the creation and deployment of
e-business applications from their choice of operating systems, team
environments, and leading application servers. The new version of
JBuilder includes fully integrated support for XML:
http://www.borland.com/about/press/2001/jbuilder_available.html
Mac OS X users will have their version of JBuilder 5 (which will
include support for Apple's Aqua user interface):
http://www.borland.com/jbuilder/mac/
Honoring its reputation of being an award-winning product, JBuilder has
been very busy lately:
* JavaPro magazine awarded JBuilder six Reader's Choice awards,
including Most Valuable Product:
http://www.borland.com/about/press/2001/javapro.html
* For the second consecutive year, JavaWorld magazine honored JBuilder
with an Editor's Choice award:
http://www.borland.com/about/press/2001/ide_award.html
* JBuilder 5 receives accolades from Macromedia, Rational Software, SAP
and Sun Microsystems
http://www.borland.com/about/press/2001/accolades.html
########################################################################
7. FILE FORMATS
Sometimes we have to import data from strange database formats and we
don't know where to start. The following websites have information about
various database file formats, describing their internal structures:
http://fileformat.virtualave.net/ind_base.htm
http://www.wotsit.org/
http://myfileformats.com/search.php?cat_id=60&cat_name=Database%20files
If you need to perform a data convertion and you are not in the mood to
do R&D to write a program that reads and interprets the raw bytes of the
data files, we have a data conversion service available for you.
########################################################################
YOU CAN HELP US!
We need your help to keep growing. The easiest way you can help us is
voting for us in any or some of these rankings:
http://top100borland.com/in.php?who=20
It's just a few seconds for you that really mean much to us.
########################################################################
This newsletter is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. Its
use implies the acceptance of our licensing terms and disclaimer of
warranty you can read at http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/legal.php
where you will also find a note about legal trademarks. Articles are
copyright of their respective authors and they are reproduced here with
their permission. You can redistribute this newsletter as long as you do
it in full (including copyright notices), without changes and gratis.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latium Software http://www.latiumsoftware.com/en/index.php
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2001 Ernesto De Spirito. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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