JCE Software, 4D2: Editorial

To Windows 95, and Beyond

Jon L. Holmes
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396

Note:
This issue is out of print.

This issue of JCE Software marks the end of our ninth year of publication. As we embark on year ten many challenges loom before us. One of the foremost challenges is one that many of you have already undertaken and many, if not all, are considering--the transition from Windows 3.x to Windows 95. Those who have already made this transition may have encountered some problems along the way (I know I did). JCE Software is finding the transition has caused its share of problems with our Windows and DOS programs. I would like to tell you about three of these problems and let you know how we are addressing them.
One of the first problems we encountered was that of the disappearing menu bar in JCE Index (Special Issue 5-W). Without a menu bar, this data base of citations of the Journal of Chemical Education could no longer be searched for keywords--indeed, a serious problem. The solution proved fairly simple: updating the program with the latest version of ToolBook (the authoring system upon which JCE Index is based) fixed it. Distributing the fixed version, however, remains a problem as it requires updating all of the files in the program: this prohibits us from distributing the update online (the method preferred by many of you and by us) without giving it away (a luxury we are not able to afford). Therefore, this update to JCE Index is available upon request and at a minimal cost to cover shipping and handling. In addition to fixing the disappearing menu bar problem, citations through 1996 have been included.
Another problem that we encountered has not been so easy to remedy, and I am sorry to say that we have yet to find an adequate solution. This involves the Solid State Resources CD (Special Issue 12) and playing the movies within the PowerPoint slide shows and the Cinema Viewer application. We have researched the problem and to the best of our knowledge it is due to incompatibilities introduced with the various versions of the software components involved (Windows, QuickTime, and PowerPoint). We are considering a new version of the PowerPoint slide shows that works around this problem. However, the new version plays the movies in a separate window, not within the slide as intended. When these slide shows are ready we will make them available online as well as on disk.
A third problem that has been reported pertains to printing screens from DOS programs. Our DOS programs generally have relied upon the DOS utility program GRAPHICS to print graphics screens. This utility is not readily available under Windows 95. So, how do I print screens from DOS programs under Windows 95? The solution to this problem is to use the Alt-Print Screen key combination to place the contents of the DOS screen onto the Windows 95 clipboard. From the clipboard, you can paste the screen into your word processor or the Windows 95 Word Pad accessory or any program that supports Windows bitmaps, and print the screen from that application. An advantage to this method is that it is easy to annotate the screen by adding a caption in the word processor. The disadvantage is that you must perform the additional steps of pasting the screen into the word processor and executing the Print command.
I would guess that those of you that have made the transition to Windows 95 have been pleased with the new features it offers. Contrary to the problems I described above, some of our programs benefit from being run under Windows 95. Since one of the most highly touted features of Windows 95 is its ability to run multimedia applications better than its ancestors, it is not surprising that our Periodic Table CD (Special Issue 10) shows increased performance when running under Windows 95 with the 32-bit version of QuickTime. When used in combination with the Illustrated Periodic Table (Volume 2D, Number 2), we see marked improvement compared to Windows 3.1. (Yes, we have modified Illustrated Periodic Table to support the Periodic Table CD. The combination will be available in early summer of this year. See the April 1997 issue of the Journal for the announcement and abstract.)
The transition to Windows 95, in addition to problems and benefits, offers opportunities for authors. In some cases simply recompiling programs with the latest version of the authoring environment gives significant improvements in both interface and performance. To this end, I would like to encourage our past authors to consider upgrading their programs to take advantage of what Windows 95 has to offer. I would also like to encourage those authors of Windows programs who have yet to submit a program to JCE Software to please consider doing so. And if there are any prospective authors who are looking for a project to embark upon, let us know. We may be able to collaborate.
If you have yet to make the transition to Windows 95, we hope that all goes smoothly when you do. If you have already accomplished the move, we would like to hear about your experiences using JCE Software with Windows 95. Hopefully, they have been good ones (it would be nice to hear about your good experiences; we generally only hear about the bad ones). You should know that all of our software has been tested using Windows 95 by some of our reviewers and in our editorial offices. Unfortunately, this testing uncovers only a fraction of the problems that exist when using software in the field. We do our best to address the problems you do experience when we hear about them, but I must confess that our resources are limited and there are programs waiting to be published. And so back to work...

First Published: February 1997
Citation: Holmes, J. L. To Windows 95, and Beyond J. Chem. Educ. Software 4D2
Keywords:

News | Issues | CD-ROM / Video | Find It! | Technical Support | For Authors

JCE Online | Journal | Software | Internet | Happenings | About JCE | Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001
Created: March 4, 1997 Created by: S. B. Mathews
Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.



To Windows 95, and Beyond
Jon L. Holmes University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396

Note:	This issue is out of print.

This issue of JCE Software marks the end of our ninth year of publication. As we embark on year ten many challenges loom before us. One of the foremost challenges is one that many of you have already undertaken and many, if not all, are considering--the transition from Windows 3.x to Windows 95. Those who have already made this transition may have encountered some problems along the way (I know I did). JCE Software is finding the transition has caused its share of problems with our Windows and DOS programs. I would like to tell you about three of these problems and let you know how we are addressing them. One of the first problems we encountered was that of the disappearing menu bar in JCE Index (Special Issue 5-W). Without a menu bar, this data base of citations of the Journal of Chemical Education could no longer be searched for keywords--indeed, a serious problem. The solution proved fairly simple: updating the program with the latest version of ToolBook (the authoring system upon which JCE Index is based) fixed it. Distributing the fixed version, however, remains a problem as it requires updating all of the files in the program: this prohibits us from distributing the update online (the method preferred by many of you and by us) without giving it away (a luxury we are not able to afford). Therefore, this update to JCE Index is available upon request and at a minimal cost to cover shipping and handling. In addition to fixing the disappearing menu bar problem, citations through 1996 have been included. Another problem that we encountered has not been so easy to remedy, and I am sorry to say that we have yet to find an adequate solution. This involves the Solid State Resources CD (Special Issue 12) and playing the movies within the PowerPoint slide shows and the Cinema Viewer application. We have researched the problem and to the best of our knowledge it is due to incompatibilities introduced with the various versions of the software components involved (Windows, QuickTime, and PowerPoint). We are considering a new version of the PowerPoint slide shows that works around this problem. However, the new version plays the movies in a separate window, not within the slide as intended. When these slide shows are ready we will make them available online as well as on disk. A third problem that has been reported pertains to printing screens from DOS programs. Our DOS programs generally have relied upon the DOS utility program GRAPHICS to print graphics screens. This utility is not readily available under Windows 95. So, how do I print screens from DOS programs under Windows 95? The solution to this problem is to use the Alt-Print Screen key combination to place the contents of the DOS screen onto the Windows 95 clipboard. From the clipboard, you can paste the screen into your word processor or the Windows 95 Word Pad accessory or any program that supports Windows bitmaps, and print the screen from that application. An advantage to this method is that it is easy to annotate the screen by adding a caption in the word processor. The disadvantage is that you must perform the additional steps of pasting the screen into the word processor and executing the Print command. I would guess that those of you that have made the transition to Windows 95 have been pleased with the new features it offers. Contrary to the problems I described above, some of our programs benefit from being run under Windows 95. Since one of the most highly touted features of Windows 95 is its ability to run multimedia applications better than its ancestors, it is not surprising that our Periodic Table CD (Special Issue 10) shows increased performance when running under Windows 95 with the 32-bit version of QuickTime. When used in combination with the Illustrated Periodic Table (Volume 2D, Number 2), we see marked improvement compared to Windows 3.1. (Yes, we have modified Illustrated Periodic Table to support the Periodic Table CD. The combination will be available in early summer of this year. See the April 1997 issue of the Journal for the announcement and abstract.) The transition to Windows 95, in addition to problems and benefits, offers opportunities for authors. In some cases simply recompiling programs with the latest version of the authoring environment gives significant improvements in both interface and performance. To this end, I would like to encourage our past authors to consider upgrading their programs to take advantage of what Windows 95 has to offer. I would also like to encourage those authors of Windows programs who have yet to submit a program to JCE Software to please consider doing so. And if there are any prospective authors who are looking for a project to embark upon, let us know. We may be able to collaborate. If you have yet to make the transition to Windows 95, we hope that all goes smoothly when you do. If you have already accomplished the move, we would like to hear about your experiences using JCE Software with Windows 95. Hopefully, they have been good ones (it would be nice to hear about your good experiences; we generally only hear about the bad ones). You should know that all of our software has been tested using Windows 95 by some of our reviewers and in our editorial offices. Unfortunately, this testing uncovers only a fraction of the problems that exist when using software in the field. We do our best to address the problems you do experience when we hear about them, but I must confess that our resources are limited and there are programs waiting to be published. And so back to work...


News \| Issues \| CD-ROM / Video \| Find It! \| Technical Support \| For Authors
JCE Online \| Journal \| Software \| Internet \| Happenings \| About JCE \| Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001 Created: March 4, 1997	Created by: S. B. Mathews Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.