jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) (07/10/90)
I am in desperate search of a decent user-friendly front-end to our
Interactive 386 system. The key word is 'decent'. I have looked at
or looked into the following packages:
Directory Shell by Visix Software: Visix is now putting all their
efforts into their "Looking Glass" product for X windowing and no
longer makes end-user or distributor sales. They only sell in large
quantities under OEM agreements. I also have not been able to locate
anyone at Visix who has actually used the product and can therefore
answer some questions I have. Visix has basically said that if I send
them $495 and don't waste their time, they will send me a copy. One
problem with Directory Shell is that it does not provide mail
notification (though there are other ways I can do that). If after
reading this, someone who has used Directory Shell can tell me if it
would meet my needs, please do.
Menu Shell by FourGen: The brochure states that "your home directory
becomes your menu. Programs that need to be accessed by all users
should be copied or linked into all users' home directories." This
sounds like a kludge.
Xmenu by Telexpress: This is, overall, a very nice package. One can
easily build new menus, and the menus it comes with cover most aspects
of system administration. It also provides mail notification (at the
main menu). The problem I have with it is twofold. The change
directory function is executed (as are most sub-menus) by forking a new
shell. You are allowed to invoke your default editor on any file, but
that is all. There is no provision for starting a Spreadsheet or
Database program, nor can you select a file and invoke your fax program
on it. And because this all is done in a shell, once you exit back to
the main menu, you are back at your home directory.
I would really like to find a program with at least the functionality
provided by the User Agent program on the AT&T 3B1. This allows you to
define the type of file it is by the suffix on the file name, and
perform different actions based on this. It provides mail
notification, and even if you are several layers deep into
sub-directories, you can still create a new file in that directory or
toggle through the on-screen windows to get back to any other window
and run a command. All this applies to any serial terminal in addition
to the console.
Someone has mentioned that AT&T's 'face' is identical to the 3B1. We
run Interactive so we don't have it. Is is just for system
administration, or can it be used by all users to manage their files
and such? I don't know if AT&T sells it separately. I guess I could
always buy the least-expensive AT&T Unix package and then move that
command and support files to a 386.
Considering all I hear about Unix getting more and more popular in
offices, I am surprised that I can't find a good user-friendly shell.
There are sure plenty in the MS-DOG world. I would be interested in
hearing from anybody who can suggest a product. Thanks.
---
Jim Gottlieb
E-Mail: <jimmy@denwa.info.com> or <jimmy@pic.ucla.edu> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
V-Mail: (213) 551-7702 Fax: 478-3060 The-Real-Me: 824-5454mwolf@pws.bull.com (Mary-Anne Wolf) (07/10/90)
Well, if you have terminals that can run X, an alternative to Looking Glass is IXI's product called X Desktop. They can be reached at IXI Ltd, 62-74 Burleigh St., Cambridge CB1 1OJ, England. (They sell a lot in the U.S. too but I don't know the address here.) Their 2.0 version is better than the earlier one, so get it if you can. It's good software, very configurable, and they are very pleasant people to do business with. I don't know what the current list of platforms is. If you don't have X terminals or if IXI does not suit you, Bull has a couple of menu-based products called EasyLife and EasyLearn. The main number for Bull in Billerica Massachusetts is (508)294-6000. I don't know whether these have been ported to non-Bull platforms. Mary-Anne Wolf Bull Worldwide Information Systems Inc. mwolf@granite.cr.bull.com or mwolf@pws.bull.com These opinions are my own and not my employer's.
fmcgee@cuuxb.ATT.COM (~XT6561110~Frank McGee~C23~L25~6326~) (07/14/90)
In article <389@denwa.uucp> jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) writes: >Someone has mentioned that AT&T's 'face' is identical to the 3B1. We >run Interactive so we don't have it. Is is just for system >administration, or can it be used by all users to manage their files >and such? I don't know if AT&T sells it separately. I guess I could >always buy the least-expensive AT&T Unix package and then move that >command and support files to a 386. FACE (the Framed Access Command Environment) is based upon a product called FMLI (Form and Menu Language Interpreter), which is a product that basically lets you write descriptions of what a window (character-based graphics) should look like, what fields you can enter data into, what the data should look like, what to do when an item is selected, etc. The only drawback is that it's interpretted, which may make it appear to be slow at times. It IS VERY similar to the 7300 interface, but not identical. For the most part though, anyone that uses the 7300 interface could also use the FACE interface. For that matter, just about anyone could use FACE, whether they've used a computer or not. FACE comes with the foundation set, although it's a separate package. If you install FACE, you can also write your own additional menus or customize the ones that come with the product. Some other products you might want to know about are the Extended Terminal Interface (ETI), and ETIP Designer. ETI is part of the software development set, and includes libraries that do most of what FMLI does. BUT the difference (and the advantage) is that they're C libraries, and are thus compiled code (NOT interpretted). This would give you a significant performance increase over FMLI. Unfortunately, FACE wasn't written using ETI. ETIP Designer is a product that allows you to do scripting similar to FMLI, but it generates ETI source code instead. Once again, the advantage is performance. For those that are wondering, the 7300 TAM library is also part of the development set, so if you have applications that used TAM, atleast your screen formatting code should move over to 386 UNIX rather cleanly. Hope this answers your question, Frank McGee Entry Level Systems Support attmail!fmcgee (prefered) {att,attmail}!cuuxb!fmcgee "UNIX, Xwin, and OPEN LOOK are registered trademarks of UNIX System Laboraties, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries." -- Frank McGee, AT&T Entry Level Systems Support attmail!fmcgee (preferred) att!cuuxb!fmcgee (those that can't reach attmail)