BlackBook v1.00 for OS/2

by Viêt-Tâm Luu

User's Guide

Copyright © 1996 Viêt-Tâm Luu.

This document may be freely distributed, but it may not
be modified (with the exception of conversion to other
formats) without the expressed consent of the author.

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Appendix A: About BlackBook

Build Notes and Remarks

BlackBook is written in C++ using IBM's Visual Builder tool. Source code consists of about 20 C++ files, totalling about about 3300 lines of hand-written code, along with about 9000 lines of code generated by Visual Builder. It is implemented using IBM's OpenClass class library (hence the rather bloated size of BlackBook.exe). The executable is compiled using IBM VisualAge C++ 3.0 (fix level 304) for OS/2.

Despite the tremendous amount of extra functionality that OpenClass offers, it is way too bloated and buggy for my liking. I might eventually re-write BlackBook in C or with a proprietary ``thin wrapper'' class library to improve performance and reliability. Eventually.

BlackBook Notify is written in C, and consists of one C source file with about 1200 lines of hand-written code. The executable is compiled using IBM VisualAge C++ 3.0 (fix level 304) for OS/2.

BlackBook Installation is written in C, and consists of one C source file with about 900 lines of hand-written code. The executable is compiled using IBM VisualAge C++ 3.0 (fix level 304) for OS/2.

Source files were edited using EPM 6.03b for OS/2 and Watcom vi for OS/2. Bitmaps and icons were drawn using the standard OS/2 Icon Editor.

BlackBook was written over a period of about two and a half months, starting in May 1996. From this, the author estimates that this project has taken between two and three hundred hours of work (after hours and on weekends).

The author would like to thank the following individuals:

Matthew ``Hell's'' Bells for his continuing input and feedback.
Nick Knight of Secant Technologies for his collaboration in adding support for BlackBook in MR/2 ICE.
Manon Lessard for her friendship and support.

Known Bugs and Limitations

Pushbuttons can't be activated using the spacebar. Similarly, checkboxes can be toggled using the spacebar but no actions are triggered by doing so, leading to possibly strange results (e.g. in the Configuration dialog). Appears to be an OpenClass bug.
Notebooks ignore NumLock state when in Read-Only mode (e.g. typing in ``9'' on the keypad acts as PgUp). (Bug? Feature?)
Can't use alt + keypad to type in some special characters (those with ``3'' and ``9'' as digits in their codes) within notebooks. PM notebook control limitation/bug.
``Ghost'' windows sometimes left after closing BlackBook. Utilities such as Process Manager (PROCMAN.EXE) and Lotus SmartCenter list a BlackBook window (most commonly BlackBook Record Name) when none exists (BlackBook is not running). Making most of the BlackBook windows non-modal has largely but not entirely alleviated this problem. The only way to get rid of these seems to be by rebooting. No critical side effects as far as I can tell, but those non-windows can accumulate and look annoying if using SmartCenter. Possibly a bug in PM or OpenClass.

Please file bug reports using the Bug Report form (may not be available immediately; if not, please send E-mail directly to the author).

Check out the BlackBook Home Page for more information, as well as a troubleshooting tips and frequently-asked questions.