  
           ModulaWare GmbH, Wilhelmstr. 17A, D-91054 Erlangen/Germany
                     Modula-2 & Oberon-2 Compiler Manufactur
        (AXP|VAX)/VMS, (386|486)/DOS, OS/2 & Unix-'386/680x0/Sparc-Platforms)
                  Tel. +49 (9131) 208395, Fax +49 (9131) 28205.
                   E-mail/Internet: 100023.2527@compuserve.com
                           g_dotzel@obula.nbg.sub.org


     OM2 + Mithril: Oberon-2 & Modula-2 Compiler + OO-Extensible GUI/API/IDE
  for PC/DOS  (386/486 protected mode) 


     Oh, me too! 

     OM2 Evaluation Kit V1.1e, 28-Jan-1994 

     Oberon-2 & Modula-2 32 Bit Compiler for PC/DOS  I'386/'486, DPMI, XMS,
  EMS, VCPI compatible, Copyright (1993) by OM2 International Association, 
  XTech, Ltd. 

     With OM2 + Mithril Manual and ISO 10154 Modula-2 Standard Library 
  Implementation. Copyright (1993) by G~unter Dotzel,  ModulaWare GmbH. 

     To be used for product evaluation purposes only. The OM2 Eval Kit is
  freely distributable without modification deletion or addition of any
  component for a nominal handling charge, not exceeding US$ 10.-. 

     The unrestricted version of OM2 is available from the authorized OM2 
  distributor: ModulaWare GmbH, Wilhelmstr. 17A, D-91054 Erlangen/Germany E-
  mail/Internet: 100023.2527@compuserve.com Tel. +49 (9131) 208395, Fax +49
  (9131) 28205 

     TM   OM2 is a trademark of OM2 International Association, XTech Ltd.
  TM   Mithril is a trademark of XTech Ltd. 


     Dear Modula-2 and Oberon-2 Fan, 

     Enclosed please find a disk labeled OM2 with the new release of OM2-sd
  (file archive om2.arj, with documentation in file archive om2_doc.arj). The
  OM2 Eval Kit distribution also contains a restricted version the linker
  xclink.exe which is part of the optional developers tools (OM2-dd).
  

     OM2 + Mithril Manuals now contain about 200 pages each.
  The OM2 Eval Kit doesn't contain the Mithril demo. Only the Mithril
  documentation is included.

     Actual version numbers of OM2+Mithril: 

     Development system, front-end, back-end and Mithril are V1.1, V1.31,
  V1.0, and V2.0. 


     For those who can't print or view PostScript files, I've included a
  program called xc\iso\DeModula.MOD, written in Oberon-2, which converts the
  OM2+Mithril PostScript documentation files to plain ascii-text files. These
  do not look as nice as its PostScript version (in that all character font
  attributes are gone), but this allows to inspect the complete  OM2+Mithril
  documentation with a standard text editor. May be it helps to save paper. 

     Before you are exploiting the power of OM2, I like to draw your
  attention to the new chapter III. in the OM2 Manual (see file om2_doc.ps).
  

     Installation of OM2 (assume "b:" is the name of your floppy disk drive):
  


 cd \
 b:arj x b:\om2

     This will create the directory tree \xc on your hard disk. 

     Then extract the OM2+Mithril documentation PostScript files *.ps from
  archive file om2_doc.arj with the DOS commands 


 cd \xc
 b:arj e b:\om2_doc

     Now first check whether your DOS environment variable PATH setting has a
  terminating semicolon. If not, then either 


     (1) edit autoexec.bat and append a ";" to the end of the PATH
  specification and then reboot or 

     (2) edit file xc\om2_set.bat and replace the first line 

 path= %path%c:\xc;c:\xc\exe; 

     by 

 path= %path%;c:\xc;c:\xc\exe; 

     If your hard disk drive name is different to "c:", replace the string
  "c:" by your drive specification in file xc\om2_set.bat 

     Now OM2 is ready for use. Execute batch file om2_set.bat and start the
  installation test procedure by typing: 


 cd \xc
 call om2_set
 cd iso
 call test_all

     This will take some minutes. The batch file test_all.bat will also
  convert the documentation from PostScript-format to plain-ascii-text. 


     Documentation: 

     Now print or view the documentation in the files xc\om2_doc.ps,
  xc\mithril.ps (OM2, Mithril Manual) and xc\ob2.ps (Oberon-2 language report)
  or inspect their corresponding plain-ascii-text files xc\om2_doc.txt,
  xc\mithril.txt and xc\ob2.txt generated by test_all (see above). 




     ISO Modula-2 Standard Library: 

     With OM2 V1, ModulaWare debuts their implementation of the ISO Modula-2
  Standard Library for OM2. ModulaWare's test programs are supplied with full
  Modula-2 and Oberon-2 source code. Note, it's the world's first
  implementation of the ISO M2 Std Lib on the PC! Together with the 32 Bit,
  linear addressing Modula-2 and Oberon-2 compiler you now have a powerful
  tool set. 


     Eval Kit Restrictions: 

     The OM2 Eval Kit is not copy protected for your convenience. OM2 is
  neither Public Domain nor FreeWare. It contains copyrighted software. It
  contains a fully functional compiler, linker, library module set, example
  programs with source code and documentation. OM2 Eval Kit restrictions:
  max. 16 KB code size per module, max 5 open channels when using the ISO M2 
  Std Lib. 


     Snowball: 

     Last but not least, if you are satisfied with OM2, please tell your
  friends about it but not your enemies (if any). You are also encouraged to
  give away the complete OM2 Eval Kit distribution, without modification,
  deletion or addition of any components, but you shall not charge anything
  exceeding a maximum handling charge of US$ 10.-or equivalent. 

     Also, it would be kind if you post a short note in UseNet's
  comp.lang.modula2, comp.lang.oberon newsgroup or in the CodePort forum of
  CompuServe. Simply say: 

     I recently got the OM2, 32 Bit Oberon-2 & Modula-2 Compiler Eval Kit for
  PC/DOS from ModulaWare; it comes with an implementation of the ISO 10154
  Modula-2 Std Lib together with comprehensive documentation. OM2 didn't
  drive me into ecstasy (note the spelling) ;-) but I'm very happy with it. 

     Also, if you have ftp-facilities, it would be nice if you could make the
  OM2 Eval Kit available to the public via anonymous ftp. 

     Thank you! 

     The full OM2 Kit is available from ModulaWare. You'll find price list
  and ordering information in file xc\om2_pric.txt after extraction of the
  above mentioned file archive om2.arj 


 
     New OM2 Option: 

     OM2-vga: VGA-Modules: contains 4 interface modules, all together 80
  procedures for VGA programming: pixel read/write (16 or 256 colors), color-
  lookup-table read/write, line, circle drawing, rectangular area
  paint/fill/save/restore, and text writing and screen dump to/from file. 
  Includes example programs (source code). The price of OM2-vga is only DEM
  200.-(US$ 121.-). 

     When comparing the graphics features, the Mithril API is more powerful
  than those offered OM2-vga. OM2-vga provides the traditional basic graphics
  primitives. 


     So why would you need OM2-vga? 

     -if you want to implement your own windowing system/GUI/API. 

     -if you want to do SVGA/high-res graphics: 1024*768 * 256 colors, TSENG
  ET4000 currently supported only (What is your favorite graphics
  controller?), otherwise 640*480 *16 colors. 

     -if you are porting an existing graphics application written in Modula-2
  to OM2. 

     -in order to implement module Display.MOD, if you want to port the ETH-
  Oberon [Operating] System to PC/DOS with OM2. ;-) [note, the source code of
  ETH-Oberon System is available from CompuServe CodePort/Lib 3 and via ftp
  from ETH-Z~urich. If you got the Mithril distribution kit: see file archive
  obpo.arc]. 


     If there are any questions concerning installation and use of OM2,
  please feel free to contact me. 


     Regards, 

     ModulaWare GmbH
  
     
     G~unter Dotzel
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