Author Topic: Abandonware?  (Read 8968 times)

xynixme

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Abandonware?
« on: March 06, 2017, 04:23:32 pm »
A registration key for http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/apps/science/chem/tablca13.zip (Tablica/2, periodic table and unit conversion tool, probably abandonware) can be obtained via the embedded source code section of TABLC12A.ZIP (ftp://www.warensemble.com/cotc.11-2/OS2/00index.html).

Open TABLICA.EXE with E.EXE, look for "/* ##SUB_LICENSE */", and use this section of code to generate a legal key. Test case: if the name is "Tablica/2", then the generated key should start with a "4" and end with a "J".

A little bit of Rexx knowledge is required to create a new Rexx CMD file which sets an uppercased "uname" ("uname=Translate('Tablica/2')") instead of calling SysIni() twice, and displays "tmp" ("SAY tmp") to obtain a generated key.

FTR. TABLC12A.ZIP's "license" probably wasn't valid anyway, and registration was always optional. Nevertheless you can still try to send cash to a (former?) student.

Martin Iturbide

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Re: Abandonware?
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2017, 05:39:43 pm »
Hi

André, do you find the program useful, it can be interesting to contact the author and see if it can be turned open source or at least "AS IS" freeware.

The only info about the author is "Peter Rachwal" from GAINESVILLE, FL, USA, but it is kind of hard to find him without more information.

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Martin Iturbide
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xynixme

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Re: Abandonware?
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2017, 06:00:12 pm »
it can be interesting to contact the author and see if it can be turned open source or at least "AS IS" freeware.

The only info about the author is "Peter Rachwal" from GAINESVILLE, FL, USA, but it is kind of hard to find him without more information.

Embedded VisPro/REXX source code can be found in TABLICA.EXE, of 1995's TABLC12A.ZIP. This EXE won't work with ObjectRexx, but can be patched (insert a missing SELECT and a matching END, and perhaps set the variable REGISTERED to 1 to bypass registration). Most of the code is related to the impressive number of buttons.

If you're not into basic chemistry, then the generic "Unit conversion" utility under 1996's TABLCA13.ZIP's Tools menu may still be quite interesting and useful. This EXE works with ObjectRexx, without required syntax error-related patches.

It does look like the author and/or his family has moved to Middletown, Connecticut, or Branford, Connecticut, or Roswell, Georgia (http://www.whitepages.ca/name/Katarzyna-Rachwal).
« Last Edit: March 06, 2017, 06:14:02 pm by AndrĂ© Heldoorn »

xynixme

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Re: Abandonware?
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2017, 10:39:19 pm »
Is there a working copy of the file CHARSETS.INI of Text Converter 0.9.2 (TEXTC092.ZIP)?

CHARSETS.INIs in both TEXTC090.ZIP and TEXTC092.ZIP cannot be opened by an INI editor. The (edited) section of source code of TEXTCONV.EXE which trigger a fatal error is:

Code: [Select]
dummy = CWRexxIni(datfile,uniapp,'ALL:','uckey.','ucval.')
IF dummy = 'ERROR:' THEN CALL FatalPage 9

So apparently a non-broken OS/2 INI file format is expected, with specific data. The variable "uniapp" translates to "UniCode". I can imagine that users may still have a working copy of a CHARSETS.INI of Text Converter 0.0.1. According to the manual it's a required "database". Some kind of reconstruction of CHARSETS.INI may be possible, but it's not a small file and it won't be that easy.

Dave Yeo

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Re: Abandonware?
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2017, 11:00:53 pm »
Seems to open fine here using regedit2 (open regedit2 in textc092 directory then file-->Open Profile)

xynixme

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Re: Abandonware?
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2017, 01:44:18 pm »
Thank you for trying. Same here. So, after an UNINSTAL, CHECKINIs and a cold boot, a winning order appears to be:

UNZIP TEXTC092.ZIP
INSTALL I
Warm reboot

I'm not sure that everything is installed correctly now (there's no ToolsByGoran entry in the "USER" INI). But after using INSTALL.CMD, without a warm reboot, the TEXTCONV.EXE, Initor nor FM/2's INI Viewer were able to open CHARSETS.INI. The reboot probably fully closes and/or unlocks the INI file. Please note that TEXTCONV.EXE doesn't use Rexx' SysIni() to test the INI file, which may somehow haved played a role.

Solved, without looking at a real cause.