by Jeffrey Sloman
Hummingbird's eXceed 4.0 is a big product. Its 12 diskettes provide a feature set that is so impressive, it's almost overwhelming. You get everything you'd expect in a Windows-based X server product, but there are some unique capabilities too.
EXceed ships with the SuperTCP TCP/IP protocol stack from Frontier. But if you are using a stack from a different vendor, chances are it's on eXceed's list of nearly 30 supported connectivity products, including the straight WinSock API.
The SuperTCP stack ships with a virtual device driver (VxD)-based transport with a WinSock interface that can be used with utilities from other sources. Also included is the eXpress SLIP compression utility. This is a licensed version of Tektronix's proprietary protocol that can improve X performance over serial connections. This compression method requires that the host run the same protocol, which is also available from Hummingbird.
Installation of eXceed was pleasantly easy. You can install the supplied IP stack or specify one you already own. The program will automatically detect your display type, and the parameters that you must supply are clearly specified.
The basic X server component of eXceed presents a toolbar-based user interface to launch clients, perform clipboard functions and launch the configuration utility. It also includes the ability to start user-defined sessions using Xstart configuration files. The toolbar is a nice idea, but the array of icons can be confusing. Fortunately, Hummingbird includes support for Windows "tool tips,'' so if you leave the mouse pointer on a button long enough, a label will appear.
EXceed's X window functions performed as expected. In informal tests, performance with the supplied stack was acceptable on standard X apps. I tried my own copy of the Novell ODI (Open Data-link Interface) TCP/IP stack and found it to be faster. The Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 32-bit TCP/IP stack (available free from Microsoft) seemed to perform about the same as SuperTCP. EXceed offers extensive configurability and some performance tuning. The product ran any X client I tried and seemed to have excellent compatibility.
The real news about eXceed is not the standard X server features, but the unique additions. First, eXceed includes a compiled script language, eXceed BASIC, that can be used to automate many processes. It can use functions from the included X library, so it is able to interact directly with the X server. EXceed BASIC offers the ability to create sophisticated X clients quickly to solve problems peculiar to your enterprise--without resorting to a full-blown C development environment.
EXceed can go beyond what you'd expect from an X server product, especially when you combine the eXceed BASIC compiler with eXtend, a feature that allows peer-level access to the local drive of a machine running the product. EXtend lets a network administrator inspect and alter files stored on the local drive so that various management functions, such as software distribution or workstation configuration, can be performed from a central location.
The one downside to eXtend is its weak security. It does provide password protection, but at the share level--that is, it's assigned to a particular workstation and is not dependent upon the user who is connecting to that station. For some this is unacceptable, but if you can deal with the potential security problem, it can be very useful.
Hummingbird's eXceed is a good Windows X server, offering excellent transport support and good X performance. It offers some things that other X server packages don't, and that may prove especially useful for customizing your installation.
Info File
eXceed 4.0
Price: $545
In Brief: Hummingbird provides a solid X server product and adds value with a number of useful additions.
Disk Space Required: 10MB
System Resources: 5%
RAM: 8MB
Hummingbird Communications
415-917-7300, Canada 905-470-1203
By: Jeffrey Sloman
WRQ is known for quality terminal-emulation products. The company now brings the same solid user interface and concern for quality to the X server market with its Reflection X Connectivity Suite.
The suite is a bundle of three products: TCP Connection, Reflection 2 and Reflection X. TCP Connection offers a broad set of connectivity options for TCP/IP and DECnet. Reflection 2 is WRQ's Windows VT terminal emulator, and Reflection X is the X server product itself.
The first step in installing the suite is to choose a network connection. WRQ provides its own stack, called Reflection Network Series (RNS), which offers very solid WinSock services and some excellent network statistical reporting tools. RNS also includes support for SLIP, but not for dynamic IP address assignment. A work-around script is available for this, and direct support should be added soon.
The suite also will work with just about any WinSock-compliant stack; most popular proprietary stacks are recognized, too. TCP Connection also includes a WinSock-compliant graphical ftp client. The ability to use point-and-click and command line controls from the same window is a nice touch.
For the most part, installation is straightforward. The only potential snag is with IP address configuration. This problem, though, is largely due to the inherently confusing nature of IP addresses. In this regard, the product is no more difficult than any competing offering, and it's easier than some.
The Reflection X component is distinguished by very usable features that are not obscured by any unnecessary complexity. The X server could run all the X clients I routinely run from the Sun SPARCstation I used for testing. The only glitches I encountered were related to screen colors and mouse buttons. Some colors didn't map properly on startup of some clients, but as soon as operations were performed in the offending window, the color corrected itself.
Mouse-button mapping is often another problem when emulating X under Windows. I swapped the trackball-button functions on a notebook I used for some tests. This caused some confusion in X clients. Sometimes the remapped buttons worked as expected, but at other times, the left button functioned as the primary button--regardless of the Windows setting.
WRQ's window manager is designed to simplify use of X clients. Thanks to a built-in connection capability with simple scripting, launching any regularly used X client is as easy as clicking on a Program Manager icon. To create a Program Manager icon, simply launch Reflection X.
The Reflection X Client Startup dialog lets you specify everything needed to start a particular client. Reflection X supports several connection methods, including rexec, rsh, rlogin, telnet, cterm and lat. Making simple entries for expected prompts, along with the appropriate responses, scripts the interaction with the host. One interesting feature is an environment variable used to specify your display's address. You can use a window manager on the host, but X is integrated extremely well into Windows when using the local manager.
Reflection X includes all the standard X Window fonts and supports all standard configuration options. You can tweak performance with selective backing store, drawing optimization, video-driver optimization and X Server memory usage. Configuration options are sufficient to keep an X hacker busy, but if you need to get up and running fast, the out-of-the-box settings work well enough.
WRQ's Reflection X is a solid X Server for Windows that will help you work more efficiently, instead of standing in your way.
Info File
Reflection X Connectivity Suite
Price: $599
In Brief: WRQ's new X server suite comprises three products that make it easy to add X server functionality.
Disk Space Required: 20MB
RAM: 4MB
Walker Richer &Quinn (WRQ)
800-872-2829, 206-217-7100