By @Macarlo
Team OS/2 Registered
Registered user of 212 OS/2 shareware
Screenshots by registered Embellish

 Hi All.
I just tested on my OS/2 Client Warp 4.5 + FixPak14 the new release (version 0.95) of this fantastic piece of software that is XWorkplace, the successor of the legendary XFolder. With this fine release the German developer Ulrich Moeller becomes definitely in the Nirvana! I'm  using XFolder since the first beta that Ulrich put available on the Net and really here is a soft that I recommend enthusiastically. If you are OS/2 user and your Warp have not yet XFolder, now XWorkplace, sorry...but you are not an authentic OS/2 user! I will not write here about XFolder/XWorkplace capabilities because I reviewed this soft dozen times and all OS/2 users know it very good. At this new version Ulrich, now working on NetLabs, was included several improvements.

XWorkplace rated 5 Butterflies

 I installed XWorkplace 0.95 on my Desktop using Warpin 0.94 in few seconds (you can see here two screenshots of the Install process by Warpin on my Desktop) and have not any problem! Note that my OS/2 Warp 4.5+FP14 have a WPS really overloaded by hundreds (I said hundreds...) of applications. I'm using secure ALL the most important OS/2 shareware available on the Net (I'm registered user of 212 - I purchased licenses, several of them in BMT Micro, Inc., that I recommend for secure transactions wit credit cards - and I've anothers shareware that the developers sent me as a gift and these I'm not including in my list of 212).

I use XFolder/XWorkplace because with this enhancement my Warp runs much more efficient and fast. Currently my principal web site updated everyday, including weekends and holidays, have above 7,000 (I said seven thousand) items - 4,000 pages and 3,000 images - and I need extreme efficiency to edit and update it several times at each day. At the currently version I'm making pages over templates generated originally in NT Platform; I work on Warp 4.5+FP14 using Boxer by David Hammel as a web editor, because this one runs fine and have a syntax highlighting that I judge the ideal; but Boxer unfortunately can't access the OS/2 clipboard directly and I use various recourses for do it and this task force me to have many tool at the click of my mouse. Here is the point where Workplace is fundamental for me: with a simple click at the XFolder pop-menu I solve all problems I encounter here! To read my reviews about XFolder simply enter <XFolder> in the Searchbox in the head of this page.

Photo above shows XWorkplace 0.95  Setup Properties Notebook displayed on @Macarlo's Warp 4.5+FP14

Technical Information

Photo above shows XWorkplace 0.95 folder openede on @Macarlo's Warp 4.5+FP14

How XWorkplace Works

    XWorkplace is a complex set of replacement classes for the
    OS/2 Workplace Shell to enhance the WPS's behavior in many
    ways. It now also contains a PM hook (a la NPSWPS) to enhance
    mouse and keyboard operations. As opposed to other PM hooks,
    all configuration is done via true WPS settings notebooks.

    Consider this the WPS upgrade IBM should have released with
    OS/2 Warp 4. XWorkplace is the successor to XFolder V0.85 and
    contains all of it, except the bugs.

    XWorkplace can add features to pretty much all parts of the
    system, such as generic object features, folder enhancements,
    replacement icons, CONFIG.SYS settings, keyboard and mouse
    operation, and much, much more.

      ABOUT THIS RELEASE
    

    This version is mainly another bugfix release compared
    to previous versions. While V0.9.4 was pretty stable
    already, this version fixes two major bugs:

        -- The XShutdown INI problems appear to be
           finally solved for good.

        -- Object hotkeys should work now without
           hanging the system when assigning them.

    For details, refer to the "XWorkplace User Guide" after
    unpacking the files. To extract the documentation only,
    see "2. INSTALLATION" below.

    This version is planned to be the last developer's
    release of XWorkplace before V1.0.0 comes out.

    INSTALLATION

    XWorkplace must be installed using WarpIN.

    Note: Use WarpIN V0.9.3 or higher to install this archive.
    Older versions will not be able to create the XWorkplace
    WPS objects and will probably fail when upgrading XWorkplace
    from a previous version.

    If you are still unsure whether you should use XWorkplace at
    this point, you can have WarpIN unpack the XWorkplace files
    on your hard disk only without registering and replacing
    Workplace Shell classes. This will not alter your system's
    behavior yet.

    To do this, disable the "Register WPS classes" flag on the
    respective page which WarpIN will show you after you press
    the "Next" button a few times. Until the WPS classes are
    registered, XWorkplace will do NOTHING on your system.

    This way can then read through XWorkplace's documentation
    first and decide then whether to actually register
    XWorkplace's classes. To do this later, simply double-click
    on XWorkplace's WarpIN (.WPI) archive again.

    ---> NOTE: In any case, before installing, MAKE A WPS BACKUP.

UPGRADING

    Upgrading from XWorkplace
 

    With the latest WarpIN, you will get a notification message
    that XWPDAEMN.EXE is running. Have WarpIN kill that program
    (which is the XWorkplace Daemon), and you can overwrite your
    existing installation.

    If upgrading doesn't work, have WarpIN remove the installed
    XWorkplace version first, restart the WPS, and install the
    new version then.

    Upgrading from XFolder

    XWorkplace is the successor to XFolder (the last XFolder
    version was V0.85).

    XWorkplace and XFolder cannot coexist, since XWorkplace
    provides all the features of XFolder 0.85 plus many bugfixes
    and even more features.

    As a result, if XFolder is installed, XWorkplace will
    disable your XFolder installation.

    You should install XWorkplace to a directory OTHER than
    your existing XFolder directory to make sure no file
    conflicts occur. Several people have reported that
    installing to the same directory can hang your WPS.

    XWorkplace can take over your existing XFolder 0.85 settings,
    if present. You will be prompted for that during the first
    WPS restart after installation. However, many new settings
    have arrived, so many will be initially disabled.

    If you prefer to go back to your existing XFolder installation
    later (after all, this is a developer's release), have WarpIN
    de-install XWorkplace and install XFolder again, using
    INSTALL.CMD in your XFolder directory. Your old XFolder
    settings remain untouched by XWorkplace.

    NATIONAL LANGUAGE SUPPORT

    This archive contains XWorkplace National Language Support
    (NLS) for English only. Even though XWorkplace is prepared
    for supporting additional languages, there are no other
    NLS packages available yet. These will be added to a later
    release.

Photo above shows XWorkplace 0.95  Class List feature displayed on @Macarlo's Warp 4.5+FP14

GETTING STARTED

    In any case, after installation, open the new "XWorkplace Setup"
    object first and go to the "Features" page. This is the most
    central place to enable XWorkplace features. Press the "Help"
    button there to get more information.

KNOWN LIMITATIONS

    This version has known bugs, even though I have fixed dozens
    with this release.

    Please check the BUGS and FEATURES files in this package also
    before reporting bugs or suggesting features. Thank you.

    As opposed to what XFLDR001.INF might be saying, the following
    does not work:

    1)  Christian Langanke's Animated Mouse Pointers for OS/2 are
        not yet included. This is still in the works and will be
        added to a later release.

        If you have Christian's old package installed, you can keep
        it running, it causes no problems.

        The AMPTR sources are now on the Netlabs CVS server in the
        XWorkplace archives and compile with the rest of XWorkplace,
        but there's still some work left. If anybody finds the time
        to do the remaining integration work, any help is welcome.

    2)  If "Extended associations" is enabled in XWPSetup, the new
        "File types" page in "Workplace Shell" is working, but
        XFldDataFile doesn't support the enhanced file type icons yet.
        You'll see the proper icons and associations in the "Open"
        submenu, but clicking on them will not open the proper
        association.

    3)  Even though I've fixed many PageMage bugs with V0.9.4,
        there are still a number of problems left. PageMage doesn't
        shouldn't hang system any more, but it has problems tracking
        windows at times. PageMage 0.9.5 is essentially unchanged
        from 0.9.4.

    4)  There are problems with WPS restarts and FP13/14. This has
        little to do with XWorkplace.

    5)  From time to time, creating folders from templates (using the
        context menu items) can solidly crash the system with a black
        screen. Some people never get this, but I do from time to time.
        I think I have found the problem, but solving it requires some
        more debugging and a major redesign of the developer folder object
        initialization. This problem has been reported for all XFolder
        and XWorkplace versions.

        If you have never had problems with "Create another", don't
        worry, nothing has changed.

        However, if, after using "Create another", the system freezes
        and the hard disk rattles like crazy, press Ctrl+Alt+Del
        IMMEDIATELY to avoid the black screen. This is a symptom of
        the swap file growing constantly until the swap disk is full,
        which will then cause a trap somewhere.

    6)  XWPString is still experimental. Drag'n'drop and confirmations
        don't work. XWPString will be replaced with a different
        implementation in the future, so don't count on it.

CONTACT AUTHOR

Ulrich Moeller
 ulrich.moeller@rz.hu-berlin.de

http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/~h0444vnd/os2.htm

WarpIN and XWorkplace are Netlabs projects, released under the GNU
General Public Licence. The source code is available on the Netlabs
CVS server. See www.netlabs.org/nosa and Ulrich Moeller's home page for details.

@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
OS/2
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