This file contains a partial list of print articles written by Sam Azer over the years and published in various print journals. Links to online copies are provided wherever possible. http://www.samazer.net/about.php Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:07:20 -0500 Maintained manually by Sam Azer http://samazer.net/images/stories/second-cup.jpg Sam Azer in 2008. http://www.samazer.net/about.php Published July - August, 1988 (Issue #42.) My first published article! This article contained a detailed description of the structure of a PCX graphics file - a format that was popular in the 80's. It included sample code that could read, write and display PCX files. This article became quite popular and the editor of the magazine, Dave Thompson, reported that it sold a surprising number of reprints. As of February 2009, more than twenty years after the initial publication, a reference to the aritlce can still be found here: http://www.ddj.com/cpp/184402396 Micro Cornucopia Fri, 01 Jul 1988 13:00:00 -0500 Published January - February 1989 (Issue #45) A review of several Computer Aided Design software packages - and a desktop publishing package. I used this software in the 1980's in the design and manufacture of industrial process control and data-acquisition systems. This was my second published article and it was also very popular. I learned a great deal from the comments that I received later. Micro Cornucopia Sun, 01 Jan 1989 13:00:00 -0500 Published March - April 1989 (Issue #46) This article and the associated C and Assembler source code made it possible to register a C function as a hardware interrupt handler. Around the time this article was published I had also written a multi-tasking kernel that allowed a C program to execute functions as parallel tasks. Unfortunately, the Interrupt Handling article was too complex for many people and did not earn enough of a response to justify the publication of the multi-tasking kernel article. In later years I had other experiences that reinforced the lesson: Most people are interested in relatively simple issues - they don't want to make the effort to deal with issues that are difficult. Micro Cornucopia Wed, 01 Mar 1989 13:00:00 -0500 http://bcbjournal.org/articles/vol1/9709/Building_components__part_1.htm Published September 1997. A component is a class that you must write in such a way that it performs two jobs: First, when you drop a component from the Component palette onto a form, the component talks to the Object Inspector and the form editor in what is called the Design State. In this state, you edit properties using the Object Inspector and tie in additional event-handling code. The form editor collects property values and writes them to the form file, which is later bound as a resource to the final program. This process allows each component to use persistent data (property values) to adjust its behavior. All these interactions affect the second job that a component must do: perform its run-time program-related duties. To make this process possible, C++ Builder enhances ANSI C++ with a few language extensions and adds runtime support code through the Visual Component Library (VCL). Let's take a look. C++ Builder Developers Journal Mon, 01 Sep 1997 13:00:00 -0500 http://bcbjournal.org/articles/vol1/9710/Building_components__part_2.htm Published October 1997. This month, we'll build an example component. In most cases, you build new components on top of existing ones. So, our example component is an extension to a database combo box that remembers the values you put into it. Since it's also windowed control, you'll be doing business with VCL. Then we'll put together a simple program to test the component. C++ Builder Developers Journal Wed, 01 Oct 1997 13:00:00 -0500 http://bcbjournal.org/articles/vol1/9711/Building_components__part_3.htm Published November 1997. In the September 1997 issue of C++ Builder Developer's Journal, part 1 of this series looked at the basic elements of component building in C++ Builder. In part 2, we built a small example component. This month, we'll demonstrate how to add some polish to your component--finishing touches like writing a help file to document the component, creating custom property and component editors to make it easier to use, and adding an icon to set the component apart from others. C++ Builder Developers Journal Sat, 01 Nov 1997 13:00:00 -0500 http://bcbjournal.org/articles/vol1/9712/Reconnoitering_resources.htm Published December 1997. In this article, we'll make and use some Windows Resources. We'll start with a bit of background information, then we'll build a string table and add version information. Finally, we'll add a wave and play it. The resource part was so easy that the example was too boring--so I jazzed it up with a splash screen, volume controls, and a demonstration of the three different ways to use PlaySound(). C++ Builder Developers Journal Mon, 01 Dec 1997 13:00:00 -0500 http://bcbjournal.org/articles/vol2/9801/Use_a_mutex_to_achieve_synchronization.htm Published January 1998. How do you prevent more than one instance of an application from being started? The simplest answer is: a named mutual exclusion lock. Read this article to find out what a mutex is and how to use it. C++ Builder Developers Journal Thu, 01 Jan 1998 13:00:00 -0500