
                IBM SOMobjects Developers Toolkit for Win32 : Beta
                ==================================================



General
=======

        The Win32 SOMobjects Toolkit requires an ANSI C compiler. The
        toolkit has been tested with Microsoft Visual C++ 2.0
        Compilers on Microsoft NT 3.5 Beta and Windows 95 Beta.



Win32 SOMobjects Toolkit Installation
=====================================


        1. Copy somtk32.exe into a top-level directory like F:\SOM32.
           Unpack the toolkit with by issuing "somtk32.exe -d".  A
           list of the files shipped in this beta may be found in
           files.lst.
        
        2. If you have not previously installed the Win32 SOMobjects
           Toolkit, you may need to update your system's environment
           variables using the Win32 Control Panel as follows:

            SOMDRIVE=c:
            SOMBASE=%SOMDRIVE%\SOM32

            or

            SOMBASE=c:\SOM32

           Please substitute your specific install values into
           the examples above. The scripts will work with either
           mechanism.
           
        3. You will need to invoke %SOMBASE%\bin\somenv.bat before
           using the SOMobjects Toolkit.  This script updates your
           PATH variable and sets up a few SOM environment variables
           for you.

           One simple way to manage your SOM environment is to modify
           an existing Command Window icon from the Program Manager to
           automatically invoke somenv.bat whenever it is brought up.

           For example, modify a Command Window icon by selecting
           "Properties" from the Program Manager File Menu. Edit the
           command line to look something like:

              CMD.EXE /K "mode 80,43 && %SOMBASE%\bin\somenv.bat"



Configuring Win32 SOMobjects Toolkit -- IMPORTANT
=================================================

        Once the toolkit is installed, you will need to decide which
        bindings to build for the SOM idl files. Of course, a later
        release of the SOMobjects Win32 Toolkit will do this for you
        with a click of a mouse button but until then...
        
        - Corba C bindings: Please run somcorba.bat before using the
          toolkit to generate the default C bindings.

        - NonCorba C bindings : Please run somstars.bat before using
          the toolkit to generate the default C bindings.

        - C++ bindings : If you plan to use C++, please run
          somcorba.bat AND then somxh.bat to generate the default C++
          bindings for SOM.



Testing the Win32 SOMobjects Toolkit Setup
------------------------------------------

        A simple way to test that the toolkit has been installed
        properly is to build and run the sample programs in the
        ANIMALS and TP directories. (./SAMPLES/SOMK/C/ANIMALS
        ./SAMPLES/SOMK/C/TP and ./SAMPLES/SOMD/CPP/ANIMAL.GUI)

        If these sample programs do not build or run correctly, verify
        %SOMBASE%\bin is in your path and that the Win16 SOMobjects
        Toolkit is NOT a part of your path.


New Features, Known Limitations and Restrictions
================================================

        Win32 Emitter Framework
        -----------------------

        This release contains support for the Emitter Framework of the
        SOMobjects Developer Toolkit. This framework helps developers
        write new emitters to be used with the SOM compiler to produce
        special-purpose output from an IDL interface specification. To
        use this framework for Win32 please refer to the "Emitter
        Framework Guide and Reference" shipped with the OS/2 product
        Version 2.1.

        There is a new sample for the emitter framework in
        samples\some.


        WIN32 SOM Compiler and SOM Utilities.
        -------------------------------------

        Type "sc -h" for a list of SOM compiler options.
        Documentation for OS/2 can provide more information about the
        compiler.  Use the the ADDSTAR option when compiling for
        Win32.  (You can either set SMADDSTAR=1 in your environment,
        or use the command-line equivalent -maddstar.)

        Microsoft "nmake" makefiles are provided for the shipped
        samples. These may be helpful if you would like to look at
        some example makefile rules for converting .idl to .h and .ih
        files. You can build from MS Visual C++ IDE environment by
        opening the makefile from the File Menu. Edit "Project
        Settings" to modify the nmake command line to make the target
        you want. For more details on this option, see the
        %SOMBASE%\samples\readme.

        You may find the utility irdump.exe helpful to view the
        contents of the Interface Respository. Also, a Windows version
        of this program is shipped as a sample.

        SOMobjects is a Registered Trademark of the IBM Corporation.
        Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered
        trademarks of their respective holders.


        WIN32 Workstation DSOM Enabler.
        -------------------------------

        This version of the toolkit contains support for Workstation
        DSOM Enabler (Distributed SOM). Distributed SOM provides a
        framework that allows application programs to access objects
        across address spaces. That is, application programs can
        access objects in other processes, even on different machines
        (Workgroup DSOM). Both the location and implementation of an
        object are hidden from a client, and the client accesses the
        object (via method calls) in the same manner regardless of its
        location.

        DSOM can be viewed in two ways:

                - As an extension to the System Object Model, that
                  allows a program to invoke methods on SOM objects in
                  other processes, and
                - As an Object Request Broker (ORB), a standard
                  "transport" for distributed object interaction. In
                  this respect, DSOM complies with the Common Object
                  Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) specification
                  published by the Object Management Group (OMG) and
                  x/Open@.

        See the %SOMBASE%\samples\somd\cpp readme
        for details about how to build and run the DSOM samples.


        WIN32 Interface Repository.
        ---------------------------

        A pre-built SOM/DSOM Interface Repository containing all of
        the SOM and DSOM idl interfaces is shipped as part of 
        the Win32 Toolkit (%SOMBASE%\etc\som.ir). This IR will
        automatically be included in your SOMIR search path by 
        by somenv.bat. Should you want to rebuild this IR 
        in the course of your travels, issue the command:

         %SOMBASE%\bin\irbuild.bat




        Zephyr Technologies, Inc 1995 for IBM Corp.@

