øPreferences User Selectable Preferences in F-PC ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On this and the following screens, we will see many of the user selectable attributes of the F-PC system. ùAuto-Edit ùAuto-Save ùLeave-Prompt ùBackup-Files ùColorizer ùConfig-File ùDate-Format ùDebug-Decom ùDisplay-Speed ùForth-Path ùNumber-BASE ùPrint-Redirect ùRe-Defining ùReverse-Scrn ùScreen-Colors ùStatus-Line ùVoc-Stack ùCGA-Blanking øAuto-Edit Automatically Edit on Error ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As shipped F-PC will automatically enter the editor when an error is encountered while compiling source code from a file. Words are available to both disable and enable this function as follows: ùAutoEditOn ùAutoEditOff øAuto-Save Automatic Save of Changes ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As shipped F-PC will automatically save any changes you have made to a file you are editing if you stop touching the keyboard for 10 minutes. ùAutoSaveOn ùAutoSaveOff ùAutoSave-Minutes øLeave-prompt Prompt on edit exit ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As shipped, F-PC will ask you if you want to open another file, as you leave the editor with F10. If you want to always just exit the editor, and return to Forth, there is an option to select that default. ùLeavePromptOn ùLeavePromptOff øBackup-Files Keep Backup Copies of Edits ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ At installation time F-PC allows you to specify whether you want backup copies of you file edits kept. One of the following commands is normally included in the F-PC.CFG (configuration) file to select your preference. ùBackUpOn ùBackUpOff øCGA-Blanking Display Blank on Write to CGA ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ At installation time F-PC allows you to specify whether you want text displayed on the screen to be done with direct screen writes. ( See also ùDisplay-Speed ) If ùFAST display mode is selected on a computer using a CGA video board, an undesirable amount of screen "Sparkle" or "Snow" may occur when F-PC is typing text to the screen. If this is the case on your computer, you may use the word BLANKON to make F-PC blank the screen while it is writting text to the display. This solution is only marginally better than not blanking the display, but it's better than nothing if you want fast text display performance. ùBlankOn ùBlankOff øColorizer Display Word Classes in Colors ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ During installation F-PC allows you to specify whether you want different word classes in F-PC to be shown in different colors when using the WORDS and SEE tools. Here are the Forth commands to enable and disable this function: ùColorizeOn ùColorizeOff øConfig-File Preferences Auto Select File ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ At installation time the INSTALL.EXE program allows you to specify certain preferences. These preferences are then written into a file called F-PC.CFG. This is a standard text file, and contains normal Forth commands which are executed at the time F-PC is beginning execution after you type F or F-PC at the DOS command line. You can edit this file like any other source file, to add or delete commands. Any Forth operations you want to done when F-PC is first starting up can be placed in this file. F-PC will look through the compiled-in Forth Path at startup time to try to find the F-PC.CFG file. If F-PC was installed properly then F-PC will be able to find its configuration file regardless of where you are working on your harddisk drive. You can even change the name of the F-PC configuration file to one of your own choosing. Simply place the new filename into the ùHANDLE ùCFGHNDL with the word ù!HCB . When F-PC is later saved to disk as a new executable file with ùFSAVE , the new filename will be opened and loaded. øDate-Format Displayed Date Format ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ F-PC supports three display date formats. The default date format is M/D/Y. Others are available as shown: ùD.M.Y ùY-M-D ùM/D/Y øDebug-Decom Display Decompile while Debugging ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When using the Debugger, F-PC will by default display a de-compiled view of the word being debugged on the upper several lines of the display. This view can be turned on or off with the following words: ùSRCON ùSRCOFF øDisplay-Speed Use Direct Screen Writes or BIOS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ During installation, you can tell F-PC whether you want it to use direct screen writing for text display. This requires display memory to be located at either $B000 for Monocrome display cards, or $B800 for Color display cards. Direct display memory writing is enabled and disabled with the following words: ùFAST ùSLOW øForth-Path Where Should F-PC look for Files ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ During installation F-PC sets a Forth Path through which F-PC will search when a file is to be opened. Normally this path is acceptable for all uses. The exceptions are FLOOK and EDITALL, which require the path to be specified explicitly. You can change the path with ùFPATH , or add to the path with ù FPATH+ . The current Forth Path can be displayed with ù.FPATH . øNumber-BASE Should F-PC restore the BASE on Error ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The default base for F-PC is normally ùDECIMAL . When an error occurs while working in F-PC, the ùBASE will be changed to DECIMAL. Words are provided to specify either HEX or DECIMAL as the default base, as well as telling F-PC not to assume a default base. ùDECIMALBASE ùHEXBASE ùNOBASE ùDEFBASE øPrint-Redirect Where Should F-PC Send Printed Output ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ F-PC normally sends text directed to a printer to the PRN device. A HANDLE is used to specify the actual place to send printed text, and words are available to direct printing to a file if desired. ùPFILE ù$PFILE ùPCLOSE ùPRNHNDL ùPEMIT ù(PRINT) øRe-Defining Do I want to be warned about Re-Definitions? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ F-PC will normally warn you when you re-define a word, but this can be changed by modifying the variable ùWARNING to a value of zero with WARNING ON or WARNING OFF. øReverse-Scrn Reverse Video is Available on Monocrome ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When you are using a Monocrome or Liquid Crystal display, you can tell F-PC to invert the black and white sections of the screen. This is sometimes useful on true BLACK and WHITE monitors. The words to change the display mode are: ùBLACK-ON-WHITE ùWHITE-ON-BALCK øScreen-Colors What Screen Colors should I Use? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Normally F-PC displays white characters on a black background. Color attributes are used to hilight special sections of text, but the normal text typed in by you appears as white on black. On color systems you may want to experiment with a different colors. The word ù>NORM selects the character attributes of"normal" text. >NORM is a defered word that performs the word ù>NONE . The word >NONE sets the attribute variable ùATTRIB to the value stored in the ùVALUE ùNORMVAL . By changing NORMVAL, you can change the colors F-PC uses to display "normal" text. øStatus-Line Should F-PC Display the Status Line? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ F-PC normally displays a status line at the top of the screen. This line contains information about what file is open, how much memory is still available, the context and current vocabularies, the stack depth, and what the current time is. This status display can interfere with certain types of operations, like interactive printing of Forth command lines as they are entered. You can enable and disable the status display with the following words: ùSTATON ùSTATOFF See also ùVoc-Stack on the following screen. øVoc-Stack Vocabulary Stack Display ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ F-PC normally displays the current status of the vocabulary stack at the upper right of the display below the status line. You can choose to turn this display off or on with the following words. ùVOCON ùVOCOFF See also ùStatus-Line on the previous screen.