Quartus Forth Manual

Table of Contents - Quartus Forth Home Page - How to Register

Structure of a Quartus Forth Application

Forth applications are written bottom-up; no word may be referenced until it is defined. Definitions early in a source file are used to build the definitions that follow, leading up to the application's main entry pont.

Here is the recommended high-level source layout of a Forth application (see the sample application sources for more examples):


\ <filename> <datestamp> <initials>
\ Comments about the program's purpose and design.

\ Required library code:
needs <libraryfile>
...

\ Opening of any external resource databases:
\  (via use-resources from the library file resources):
(ID) p4ap (ID) <creatorID> use-resources

\ Constant definitions:
<value> constant <constantname>
...

\ Variable declarations (globals):
variable <variablename>
...
\ Variable default initializations:
<value> <variablename> !
...

\ System-dependent words (preferences, etc.):
: <name> ... ;
...

\ Application-specific words:
: <name> ... ;
...

\ Program main entry point:
: go ( -- )  ... ;

\ Stand-alone executable generation (registered version only)
\ (Often this is placed in a separate file for convenience):
' go <creatorID> MakePRC <ProgramName>

\ Deletion of unneeded forms from the target PRC:
<id> <resourceType> delrsrc  drop
...

\ Addition of needed forms from an open resource database:
<id> <resourceType> copyrsrc
...

\ Done!


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© 1998, 1999 Neal Bridges. All rights reserved.