Subj: Making AC/BASIC auto-boot. 90-11-11 20:41:18 EST
From: Airship
Posted on: America Online
This is something I've been meaning to UL for quite a while now, but I've been soooo busy programming my GS over the past few years (jeeesh! has it been that long?!?!?) that I just haven't made the time to sit down and write it up.
Anyway, back in the dark ages while I was trying to find a GS language that was reliable and had a reasonably short learning curve (try as I might I still haven't mastered the toolbox, I just get too impatient with it's complexity). The language I finally settled with was AC/BASIC. Although no longer actively supported by Absoft, I've found it to be an absolutely delightful programming system. However, when I first starting using it it had one characteristic that drove me NUTS! Specifically, if you follow the manual's procedure for using it from a floppy (I'm not lucky enough to have a hard drive), every time to choose to compile & run a program from the command level when the program quits, through either quitting or a crash & burn, it exits back to the finder/launcher. From, here you have to relaunch the compiler. A real pain! However, with a simple modification to your system disk, this can be made to work really nice.
First, set up the AC.BASIC and BASIC.OVERLAYS files on their own system disk as described in Appendix H of the manual (pages H.2 & H.3) being sure to place the files in the root (topmost) directory. In addition to the files listed on page H.3, delete the file System/Start, and System/CDevs (this last one may not be absolutely necessary, but it frees up quite a bit of space). Finally, rename AC.BASIC as BASIC.SYS16 (or AnyName.SYS16).
What you have now is an auto-boot compiler disk. Just put it in a drive and go! No more stopping off at the finder/launcher to boot the system. What will you do with all your spare time? More importantly, now when you compile & run a program it quits back to the command level of the compiler exactly where you left it! All open folders are still open, the active volume is still selected, ect, ect. This makes testing and de-bugging real nice! Furthermore, if you need to Transfer out of the compiler to another utility (like GreenThumb Software's Basic Design), you also quit back to the compiler's command level.
Well, there you have it. I've got a couple more up my sleeve somewhere. I'll just have to see when I can get around to them. I'm still busy programming, as per usual.
Have fun!
John
Path: BASIC/AC tips 'n tricks
Subj: Cut 'n paste. 90-11-20 18:51:48 EST
From: Airship
Posted on: America Online
Another problem I had with AC/Basic when I first started working with it was cutting and pasting between two program files. The editor, which was apparently licensed from Byte Works, is really nice, but unfortunately you can't work on more than one program file at a time. For a while I'd use MouseWrite when I wanted to cut and paste between two files. Fortunately, I found an easier solution.
First, load the program you what to copy from into the AC/Basic editor. Select and copy the section of code you want just as though you were going to copy and paste within the program. This section of code is now stored on the clipboard. Close the file you're copying from, and open the file you want to copy to. You can now paste the section of stored code anywhere you want.
If there's more than one section of code I want to lift from the first file, I'll copy and paste all the desired sections to the end of the file. The last copy I do is then that entire section of code I made up of all the individual parts. You can now close the first file (be sure NOT to save the changes you just made), and open the new program file. You can now paste the copied sections to the end of this file to be cut and pasted where ever you want.
Fortunately, the file I/O of GS/OS is fast enough, along with making an autoboot AC/Basic system disk, makes this process of switching files pretty quick.
Have fun!
John
Path: BASIC/AC tips 'n tricks
Subj: Printing text from AC/BASIC. 90-12-23 17:20:02 EST
From: Airship
Posted on: America Online
I've recently received a couple of questions on how to use AC/BASIC's printer commands. Since programming the GS I spend more time using screen dumps more than text dumps so I really haven't standardized how I conduct text dumps. However, I wrote a little chunk o'code that demonstrates four different styles of Printer I/O using AC/BASIC. These include using LPT1:Prompt (2 examples), LPT1:Direct (or LPT1:), and LPrint.
Depending on what your doing, I'de set up a 'Printer Setup' menu item that executes an LPT1:Prompt to access the GS/OS's printer dialogs, then use LPT1:Direct's afterwards. In both cases open the printer as an output device.
I was going to UL the source code here, but it was a tad too long, so I should be over in the Source Code Library. However, the core code would look something like this...
Open "LPT1:Prompt" for output as #6
Print #6, "This is a test print..."
Close
and...
Open "LPT1:Direct" for output as #6
Print #6, "Your text goes here..."
Close
Furthermore, for the sake of speed I've been using Condensed & Draft for printing. However, the new print drivers supplied with GSOS v5.03 might change that.
BTW, AC/BASIC seems to work just fine under GSOS v5.03. However, I did run into a bug(?) in v5.03's printer drivers. Apparently the rules for how the printer interprets colors and grays has been changed. I ran into the same problem on everything I tested under v5.03 so it's not an AC/BASIC problem. I'm currently continuing to work under v5.02 until v5.04 is released.
