home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
World of Shareware - Software Farm 2
/
wosw_2.zip
/
wosw_2
/
QBAS
/
ALTVB10B.ZIP
/
README.ALT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-10-07
|
7KB
|
154 lines
Assembly-Language Toolbox for VisualBASIC DOS
─────────────────────────────────────────────
By Christy Gemmell
This first edition of the Assembly-Language Toolbox for VisualBASIC DOS
has all the features of the QuickBASIC version as well as new ones of its'
own. EMS support is included with a full set of routines for reading and
writing to LIM 3.2/4.0 Expanded Memory. Other routines enable you to
control the DOS print spooler and, thanks to Neil Carter, there is a
complete set of Mouse functions.
High-resolution graphics, a previously neglected area in the Toolbox, have
been tackled and this release provides facilities for scrolling, panning,
and controlling the intensity of graphics displays. The routine for loading
and saving high-resolution screens to disk files have been rewritten in pure
assembler and are, consequently, much smaller and faster. In addition I have
added routines for drawing and scaling high-resolution text in whatever
combination of colours that your video card is capable of displaying. This
includes computers fitted with CGA, MCGA, EGA and VGA adaptors. Hercules
graphics cards are not supported.
As in previous releases, two versions of the Toolbox library are included.
The first, ALTVBDOS.LIB, is intended for linking with stand-alone programs
which are run from the DOS command line. To do this you must first compile
your program using BC's /O switch, eg:
BC /O YOURPROG.BAS;
where YOURPROG.BAS is, of course, the name of your program.
The resulting object file should then be linked to the library using the
copy of LINK.EXE which came with your QuickBASIC compiler, viz:
LINK YOURPROG,,,ALTVBDOS.LIB;
This will produce an executable program, YOURPROG.EXE, which can be run
completely stand-alone, without the need for the VisualBASIC runtime
support modules to be present. It can, therefore, be distributed freely
without the need for royalty payments.
ALTVBDOS.QLB, the second version of the library, is used for developing
programs in the VisualBASIC DOS programming environment. To load it, use
the following command when starting up VisualBASIC:
VBDOS YOURPROG /L ALTVBDOS.QLB
Thereafter your program can call any of the Toolbox functions and
procedures, provided that it includes the appropriate DECLARE statements
at the beginning of its' code.
DECLARE statements are prototype descriptions of the SUB programs and
FUNCTION procedures which your program will call. The VisualBASIC compiler
uses them to determine the number of arguments that need to be passed and
how the routines are to be called. Once declared, a library routine needs
only to be named for it to be executed and becomes, in effect, an
extension to the Visual BASIC language. To use the Toolbox FASTPRINT
routine, for example, add the following lines to your program:
DECLARE SUB FastPrint (BYVAL Row%, BYVAL Col%, Message$, BYVAL Attribute%)
FastPrint 25, 34, "Hello World!", 48
This will print 'Hello World!' at the centre of the bottom screen row,
using black characters on cyan background (assuming that you have a colour
monitor). Notice that you don't even have to use a CALL statement to
invoke FastPrint and that the parentheses around the argument list are not
required.
DECLARE statements have another use when you are building stand-alone
programs with LINK.EXE. They tell the linker to attach only the modules
containing the declared library routines to your program, and no others.
This helps keep your .EXE files smaller by preventing them from being
burdened with unneccessary code. The file ALTVBDOS.DEF contains a full set
of DECLARE statements for all the library routines on this disk. Just
paste the ones you need into your current program.
If you have been using a previous version of the Toolbox, please note that
many of the DECLARE statements for previously existing routines have been
changed. In particular, a number of arguments which were previously passed
by reference are now passed BY VALue. Others have been given additional
parameters. Before you link existing code to the new version of
ALTVBDOS.LIB, you should check with ALTVBDOS.DEF that your DECLARE
statements are still valid.
The \HELP subdirectory contains a number of ASCII topic files which are
used by DEMON.EXE, the Toolbox demonstration program, to provide context-
sensitive help. If you are copying the Toolbox package to your hard disk,
be aware that not all of these are visible to normal directory listings
(see the HELPMATE documentation for more information). You may also need
to set up a DOS environment variable to point to the subdirectory you
transfer the topic files to, otherwise DEMON may not find them, eg:
SET HELP=C:\VBDOS\HELPTEXT
With this release I have also provided the source code for DEMON as a
guide to using Toolbox routines in your own programs. Feel free to copy
or modify any part of it as you see fit.
This ShareWare version of the Assembly-Language Toolbox for VisualBASIC is
provided, free of charge, to any VisualBASIC programmer who can find a use
for it. You are encouraged to copy it, upload it to Electronic Bulletin
Boards or pass it on to friends, provided only that you make no charge for
doing so and that all the files on the disk are preserved intact. You may
freely include Toolbox routines in your own programs, both for private use
and for commercial distribution, without payment to me.
If you intend to use the Toolbox on a regular basis, however, I would ask
you to register your copy with me, the author. For a modest fee, this will
bring you a full copy of the Toolbox, complete with all the source code,
object modules for building your own custom libraries and many additional
features. Registration also entitles you to a free upgrade to Release 2 of
the Toolbox, when it becomes available, and to subsequent releases at a
greatly reduced price. Hotline support is also included, at no extra charge.
Christy Gemmell October 1992
────────────────────────────────────────────
For more information contact:
James Kreyling CPC Consulting Company, 1217 Crescent Drive,
Smithfield, Va. 23430, U.S.A.
Tel: (804)-357-9190 (Voice)
(804)-357-0357 (Club-PC BBS)
(804)-357-9190 (FAX)
Christy Gemmell 22 Peake Road, Northfields,
Leicester LE4 7DN, England
Tel: (044)-0533-767960
The Assembly-Language Toolbox for QuickBASIC is used by thousands of
programmers in Great Britain, Europe, the USA and Canada, Australasia and
Japan, to build fast and powerful QuickBASIC programs. It has been shown
at COMDEX and was featured in the November 1990 issue of BYTE magazine.
This new version provides the same benefits for users of Microsoft's
new Visual BASIC compiler for DOS.
Christy Gemmell, the author of this package, is also major author of the
definitive textbook on QuickBASIC programming, the QuickBASIC BIBLE, which
is published by Microsoft Press, in association with the Waite Group, at
£24.95 ($27.95 US) ISBN 1-55615-262-0. Its thousand pages are packed with
information, tips and example programs which you wont find anywhere else.
Look out for it in your local bookstore.