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PBCLONE.NEW
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1992-05-08
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PBClone 1.8, 05/08/92:
A bug was fixed in SetComm, which was setting the baud rate
incorrectly. More importantly, however, I ran into a serious
Microsoft bug which I'd thought had long since been fixed.
It appears that QuickBASIC 4.0-4.5 and BASCOM/PDS 6.0-7.1
destroy vital comm port information in the BIOS data area,
making it impossible for any of the PBClone comm routines to
function. I have enclosed patch information for QB 4.5 in
QBPATCH.TXT. If you have a different compiler or do not
wish to modify your BASIC libraries, use the following
work-around:
SaveComm$ = SPACE$(8)
DGetSt &H40, 0, 0&, SaveComm$ ' save comm info
' OPEN the comm port as desired
DPutSt &H40, 0, 0&, SaveComm$ ' restore comm info
' now you can use PBClone comm routines
In the new QBPATCH.TXT file, there is information about how
to permanently eradicate that comm-killer bug, among other
things. It's been many years since Microsoft upgraded QB.
Maybe it's time for us to start fixing the bugs ourselves.
Speaking of bugs... a lot of 'em have settled out in the
last few months. Bugs were fixed in the MaxL and MinL
functions, which would return the wrong results if both
parameters were negative. A bug was fixed in FCreate, which
would lock the computer. A bug was fixed in the near-string
version of Xlate. A bug was fixed in the far-string version
of GetExecPath. Bugs were fixed in SubExist and SubExist2,
which changed the path. They were also made insensitive to
a DR-DOS flaky. The PSortSt and SortSt routines were
incorrectly documented. The Date2Int and Int2Date routines
had a problem and return different values now.
The various sort routines would not compile under BC7/PDS
due to use of a STACK array (STACK is a PDS reserved word).
The TimeN2S routine will no longer translate zeros to the
current time. After all, although "00:00:00" is an unusual
time, it is a valid one. Getting the current time can be
more easily done with the TIME$ function anyway.
The CatchError/GetError routines don't work any better than
they used to, but you can replace them with the new
GetError2% function, which appears to be more effective.
The VARCDEMO program has been renamed to ARCVIEW. As well
as the filename-only listing, it now allows a detailed view
of an archive-- try the /V option. A new demo has been
added, DIRVIEW, to show the use of the LoadDirAll routine.
If you use the excellent 4DOS command shell, try the new
ADD4DOS batch file-- it adds descriptions of all PBClone
files which will show up when you type DIR. No more
guessing about filenames!
Microsoft's simplified segment directives made it much
easier to create assembly language routines. Unfortunately,
when you have a library as big as PBClone, they're
counterproductive. I've converted the PBClone sources to
use the old-style full segment directives. The added
flexibility this gave me provided a number of benefits:
- the .QLB library is smaller, providing more QB/QBX
environment space
- data areas have been consolidated, providing more data
space
- common code has been consolidated, reducing memory
requirements (and often improving the speed, since near
calls can be used)
- improved granularity
Many of the routines that were in BASIC have been converted
to assembly language. Although few of these routines were
particularly time-critical, the translation allowed for
fewer segments and improved memory usage.
Doc files have been converted to 64 col x 59 row pages to
allow printing on a greater variety of printers. You may
want to think twice before printing out the PBCLONE?.MAN
files, though, as they total over 10,000 lines.
New additions:
CeilD, CeilS, ExplainFAttr, FarPeekI, FarPeekL, FarPokeI,
FarPokeL, FileCount, FloorD, FloorS, GetError2, GetFSize,
Int2DateSt, Int2TimeSt, IsAlNum, IsAlpha, IsASCII,
IsCntrl, IsDigit, IsLower, IsPrint, IsPunct, IsSpace,
IsUpper, IsXDigit, LoadDir, LoadDirAll, LogicalDrives,
MPrint, MWindow, Num2Phone, Odd, OddL, Phone2Num,
PrinterInit
PBClone 1.7, 01/08/92:
Argh, drat. In the rush to release a fix for PBClone 1.5, I
forgot that I'd pulled the ARCHIVE.OBJ routines out to add
new capabilities. Result? A bug fix that only had different
bugs! My apologies. I've added a group of beta testers to
prevent this sort of thing in the future.
Bug fixes affect: CheckDisk, CheckDsk, CRC, GetTimeFx,
RenSub, SInput.
I'm breaking PBClone away from its obsession with following
ProBas. I am taking this opportunity to remove dummy
parameters from routines which only included them for ProBas
compatibility, and to delete routines which are obsolete or
have no function except in ProBas. My apologies for any
inconvenience these changes may cause you. This is a
one-time thing.
Altered: CtrlKey, DCal, FindPatch, GrafRest, GrafSave,
HCls, HLine, HMode, HPrint, HSetPixel, HTestPixel
Deleted: DrvSpace, GetMoveBack, GetSizeF, HInit, HPage,
SetRows
The FindFirstA set of routines now supports ARJ and ZOO
archives.
Some of the territory covered by the new routines includes
Windows and 4DOS detection, sorting and binary searches,
control over the Break key, graphics mouse cursors, printer
checking and formatted dollar input.
New additions:
AllExtMem, AndSt, BinSeekD, BinSeekI, BinSeekL, BinSeekS,
BinSeekSt, BreakCheck, BreakOff, BreakOffDone, CRC1,
DInput, FloppyType, Get4DOSv, GetPrtAddr, InitPtr,
MouseCursor, OrSt, PrinterReady, PSortD, PSortI, PSortL,
PSortS, PSortSt, ReverseD, ReverseI, ReverseL, ReverseS,
ReverseSt, RolSt, RorSt, SetPrtAddr, ShlSt, ShrSt, SortD,
SortI, SortL, SortS, SortSt, WinCheck, XorSt, XQPrintOver
PBClone 1.6, 10/09/91:
There was an error in the PBCLONE.INF entries for GetXMSm
and GetXMSv. This has been corrected. The CheckDate routine
would bomb out if it was given an illegal month. This has
likewise been fixed.
The reference manual was getting too large for my favorite
editor, so I split it in half. PBCLONE1.MAN covers A-F and
PBCLONE2.MAN covers G-Z.
PBClone 1.5, 09/25/91:
Support for far strings has been added to PBClone. This
means you can use PBClone in the QBX environment and with
the BC7 "PDS" /Fs option. Only the registered version
provides this feature, since you must recompile the BASIC
sources with whichever PDS version you have.
A bug in the DEMO.BAS file having to do with expanded memory
has been fixed. This derived from my not reading the
documentation-- take heed! EVERYBODY needs to read the
documentation!
Bugs of varying levels of significance have been collected,
labeled, and sent to the Smithsonian. Fixed routines:
FindFirstA series, FindPatch, MMButton, MMButton3, ObjScan.
In PBClone 1.4, a PBCOBJ.ZIP file was included which
contained all of the object files for PBClone. This has
been replaced with PBCLONE.LIB. Use the utilities included
with LIBWIZ (separate) to extract all of the .OBJ files from
the library to allow you to create your own custom libraries.
Complaints of bugs in BarMenu have prompted me to add
MENUDEMO.BAS and MENUDEMO.EXE. BarMenu works flawlessly,
but evidently was insufficiently documented. The addition
of this example code should help. I've added VARCDEMO.BAS
and VARCDEMO.EXE as well to demonstrate the archive-viewing
routines.
Assembly language source code has been converted from OPTASM
to MASM 6.0. While MASM is still not up to OPTASM in many
respects, it's close enough, especially given that SLR has
not updated OPTASM in the past few years and it doesn't even
support 80386 codes yet. Oh well. MASM may be yucky, but
it's still (somehow) the standard, and as of v6.0 it's at
least tolerable.
New additions:
FileCRC, GetXMSm, GetXMSv
PBClone 1.4, 03/28/91:
This library is now too large for BASIC to cope with as a
unit. Look for LIBWIZxx.ZIP (separate), a library manager
which will allow you to create custom libraries containing
just the routines you need.
The Processor and Processor2 routines can now differentiate
NEC V20 chips.
New additions:
AltKey, BarMenu, BarMenuM, CalcDate, CDROM2, CheckDate,
CheckDsk, ClearArea, CtrlKey, CWindowManager, DateA2R,
DateR2A, DCal, DCalendar, DGQPrint, DGXQPrint,
DGXQPrint1, EnhKbd, EuropeDate, EWindowManagerC,
EXQPrintC, FileCopy, FindFirstFx, FindNextFx, FindPatch,
ForceMatch, FormatDate, GetAttrFx, GetCommAddr,
GetDateFx, GetDView, GetHGA, GetLine, GetMoveBack,
GetNameFx, GetRows2, GetSizeFx, GetTimeFx, GetTView,
GetTVScreen, GXQPrint, GXQPrint1, KbdType, KbdType2,
KVal, LScroll, LVal, MemSwap, ObjScan, PatchDone, PrtSc,
Rand, RScroll, SetCommAddr, SetPatch, TypePrint,
UpdTVScreen, WeekDay1
PBClone 1.3, 02/21/91:
The GetLabel and GetLabel2 routines were fixed to overcome a
DOS 2.x bug. They should now work properly with DOS 2.0 on.
A crude TSR file viewer, FV.EXE, has been added to make
syntax and usage questions less of a bother. It would be
wise to try it out on something nonessential first-- it
seems to work fine with QuickBASIC, but it locks up my
favorite editor. See PBCLONE.DOC for details.
New additions:
CheckShare2, CloseA, CPrintScreen1, CPrintScreen2,
CursorInfo, EMSBuffer, EMSClose, EMSGet, EMSOpen, EMSPut,
EMSRest, EMSSave, FindFirstA, FindNextA, GetCRCA,
GetCRCAL, GetDateA, GetMouseLoc, GetNameA, GetSerial,
GetSizeAL, GetStoreA, GetTimeA, GQPrint, HandleInfo,
HCls, HInit, HLine, HMode, HPage, HPrint, HSetPixel,
HTestPixel, MaxD, MaxS, MinD, MinS, NumFormat, NumProc,
NumProc2, ParseFSpec, PrintFile, Processor, Processor2,
ReadBitF, RedirectIn, RedirectOut, SetBit, SetLabel,
SetMouseLoc, SInput, SInputSet, SInputSet1, SInputSet2,
WriteBitF
PBClone 1.2, 01/28/91:
A bug in the Floppies and Floppies2 routines has been
fixed. Thanks to Dennis Allen for bringing it to my
attention and suggesting a solution.
A bug in the StrIns routine has been fixed. Thanks to Birk
Binnard for bringing it to my attention.
New additions:
DRecDel, DRecIns, DReColor, DReColorArea, DWindowManager,
DWindowMan2, DWindowMan3, DWindowMan4, DXQPrint,
EGARest7, EGARest8, EGARest9, EGASave7, EGASave8,
EGASave9, GetKbd2, GrafPrint, GrafRest, GrafSave, LClose,
LGet, Locase1, LOpen, LPut, StrSqu2, StrSquLen2,
StrUnsqu2, StrUnsquLen2, TInstr, UnSplit, Upcase1
PBClone 1.1, 12/28/90:
The QLB version of the library is no longer included, to
help reduce the size of this burgeoning package. You can
create it from the LIB like so:
LINK PBCLONE.LIB/Q/SE:512,,NUL,BQLB45
See the LIBRARY.TXT and QUESTION.TXT files if this doesn't
work for you.
The manual has been split into two parts to allow easier use.
Several of the memory and string routines are now faster.
The mouse-handling part of CheckKey, CheckKey3, GetKey, and
GetKey3 has been enabled.
New additions:
AscI, BIOSInkey, CalcAttr2, DelayV, DGetRec, DOSErrM,
DOSInt, DPutRec, DScrRest, DScrSave, ElapsedTime, Exist2,
ExtendFSpec, Extract, FGetLoc2, FSize2, GetCRT2,
GetDrive, GetEGA2, GetSub2, GetSwitch2, GetVGA2,
IntVector, IStr, IVal, MaxL, MinL, MMButton, MMButton3,
MMCheck, MMClick, MMClick3, MMCursorOff, MMCursorOn,
MMGetLoc, MMSetLoc, MMSetRange, MousePen, MouseRest,
MouseBuffer, MouseSave, NameCase2, ReColor, ReColorArea,
ReplaceString, Sec2Time, Split, SubExist2, Time2Sec,
WindowManager, WindowMan2, WindowMan3, WindowMan4
PBClone 1.0, 12/03/90:
This is the initial release of the PBClone library,
featuring 222 routines.