This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (174 messages)
BM2 IFF Lib interface
Message #16041
I've uploaded Benchmark bindings for calling the PD IFF.LIBRARY. A sample program is also included. The IFF Library allows you load or store IFF files in a simple (and fast) manner. IFF.LIBRARY can be found elsewhere in the Amiga Forums.
Actually, in Modula-2 type transfer should only happen between variables of the same size. Certain compiler provided extensions (like our VAX compiler) that allow type transfer between variables which are less than four bytes in size. But that's a documented extension. Benchmark seems to do something similar, but I couldn't…
Thanks.. I should have realized it was as simple as that……Richie
#ADDRESS etc, question
Message #10646
Leon, I have a question about BM2 compiler. I looked in the manual but couldn't find a clear answer. Is this code legal Modula-2? VAR p1, p2 : ADDRESS; p1 := ADDRESS(p2^); Since ADDRESS is defined to be a POINTER to BYTE, this code doesn't do what I expected. It…
#SLD Question
Message #10645
Leon, is it possible to get the line numbers in the PROCEDURE call chain window instead of addresses? I have some problems finding which call I'm following, when the same procedure is called from few different places. Again, I suspect I've missed something while reading the docs….Richie
I just started reading about Eiffel. It seems to be a nice OOPL. So far my favorite feature is: no global variables! As I always said, globals are evil, I'm glad someone else agreed strongly…. Richie
From what I read about OBERON, I think that type extension can be really all handled at compile time, I don't see a need for garbage collection. I know that Wirth has someone working on a portable OBERON compiler, but none is available yet. There have been a couple extension…
#43741-
#PD Compiler?
Message #44249
Martin, I've been fooling around with C++. You are right, it requires somewhat different approach to thinking about programs. With C++ its not that bad, since C++ is close enough to conventional languages. Actually, C++ has some things in it I wish Modula-2 had. They don't seem that difficult to…
Sounds great, Ben. I will take a look at it … Richie
#42572-
#Interface design
Message #42634
Using device drivers sounds like an interesting idea, but I think it would be simpler to use plain message ports. I was also thinking of just one File-requester task that would be used by every program on the system. This presents some interesting synchronization problems if more than one program…
Right STeve, that's all we are talking about – standard guidelines on user interface writing. It would also be nice to have some of these things provided with the system, so that developers would not waste too much time redeoing the same thing. I guess, the best thing would be…
In my last message I meant to say "It is really a crime to hear a good idea and *NOT* user it!"…..I have to speak to my fingers….Richie 😉
I know that the MAC environment is not that "developer friendly" (I know few people who program MACs), but it is "user friendly" – I use a MAC all the time, and I never had too read a manual. The Amiga O/S and developer environment is much nicer. However, the…
I'm glad you're not totally against standards. I agree with you that too restrictive standards can stifle development of new ideas. However, I believe that a consistent user interface is good not only for novice users, but also for experienced users, even hacker types too. A particular task should be…
Larry, I would disagree with you on not wanting to have a "standard" interface on the Amiga. A computer user can only benefit from such a standard. The poor guy will not have to learn a new set of keys/buttons or whatever, each time he tries a new program. The…
Bits and Bytes
Message #4510
David, there are few simple ways of doing bit operations in Modula-2. For example to shift right, you divide by the appropriate power of two (i.e. k DIV 4 shifts right by two bits). A smart compiler will convert such statements to SHIFT instructions. To shift left, you multiply by…
#4100-
UCSD Units vs M2
Message #4528
Erv, OBERON was described briefly in a document circulated by Wirth on the Nets (APRANet, etc…). If you like, I can mail you a copy (the computer file I have is a TEX file, so probably I would have to use U.S. Mail). Anyway, OBERON is a language stripped of…
#3701-
#UCSD Units vs M2
Message #4070
I agree Tom. It would be nice to have a termination portion for each module. BTW in Wirth's new language OBERON, each module has both termination and initialization portion….
#3364-
Pascal ??
Message #3463
The only product on the AMiga that is like Turbo-Pascal is Benchmark Modula-2. It's an intergrated compiler/editor system with good documentation etc….If you already know PASCAL you will have no trouble learning Modula-2. There are a lot of examples in the libraries…. Richie
#132542-
My upload
Message #132635
Larry, it's not a problem…I was just wondering if I should re-upload it again. I think I inserted it under graphics…. .thanks…..Richie
#117032-
FastFileIO
Message #117051
Jim, how pointers are incremented has to do with architechture of the CPU. On the MC68000 memory is linear. So if you have a byte at address N, the next byte is at address N+1. Very simple. Have you been using some 8088 machines? There you have to worry about…
#117032-
FastFileIO
Message #117051
Jim, how pointers are incremented has to do with architechture of the CPU. On the MC68000 memory is linear. So if you have a byte at address N, the next byte is at address N+1. Very simple. Have you been using some 8088 machines? There you have to worry about…
This actually has a workaround solution. Close the libraries, and re-open checking for version. Ugly, but it will do the job… …Richie 🙂
I think I'll work on it tomorrow, Steve. Looks like it's going to rain……Richie (hope you're feeling better)
I'm glad you like the review….You should try Benchmark. It's really a superior product…if you start using it, after a while you;ll wonder how you got along without it…..Richie 🙂
Thanks for complement Larry! I hope the review will generate a LOT of interest in the product. Leon deserves to succeed…. Richie 🙂
The manuals for final release of Benchmark are really nice. There is one book for the compiler, and separate books for the various libraries. My only complaint is that the index of symbols exported from various modules doesn't have page numbers. .The editor just picks up the colors from your…
There doesn't seem to be any great differences in execution speed that I noticed, but I wasn't really looking. I use Benchmark Modula-2 to write some fractal programs. There is a progrm in the DLs called CHAOS (look in the modula-2 section) that draws some nice pictures of the Hennon…
I think the 3rd edition of Wirth's book gets rid of NEW and DSIPOSE. As for FP libraries, I'd rather have Leon use the disk libraries. This will make my Mandelbrot programs work faster when I install the Floating Point co-processor and replace the fp library. Otherwise, Leon would have…
Sorry, I didn't realize what I was leaving out of my message. You have to do a 'Close' on the std-input or std-output variables that exist in the 'System' module. I don't have the code in fron of me at this moment, but if you remind me via e-mail, I…
I don't know how Benchmark's code compares with Amiga C compilers. I think it's much better than Lattice. It's mostly due to smarter linking. In 'C' you often wind up including the entire library in your executable, even if you only portions of it. If you look in Amazing Computing,…
For some reason I thought that LONGREALs were 64-bits and REALs 32-bits. I'll have to check. I don't know the details of the settlement between OXXI and Leon. I know that he is selling the product, he also has the sources – so you know who will be providing future…
It should be in the march issue. I haven't seen it yet….Richie
Jim, glad you enjoyed the review. The LONGREALS thread was about absence of LONGREAL type in BM2. However, I expect that Leon will implement this type in the future…. …Richie
As far as I know, you can't disable the startup code. However, it's possible to close the annoying window that is open automatically for you…Richie
#112397-
Modula-2 system
Message #112676
The Benchmarks limits are actually less stringent than you say. The limits are: 32K code per module, and 32K of global data and constants per module! Now, if your program is broken into many fairly small modules (a good programming practice) you should have no problem. I've written programs in…
#112323-
Modula2 packages
Message #112669
Here is Leon's address: .. Avant-Garde Software, 2213 Woodburn, Plano, TX 75075 .. (214)-964-0260 .. He still uses FFP for the real math. I'm pretty sure that a future release will include LONGREALs. I'd really like that, for those Mandelbrot programs….. Richie
As far as I know, Leon's Avant-Garde Software will be marketing the Benchmark Modula-2. The final resolution should happen within few weeks. I know that OXXI and leon are sueing each other….Richie
Hi Ed! I've written a printer driver for the Prowriter and I spent some time distributing printer drivers thorugh various BBSes etc. If you need a brand new printer driver, check out the Printer Driver generator program (I think it's called PRTGEN). It's somewhere in the DLs. Using it you…
#Bechmark Modula-2
Message #96670
All you Benchmark Modula-2 owners. Let's start an phone-in campaign to OXXI to push them to get their act together and put out the final release of Benchmark. How about one call a week?….what do you think guys …..Richie
Ah, Tom..the critical phrase is "in principal". There are many problems solvable "in principal", but when the real world interferes the solution is less than obious. For example, Newton had "in principal" solved the problem of navigation form Earth to the Moon. But it took engineers few hundred years to…
Tom, the problems you are running into are due to the fact that Intuition was written in C. To a "C" program strings are accessed via pointers (loosely speaking) and Modula-2 must conform to C standard. An ADDRESS in Modula-2 is just like an ADDRESS in assembler. You know, the…
Hi Tom! Nice to see you here. What are you doing with Modula-2? Have you seen my CHAOS program? It's written in Modula-2. Some of us here in Brooklyn are working on a new Mandelbrot program (using Benchmark). We should be done in couple of weeks. It will use a…
Unfortunatly, I'm not kidding…..it just goes to show you that it is possible to write bad code in a good language. Sigh! I think that programmers should be certified, like doctors before they are allowed to write commercial code….. ….Richie…… 🙂
I like that ratio: local to global! I'm currently involved in work on a large system written in PASCAL (tens of thousands lines of code) which was written by people who didn't know about local variables and parameters (yuck!@^!**&)…Richie
That's a good approach – I mean passing globals from main module to subroutines as parameters…….Richie
Erv, you can always put global variables in definition modules. Then they will be accessible to everyone. However, after programming for many years I've come to the conclusion that GLOBAL VARIABLES ARE EVIL!!! So, they should be avoided. I know it's impossible to program without ANY globals, but then it's…
The "WaitPort" procedure is declared to return a "MessagePtr". The IDCMP messages are a type that is an extension to the basic Amiga Exec message. So, the pointers to the two types are not compatible. TDI compiler hasn't been too strict about enforcing some of these type restrictions. What version…
Thanks for the desription of "function prototyping" in C. However, it doesn't look that useful. It's just like external declarations in many PASCAL compilers I used. WHen you get around to writing the code for the prototyped function, does the compiler check then that you declared it in the same…
#90104-
#Modula-2 Programming
Message #90550
Interesting comments…When I mentioned 50,000 lines programs I didn't mean a single module (that is of course ridiculous). Also, I'm not that familiar with FUNCTION PROTOTYPING in C. What is it? Also what's the difference between compile error or a warning, if your program will not run. The fact that…
Page 1 of 4