#AmigaBASIC
32 messages in this thread
Ok…what am I doing wrong NOW!!? I download an AmigaBASIC file called
DFONT.BAS List the sucker…looks fine. Run it…… Get a 'FILE NOT FOUND'
error from basic. The line that the error occurs in reads as follows:
LIBRARY "graphics.library" Ok…..wonder why it can't find
it.Hmm..guess maybe I don't have it on this disk.Hmm…..Ok.
HOWEVER!!!!…..follow this one….. Another file….a AmigaBASIC program,on
the EXTRA DISK from CBM,called LIBRARY (its a font demo program)…… I load
this baby…run it..and BINGO! NO PROBLEM! Guess what the FIRST program line
in THIS file is??…. You Guessed it….
LIBRARY "graphics.library" HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?? How can it
be found on the second program…and not on the first??!! Neither program
seems to earch any particular directory for it..but I could be wrong.HELP!!!
One other question….what are .fd files? How are they related to bmap
files? Why do I have a graphics_lib.fd file on my WB disk but NO
graphics.library file to be found.I DO have a graphics.bmap file on my
EXTRA disk from CBM. How are these guys ALL related? Why is the sky blue
Daddy? did we win the Vietnam War? Thanks, Al Saveriano
From what I understand of AmigaBasic, (which is very little) the .fid
files enable you to open/call the libraries from Basic. No .fid, no library
call.
Now, why don't you learn a REAL language….Like FORTH? 8)
Hmmm… actually the .fd files define the system library calls, and are the
food you give to the program that converts .fd to .library files.
Larry,
All I 'know' is it has something to do with offsets into the library. This
is the first system I've owned where I did not even look at BASIC, let alone
fool with it. I do not intend to fall into the BASIC 'trap' this time. All
the other instances left my good intentions of writing nice, tight, clean
code behind as BASIC (as I have experienced it. Other's may have differing
ideas) came on with the siren taunt, "C'mon! It's EASY to use! Why waste
time fooling with assembler?". Fool (and a lazy one at that) that I am, I
got hooked every time. <sigh>
Doug, 'Mongst the structs Do
That's Forth, not FORTH. It's not an acronym. And say it with a smile. 🙂
Fifth !! 🙂 that's one better
Better story behind the choice of the name Forth. It had to be abbreviated
from "Fourth" because the IBM (!) computer it was first developed on only
accepted five-character file names. And now people are squawking about
14-character names! You'd think the OS designers (besides the Amiga OS, that
is) would figure it out eventually. :> If you abbreviated "Fifth" people
would just think you were imitating Bill the Cat. FFTH!
Jon, All I can say is "Ack! Pttthbt! Ack!"
Jon:
I though that Charles developed Forth on an old DEC or DG machine.
73, bill
"Fifth – that's one better"
Actually, that's two better – it is one higher, and it is FORWARD!
<grin>…Bob
Jon,
Of course I can say it with a smile! I don't use it! 8)
Doug
You might like it, Doug! :> I wrote about a page of code which defines
Sprites (both simple and attached) which display themselves. It parses a
block of hex characters (16 x n), creates a Forth word which encompasses the
bit image, and displays the Sprite when the word is executed. I've used it
to create a nifty 3-D simulation of a ball bouncing inside a room. The ball
is a shaded sphere (attached sprite) and the demo incorporates perspective,
gravity and friction (air and surface). It's one of the few demonstrations
that I know of which use attached sprites, in _any_ language. I don't know
if I communicated the concept of the tool very well. It's extremely powerful
and was almost trivial to write, as are a great many things in Forth.
guoD
.egnarts saw ti thguoth ,ti yrt did I
noJ
Strange you thought it was? A wonderful language it is. Speakers of English
warped tend to be. Much learning required is the true path to find.
Discipline required is. Forced upon you it is not. Like it I do, concern
myself with the opinion of others I do not. :>
Yoda must be a Forth programmer.
May the Forth be with you! (By the way, Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi were Female!
That's right….Yoda Old Lady Too!)
Doug. Giggling
Hehe… when I first watched Return of the Jedi I wondered what a Forth
programmer was doing running around in a swamp teaching people how to
levitate shuttles. 8)
Rick
Well the answer to the last 2 questions are:
-2: Because the air molecules scatter the higher frequency light waves.
-1: No.
Al, you will need to have the graphics.bmap file in the same directory as the
program. You will also have to be CD'd to that directory I I am not
mistaken. The .bmap files allow you to make Library calls. The .fd files
are used to create .bmap files with a program on the extra's disk.
Sky is blue because the higher frequency light waves get scattered by the
air molecules. No, we did not win the Vietnam War.
Hi GreG, Ok……since my last message,I've actually figured out how to get
the dirrerent to the AmigaBASIC screen! (Hot damn…what a genius! 🙂
However,a new problem rears its BASIC head…. No matter what I've
tried…the call to the FONTS directory ALWAYS is made on DF0: I've CD'd to
the DF1: location (which is where I want it to look)…
but…..noooooooooo….it goes and uses the FONTS dirs in DF0: In other
words: I have moved my .bmaps to the LIBS dir I created on DF1:…no problem,
but when I want my program to get fonts from DF1:FONTS,it goes to DF0: !!
Bahh!! Any ideas here? Thanks -Alanswer..I'm a chemist..we know ALL about
spectrums and freqs and molecules and anions and cations and
double bonds and bridge-head atoms….BUT……
the war….hmmmm……..damn….
Al,
assign FONTS: <wherever it pleasures thee to seek>: Remember, FONTS: is
_almost_ a real, live, honest-to-gosh device. (well, VIRTUALly, at least)
Doug
Ahhhh….a DEVice! Right! Thank you muchy! Al
Al, I would suggest getting what I consider one of best books available on
AmigaBasic. Its called "Advanced Amiga Basic" and it is put out by Compute!
Publications. It has all kinds of examples on using the library calls,
including accessing disk fonts.
John Gager
Don't you mean virtuosly?
Hmmm…never considered if it was celibate. Self-booting takes on a whole new
meaning. 8)
Al, try assigning the Fonts directory to the new directory on DF1:, for
example, ASSIGN Fonts: DF1:<dir name>. That should be done from the CLI to
tell the OS to look for fonts in the directory on your DF1:
GreG
Might as well stick my 2 cents in. As you've seen an ASSIGN is needed
to change where your program looks for FONTS:. It seems to me there is no
reason you can't look for a directory named "fonts" anywhere. If you're
looking for "fonts:" that's the virtual device but I guess you can also look
for "df1:fonts." Whether or not AmigaDOS will load the font library (as
opposed to just manipulating files) from that directory is I don't know. <on
soapbox>
That being said, even if you can do it, DON'T. A mistake even the big
boys make is locking the user to a physical device like df1: when the there
might not be one. Try using DPaint II on a hard disk with only one floppy
present. Uh-Oh… This forces the user to go in with a tool like NewZap and
change the bits and bytes of the program that contain the device name string.
Easy enough once you know how but not something the vast majority of Amiga
users are comfortable enough to do. — Art
Thanks for your input and comments, Art. Regards, – Al –
You sure it's the air molecules? I thought it was dust. Did you know that
if the Earth was just a little smaller in diameter, the refraction of air
would let you see beyond the horizon? As for the Vietnam conflict, haven't
you read Watchmen? We won, there, but Nixon went on for five terms in that
graphic novel, too…
And if the earth was really smaller in diameter you'd be able to see the back
of your head when looking at the horizon! 🙂
GreG