Wishlist of PBDOS

Hey, Neil... did you read through the entire thread before posting? I already gave what I thought was a rather coherent explanation of why the preinitialized-array feature is desirable... if you can't see the use, then I can only assume you've never been called on to write a program which depends on a number of large look-up tables.

Frustration with Stephane's constant request of arguably bad ideas is understandable, but let's try to maintain some perspective on the occasional good ones, shall we?

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[Neil Hosgood]

Yet another wishlist from Stephane....
you will see my comments below each line.

Originally posted by stephane fonteyne:
Hi all,

I will in the wishlist of PBDOS if it's in the future supported.
- DPMI support

Fair enough, could use a LIB though.

- FP8087 support in the build-in assembler

OK

- Professional IDE maybe writing you in PBVision/Workshop

PROFESSIONAL IDE !! If you think its not professional then
maybe you should be using Pascal. (oops, same ide)

- Indexed string like this : DIM a AS CHAR(50)

a Byte Array ???

- pre initialization variables, array's
example: DIM a = 5 AS BYTE
DIM a(1 TO 10)= (1,2,5,7,9,98,45,8,9,1) AS INTEGER
why ?

- Event SUB's and Functions
- Manipulating routines for Memory and Pointers
- Enumerate datatype en Set datatype
The last three, if Uevent doesnt work for ya... buy VBdos !

In Short, not all of us like Pascal/Delphi so stop trying to
turn PB into it !

Have Fun.
N.


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[This message has been edited by Neil Hosgood (edited February 09, 2001).]

I use Enums in VB all the time, but only because the VB IDE
has intelasense(tm) that pops up a list of the possible line
completions, when the variable is an Enum it lists the Enums and
I just pick one. If VB did not have intelasense(tm) I would never use
enums, instead I would just use constants.

When programming in Power Basic I just use Equates.

You could always just use a Type instead of an Enum. . .

Type DayNum 
   Monday As Long
   Tuesday As Long
   Wednesday As Long
   Thursday As Long
   Friday  As Long
   Saturday  As Long
   Sunday  As Long
END Type  As Long
Global Day As DayNum

Sub InitEmuns
   Day.Monday = 1
   Day.Tuesday = 2
   Day.Wednesday = 3
   Day.Thursday = 4
   Day.Friday = 5
   Day.Saturday = 6
   Day.Sunday = 7
End Sub

Dim Today As Long

   Today = Day.Friday

   If Tomarrow = Day.Monday Then
. . . .

   Or the current PB way. . . which I like better than enums. . .

   %Day_Monday = 1
   %Day_Tuesday = 2
   %Day_Wednesday = 3
   %Day_Thursday = 4
   %Day_Friday = 5
   %Day_Saturday = 6
   %Day_Sunday = 7

Dim Today As Long

   Today = %Day_Friday

   If Tomarrow = %Day_Monday Then

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[This message has been edited by Tim Wisseman (edited February 02, 2001).]

>>
TYPE
Day = (Monday,Thusday,Wednesday,Fryday,Saterday,Sunday) AS ENUM
Digits = (One,Two,Tree,Four,Vife,Six,Seven,Eight,Nine,Ten)
END TYPE

DIM Digit AS ENUM (................)
DIM Today AS Day
>>

That is very confusing. Why not make it work like this:

ENUM Day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
END ENUM

DIM Today AS Day



------------------

Um - Stephane, was it really necessary to quote my entire post, verbatim, especially with your comments interspersed without any way to distinguish them from the quoted text? (Hint - UBB code is your friend; next time you compose a message, click on the link to the left of the reply box, where it says "UBB Code is ON" , and give those commands a try. )

It's for the PBCC and PBDLL to build-in 80x87 support

I believe I just said that... (PB/DOS should get it, as well.)

It's mains an IDE that build-in:
--> Editor Yes, the PB environment has an editor...
-->Compiler ...it has a compiler too...
--> Linker ...and a linker...
--> PBConfig ...and it is configurable...
--> Debugger ...OK, I'll grant you a half-point here...
--> Helpmenu ...PB has online help within the IDE...
--> Windows menu ...er... what?

And I still don't understand the stuff about your "enumerate datatype"... please bear in mind, I am not a 'C' programmer, have never touched the language in my life (and, lord willing, I never will touch the nasty stuff ), so simply tossing a few lines of 'C' at me as an example doesn't help me very much... can you explain, in plain layman's language, what ENUM does, and why you consider it a desirable feature?

------------------

- pre initialization variables, array's
example: DIM a = 5 AS BYTE
DIM a(1 TO 10)= (1,2,5,7,9,98,45,8,9,1) AS INTEGER[/i]

Actually, I rather like this idea, at least for the arrays... it would have been very handy, in some of the programs I've written (such as a Cartwright/Taylor-method "tides" calculator, which relies on a ton of look-up tables!), to have a way to pre-initialize arrays similar to the way Pascal does it -

    CS                      : ARRAY[1..486] OF SINGLE =
    (-0.31455, 0.02793, -0.00028, 0.00004, -0.00004, 
-0.00492, 0.00026, 0.00005, 0.00002, -0.00032,

only with BASIC syntax, of course - i.e.

DIM CS(1:486) AS SINGLE = _
(-0.31455, 0.02793, -0.00028, 0.00004, -0.00004, -0.00492, _
0.00026, 0.00005, 0.00002, -0.00032,

rather than having to imbed a whole bushel of DATA statements, or read a data file from disc. (A long list of CS(x)=yyy statements is out of the question, at least in the Cartwright/Taylor program, as there are six arrays - some integer and some single-precision - of 486 elements each, and all those assignment statements generate so much code the routine won't fit in a single segment!)

Under this method, the compiler would simply generate an "array literal", as it were; instead of allocating memory for the array at runtime, a memory image of what the array would look like is already part of the EXE file, and simply loaded into memory with the array descriptors already set.

I also like the idea of 80x87 support in the inline assembler... on top of which, I would request support for CPU's higher than the 8088 (I don't know that we need to go as far as total support for Pentium 4, MMX, and 3DNow! instructions, but it would be nice to at least be able to use 32-bit instructions at the 486 level), along with much, much, much better documentation on the inline assembler itself...
It's for the PBCC and PBDLL to build-in 80x87 support

Having said that - Stephane, I think part of the problem people are having with your requests (other than the fact that you keep asking for the CHAR type, despite the fact that it's already been pointed out to you that you already have the ability to do everything CHAR can do, you just can't use the C/C++ syntax to do it with, which appears to be what you want) is that you don't explain any of these in enough detail for anyone to understand what it is you want!

A "professional IDE"? What, exactly, does that mean? In what way is the current IDE not "professional", in your opinion; what would you like to see it do that it doesn't do now?
It's mains an IDE that build-in:
--> Editor
--> Compiler
--> Linker
--> PBConfig
--> Debugger
--> Helpmenu
--> Windows menu
In one IDE like you see the IDE of Turbo Pascal (used Turbo Vision is the same as PBVision/Workshop) is very professional
and I think that the programmers using PBVision/Workshop using
for Building PowerBasic for DOS IDE.
It's a professional tool for writing and building IDE's


"Event SUBs and Functions"? Meaning what, exactly - do you want ON EVENT to be able to call a SUB or FUNCTION, instead of having to GOTO a label? Or do you want events which are local to a SUB or FUNCTION, but not to the main program? Or are you asking for something totally different?

"Manipulating routines for Memory and Pointers"? Manipulating them how?
- later!
"Enumerate datatype en Set datatype"? I haven't a clue what you're talking about here...
- Very interesting for enumerate type like this

Example:

TYPE
Day = (Monday,Thusday,Wednesday,Fryday,Saterday,Sunday) AS ENUM
Digits = (One,Two,Tree,Four,Vife,Six,Seven,Eight,Nine,Ten)
END TYPE

DIM Digit AS ENUM (................)
DIM Today AS Day

TYPE
Region = (Nord, East, Soud, West, Centre) AS ENUM
END TYPE

// Using Enum types

p = HBO
m = mars
student.opl := p

stud(3) = student

// In procedures, input and output
// Parameter transfer
// enumerate property lists



------------------

- pre initialization variables, array's
example: DIM a = 5 AS BYTE
DIM a(1 TO 10)= (1,2,5,7,9,98,45,8,9,1) AS INTEGER

Actually, I rather like this idea, at least for the arrays... it would have been very handy, in some of the programs I've written (such as a Cartwright/Taylor-method "tides" calculator, which relies on a ton of look-up tables!), to have a way to pre-initialize arrays similar to the way Pascal does it -

    CS                      : ARRAY[1..486] OF SINGLE =
    (-0.31455, 0.02793, -0.00028, 0.00004, -0.00004, 
-0.00492, 0.00026, 0.00005, 0.00002, -0.00032,

only with BASIC syntax, of course - i.e.

DIM CS(1:486) AS SINGLE = _
(-0.31455, 0.02793, -0.00028, 0.00004, -0.00004, -0.00492, _
0.00026, 0.00005, 0.00002, -0.00032,

rather than having to imbed a whole bushel of DATA statements, or read a data file from disc. (A long list of CS(x)=yyy statements is out of the question, at least in the Cartwright/Taylor program, as there are six arrays - some integer and some single-precision - of 486 elements each, and all those assignment statements generate so much code the routine won't fit in a single segment!)

Under this method, the compiler would simply generate an "array literal", as it were; instead of allocating memory for the array at runtime, a memory image of what the array would look like is already part of the EXE file, and simply loaded into memory with the array descriptors already set.

I also like the idea of 80x87 support in the inline assembler... on top of which, I would request support for CPU's higher than the 8088 (I don't know that we need to go as far as total support for Pentium 4, MMX, and 3DNow! instructions, but it would be nice to at least be able to use 32-bit instructions at the 486 level), along with much, much, much better documentation on the inline assembler itself...


Having said that - Stephane, I think part of the problem people are having with your requests (other than the fact that you keep asking for the CHAR type, despite the fact that it's already been pointed out to you that you already have the ability to do everything CHAR can do, you just can't use the C/C++ syntax to do it with, which appears to be what you want) is that you don't explain any of these in enough detail for anyone to understand what it is you want!

A "professional IDE"? What, exactly, does that mean? In what way is the current IDE not "professional", in your opinion; what would you like to see it do that it doesn't do now?

"Event SUBs and Functions"? Meaning what, exactly - do you want ON EVENT to be able to call a SUB or FUNCTION, instead of having to GOTO a label? Or do you want events which are local to a SUB or FUNCTION, but not to the main program? Or are you asking for something totally different?

"Manipulating routines for Memory and Pointers"? Manipulating them how?

"Enumerate datatype en Set datatype"? I haven't a clue what you're talking about here...

Maybe if you tried making detailed suggestions, so that the rest of us had some idea of what you're on about... and, if you would simply reconcile yourself to the fact that PowerBASIC is not 'C/C++', has never been 'C/C++', and is never going to be 'C/C++'... you just might get a little better reception to your wishlist.

On the other hand, if you continue to just keep posting the same old ill-conceived and/or unexplained "laundry list", well... get used to being considered the resident crank, I guess.

------------------

[Eric Pearson]

> I known, but there is a problem with my computer.

I was not referring to your accidental double-post today. I was referring to the fact that you post the same requests repeatedly, month after month after month.

> I have a qeution about your product

Thank you for your patronage and your input, but you have requested those items in the past, so they are already on the Console Tools wish-list. I did not add any "checkmarks" because we use the same rules as PowerBASIC: each person gets just one vote. In fact, our new policy is to deduct 0.1 point for each repetition by the same requestor.

-- Eric

P.S. In the future, please confine Console Tools discussions to the Third Party forum. Thanks!

------------------
Perfect Sync: Perfect Sync Development Tools
Email: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>



[This message has been edited by Eric Pearson (edited February 02, 2001).]

Eric,

I known, but there is a problem with my computer.
I have a qeution about your product

I'm very glad of the products CONTOOLS, GFXTOOLS, SQLTOOLS but I
will see more advanced formatted Input with Keyboard and Output with
the screen because the basic command it's so old and primitive.

Can you added to the wishlist...

Greetings,
Stephane


------------------

[Eric Pearson]

My wishlist includes a version of the forum BBS software that allows us to selectively ignore posts, by Author.

Stephane, your posting of the same wish-lists over and over and over and over and over and over is pointless and annoying, and it does not accomplish anything. Please stop! Please.

Please!

-- Eric

------------------
Perfect Sync: Perfect Sync Development Tools
Email: mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>



[This message has been edited by Eric Pearson (edited February 02, 2001).]

Hi all,

I'm reading the forums OOP interesting, the most programmers like
OOP I think it's time for an Visual IDE with components, forms, units
etc....

Enough now

I will in the wishlist of PBDOS if it's in the future supported.
- DPMI support
- FP8087 support in the build-in assembler
- Professional IDE maybe writing you in PBVision/Workshop
- Indexed string like this : DIM a AS CHAR(50)
- pre initialization variables, array's
example: DIM a = 5 AS BYTE
DIM a(1 TO 10)= (1,2,5,7,9,98,45,8,9,1) AS INTEGER
- Event SUB's and Functions
- Manipulating routines for Memory and Pointers
- Enumerate datatype en Set datatype

Greetings,
Stephane

Brainsoft Programmers



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