Suggestions for the PB Compiler and Editor.

[Michael Purkhardt]

I have worked with PB since day one and I must say that some things never change,
and I have suggestions to improve ease of programming, and programming speed.

1. The Compiler
The compiler should NOT compile entire INC/BAS file(s) with the EXE.
It should only 'extract' what's used by the program. Creating a temp.bas
file or something like that before compiling it. This would allow the
programmer to write libraries of codes without worries that all subs/func
will be included in the EXE.

2. The Editor
a)
The editor should be a smart editor. Auto-caption of subs/func/var/type etc.
It should capitalize sub/func etc. to the declared ones. This will save the
programmer time with the Shift key or hard to read code in all lower case.
b)
The editor should display the params of any subs/func. Either in a tooltip
or at the bottom of the window. It should also show record type so that we
can see what it is while using it. It should also show vars type, say INT,
LONG etc. so that we know exactly what they are.
c)
Easy jumps and returns to other INC/BAS files. Say I want to edit a sub in
another BAS file. Ctrl-Arrow the word to go there, make my changes,
Ctrl-Enter to return back to were I was. And this should work like
GOSUB/RETURN.

I'm really not good at explaining, so I hope everyone understands!

-Michael-

[Kev Peel]

Michael,
I presume from your other posts about the PB editor that you have not tried PowerIDE? It is a free editor for BASIC compilers and has most (but not all) of the things you mentioned (and much more),

The download link is:

http://www.kgpsoftware.freeserve.co....ducts/poweride

PowerIDE is in beta stages and is currently at BETA release #2, you can also join the mailing list to be updated about new releases.

Regards,


------------------
Kev G Peel
KGP Software, Bridgwater, UK.
www.go.to/kgpsoftware

[Michael Purkhardt]

Well GEEZ, how could I have missed that!!

Thanks for letting me know, I'll give it a try right now

Regards,
Michael

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[Michael Purkhardt]

Well Kev, I've downloaded it and so far so good. I like the
navigation, and the SDI is much better than MDI. but, you said
that PowerIDE does what my whish list for PB editor is!! How?
It does not auto-capitalize and pre-type! Nor does it show me
subs/func params! Am I missing something?

Regards,
Michael

[Steve Hutchesson]

Michael Purkhardt,

1. The Compiler

===========================================================================
The compiler should NOT compile entire INC/BAS file(s) with the EXE. It
should only 'extract' what's used by the program. Creating a temp.bas file
or something like that before compiling it. This would allow the
programmer to write libraries of codes without worries that all subs/func
will be included in the EXE.
===========================================================================

We don't actually need to do this, if we end up getting libraries in the
normal sense, the linker resolves dependencies so that you only get the
library modules that your program calls. The only catch here is that the
library modules need to be written in such a way as to prevent granularity
problems.

This is no more in most instances than writing each function/sub into its
own module and only ever putting more than one together in a module if they
must work together.

I don't inflict my own taste in editors on anyone else as it is a bit too
austere for most. I post a couple of my toys that I use myself and in my
MASM32 package on my site as freeware and you are welcome to have a look at
them as well.
www.pbq.com.au/home/hutch/

Quick Editor is written in PBDLL60 and TheGun is written in MASM.

Regards,

[email protected]

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

[Kev Peel]

Yeah this bit....

Originally posted by me...

...and has most (but not all) of the things you mentioned...

PowerIDE is in early BETA at the moment, things like auto-capitalization and syntax checking will come afterwards, the editor works now, and it works well - implementing features such as the aforementioned will come later on.

Regards,

------------------
Kev G Peel
KGP Software, Bridgwater, UK.
www.go.to/kgpsoftware

[Michael Purkhardt]

But Steve, what linker are we talking about??

-Michael-

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[Steve Hutchesson]

Michael,

Pretty straight forward, to have libraries, there will need to be a linker
to go with the compiler unless it was done another way which is of course
possible. It could in fact be built into the compiler and accessed
seperately. The compiler will need to have the capacity to make a module
in the normal sense of the term and compile it into an object module of
some type. A seperate LIB style utility would probably be needed to build
the libraries.

I am familiar in MASM with being able to nominate libraries using the syntax

include \path\include.inc
includelib \path\libname.lib

so it is possible to do the same. I would be happy with either, as long as
it is a viable way of encapsulating pre-written blocks of code. One of the
many advantages with libraries is in the simplification in design of code
generators which will allow far more complex code to be automatically
generated and still maintain size and speed eficiency.

A long time ago I used to build complete QUICK BASIC front ends with mouse
and menu support using a combination of Ethan Winer's, Tom Hanlin's and my
own MASM module libraries in a code generator written in Quick Basic.

This capacity in a language as powerful as PowerBASIC would be genuine
Rock 'n Roll in terms of code generation and the results would still be
slick and quick.

Regards,

[email protected]

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

[Michael Purkhardt]

I see Steve. But PB doesn't have a linker, and so as Delphi.
But yet, Delphi doesn't compile unused modules or functions.
I think that PB needs to do the same. It isn't all that hard
to make it to only compile what's needed without the need for
a linker, which is harder to make. Beside, I wouldn't like to
have to make a LIB file for library and have to re-link the
lib everytime I make changes to the lib source.

-Michael-