flashjazzcat Posted July 9, 2010 Author Share Posted July 9, 2010 (edited) When you create the retail packaging, you'll be able to place a banner on the top corner of the box: "EXCLUSIVE! NOW WITH DOS 3 SUPPORT!!!" LOL. So far the list is DOS 2.0s, DOS 2.5, DOS 3*, DOS 4*, MyDOS, BeweDOS, SpartaDOS X, TopDOS... and a few others I've forgotten. * TBC! I've just freed up 512 bytes of code space in a test version which dispenses with the pre-bit-shifted 80 column fonts. I'm doing some speed tests and I can't notice any practical difference between the two versions TBH... Is there an easy way to take accurate cycle counts for a given subroutine via some kind of sampling program? ...hmmm, it's slower without the pre-bit-shifting. Not by much, but it bugs me... Edited July 9, 2010 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwhyte Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 All's well with DOS 4... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 All's well with DOS 4... Great! DOS 3 has me curious now... I'm gonna try and fix the header/footer formatting thing today. The print formatter's one area which has hardly altered in ten years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 10, 2010 Author Share Posted July 10, 2010 (edited) David will be pleased to hear the header/footer styling "as designed bug" has been fixed. Here's output captured with a great little program called DOSPrinter, with LW using the EPSON.PRD printer driver: Footnote_demo.PDF The header is in boldface and the last sentence on page one is in italics. The page break logic now maintains separate character styling toggles for the main body text and headers/footers. I've also implemented another of David's feature requests, namely allowing "included" file sets to span multiple disks Not sure what to do about the ten available print "style" strings. I may just elect to let the headers/footers adopt any global character formats set up with style strings, but if styles are called inside a header/footer, not allow them to disrupt any active styling in the body text. It's a little more difficult with styles, since their definition is arbitrary (they can contain any string of printer control codes and aren't "toggles" so the program can't really turn a style off and on again). Hopefully the changes I've already made will make the print formatter far more robust and flexible than it has been. We are entering the "polishing up" stage. I still have room to address any other last-minute bugs/feature requests anyone might have. I've got the search path stuff to revise as well. Gonna sit on this one for a bit longer so as not to waste everyone's time with another buggy update. Edited July 10, 2010 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) Just received this, awarded in the category "Best Application 2009" for The Last Word 3.1! Thanks surely in no small part to Mark "Sleepy" Bings for his excellent translation of the user manual. This is also accepted on behalf of MrFish for his design work and font collection, and to everyone else involved in testing the program. It's sometimes hard to justify all the time I spend on the A8, so this is a huge boost. I'd also like to thank my parents, my wife for all her support... Edited July 13, 2010 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Good stuff! Maybe a 2010 award pending for a GUI version on VBXE too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 It is really pleasing to us less-skilled folks that people like you **DO** spend time on the Atari. It does serve as encouragement for us to learn more, and your work is certainly appreciated by us! It is also pleasing to see such interest in the Atari - users groups for it still exist?!!? In Europe they do, evidently. It's no wonder all the best Atari stuff comes from across the Atlantic ocean. From The Last Word, all the demos, RAM 320XL, SIO2SD, Sdrive, VBXE, even ST stuff like Ultrasatan, HxC Floppy Emulator. Good thing Steven Tucker is batting for the Yanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+skr Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Good thing Steven Tucker is batting for the Yanks. Indeed. But could anybody get him a Mac. I can´t use his stuff fully because it is only designed for Windows... :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) Thanks folks. Not really sure how this award came about - or even exactly what it means, given the fact I thought the 2009 software awards were all done and entry for same was dependent upon certain conditions... there isn't a peep about it on the ABBUC website. Anyway: this gives me a push to get version 3.11 finished; it's quite a step up and doesn't have 3.1's bugs... Comments regarding Atari activity in Europe are on the money: interest in the A8 is apparently still strong on the continent, particularly in Germany and Poland. This is why I was so pleased to see the docs translated. However, while it's true that there are a handful of people producing the most prolific software and hardware, it's also the case that there are many new coders and designers keen to learn from the "experts". Let's hope that this sharing of knowledge perpetuates application development on the A8, even when the likes of us are long past their best. Edited July 13, 2010 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 This is not the annual ABBUC Software and Hardware contest, but another prize. If I am not wrong, ABBUC forum members could vote. The results (thanks to Bunsen for the links): http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5326&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5325&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5328&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5327&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5316&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5315&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5314&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 (edited) This is not the annual ABBUC Software and Hardware contest, but another prize. If I am not wrong, ABBUC forum members could vote. The results (thanks to Bunsen): http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/...e7a94241057cb9e Thanks for the clarification. Runaway winner in that category, then! It was back in March... Edited July 13, 2010 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 This is not the annual ABBUC Software and Hardware contest, but another prize. If I am not wrong, ABBUC forum members could vote. The results (thanks to Bunsen for the links): http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5326&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5325&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5328&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5327&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5316&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5315&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e http://www.abbuc.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5314&sid=5f52876f0931d15afe7a94241057cb9e Wow, they really like Tempest Xtreem too. Man, if only they'd have added support for some type of analog controller, I'd be down with it. Paddle, Driving controller (2600), or ST mouse....or anything. After all the hubub about creating an analog controller for Jag Tempest 2000, I was quite surprised to see joystick only. Since I don't have a Jag, I play Tempest X3 (or whatever) on Playstation with PSX mouse and it's pretty damn good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) Just received this, awarded in the category "Best Application 2009" for The Last Word 3.1! Thanks surely in no small part to Mark "Sleepy" Bings for his excellent translation of the user manual. This is also accepted on behalf of MrFish for his design work and font collection, and to everyone else involved in testing the program. It's sometimes hard to justify all the time I spend on the A8, so this is a huge boost. I'd also like to thank my parents, my wife for all her support... Nice job Jon! Congrats... a well deserved honor! Edited July 14, 2010 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwhyte Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) I expected those accolades coming to you, Jon. This really is a top-tier program for the A8. Now you just need to build a hot tub time machine to go back to the 80s and release it commercially. Edited July 14, 2010 by dwhyte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) Nice job Jon! Congrats... a well deserved honor! I expected those accolades coming to you, Jon. This really is a top-tier program for the A8. Thanks guys. Now you just need to build a hot tub time machine to go back to the 80s and release it commercially. If only! I'll transport myself to New York, 1977 while I'm at it and become a famous guitarist around the jazz clubs. I've just added the ability in the program to completely remap the codes attached to commands. So, not only can you have a DVORAK keyboard layout by redefining the keyboard scan table, for example, or reassign commands to different keys using macros, you can now "hard code" different ASCII codes to all the key commands. You want to exit to DOS with CTRL+X? You got it! I'm also putting in an extension hook especially for David which occurs just after the editor has accepted a keystroke. Edited July 14, 2010 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bf2k+ Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Congrats... a well-deserved award. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Hello guys The software and hardware contests are intended for stuff that isn't published yet. ABBUC members get to use the software or hardware first, because it's their membership payment that pays, among other things, for the price money. Unfortunately, that excludes a lot of very good software. That's why ABBUC (and probably Bunsen) came up with the ABBUC Awards. Which is an honorary price, not a monetary price. sincerely Mathy (ABBUC member since 1990) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 (edited) Hello guys The software and hardware contests are intended for stuff that isn't published yet. ABBUC members get to use the software or hardware first, because it's their membership payment that pays, among other things, for the price money. Unfortunately, that excludes a lot of very good software. That's why ABBUC (and probably Bunsen) came up with the ABBUC Awards. Which is an honorary price, not a monetary price. sincerely Mathy (ABBUC member since 1990) I think you mean "prize" instead of "price" here Mathy. Thanks for explaining though. Edited July 16, 2010 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 16, 2010 Share Posted July 16, 2010 Hello Mr. Fish I do. Thanks. sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Jefferson Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 The software and hardware contests are intended for stuff that isn't published yet. ABBUC members get to use the software or hardware first, because it's their membership payment that pays, among other things, for the price money. ABBUC's efforts in this regard is one of the reasons I became a member (even though I don't read German). It's a great way to support development for the Atari 8-bit, IMO, and helps both those coders who are giving their stuff away and also those who decide to sell it, as well as hardware developers. It's a small amount of money, sure, but anything helps! Besides that, it's cool that there is a group like this around still alive today! Maybe if enough English speaking members join, ABBUC will decide to have an English language version of their magazine printed. There must be some professional, Internet-based translation company that can be used relatively inexpensively? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Hello Shawn We've spoken about this issue a lot of times on the ABBUC forum. Problem is that translating isn't easy. Software isn't good enough yet. Companies who do it, are expensive and probably don't know enough about the Atari to translate every correctly. And it takes a lot of time and effort to translate a complete magazine. Don't forget, most of the times you can't translate everything literally, different languages use different expressions. And what's funny in one language, probably isn't in another. And if you translate something, you have to know what you are talking about, otherwise you will make translation errors. sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 ABBUC's efforts in this regard is one of the reasons I became a member (even though I don't read German). It's a great way to support development for the Atari 8-bit, IMO, and helps both those coders who are giving their stuff away and also those who decide to sell it, as well as hardware developers. It's a small amount of money, sure, but anything helps! Besides that, it's cool that there is a group like this around still alive today! I agree. To understand what is written in the magazine I receive, I have started learning German! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Jefferson Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 To understand what is written in the magazine I receive, I have started learning German! You know, I've often thought that I should do that too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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