Invisible Character at the End of Lines?

[TazzyB]

On 7/1/2019 at 12:04 AM, RevEng said:

Sorry, I mean to double-click the "install_win.bat" in the bB directory. (7800basic is my other project)

The output is this:

 

ECHO is off.
The bB installation batch file v1.1
-----------------------------------

  Permanently setting the bB variable to:

     C:\Users\budit\Downloads\BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)\bB.1.1d.reveng41

ERROR: Invalid syntax. Default option is not allowed more than '2' time(s).
Type "SETX /?" for usage.

  Setting the bB variable failed. This batch file requires SETX, which comes
  with WinXP SP2, Windows Vista, and later versions of the Windows.

  You should obtain a copy of SETX and re-run this script, or set the bB
  variable manually.

[+Karl G]

I'm wondering if it's the parenthesis in the path that is messing with SETX.  Presumably you have more than one of these directories in your downloads folder, which is why one has (1) in the name.  Try from the copy that doesn't have (1) in the directory name if you have one, or rename the directory to remove the parenthesis from the directory name and try running install_win.bat again.

 

Mind you, this is just a blind guess for the moment.

[Sknarp]

Hello, setting up an IDE is usually the first big hurdle, so I'll offer some points to go over:
1. Directory: I always like to keep programming stuff as close to the C dir as possible to limit on long directory names, for example I use for visual BB
C:/Atari2600/Visualbb

bb itself I have in
C:/Atari2600/bataribasic
I've always found this practice helpful in the long run

1b. Directory spaces: As mentioned visualbb doesn't seem to like spaces anywhere in the file path, so when you label your folder try to avoid uses spaces anywhere.
2. Follow the installation guide- I just set up visualbb recently and as I recall you had to: install an emulator, install bb, possibly move a few specific files, run an installation file (presumably to set registry values), set paths within visualbb itself, and THEN you can start using it. (There's also warnings everywhere not to cheap out and use the tinkernut installer- it's outdated and will cause issues)
3. When you start, start with some extremely simple, small program, like just drawing a specified screen.
4. If you start running into errors that make no sense (like blank characters being marked as syntax errors- which they are NOT actually the error almost assuredly) then rem out or take your code and drop it into a text file, then go back and refer to point 3 and  add code back in one small section at a time, when the compilation finally breaks again you can then focus on the last chunk that you added and you'll find where the mistake is a lot easier that way.

5. It's okay to add one line or change one variable and do a recompile, this way you can see right away when something breaks, and if it's not an easy fix, you can just delete it and be back to having a working program again.

6. invisible binaries? If your file path has a space in it somewhere, sometimes visualbb will SEEM to be working fine, you can even compile and test run code, but when you go to the bin directory nothing will be there. It seems like this is because when you click the run button from the IDE it actually compiles and runs a temporary file, which is deleted the moment you close it. So refer to point 1b to make sure that the compile actually works as intended.

[TazzyB]

On 6/30/2019 at 9:37 PM, RevEng said:

Ok, can you double-click the "install_win.bat" file in the 7800basic directory, and copy+paste the output here?

Ok, something worse. Although the  output is this:

 

ECHO is off.
The bB installation batch file v1.1
-----------------------------------

  Permanently setting the bB variable to:

     C:\Users\budit\Downloads\BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)\bB.1.1d.reveng41

ERROR: Invalid syntax. Default option is not allowed more than '2' time(s).
Type "SETX /?" for usage.

  Setting the bB variable failed. This batch file requires SETX, which comes
  with WinXP SP2, Windows Vista, and later versions of the Windows.

  You should obtain a copy of SETX and re-run this script, or set the bB
  variable manually.

Press any key to continue . . .

 

However, I've noticed that bB is deleting my warheads.bas.bin file when I try to compile!

[+Random Terrain]

As others have posted, get rid of any spaces and parentheses.

 

For example, this is what mine looks like:

 

C:\Users\blahblah\Desktop\main_folder\Atari2600\bb_revenge_64_41\bB.1.1d.reveng41

 

In other words, don't use "BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)". Change it to something else. Anything. Try "fried_monkey_feet" or "unicorn_meatloaf" or "peanut_butter_pizza" or anything you can think of that doesn't use spaces or parentheses.

[+Karl G]

10 hours ago, TazzyB said:

However, I've noticed that bB is deleting my warheads.bas.bin file when I try to compile!

That is normal behavior. warheads.bas.bin is the output file. warheads.bas is the source file. Everytime you compile, it will delete the output file, and generate a new one if the compile is successful. 

[TazzyB]

9 minutes ago, Karl G said:

That is normal behavior. warheads.bas.bin is the output file. warheads.bas is the source file. Everytime you compile, it will delete the output file, and generate a new one if the compile is successful. 

Ok, thanks. So, if it does successfully compile, it should give me my .bin back?

[TazzyB]

9 hours ago, Random Terrain said:

As others have posted, get rid of any spaces and parentheses.

 

For example, this is what mine looks like:

 

C:\Users\blahblah\Desktop\main_folder\Atari2600\bb_revenge_64_41\bB.1.1d.reveng41

 

In other words, don't use "BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)". Change it to something else. Anything. Try "fried_monkey_feet" or "unicorn_meatloaf" or "peanut_butter_pizza" or anything you can think of that doesn't use spaces or parentheses.

Ok, so now my bB folder path looks like this:

C:\Users\budit\Desktop\ataricode\visualbbreveng\visualbbreveng

[TazzyB]

9 hours ago, Random Terrain said:

As others have posted, get rid of any spaces and parentheses.

 

For example, this is what mine looks like:

 

C:\Users\blahblah\Desktop\main_folder\Atari2600\bb_revenge_64_41\bB.1.1d.reveng41

 

In other words, don't use "BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)". Change it to something else. Anything. Try "fried_monkey_feet" or "unicorn_meatloaf" or "peanut_butter_pizza" or anything you can think of that doesn't use spaces or parentheses.

And now the batch file reported a success!

 

Output is this:

 

ECHO is off.
The bB installation batch file v1.1
-----------------------------------

  Permanently setting the bB variable to:

     C:\Users\budit\Desktop\ataricode\visualbbreveng\visualbbreveng

SUCCESS: Specified value was saved.

  Updating the user PATH variable so this bB directory is your primary

SUCCESS: Specified value was saved.

  You should re-open vbb or any command-line windows so they take on the new
  bB variable value.

  You should re-run this batch file if you ever change the location of the bB
  directory.

Press any key to continue . . .

 

Visual bB now gives me an error, at least:

 

 

[2019-07-05 8:25:33 AM] added project: Tinkernut World
[2019-07-05 8:25:37 AM] saving C:\Users\budit\Desktop\Junk Bin\tinkernut_world\Tinkernut World\warheads.bas succeeded.
Compile started at 2019-07-05 8:25:38 AM
Compiling C:\Users\budit\Desktop\Junk Bin\tinkernut_world\Tinkernut World\warheads.bas
Could not locate sed.exe or bbfilter.exe.  Please makes sure you have a copy in C:\Users\budit\Downloads\BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)\bB.1.1d.reveng41. This will improve DASM error reporting
Precompilation failed, aborted at 2019-07-05 8:25:38 AM
 

 

By the way, this is the fresh copy of bB that you told me to download. It has sed.exe and bbfilter.exe.

Edited July 5, 2019 by TazzyB

[+Random Terrain]

Change the path in VbB on the Settings page. You're still pointing to the old name "BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)". Every time you change the bB path or download a new version of bB, you need to go to Settings and change it.

[TazzyB]

7 hours ago, Random Terrain said:

Change the path in VbB on the Settings page. You're still pointing to the old name "BB.1.1d.reveng41 (1)". Every time you change the bB path or download a new version of bB, you need to go to Settings and change it.

It compiled!!!!!!

However, the invisible space is still there, and now I changed the path to a place without spaces, however still the white space is there.

Edited July 5, 2019 by TazzyB

[+Random Terrain]

It may not have anything to do with anything, but your Tinker Nut World path has a space in it. Get rid of any spaces and see if anything changes.

 

Now that things are almost working properly, download any of the example programs into a folder that has a path with no spaces, compile it, then post what happens.

[TazzyB]

14 hours ago, Random Terrain said:

It may not have anything to do with anything, but your Tinker Nut World path has a space in it. Get rid of any spaces and see if anything changes.

 

Now that things are almost working properly, download any of the example programs into a folder that has a path with no spaces, compile it, then post what happens.

It Worked! 

The output is this:

Compile started at 2019-07-06 10:32:19 AM
Compiling C:\Users\budit\Downloads\ex_move_sprite.bas
2600 Basic compilation completed.
      2775 bytes of ROM space left

Compilation completed at 2019-07-06 10:32:24 AM
view output file:///C:/Users/budit/Downloads/bin
 

However, the mysterious invisible character is still there, even after changing the path to something without a spcae.

[+Karl G]

I'm thinking that the "invisible character" is just a visual from line wrapping in VBB. If you open the same source file in e.g. Notepad, I doubt you will see it. 

[+Random Terrain]

What would cause VbB to have a false error on TazzyB's computer and not on the rest of ours?

I wonder if disabling Enable Syntax Checking on the Settings page would do anything?

 

[+Karl G]

There's not an error anymore, right? 

[+Random Terrain]

12 minutes ago, Karl G said:

There's not an error anymore, right? 

 

I wasn't sure if TazzyB was compiling with or without an error. If the error message is gone, I'll add this to the VbB page.