Guru
Joined: 05/10/2019
Location: United KingdomPosts: 7780
| Posted: 05:05pm 12 Apr 2025 |
This is only my opinion, nothing else. :)
A file manager has a purpose in life - it makes managing files easier than it would be at the command line. As such it needs to function well above everything else. IMHO there is little need to include functions that can already be done at the command line - it may even be possible to include one or two screen lines as the command line.
matherp has already stated that there may be a place to include a file manager in MMBasic, which I think would be a great idea. Space is obviously going to be restricted, which is a good reason in itself to keep things simple. However, we have a problem...
We don't know which display will be attached - there may not even be one. Obviously it would be a great advantage if the file manager would work on any display or terminal. We don't know which fonts will be available, never mind which is used for a terminal over which we have no control. Therefore it makes sense to keep to standard ASCII characters that can be displayed on as many displays as possible. There is no standard for any ASCII codes between 128 and 255 as they were never defined. Instead there is a hotch-potch of characters, some now used for "foreign" language systems (remember ASCII is American). Unless you have full control over all fonts used you could get anything in this area, Kanji for example.
As far as control goes, you really need to be able to handle any standard keyboard, including those without numeric pads and arrow keys and with a limited number of function keys (remember you may need a Fn key for any of them to work at all).
I hope no-one thinks I'm knocking the excellent work that people have been doing on this, I certainly couldn't have done it. :) I'm just uncertain whether the goal is shifting slightly off target.