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TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6223

Posted: 03:17pm 04 Aug 2014

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I have been doing more work to make MMEdit more useful with large programs.
If you are not worried about fitting your program into the maximite/micromite memory, you can ignore these options.

I have put them into an 'Advanced menu'

Some of the options were previously in the 'program' menu and some are also in the preferences window. There are grouped here to speed things up for the enduser.
Mark selected lines as comment.
A quick way to comment out a section of code.

Uncomment selected lines. A quick way to reverse the above action.

Mark selected lines as DEBUG. If you have code that is only needed for debugging, it can be marked so that it can easily be converted into comments when debugging has finished, but still be there 'just in case'.

Remove DEBUG mark. A quick way to reverse the above action.

Mark DEBUG lines as comment. Global action to change all DEBUG lines into comments. Usually just before final release.

Uncomment DEBUG lines. Global action when there is still a bug after all!

Run external program. Runs a program of your choice. Your code is saved as a temp.bas file and the program is called with the full path to the temp.bas file as a command line parameter. Holding SHIFT will allow you to select the program. When the program exits, your basic program is reloaded. This allows you to use a pre-processor or syntax checker of your choice. By using a batch file, you can run a DOS MMBasic program with your new program made available for acting on.

Autorun external on load. Runs the above external program every time load and run is selected. In this case your program in the edit window is NOT updated.

Set clock on load. The maximite clock is set to PC time every time you 'load and run'

Auto run on load. The maximite is sent the 'run' command after loading the program.

Auto crunch on load. Comments are removed from your program before loading.

Delete blank lines. Blank lines are removed from your program before loading.

CLS on load. The terminal is cleared after loading the program.

Run external program was added after a request from a number of users who want to push the boundaries further.
If your external program is not able to read the command line with the name of the file, a batch file might be the answer.
I have created a simple batch file which demonstrates how to run a program such as Hugh Buckle's crunch program with a small edit to read the file name from a text file.
To use the demo,
extract the maximite.zip contents to c:\apps\maximite
2014-08-05_011423_maximite.zip
Run Advanced/Run external program with the shift key held down
navigate to "C:\apps\maximite\rundos.bat"

You will probably need to edit rundos.bat to suit your requirements.

Other changes include the ability to go directly to the error line in the main edit window when your crunched program fails.
After an error, click on the red right arrow in the terminal window.
I have also added the missing VT100 codes so you can run towers of hanoi.

As usual, you can download the full update from my website or extract the TKN file from mmedit.zip and replace the existing tkn file in the program folder.
2014-08-05_011459_MMedit.zip
Jim

VK7JH
MMedit

G8JCF

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Joined: 15/05/2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 676

Posted: 03:32pm 04 Aug 2014

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Everybody (cc Jim)

As a Beta user, I can 1000% recommend this release. What a difference it makes to maximising performance and reducing memory footprint.

Recommended, go get it !!!

Peter

The only Konstant is Change

hwholmes
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Joined: 30/05/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 10

Posted: 03:53pm 04 Aug 2014

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Thank you Jim
Bert

Grogster

Admin Group

Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9501

Posted: 04:31pm 04 Aug 2014

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I like the auto-crunch idea. Now I can go through my bigger codes, and comment as much as I like, knowing that this will be stripped out for the running version. It's amazing how much memory comments can take up with a bigger program...

Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!

bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2946

Posted: 09:45pm 04 Aug 2014

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Thanks Jim for your Tireless efforts.

I played with some advanced settings and I get this error when I click on `CLS on Load'

Regards,

Mick

Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6223

Posted: 09:55pm 04 Aug 2014

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Bugger...
It was a missing 'x' from a procedure name.

The fix has been uploaded to my website and the attached ZIP has the corrected TKN file

Thanks Mick, it was good to catch the bug before too many had upgraded.
2014-08-05_075459_MMedit.zip

Jim

VK7JH
MMedit

bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2946

Posted: 11:16pm 04 Aug 2014

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Thanks Jim,

That works.

Mick

Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<

WhiteWizzard
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Joined: 05/04/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2927

Posted: 03:34am 05 Aug 2014

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Your excellent software keeps getting better!

Many thanks from me too . . . .

paceman
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Joined: 07/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1329

Posted: 04:14am 05 Aug 2014

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Yes, thanks from me again too Jim - I've just gotten off using MMEdit and found it upgraded again!

Thanks heaps.

Greg

G8JCF

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Joined: 15/05/2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 676

Posted: 03:03pm 05 Aug 2014

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Hi

Jim's 3.4.18 release is a real landmark in helping MMBasic programmers, especially on the uMite, develop better more readable, maintainable and yet smaller code. Apart from Auto-Crunch, the Run External Program facility allows #define, #include operations. With that in mind I have put together a very simple demonstration of how to use this facility to carry out Pre-Processor type operations.

1) Unzip the .zip 2014-08-06_005225_MCPP.zip file to C:\Apps\MCPP, there will be 5 files in C:\apps\MCPP

MCPP.EXE C Preprocessor implements ALL C PP directives, eg #include, #define etc. For a full list google MCPP.EXE
MyIncludes.BAS Example MMBasic program showing how #include is used to keep definitions separate from code
PP.BAT Batch file which interfaces between MMEdit.exe and MCPP.EXE
Test#Define.BAS Example MMBasic program showing use of #define
Test#Include.BAS Example MMBasic program showing how to include another file

2) In MMEdit V 3.4.18 Open C:\Apps\MCPP\Test#Define.BAS

'Test File for Pre-Processor in MMEdit/MMBasic

'Advanced | shift+Run External Program
'Browse to c:\apps\mcpp\pp.bat

'After the batch has run, the statement I=Million
'will be replaced by I=1000000

'Use Edit | Undo
'to revert back.

'Then try,
'Advanced | Auto run external on load
'then do List All on the uMite.
'If U have Auto-Crunch set ON, then all you will see will be

'Dim I
'I=1000000
'Print I

'None of these comments or #defines etc will be displayed.

#define Million 1000000

DIM I

'When tis has been preprocessed, Million should be replaced by
'1000000

I=Million

PRINT I

When you do Advanced | Shift+Run external program c:\apps\mcpp\pp.bat, you should see

'Test File for Pre-Processor in MMEdit/MMBasic

'Advanced | shift+Run External Program
'Browse to c:\apps\mcpp\pp.bat

'After the batch has run, the statement I=Million
'will be replaced by I=1000000

'Use Edit | Undo
'to revert back.

'Then try,
'Advanced | Auto run external on load
'then do List All on the uMite.
'If U have Auto-Crunch set ON, then all you will see will be

'Dim I
'I=1000000
'Print I

'None of these comments or #defines etc will be displayed.

DIM I

'When tis has been preprocessed, Million should be replaced by
'1000000

I=1000000

PRINT I

Note how the #define has been eliminated and "Million" replaced by 1000000.

Do Edit | Undo to revert the file back to what it was before PP.bat was run

Now do Advanced | Auto run external on load, ie a check mark will be shown. Then also do File | Preferences and set ON Auto-Crunch On Load, and Delete Blank Lines - Save and Exit.

Now Download the code to the uMite - Click on the little Blue Man on the RHS of the button Bar.

On the uMite, type List All, you should see

Dim I
I=1000000
Print I
>

3) In MMEdit V 3.4.18 Open C:\Apps\MCPP\Test#Include.BAS. This .BAS program demonstrates the use of #include.

When you load C:\Apps\MCPP\Test#Include.BAS into MMedit V3.4.18 or later, you should see

'Test File for Pre-Processor in MMEdit/MMBasic

'Advanced | shift+Run External Program
'Browse to c:\apps\mcpp\pp.bat

'After the batch has run, extra lines will be appended
'to the file.

'Use Edit | Undo
'to revert back.

'Then try,
'Advanced | Auto run external on load
'then do List All on the uMite.
'If U have Auto-Crunch set ON, then all you will see will be

'Dim I
'I=1000000
'Print I

'None of these comments or #directives will be displayed

'Include some useful constantrs
#include "MyIncludes.bas"

DIM I

I=Million

PRINT I

'Declare a Switch on pin 10
#define SW 10

SETPIN SW,DIN

IF PIN(SW)=OnState THEN
PRINT "Switch is ON"
ENDIF

IF PIN(SW)=OffState THEN
PRINT "Switch is OFF"
ENDIF

'Show True/False definition in use
DIM A

A=True

IF A=True THEN
PRINT "A is True"
ELSE
PRINT "A is False"
ENDIF

Note that there are several Symbolic values in the source, ie Million, SW, OnState, OffState, True, but those symbols have NO definition within Test#Include.BAS. The line #include "MyIncludes.bas" at line 24 instructs the pre-processor to insert the file MyIncludes.BAS into this file at this point. MyIncludes.Bas contains the definitions for all the symbols.

'MyIncludes.bas

'Define some useful constants

#define Million 1000000
#define OnState 1
#define OffState 0
#define True 1
#define False 0

Now do Advanced | Run external program, MMedit will show

'Test File for Pre-Processor in MMEdit/MMBasic

'Advanced | shift+Run External Program
'Browse to c:\apps\mcpp\pp.bat

'After the batch has run, extra lines will be appended
'to the file.

'Use Edit | Undo
'to revert back.

'Then try,
'Advanced | Auto run external on load
'then do List All on the uMite.
'If U have Auto-Crunch set ON, then all you will see will be

'Dim I
'I=1000000
'Print I

'None of these comments or #directives will be displayed

'Include some useful constantrs

'MyIncludes.bas

'Define some useful constants

DIM I

I=1000000

PRINT I

'Declare a Switch on pin 10

SETPIN 10,DIN

IF PIN(10)=1 THEN
PRINT "Switch is ON"
ENDIF

IF PIN(10)=0 THEN
PRINT "Switch is OFF"
ENDIF

'Show True/False definition in use
DIM A

A=1

IF A=1 THEN
PRINT "A is True"
ELSE
PRINT "A is False"
ENDIF

Note how the Symbols have been replaced with actual valid values.

Do Edit | Undo

Now download TestInclude.bas to the uMite, ie click on the little blue man. Then do List All on the uMite, you should see

List all
Dim I
I=1000000
Print I
SetPin 10,DIN
If Pin(10)=1 Then
Print "Switch is ON"
EndIf
If Pin(10)=0 Then
Print "Switch is OFF"
EndIf
Dim A
A=1
If A=1 Then
Print "A is True"
Else
Print "A is False"
EndIf
>

This is 100% MMBasic code with all the directives removed, and no unnecessary variable declarations just so that one can use readable symbols instead of codes.

I hope this explanation of one possible use of the "External program" feature in MMEdit V3.4.18 or later is helpful to understand how to use this new powerful facility to make even better, more readable, more maintainable and more compact MMBasic programs, especially on the uMite. Another possible use for "External Program" feature is a post-processor a la Hugh's Crunch written in C/C#/VB/Delphi/LB for speed and features, but that's for another day

73s

Peter

The only Konstant is Change

G8JCF

Guru

Joined: 15/05/2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 676

Posted: 09:17am 06 Aug 2014

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Hi the PP.BAT I posted earlier as part of the .ZIP file has to be located in c:\apps\MCPP or else you have to edit PP.BAT to reflect where it is stored.

This slightly updated version of PP.BAT self-determines wherever it is located thus requiring no editing at all wherever you should choose to place the files - the trick is %~dp0, is that obscure or what !

So please copy and overwrite your existing copy of PP.BAT

@echo off
chdir /D %~dp0
Rem Batch File to interface MCPP.EXE to MMEdit.exe V3.18 or later
MCPP.exe -k -P -C -@oldprep %1 -o MCPPout.pp
copy MCPPout.pp %1
Del MCPPout.pp

Rem Uncomment the following line if U want see what the batch is doing
Rem pause
exit

2014-08-06_191520_PP_BAT.zip

73

Peter

The only Konstant is Change

hwholmes
Newbie

Joined: 30/05/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 10

Posted: 06:16am 15 Aug 2014

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Love the Advanced features

I believe I have found another bug in the Chat window.

It might be in the font you are using but I didn't find any way to change it so I can't verify.

The character "\" backslash, used for integer division, shows up as a " " blank in a program list.

Example :
T$ = T$ + UOMs$(x) + ":" + Str$(T \ UOMs(x))+ " "

as seen in the editor looks like:
T$ = T$ + UOMs$(x) + ":" + Str$(T . UOMs(x))+ " "

In the listing in chat window.
Note: I had to substitute something (".") for the blank because the forum posting function shrinks multiple spaces to just one.

Bert

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6223

Posted: 11:54am 15 Aug 2014

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Ahhh!
It only happens in the VT100 mode.
the "\" character is used to indicate "printing text" in Liberty Basic. I will have to do some thinking in order to get it to print the "\" as the first character and as I print each character individually, every character is a first character.

Thanks for finding the bug.

I will have a fix of some sort in a day or two.

Jim

VK7JH
MMedit

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6223

Posted: 04:10pm 15 Aug 2014

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I think this update will solve the problem with "\" in the terminal window.

Replace the MMEdit.tkn with the one in the attached ZIP.

I have to do some more testing before updating the full program on my website.

2014-08-16_020946_MMedit.zip

Thanks for finding the bug. It's one that has been there from the beginning!

Jim

VK7JH
MMedit

halldave

Senior Member

Joined: 04/05/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 121

Posted: 01:27pm 18 Aug 2014

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Jim,

I have an enhancement request for mmedit I would love you to consider
I am using long variable names, for ease of program documentation, however I foresee a memory limitation brewing.

could you consider at the time of upload to maximite / micromite checking for the existence and if it does reading in a translation file.

eg. TEST.BAS

translation file TEST.VAR

The translation file maps long variable names to short variables, comma delimited

longvariable,shortvariable

xLoop4.Port,A01
xLoop4.Zone4.Enabled,A02
xLoop4.Zone4.Type,A03
xLoop4.Zone4.ZoneTriggered,A04
...

when mmedit crunches and does it's magic, it also translates long variable names to short variable names, therefore saving memory

regards

David

G8JCF

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Joined: 15/05/2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 676

Posted: 01:46pm 18 Aug 2014

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Hi Dave

This is what a pre-processor was invented for !

I think that maybe #define may work here as in

#define xLoop4.Port A01
#define xLoop4.Zone4.Enabled A02
#define xLoop4.Zone4.Type A03
#define xLoop4.Zone4.ZoneTriggered A04

This idea uses MCPP. The only concern I have is that including "." in variable names is NOT allowed in C and hence MCPP might not do what we would like it to do !

73

Peter2014-08-18_234313_MCPP.zip

The only Konstant is Change

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6223

Posted: 02:12pm 18 Aug 2014

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The other method is to use the MMBasic crunch program which will do the same (and more)
It is a bit clumsy but You can do it with a batch file to start DOS MMbasic and then run crunch on your program.

It does make your program unreadable unfortunately.

I have avoided going that far in MMEdit because I don't trust it to be 100% safe.

A bulk 'find and replace' would probably work OK with the variable names you are using but if someone used short 'simple' variable names and then tried to shorten then further, I see grief.

Jim

VK7JH
MMedit

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