Denial

A user on Atari Age is asking this question here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/274023 ... digitized/ if you want them archived please let him know or let me know and I will post a response.

-Norm

Pics for subscribers only. Can you please post them?

orion70 wrote:Pics for subscribers only. Can you please post them?

I tried... Atariage seems to protect their pictures and prevents you from saving them!!

I recognized a bunch of software from Abacus Software.

Names include:
Graphvics
Tiny basic compiler (this one really gets me salivating!)
Piper - The music machine

orion70 wrote:Pics for subscribers only. Can you please post them?

Some are doubles, some marked with "bad load". All of them seem to be utilities, which makes me even more curious .

eslapion wrote:I tried... Atariage seems to protect their pictures and prevents you from saving them!!

AA has an upload feature, I guess it's a way to try to claw some bandwidth downwards from third party linking etc.

orion70 wrote:Some are doubles, some marked with "bad load". All of them seem to be utilities, which makes me even more curious .

The original poster in AtariAge specified we should disregard the 'bad load' stickers. Apparently somebody tried to load them on Atari computers.

savetz wrote:I wouldn't worry about the "bad load" labels. I think someone at some point was trying to load these on an Atari system.

I'd very much like to have them saved for posterity! Even a good WAV of each title would suffice if the OP cannot dump them - we could do the rest.

The tapes referenced above have been captured to .wav files. I converted them to .tap and they are attached. Note: I haven't tested them yet but the conversions did contain files. I will test them later, or someone can let me know if they work. The WAVs are also available at the link above on Atari Age. They are a bit large to attach.

EDIT: I'm having issues converting them. I think the level is low. I will continue and post when ready.

I think they are not good recordings...or I don't know what I'm doing..Someone else want to give it a try?

I was able to recover the basic compiler and spelling program using Audacity to improve the signal. It's attached.

norm8332 wrote:I was able to recover the basic compiler and spelling program using Audacity to improve the signal. It's attached.

Looks like we are no longer limited to Austro Compiler !! Excellent news!

The other tapes appear to be too poor quality at least for me to extract any working programs. I realize the files are quite large..I guess after people have attempted to recover them they could be removed if that is an issue. I couldn't figure out how to use the compiler in the brief time I tried (not my thing). Does it work?

Apparently, this only compiles mathematical programs, like the sample provided within the program. It won't compile full basic programs.

A description of the compiler can be found here

vicist wrote:Apparently, this only compiles mathematical programs, like the sample provided within the program. It won't compile full basic programs.

A description of the compiler can be found here

Very tiny compiler indeed...

The article seems very lenient on a $25 product!
It doesn't even support PEEK or POKE, which would make it just about practical. As it is, it seems like a toy.

I think it would be fun to write a modern CBM basic compiler.
Some thoughts I had:
- default the variables to float
- use a separate hints file to tell the compiler the variable types (byte, word, long, float)
- run the basic program in a special emulator that monitors the variables and deduces the variable types
- detect certain code patterns and replace with cheap alternatives (eg empty for-next for delays; keyboard and joystick routines; reading data and poking to memory, or filling an array)