CBM prg Studio

You need an actual VIC.

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ajordison
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CBM prg Studio

Post by ajordison »

Here is a new beta version (0.2.0) of Cbm prg Studio. What's been done?

* Generate and launch/load.
* Sprite/character editors.
* .p00 generation.
* Importing BASIC and binary files.
* Drag and Drop.
* Printing.
* Automatic code reformatting for assembly source
* Bugs. Some fixed, some new...

Again, this version is a Beta release and so I'd be grateful if you could try it out for me and report any bugs you find, or even just let me know what you think of it. Any bugs which are found and reported will be posted on my website, or you can post them here if you like.

It can be downloaded from www.ajordison.co.uk

Enjoy! :wink:
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joshuadenmark
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Post by joshuadenmark »

Thanks

Going to try your program at once and will rapport bug if found any :wink:

Nice job and very good looking programme.

Have a nice weekend
Kind regards, Peter.
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ajordison
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Post by ajordison »

much appreciated!
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GreyGhost
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Post by GreyGhost »

Hi. I used version 020 last night for a little while. I must say, I like what I see. Something I did notice as I was editing a program I'm working on is that every time you hit the TAB key, the icons on the desk top flash. It isn't really harming anything, just seems to reset all of the icons and lags a bit when the flash occurs. Thought you might like to know.

One other thing. I read the read me file with 020 and you said that you couldn't code anything outside of a project. I was wondering if this was going to be a permanent thing? I liked the idea of loading up vic20 prg and put in a start address and start coding right off the bat. Not that the projects are a bad idea or hard to do. I like that option too. 8)

thanks & keep up the great work,
Rob
ajordison
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Post by ajordison »

Thanks for the comments.

I struggled for a long time with the thought of forcing users to create a project even for 'try it and see' programming. I decided to go down the project route as a lot of people had asked for it and as I was trying to make the old prg gens more 'professional' it seemed like a good idea. I might add an option to 'disable' the project side to make Studio more like the old prg Gens. Don't forget that you only need to create a project once, and you can use that for your other programs.

As for the flickering this only seems to be a problem with XP, not vista or windows 7, so I'm assuming you're using XP. I'm still looking into it though.

If you have any other problems/suggestions, let me know.
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Kweepa
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Post by Kweepa »

I just played with this at the weekend too.
I found a couple of problems:
The editor syntax highlighting is very slow, keeps moving the cursor around, and when inserting lines, makes it look like there are duplicate lines after the insert point.
I tried turning off syntax highlighting but it says you need to restart the program and it didn't seem to keep the setting.
Editing character definitions doesn't always keep the preview graphics on the right up to date. I'm not sure what the parameters for that are, but right clicking to erase didn't seem to be reflected.
Also, when I cut and paste character definitions, it just keeps a reference for the lifetime of the dialog, so editing one affects the other. I had to close and reopen the dialog to "split" them.

Still, I like the look of it a lot, and I think I'll be writing some games with this in the future!

Here are some things that I'd like to see:
Code snippets (like the examples - maybe more examples would be enough).
Some VIC-20 specific definitions (eg useful memory locations).
VIC-20 font by default when making a VIC-20 project.
Correct aspect ratio when editing VIC-20 characters.
A tile preview that keeps its contents with the project, and can have colours set.
ajordison
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Post by ajordison »

Thanks for the bug list and suggestions.
I tried turning off syntax highlighting ... and it didn't seem to keep the setting.
The syntax highlighting is slow for large files and also I haven't finished 'wiring up' the config options yet.
Editing character definitions doesn't always keep the preview graphics on the right up to date.
I've never seen this, it always keeps up. Are you running this on a Linux box?
Right clicking to erase didn't seem to be reflected.

This is a bug. Thanks!
Also, when I cut and paste character definitions, it just keeps a reference for the lifetime of the dialog, so editing one affects the other. I had to close and reopen the dialog to "split" them.
I can't reproduce this, can you give me more details?
Here are some things that I'd like to see:
Code snippets (like the examples - maybe more examples would be enough).
There'll be lots more code examples in the first release.
Some VIC-20 specific definitions (eg useful memory locations).
I'll be including a memory map in the help file.
Correct aspect ratio when editing VIC-20 characters.
That's a good idea, do you know what the ratio is?
A tile preview that keeps its contents with the project, and can have colours set.
That's a great idea, it'll go in the first release.

Thanks again for taking the time to play around with it and report the problems.
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nbla000
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Post by nbla000 »

OK, this is my first project for the Vic:

Code: Select all

1 print "hello world"
2 goto 1
Ok not a very big project for me but a very nice project for you ajordison ! my compliments, a really professional tool !

Unfortunately I've no time to help you on beta testing like for VIC20PrgGen :(

Btw the screen code builder is very nice, it remembers me something :wink:

OT Private: How is the life with the last project ? :wink:
Mega-Cart: the cartridge you plug in once and for all.
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Kweepa
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Post by Kweepa »

ajordison wrote:
Editing character definitions doesn't always keep the preview graphics on the right up to date.
I've never seen this, it always keeps up. Are you running this on a Linux box?
Right clicking to erase didn't seem to be reflected.

This is a bug. Thanks!
It could be just when I was right clicking that I got the first bug, but I'd have to try again to be sure. I'm running Windows Vista, by the way.
Also, when I cut and paste character definitions, it just keeps a reference for the lifetime of the dialog, so editing one affects the other. I had to close and reopen the dialog to "split" them.
I can't reproduce this, can you give me more details?
Copy a character and paste it into another
Flip one
Switch to the tile view
Switch back
Correct aspect ratio when editing VIC-20 characters.
That's a good idea, do you know what the ratio is?
It's about 1.6:1. I think it's different between NTSC and PAL...
ajordison
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Post by ajordison »

Well here's a new (and hopefully the last) beta version. Version 0.3.0 can be downloaded from www.ajordison.co.uk

It's got a lot of bug fixtures and some new features, the most important probably being the addition of a help file!

Enjoy :)

BTW if you reported a bug and I haven't fixed it, I just haven't fixed it yet!
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nbla000
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Post by nbla000 »

I have a Basic file to test... I will use your latest version.
Mega-Cart: the cartridge you plug in once and for all.
ajordison
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Post by ajordison »

Well folks, here it is. Version 1.0.0 of CBM prg Studio has finally been released.

If you were put off by the poor performance of the beta releases then don't be, this version has a new edit control which is far quicker and has lots of other features too.

Download it and have a play, I think you'll like it! As usual suggestions, bug reports, feedback and spare cash are much appreciated :wink:

www.ajordison.co.uk
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GreyGhost
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Post by GreyGhost »

Hi,
I started using CBM prg last night. I installed it on my computer and transferred an assembly program I have been working on for some time now and tried compiling it. I got an illegal branch error. I was using Vic prg beta previously and my program worked fine. So, I loaded the program into Vic prg and compiled it their. I counted the number of locations the branch tries to jump and came up with 104 or 106 memory locations. I know this is a long branch but it should work. To my knowledge you can branch 127 or 128 locations in either direction.

Also, some of the hex numbers are not highlighting to the color selected. Instead they are plain black. I think this may have been mentioned before.

As for CBM prg itself, this is turning out to be a very cool cross development tool.

Later,
Rob
ajordison
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Post by ajordison »

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the bug report. I haven't really touched the assembler since the vic version so that's a strange one. Were you building a project or just a single file? It would help a lot if you could send me your code.

Cheers
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GreyGhost
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Post by GreyGhost »

It's not the length of the branch. I tried a test prg last night and the assembler branches as far as it will go when you try to jump too far with no error. So, that's not it. I also tried to change the name of the label thinking that might be it, but I still get the illegal branch. I'll post a copy of the code later today when I wake up.

It's a single file, but it's in a project.

It's also the only one I'm having trouble with so, it may be something I have done.
Rob
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