Rick's b.log - entry 2017/03/19

REdit

Written in C and running it at around 19KiB total (including messages and such), it is intended for times when you either don't want to enter the full RISC OS Desktop world (and use Zap/StrongEd) or you cannot (such as RISC OS Pico).

Here are some screenshots. First, the editor as it will appear to you:

Now, as it will appear with some content:

Pressing F1 gives help:

The editor will work in whatever your current screen mode is, so long as it isn't stupidly small (so don't waste time with MODE 2!) or stupidly large (over 255 characters across the screen). A nice mode to use (though it depends upon your monitor) is MODE 28, a straight 640×480 VGA mode.

This is an alpha release. There are bugs. A specific one is that Ctrl-Down and End sometimes seem to place the text off-by-one-line. There will be other bugs. This is simply a sneak preview of a work in progress that I've been adding bits to from time to time.
That said, it worked sufficiently well that I could write the entire !Help file using it.

Spring is coming

Almond blossom:

While it isn't sunlit, I love the water droplets. This is my PC's backdrop.

The soft focus and evening sun make these flowers stand out.

Japanese Quince:

The Japanese Quince always provides a splash of vivid colour in early Spring.

Daffodils:

Taken on the same cold morning as the first Almond blossom picture, the dew gives this daffodil an ethereal texture.

These were planted by the previous occupant, so these daffodils have been going strong for over a quarter of a century!

Tree frog:

Do not adjust your monitor, it really was ectoplasm-green.

It isn't quite time for the cherry blossom. Maybe by the end of the week if the weather is pleasant enough?

• The full sized pictures are 4032×2268, JPEG. Some have been cropped.
  File size depends upon the picture, but estimate about two and a half megabytes.
  Email me (address at top of page) if you are interested in licensing any of them.

Speaking of frogs...

Need I say more?

Orange phone line woes

Uh-hu.

What were they thinking?!?!?

While this is the digital equivalent of the dirty mould-encrusted time capsules that we buried as children, dig up many years later...and really wish we hadn't... there is one thing that stands out as messed up beyond all belief. This should have been a terrible idea, even then. Was this some bored writer's attempt at trolling (before trolling was a thing), or was this written in all seriousness?

"However, it is clear that any major piece of software written for the A-series machines should be implemented as a module [...]"

Yes. Of course. Because there is absolutely no problem whatsoever with the module area intended for system resident utilities (like a DLL or TSR in x86 terms) being stuffed with application code.
Because there is absolutely no problem whatsoever with the module area's utterly failed attempt at garbage collection (the RMTidy command has never worked, and can never work because if it did what it was supposed to, everything with workspace in the RMA will find that workspace has moved - instant gnarly crash).
Because here is absolutely no problem whatsoever with the possibility of modules running in a privileged mode. Entering a module with RMEnter starts in USR mode. Every other entry point starts in either SVC (most) or IRQ (callbacks, etc) mode.
Because there was no concept of paging on Arthur (the Desktop, uh... was a gaudy coloured demo more than anything serious), there is surely no possible justification for stuffing applications into unmovable memory by default. A BASIC debugger has reason, it has to work around a live BASIC program. An application such as a painting program? Uh...nope.

Your comments:

Please note that while I check this page every so often, I am not able to control what users write; therefore I disclaim all liability for unpleasant and/or infringing and/or defamatory material. Undesired content will be removed as soon as it is noticed. By leaving a comment, you agree not to post material that is illegal or in bad taste, and you should be aware that the time and your IP address are both recorded, should it be necessary to find out who you are. Oh, and don't bother trying to inline HTML. I'm not that stupid! ☺ ADDING COMMENTS DOES NOT WORK IF READING TRANSLATED VERSIONS.
 
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David Pilling, 28th March 2017, 03:37

<boast>I have the early ring bound one, photocopied ring bound, before the ones above - the one that tells you how to destroy the chips from software</> Back in t'early days one did use RMTidy and the machine carry on running. Not much later one got the message that it was not the thing to do. When they said write apps as modules perhaps they were thinking of things like Basic. First major apps - FWP and so on were not modules, absolute code, just like now. Mostly major apps on the BBC where modules. Perhaps that is where the idea originated.

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