Simple word analogy

Nutritional Specialist -> Cook
Sanitation Technician -> Garbage Man
Virtual Machine -> Emulator

See how that works? Don't be fooled by fancy names.

The Merriam-Webster Online definition of 'emulator'. You will notice right away it does not state how one reaches that goal. If it looks like a duck, if it sounds like a duck... guess what? It's a duck.

Note that 'Virtual Machine' is not in the dictionary.

Toolbars don't work under MagiC

I coded a very simple toolbar test program for XaAes and N.Aes because I wanted to make sure they both handle them correctly. The developer of XaAes was also interested in such a test program. As it turns out they both handle toolbars quite ok.

However it totally does not work under MagiC. The call wind_set(WF_TOOLBAR...) actually returns an error condition.

A quote from The Atari Compendium:
"This mode attaches a toolbar to the specified window. parm1 and parm2 contain the high and low WORD of the address of the toolbar OBJECT tree respectively. parm3 and parm4 are unused.Set parm1 and parm2 to 0 to remove a toolbar."

This call works in Atari's AES, N.Aes, and XaAes, and maybe even Geneva? But not under MagiC. Yet another example of MagiC's lack of documented AES system calls. :o(

menu_register() fails under MagiC

A quote from The Atari Compendium:
"Applications running under MultiTOS may use this function to provide a more functional title for the 'Desk' menu than the program's filename."

Under MagiC this call always fails and you get the ugly 8+3 file name in the 'Desk' menu no matter what. Far as I know this cannot be corrected with any GEM lib.

Just one example of a documented system call that MagiC does not support.

Random thought of the day

MagiC does not fully meet the specifications as documented in my Atari Developers Kit. Also in some places it deviates from the specifications entirely. It's also been unsupported for several years. Anyone who thinks otherwise is only fooling themselves. Facts are what they are, facts.

Note: This entry has changed. I have calmed down. Be that as it may, the above statement is still 100% true regardless of ones personal preferences.

Website updated/GBE notes

Uploaded several more old book related disks to my website for download. GBE v1.2 is still delayed, but it will be well worth the wait. The next release will have the ability to interpreter the source code. How cool is that? Now you can sit on IRC and code in a GEM Editor with instant feedback.

Website updated

Made available for download the example disk from the book titled 'GFA-Basic Book'. Note that this book is rather old and most of the files are in the old *.bas format. GBE however can directly load them with an import module.

GBE now has standard clipboard key combinations and some other minor changes. It looks like v1.2 might be slightly delayed.

Solved a problem with GBE today that caused an endless loop under emulation. Actually what I did was kludge the program to avoid a bug in fVDI. :oP

If all goes as planned then GBE v1.2 will be released with in a week.

Well another year past and NAS 2005 is over. It was a real treat to see the activity on the live webcam this year. My favorite image has to be this one. I stepped out for super and when I returned there was Ozk, smack in front of the camera! In the background is GokMase coding away on his trusty FalconCT60. ;o) Wish I could have been there.