Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I'd be interested too...
    
    I assume it's a self-contained compiler, which produces self-contained
    executable images. If it is as good as the ABsoft F77, it should
    be pretty good.
    
    Does anyone know at least the price?
    

    Able supply-about $115
    Memory Location $199
    
    I got mine last week.   Havnt played with it too much but it seems
    to work fine.   I only thing I can figure out is if you can create
    seperate modules and link them together.   Doesnt seem to be
    as far as I can tell.
    
    Ira
    

    re:501.0
    
    You dont need Amiga Basic but you do need the runtime libraries
    present.   I have only one disk drive so I was able to put
    the compiler and rtl's on a very stripped down workbench disk.
    
    I.C.
    

    re .-1: RTL's? Do you mean you have to have separate ABsoft RTL's
    on the disk to run programs compiled with it?

    I check into this.   You can compile in the RTL's into your image
    but the tasks get larger. 

    The RTL can be linked during compiling, which adds about 40K to
    the program size. However, the program executes just as fast. BTW
    they supply a non-fee licensing agreement that you sign to receive
    permission to link the RTL's to software you plan to compile and
    distribute.
    
    There are some unusual bugs they plan to correct in their maintenance
    release next month. Its a pleasure to be able to write an Amiga
    BASIC program and have it execute with such a dramatic increase
    in speed. A 560 line satellite tracking program I wrote executes
    about 15 times faster through AC-BASIC than through the Amiga BASIC
    interpreter!
    
    Paul

    Good to know.
    
    Do you have that free licence to give me your satellite tracking
    program? The executable file... I'd be interested. I guess I'll
    wait until they get that update out before I go and buy the compiler.
    
    How's the documentation? And is it really compatible?
    
    DJ�MAR
    

    Sorry .. the satellite tracking program is only available through
    AMSAT (Amateur Satellite Corporation) for $40. The non-fee license
    that Absoft supplies is for the purpose of linking the two run-time
    modules to the main program. This allows the main program to run
    without having to have the indiviadual run-time modules copied to
    the same disk as the main compiled program.
    
    Paul

    Is the compiler compatible with AmigaBasic programs?  Can I feed
    it as input programs saved out of AmigaBasic?
    
    len.
    

    The compiler takes your AmigaBASIC programs and compiles them. Not
    sure what you mean by, "Can I feed it as input programs saved out
    of AmigaBasic."
    
    The compiler has no other purpose or use in life except to compile
    AmigaBASIC programs.
    
    Paul

    I think you just said "Yes", but to make sure I'll try to be more
    explicit.
    
    AmigaBASIC has a builtin editor.  Having created a program in
    AmigaBASIC, you can then save it (using the SAVE or SAVE AS functions
    in the pull down menu).  It is these saved programs that I would
    like to compile.
    
    So, I take it the language compiled is *exactly* AmigaBASIC (not
    necessarily the same as any other BASIC, especially with respect
    to Amiga-specific features), and the source/input file format is
    *exactly* that produced by the AmigaBASIC SAVE and SAVE AS functions
    (these are not garden variety text files).
    
    Sorry about being so pedantic, but a "BASIC Compiler" and an
    "AmigaBASIC Compiler" are not necessarily the same thing.  For
    example, it's not clear that the old ABASIC and AmigaBASIC are
    *exactly* the same language.
    
    len.
     

    RE .11
    
    Absoft's AC-BASIC compiler compiles AmigaBASIC programs that are
    saved in ASCII format. It will also compile MAC BASIC programs.
    
    You need not write your program using the AmigaBASIC editor since
    the compiler works on ASCII files. Therefore, you can use uEMACS,
    Scribble!, or any other text processor capable of generating an
    ASCII file.  

    There are a number of additional commands supplied that the compiler
    recognizes, but are not recognized by the AmigaBASIC interpreter.
    
    Paul

    re .11: Obviously, you can also use any editor to edit AmigaBasic
    programs - it can load vanilla text files as well as it's compressed
    save files. Default for save is it's won format, but you can save
    any AmigaBasic program in a plain text file and do whatever you
    want to do with it.
    

    How do I save an AmigaBasic program as a plain text file?
    
    I figure if I have to I can list it to the printer and assign the
    printer to a file, but that's a little roundabout.  I have a lot
    of AmigaBasic code that I'd rather not type in again.
    
    What all this tells me is that in fact, no, the ABSoft compoler
    doesn't accept AmigaBasic save files as source input, and no, the
    language it complies is not exactly AmigaBasic.
    
    len.
    

    
    I don't remember the exact syntax, but it is in the AmigaBasic manual
    under the SAVE command description.  I think it is something like:
    
    SAVE "program",a        ! That's "a" for ascii format.
    
    regards
    
    steve mcafee

    Thats correct Steve.  I've transferred BASIC programs back an forth
    between Amy and VAX many times.  By the way, Mac and IBM BASIC use
    the same convention.