Re: [ql-users] small LCD screen
Wolfgang Lenerz wrote: On 25 Jan 2004 at 17:36, Joachim Van der Auwera wrote: In the ideal case, we just need a simple remote screen (black and white will do, we need to be able to display one line of buttons, two lines of small text and one line of big text (or buttons and five lines of small text). If we can display more, that is better, but this is a minimum. We also need to have a remove keyboard. How about a Z88? Great thinking Wolfgang, but the screen is just a bit too small. I really need to be able to display the lines as mentioned or the operators will not get it to work... Kind regards, Joachim
Re: [ql-users] small LCD screen
Arnould Nazarian wrote: ... all of it snipped ... Arnould (and Tony), I know you have always been looking for ways to have a QL device live in the commercial world. Maybe there is a small opportunity here. At the company I work for, we do a lot of automation. This means that some things need to be registered at different places/times during the production cycle (in this case in the food industry). We currently use either a PC for this (very big, allows way too much for what we need it for and it is not that cheap (sceens are a pain). In other cases we use a Bizerba ITU, which is a weighing terminal which can be controlled serially (very nice, but also very expensive). In the ideal case, we just need a simple remote screen (black and white will do, we need to be able to display one line of buttons, two lines of small text and one line of big text (or buttons and five lines of small text). If we can display more, that is better, but this is a minimum. We also need to have a remove keyboard. What could be done is build a small device which has a screen and keyboard and which can be controlled remotely either through the network (UDP) or using a serial connection. I have looked in the market for his kind of device and could only find something with a 2x40 display. I believe there is a market for this if the price is wright (less than 500euro). Maybe this is something Tony and/or Nasta can build? We could base this on a very simple QL and do the programming in SBasic. There is already a screen and keyboard connection, so that would be possible. It would onnly need a limited amount of memory (I think 128kB usable would be enough). A simple flash card could be used as persistent device (also allows distributing and cpoying software). In fact, this would be something which is way too powerful the use I have for it, but I am sure others would do more interesting things as well. What do you think? Joachim
Re: [ql-users] SMSQDOS licence
Q1: If SMSQ/E was distributed under this GPL licence and someone would take it to develop a successfull product, TT would have no rights on it. True or false? What do you mean by rights? He would have as much copyright as he has now. As the code would be under GPL licence, there could not be a closed source product. There would be more chance of having some kin of product and result from his hard work and ingenuity. While you could argue that in the current situation, the licence could be changed, this is not a situation which will last. A change of licence can only ever happen if all contributers agree. Otherwise, the changes made by these contributers would first have to be reversed. I think this is completely utopic for SMSQ/E as I do not think a version control system is in use which registers all this. In fact, as I have said before, I think there is no real reason not to use a GPL/LGPL/MPL kind of licence. I think the choice for the current licence of mostly the result of some of the key people not understanding open source completely. However, the differences to my opinion mostly make things more difficult for those people themselves. That said, the current licence should not deter anybody from contributing. The differences are small enough. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] QL Hardware.
There could be even an almost direct adaptation by using MicroAPL's tools (PortAsm) url:http://www.microapl.co.uk/ on the QDOS Sources to convert them to PowerPC assembly and then fill in the bits and pieces. I don't think that is true. Much of the power of SMSQ/E comes from some subtile tricks which have to do with timing, use of supervisor mode etc. I don't think they can simply be cross-compiled into a different kind of assembler. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] Portable QPC
There is a good source for affordable second hand PC is Holland NTS Computer TechnologySeinhuiswachter 123034 KH RotterdamNederland Tel. +31 (0)10-7890400Fax +31 (0)10-4110428 http://www.nts.nl/ Prices vary according to the specs. Joachim - Original Message - From: TonyTebby To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 4:56 PM Subject: [ql-users] Portable QPC Maybe this has been on the list before, but do any of our UK trade people has a source of supply for "nearly new" Portable PCs - not good enough for Office 2003 but easily good enough for QPC - 400 MHz + TFT 1024x768. The situation in France has become ridiculous with a secondhand 400 MHz Toshiba / Compac etccosting more than a new 2.2GHz Dell (650 Euros). Tony Tebby
Re: [ql-users] Q40 for exchange
Michael, I still have a TT 030 that I could sell if you want one. Contact me privately if you are interested. Joachim -- Joachim Van der Auwera http://www.triathlon98.com
Re: [ql-users] Assembly question
Hello everybody, My assembly being a little rusted, I would like to check with the knowledgeable people the following portion of code. ... tst.l d2 beq.s first_place second_place: ... Now, if d2 is 0, would executing that code reach first_place or second_place ? (I have my idea, but I do not want to influence the audience). Is this a trick question? Given that you haven't actually maked the label first_place it may just depend on where you put that. In general, the tst x instruction is the same as cmp #0,x, so if d2 is zero, the branch will be taken. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] Assembly question
- Original Message - From: Norman Dunbar [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 11:30 AM Subject: RE: [ql-users] Assembly question Norman, could it be you have some problems with signs??? Interesting question - and code ! harpo equ $160 chico equ $140 elem_size equ $0c clr.l a1 A1 = 0 moveq.l #4,d2 lea harpo(a1),a1 A1 = A1 + $160 = $160 myloop: adda.w elem_size,a1 A1 = A1 + (5 * $0c) = $19c dbra d2,myloop lea chico-4*elem_size(a1),a1 A1 = $140 - $19c + (4 * $0c) = $140 - $1cc Would this not be $140 - (4 * $0c) + $19c ??? BUT it depends upong how good your assembler is, does it do expressions evaluation correctly so that the multiplication is done before the addition, or does it do it in-line ? Very good point !! Bettr not to make to many assumptions ! My answer above shows what it should be (!) assuming correct precedence, but if the assembler is in-line, then it will be : Joachim
Re: [ql-users] Assembly question
- Original Message - From: Marcel Kilgus [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: ql-users [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 12:04 PM Subject: Re: [ql-users] Assembly question Marcel seems to have less problems with sign, though typing is not his biggest forte. adda.w elem_size,a1 This is probably not the code you wanted. It adds the word at memory address $00c to a1, i.e. a # is missing. Wow, very strong. This is the kind of features that make writing (and debugging) assembler interesting. Question: what is the value of a1 at the end ? Disregarding the bug it's $160 + 5 * $0c + $140 - 4 * $0c = $160 + $120 + $0c = $28c. That line should read = $160 + $120 +*0c = $2ac Unless there is some magix which changes $140 into $120 that is... Joachim Marcel
OT: Re: [ql-users] Assembly question
What, using a computer to solve the puzzle... You cheater :-) Joachim P.S. hey, at least I gave the right answer (and fastest too - must be working really hard at the moment), even if I didn't do the actual hex calculations. Not that I want to brag about it. - Original Message - From: Norman Dunbar [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 12:30 PM Subject: RE: [ql-users] Assembly question Curses, I have been found out ! I agree that an assembler *should* evaluate expressions properly, but some don't I'm afraid. QMAC seems to do it, but GWASL (ie the light version) can't assemble the original code for the lea instruction. I can't remember if the original GST non-macro assembler did it correctly or not. Anyway, as written the code is a bit misleading, in the loop the CONTENTS of ADDRESS elem_size is being added to A1, which on my QPCv3 is zero, so at the end of the loop, A1 is still set to $160, then the lea changes it to $270. Rerunning the code to add #elem_size to A1 each time results in a1 coming out of the loop set to $19C and then changing to £2AC after the final lea. So the code as written sets A1 to $270 on exit. 'Corrected' code sets A1 to $2AC on exit. The expression chico-4*elem_size evaluates to $110 using the QMAC assmebler so it does evaluate correctly. Thanks for correcting my 'interesting' version of how LEA works !! Cheers, Norman. - Norman Dunbar Database/Unix administrator Lynx Financial Systems Ltd. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: 0113 289 6265 Fax: 0113 289 3146 URL: http://www.Lynx-FS.com - -Original Message- From: Marcel Kilgus [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 11:15 AM To: ql-users Subject: Re: [ql-users] Assembly question Norman Dunbar wrote: lea chico-4*elem_size(a1),a1A1 = $140 - $19c + (4 * $0c) = $140 - $1cc Huh, interesting interpretation of LEA, but I'm afraid your 68k might disagree ;-) The address register is the base (i.e. always added), chico-4*elem_size is the offset. And of course an assembler must obey the rule to multiply first, otherwise it's trash. How did I do ? I'm afraid you have to take that exam again ;-) Ciao, Marcel This email is intended only for the use of the addressees named above and may be confidential or legally privileged. If you are not an addressee you must not read it and must not use any information contained in it, nor copy it, nor inform any person other than Lynx Financial Systems or the addressees of its existence or contents. If you have received this email and are not a named addressee, please delete it and notify the Lynx Financial Systems IT Department on 0113 2892990.
Re: [ql-users] Assembly question
I do, as Marcel kindly pointed out, have problems understanding how the LEA instruction actually works ! It becomes much easier if you have ever had a look at the opcodes. You then know there is only an offset and nothing to indicate the sign of the data in the register. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] QMON2
One of the most bothersome problems has to be the fact that attempting to trace throw an IOW.XTOP call actually crashes the machine (even with LS set). This is particularly annoying in view of the need to write new graphics commands!! I think the trick is to set a breakpoint in the actual code to debug. I seem to remember you can debug code which runs under iow.xtop, just not through the call itself. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] ProWesS
As Joachim had told me not so long ago, some things that I would like to see on it are tied to the PE and if this can't get update, short of a major re-write they wouldn't be possible For some reason I took the lazy approach and let the borders on the screens be drawn by the system (and not ProWesS itself). This would not really require major changes, just an offset in the coordinates. I just haven't got round to changing that just yet (and no definite plans yet - my paid work is keeping me sooo busy the last couple of months). Joachim
Re: [ql-users] ProWesS
but I still have problems with its response. I must admit that I do, too. There are a few things which might affect this. If you have the memory and can take a little extra startup time, you could have all your screen fonts precalculated. Note that you need each font at each size, also for the title bar, the labels and the text input. Apart from that, when using high colour mode there is a very noticeable slowdown when using the anti-aliased fonts. Kind regards, Joachim
[ql-users] ProWesS update
A new version of ProWesS is available on my site. It contains a small fix when kerning is used in combination with an anti-aliased font. Available from http://www.progs.be/ under downloads
Re: [ql-users] WMAN progress
Moreover, in the Hello world, overruling the default C68 init() function is rather agressive, IMHO. The thigs is that ProWesS uses C, but it doesn't use the standard C libraries. Though it can be used in conjunction, it is intended to work without stdlib. In fact, this reduces the size of the programs considerably! Joachim
Re: [ql-users] WMAN progress
I have been telling everyone that ProWesS is much simpler than QPTR/EasyPTR but nobody seems to care... The problem is the slower loading time for the system and slower running on 'ordinary' QL equipment. So the PE remains more convenient. The slower loading is mainly caused by the precalculated fonts. When ProWesS is configured to have no precalculated fonts, the system will be much faster. This would however affect the performance later on. Another solution would be to store the precalculated in a file and load them from there when they are suitable. This could be done, but it needs some change in the code. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] Printer Codes
The DeskJet 500 is a PCL 3 printer (so if Dilwyn's file list those codes... most of them will work). I have a programmer's manual somewhere for ALL HP printers up to LJ III so, I'll need to dig it up and scan it for you... Well standards are there to be broken. Even when they are your own. Though the PCL version numbers don't change very often, I don't think HP ever released two printers with exactly the same PCL command set... Makes writing printer drivers interesting. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] One box or two
To use ProWess, you need speed . Yes but not that much. It ran fine on my Q40 (when the writeback cache was turned off that is) . On my laptop (800MHz celeron), BlaqBox (667MHz Via) and main PC (1.6GHz P4) it is a bit faster but I could use it OK on the Q 40. Most of the speed loss is in drawing the menus I think and that is something that needs addressing in ProWesS itself rather than by using a faster CPU. This is the Microsoft approach. Difference may be whether anti-aliasing is turned on or not. This requires quite a bit of extra processing. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] One box or two
I haven't (yet) installed ProWesS on the Q40 (So many things, so little time...) but I was wondering if it uses any FPU code... ie will the FPU on the Q40 do anything to it? (Or will it need a recompile maybe?) ProWesS uses integer (fixpoint) arithmetic only. At that time, floating point was just no option.
Re: [ql-users] keyboards
I always thought you were German - oops ! (Must be the name !) That's because he IS German, though he lives near Paris. Mind you, I would not say all letters are in the same place on German keyboards, I am quite sure they have QWERTZ keyboards. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Soft reset and RAMTOP
For the Q40, low RAM is either read only or write only and it is normally read only. To write to low RAM you must poke a byte address (I think any value will do, but I use $FF). Interrupts must be disabled while doing this. Why? There's a prize for the first person who posts the correct answer to the list. If interrupts are not disabled the interrupt handler will be called while the low memory is write only, and as the interrupt handler code is probably in the low memory zone, the code to be executed cannot be read. This would result in a complete crash of the system (either immeditely or because the exception handling routine is also in low read only memory). Just my guess. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E Soft reset and RAMTOP
Well, what prize would that be? I mean, before we all go searching for the answer, let's see whether it'd be worth it Knowledge of course, one of the biggest prizes there is.
Re: [ql-users] Open SMSQ/E developmen (Was: GD2)
Not much work there because it's already implemented. You just need to define the keyboard table right. Mind you, including some more keyboard tables would not be a bad idea. And an area where many people could contribute!
Re: [ql-users] GD2 programs.
Prowess (PROGS-not sure of how much GD2 support, perhaps Joachim can let me know) Full colour support on both QPC, QXL and Qx0
Re: [ql-users] Qeymail, last call for suggestions...
The main area is the actual storage method for emails. Would people prefer a single file holding all emails, individual files for each email, which would be indexed on startup, or individual files plus a maintained index? Why not use one the of databases which are available (DATAdesign (as in part of ProWesS) springs to mind). Joachim
Re: [ql-users] Qeymail, last call for suggestions...
Why not use one the of databases which are available (DATAdesign (as in part of ProWesS) springs to mind). This will be a free, open source program. If it relies on any other program, that program would also have to be free, and I would need to be able to distribute it, or offer it for download, as part of the package. I'll also be doing this co-operateively with anyone who wants to help... ProWesS is free including all libraries which are part of it (like the DATAdesign engine). There is a GUI for the DATAdeisng engine (also called DATAdesign) which is not free though. Joachim
Re: [ql-users] qmake, the source and my inferior brain ....
Stupid remark, but have you checked the case of the filename, maybe qmake checks names case dependent and is there a difference between the name on disk and in the makefile... (just a thought). Joachim - Original Message - From: Norman Dunbar [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 9:41 AM Subject: RE: [ql-users] qmake, the source and my inferior brain I'm afraid I have exactly the same results with Marcel's 4.24 version as I do with the new 4.27 version. 'Header_asm' cannot be found - although the path to the file in the message is the correct path to the file on my disc. It's all very confusing :o( I've tried having everything in the win2_ path as well - still the same, I've tried with and without prog_use and data_use set - and even set incorrectly - still the same (once I've chosen the appropriate link file of course !). Cheers, Norman. - Norman Dunbar Database/Unix administrator Lynx Financial Systems Ltd. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: 0113 289 6265 Fax: 0113 289 3146 URL: http://www.Lynx-FS.com - -Original Message- From: Marcel Kilgus [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 4:35 PM To: ql-users Subject: Re: [ql-users] qmake, the source and my inferior brain Jochen Merz wrote: However, I've never tried to assemble SMSQ, so I think we need to look forward to Marcels help: he generates SMSQ/Es, as we all know. There's nothing special to SMSQ. It just works here. Did also convert one _link file to dev8_ without problem. Will send Norman my binary to try (4.24). Marcel This email is intended only for the use of the addressees named above and may be confidential or legally privileged. If you are not an addressee you must not read it and must not use any information contained in it, nor copy it, nor inform any person other than Lynx Financial Systems or the addressees of its existence or contents. If you have received this email and are not a named addressee, please delete it and notify the Lynx Financial Systems IT Department on 0113 2892990.
Re: [ql-users] This is the LICENCE - updates
As far as I can see, this license means that each time a binary copy is passed on by the resellers, the fee for 10 EUR is to be paid to TT... If that is not what is intended (and that is what it seemed like before), then I think this has to be made explicit. Joachim
[ql-users] SMSQ/E licence suggestions
Oops, another try as I was replying to the od list... - Original Message - From: Joachim Van der Auwera [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 11:37 PM Subject: Re: [ql-users] SMSQ/E licence suggestions All this talk is very tiresome and difficult. I have been away for two weeks and have more than 200 messages of which most is just bashing. Anyway, still have another 150 to go. In short, I have one suggestion which could make everybody happy. Considering that it is allowed to give the source away for free under the condition that no fee is paid for this (not even a copying fee or a fee for the media), would it not be possible to say that. For the distribution of binaries. 1. Distribution is allowed when it is for free. No fee may be asked for copying or media. The binaries may not be included with any product for which a fee is requested. 2. If a fee is requested, then an amount of EUR 10 has to be paid to TT for each copy. In fact, it would not even have to specified specifically whether is applies to source or binaries. To make sure that there is an official distribution make sure all derivatives have to be clearly marked as such. I think it is useless to specify what kind of support resellers have to give. When they do give support, I assume honoust people will be prepared to pay a reasonable amount for their work. About binary distribution. I think the notes specified above make it possible to distribute things electronically as all unofficial distributions will be marked as such. You could even go a step further by protecting the SMSQ/E name an disallowing the use of the name for unofficial distributions. Hope this is constructive, Joachim
