Home Place Baseball Card Database 1.2.2 Released.

I have already updated the software for my Baseball Card DB. Now at version 1.2.2. Yes, twice in one week. I have made several improvements. Biggest is the you can monitor your data files to see how large they are becoming and how much disk space you have left. Also made some interface changes. Code named Lynn in honor of my uncle that just passed away.  Currently still only for the TI-99/4A with extended BASIC with one or move drives.

Baseball Card Database for TI-99/4A

I now have a release version 1.2 for my Baseball Card Database for TI-99/4A.

There are a lot of improvements, functional, but not perfect.  Made changes in data so that the cards grade can be added.  Still works with the old format of version 1.0.  Now can change working disk that you wish to use.  Defaults to Disk 1.  Also added an easier to read font and cleaned up display detail to make all easier to read.

w-view

 I have added a ton of new code to my w-view project.  That said, I have a ton of testing to do.  What is new?  A lot of sub modules.  A GUI interface that I originally was making a web interface, but not an X11 interface.  Tie-ins to SIP and XMPP.   And much more.  

The interface, like much of what I do, is programmed in the X11 GDX widget.

One more tool

 I have made a lot of progress on the GTextUp suite lately.  EZMF2f has reached a new level. ReLiEd has hit 1.x.   But now I'm adding one more tool to the suite.  LaTex2f.  This is a tool that will convert any TeX/LaTeX document to many other formats, much like what EZMF2f does for EZMF.  Much of the code is done.  The biggest piece left, also applies to EZMF2f, is some PDF conversion formatting tricks.  I know TeX can't do everything EZMF can, but Tex can also do currently many things that EZMF can't do.  But LaTeX/TeX is much more mainstream and this is something I want to accomplish.  It is way more common for complex academic papers to be written in TeX as it is more powerful than Microsoft Word still and easier to use. 

New update on EZ document tools

 I have released an update on the command line tool EzReLiEd.  New version is 1.0.3.

EzReLiED is a search and replace line editor that works on many platforms (tested on Linux, Windows, MacOSX, and UNIX99) and is geared for documents that are usually text, EzMF, or HTML based.

I will have the new source to the whole suite published hopefully this weekend under GPL 2 license.

When I have a satisfactory UNIX99 development environment, I will release certain apps with UNIX99 binaries also.  

WAR IRON of the Red Clan

I'm going to do something I have never tried before, to make a game in Tandy's SG24 mode.  This will be a major difference in the development path I'm taking with the TI-99/4A, C64, and Atari 8-bit.  Those three system's graphics are being done with 8x8 bitmap pixels.

80s BASIC

I'm currently reprogramming a game I did before called Seven/Eleven. The game looked a little dull so I'm remaking all the interfaces. This made me realize how much I enjoy some 80s BASICs over others.

Here is a list of my Favorite 80's BASICs that I use fairly regular, from favorite to least favorite.

1 TI-99 Extended BASIC

2 TI-99 BASIC

3 Tandy Extended Color BASIC 2.0

4 Tandy Extended Color BASIC 1.1

5 Tandy BASIC

6 Commodore BASIC V2

7 Atari BASIC

8 AppleSoft II BASIC

I should note that my first exposure to Tandy BASIC and Apple II BASIC was mostly as a teenager through public schools.

Why TI at the top? Most control in the easiest way. I really think if most companies and found someone better than Microsoft to develop their BASIC language, they could have been much better. What I like about Tandy and Commodore is that what ever they lack in BASIC features, they are quite hackable. It is possible to get to modes the physical computer could do that were not addressed in the BASIC environment.  Really, that is why Microsoft had the PEEK and POKE commands because there was so much they did not know how to translate into BASIC usefully.  And the way Microsoft used their graphics modes were so over complicated and stupid.  Really just limiting.  For the most part, programmers that understood the hardware capabilities and used assembler/machine language were really able to make the most of these computers.

It is not like TI-99 Extended BASIC was perfect as there were feature that were not addressed until the late 80s and early 90s with Super Extended BASIC by third party developers - but by that time most of the world had moved on from TI-99.  TI-99 popularity now is just mainly from people that remember fondly how much they enjoyed using TI-99 in the late 70s and early 80s.

Sadly the two most fun computers  TI and Tandy were the two most physically limiting computers.  TI-only made a 32K memory expansion for their computer that was shipped out with 16k.  TI also made their computers slower than need be by running code in video memory.  Tandy did not provide a dedicated 3 voice or better sound chip and a video processing chip that only handled 9 colors on both the CoCo 1 and 2. 

TI did make up in other areas though.  Best built in sprite capabilities, 16-bit processor, and S-Video output.  Tandy did make up for it with the easiest, but powerful, graphics and music programming commands. With some hacking past Microsoft's made limitations, graphically Tandy could put out some nice graphics with only 9 colors. 

Programming on the Tandy CoCo

I did some programming tonight on the Tandy CoCo.  First opinion is that the BASIC is a much cleaner and easier BASIC to use than other Microsoft BASICS.  I'm not sure why Microsoft didn't do things 

quite the same way with the TANDY CoCo, but I'm kinda glad they didn't.





Formating like this is really easy and straight forward.

820 PRINT D1;" ";D2;" ";D3;" ";D4

Random numbers is super easy and straight forward.

100 X = RND(-TIMER) :REM Seed the generator
..<snip>..
800 D1=RND(6)
802 D2=RND(6)

I should run the computer though the same tests that I have the others and see how it stacks.

Voice of R2D2

 

Seven-Eleven for TI-99

My version of Seven-Eleven for TI-99:  UPDATE: Please note that I now have better versions of this program on my web site: http://mrgibson.com


10 REM Seven Eleven
15 REM by Michael R Gibson
20 GAME=0
25 WIN=0
30 LOSS=0
32 PNTS=105
34 A=0
36 GOSUB 400
40 CALL CLEAR
45 PRINT " Seven / Eleven"
50 PRINT " *$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$+"
52 PRINT "! The Win Tally ~"
54 PRINT "! ~"
60 PRINT "! Wins:", WIN
65 PRINT "! Losses:", LOSS
70 GAME=GAME+1
80 PNTS=PNTS-5
90 PRINT "! Points:",PNTS
100 PRINT "!"
105 PRINT "! Game:", GAME
108 CALL VCHAR(19,22,126,5)
110 GOSUB 200
120 IF A = 7 THEN 300
125 IF A = 11 THEN 300
130 IF A = 2 THEN 600
135 IF A = 12 THEN 600
145 GOTO 310
200 N=0
210 PRINT
215 PRINT "Press any key to roll"
220 N=N+WIN
225 CALL KEY(0,K,S)
227 IF S = 0 THEN 220
230 CALL CLEAR
240 C=INT(RND*6)+1
250 B=INT(RND*6)+1
260 A = B + C
270 PRINT " "
275 PRINT "Total rolled", A
278 PRINT " "
280 GOSUB 500
290 RETURN
300 PRINT "Great, You won"
301 PRINT " "
302 WIN = WIN + 1
303 PNTS = PNTS + 20
304 PRINT "Press R and Enter to roll"
305 PRINT "Press Q and Enter to quit"
306 INPUT KEY$
307 IF KEY$ = "Q" THEN 700
308 GOTO 40
310 PRINT "Sorry, you lose"
312 PRINT " "
320 LOSS = LOSS + 1
322 PRINT "Press R and Enter to roll"
324 PRINT "Press Q and Enter to quit"
326 INPUT KEY$
328 IF KEY$ = "Q" THEN 700
330 GOTO 40
400 REM define graphics
410 CALL CHAR(33,"0101010101010101")
415 CALL CHAR(42,"00000708102040FF")
420 CALL CHAR(43,"0000FC0C14244484")
424 REM 64=@
425 CALL CHAR(64,"8585858991A1C181")
426 CALL CHAR(95,"8585858990A0C080")
429 REM 94 = ^
430 CALL CHAR(94,"FF")
435 CALL CHAR(36, "0000FF00000000FF")
440 REM 45 = -
445 CALL CHAR(45, "8585858585858585")
450 REM 126 = ~
455 CALL CHAR(126,"8484848484848484")
490 RETURN
500 REM print graphics
505 PRINT " "
510 PRINT "YOU ROLLED A "
515 PRINT " *$$+*$$+"
518 PRINT "! - ~ "
520 PRINT "!";C;"-";B;"~ "
522 PRINT "! @ _"
525 PRINT " ^^^ ^^^ "
530 PRINT "With two D6"
540 RETURN
600 PRINT "Rolled 2 ones or 2 sixes"
610 PRINT "End of the game"
620 PNTS = PNTS-5
630 PRINT " Extra Points lost"
650 GOTO 145
700 END

Dice Roller for TI-95

 I have published my first version of the TI-95 dice roller:

http://mrgibson.com/dd/dragon-n-dice-ti-95-v1-0.txt

A couple of screenshots:

Building a computer by scratch (and other stuff)

 Been a moment since I have posted.  What tech-wise has kept me occupied?

1)   I'm building a computer by scratch.

2)  and programming on a TI-95.   Yes, I'm making a dice roller for it and will soon have screen shots.

3)  I'm making a storage interface for the TI-95.

4) other programming exercises. 

New Dice roller code

Along side of the many platforms I have written my Dice Roller software for, I'm now adding the TI-92 series to the list. These very portable handheld devices make perfect sense to have this code to bring to a game. I should have code and screenshots soon.




I may make a few D&D tools for this device being that it is so powerful, yet compact.

TI Rounding Routine and snowflake

 

stuff....

Just rolled out a new point version of GLASS and the program continues to get better.

for 0.9.0 the following changes:

- bug fixes
- Column background color
- Formula background color blue added
- Added setup menu
--- change column header
--- change column width
- Auto refresh
- temp file cache/recovery.



I'm also updating other projects like Dragons, Druids, and Dice...

More on my new spread sheet software

As I continue to tweak the code, I'm realizing there will not be a 16K version. This will require 32K. Although it is possible to have 1M on the TI-99/4A, I don't think this is a reasonable requirement as this is much harder to aquire and not considered standard setup, where-as 32K is. I have sliced some code off, yet memory restaints in an issue.

Menus are done. Now I'm testing and tweaking the code to make it the best I can under the 32k scope.

I'll have more screenshot and code released soon.

99-sss 25.0 spread sheet software

I'm about to release my newest spread sheet software for the TI-99/4A. I'm pretty excited about this one.

99-sss 25.0
But this version is much different than my previous.

First of all, it has heavy requirements for the TI-99/4A :
- Extended BASIC
- 16k or 32K RAM - (16k = 10x10, 32k = 10x30)
- Floppy Disk drive (real or virtual) - data saving.
- Tape drive (real or virtual)

But the capabilities are better, most importantly : - exporting data to other spread sheets
- configuring the spreadsheet as you go
- save to cassette or disk
- printing and plotting

Some of the specs might change as I tweak this version. I'm going to release the application on tape format for maximum user distribution.
I will probably have two versions. One tweaked for 16K of RAM, one tweaked for 32k of RAM. Since it is programmed in Extended BASIC, yes it will be opensource. What Lic? Probably GPL 3. I'm testing this on Virtual and Real Hardware.
Will I release this software for Atari or C64? I don't know yet.

Mad Magazine code for the TI-99/4A

Here is a fun little program







100 REM MAD 2025 (TI-BASIC)


110 CALL CLEAR

120 CALL SCREEN(15)

130 FOR N=1 TO 16

140 CALL COLOR(N,5,1)

150 NEXT N

160 FOR N=1 TO 98

170 READ DEF$,GRAPHICS,ROW,COLUMN

180 CALL CHAR(GRAPHICS,DEF$)

190 CALL HCHAR(ROW,COLUMN,GRAPHICS,1)

200 NEXT N

210 M$="WHAT, ME WORRY?"

220 FOR I=1 TO LEN(M$)

230 ID=ASC(SEG$(M$,I,1))

240 CALL HCHAR(19,9+I,ID)

250 NEXT I

260 GOTO 260

270 DATA "00000000010F3FFC",33,5,15,"01030F7EFCE00000",34,5,16,"A8D870E0FE070000",35,5,17

280 DATA "0000000000073FF8",36,5,18,"000001070E180000",37,6,12,"01FCFFF16060C080",38,6,13

290 DATA "8FFED8C020000000",39,6,14,"E000000000000000",40,6,15,"1613010000000000",41,6,18

300 DATA "00E0301C0E070301",42,6,19,"000000000080C0E0",48,6,20,"01070E0E0E0E0C0D",43,7,12

310 DATA "C080000000000000",45,7,13,"E070381E0F070301",46,7,20,"000000000080C0E0",47,7,21

320 DATA "0F0D191913070E1C",49,8,12,"0000000101010101",50,8,13,"00131B9ADE7E6E6C",51,8,14

330 DATA "00C0F03E07000000",52,8,15,"00007F3FC3F03C0E",53,8,16,"003C8FCDFE1F0E00",54,8,17

340 DATA "0000FEFF31180C00",55,8,18,"0000000080E1713F",56,8,19,"0100000070D8D818",57,8,20

350 DATA "F8C04060703C3218",58,8,21,"1C3C78D898303038",59,9,12,"03020606061E1C18",60,9,13

360 DATA "6C6C400000000000",61,9,14,"311C0C0000000000",62,9,19,"30381C0C06070301",64,9,20

370 DATA "1C1C0C0C0E0E0F0D",66,9,21,"1818183870606060",67,10,12,"0C0C1C1838303060",68,10,13

380 DATA "0003070F1C383070",70,10,14,"FFFFFFFF0001010F",71,10,15,"008080800080C0E0",73,10,16

390 DATA "00000001030F0F0C",74,10,17,"00007FFFFFFFC000",75,10,18,"000080C0E0F03000",76,10,19

400 DATA "0103030607070301",78,10,20,"0606060606060403",80,10,21,"000000030F3C70C7",81,11,11

410 DATA "606060B0180C0603",83,11,12,"606040C08080C0E0",85,11,13,"31071E0F00010301",86,11,14

420 DATA "FF7D7D0000ECF9C3",88,11,15,"800080C000C0C080",90,11,16,"0001030703040101",91,11,17

430 DATA "00FF7F7D00013FFF",92,11,18,"0080C0E0E0808000",93,11,19,"0100000000010103",94,11,20

440 DATA "E362626246CF9FB0",95,11,21,"0000000000F8FE07",96,11,22,"DFDCD8DCCCE4F07C",97,12,11

450 DATA "F3793C7070707878",98,12,12,"C0C0E0F010004060",99,12,13,"0000000000010307",100,12,15

460 DATA "80000C1C1800040E",101,12,16,"0000060E0C000000",102,12,17,"1E00000000006064",103,12,18

470 DATA "0303000000020307",104,12,20,"71E105150F193323",105,12,21,"FB3B391919999B83",106,12,22

480 DATA "3C3C1E0F07030100",107,13,11,"7F3F0F0398CCE070",108,13,12,"6060707038300008",109,13,13

490 DATA "000000030F3F5F1E",110,13,14,"030F3BF1E0C08000",111,13,15,"06FCFFFE00000000",112,13,16

500 DATA "060F9E0000203010",113,13,17,"3437630100000000",114,13,18,"0080C0FC7E3F3F17",115,13,19

510 DATA "030307070382C6C4",116,13,20,"131B1A187973270F",117,13,21,"070E3C78F0E08000",118,13,22

520 DATA "381C0F0700000000",119,14,12,"0C1CDEFE0E070703",120,14,13,"3F3F33000000C0E0",121,14,14

530 DATA "0080E03F1F010403",122,14,15,"000000FFFFFF9222",123,14,16,"303000FFFFFF7272",124,14,17

540 DATA "000001FFFEF8600C",125,14,18,"1331B0C000000000",126,14,19,"8206060F0F1D1C38",127,14,20

550 DATA "0F1E3C78F0C00000",128,14,21,"0301000000000000",129,15,13,"E0F6FF3F1F070000",130,15,14

560 DATA "03010080C0E0F078",131,15,15,"82C0E0707F3F1F00",132,15,16,"70000001FFFFFE00",133,15,17

570 DATA "3870E0C080000103",134,15,18,"0001070F1E3C78E0",135,15,19,"F0E0C08000000000",136,15,20

580 DATA "3C1E0F0301000000",137,16,15,"00000080E0FF7F1F",138,16,16,"0000000001FFFFFF",139,16,17

590 DATA "03070F3EFCF0E080",140,16,18,"E0C0800000000000",141,16,19

Just stuff.

I didn't go to the Card National in Chicago this weekend. I did not meet Andre Dawson. I didn't even go to Chicago this weekend. I have pulled tendons in my foot and I have a bad cold as consolation prizes of this weekend #MondayMotivation


I did pickup some more cards (75 of them). My favorite is the Ryne Sandberg All-Star mustache.  picked up other HoFers.





I do have more programming done with DaLiLa and started a manual for it also.

something fun - 3d cone

10 CLS
15 SCREEN 9
20 FOR N=0 TO 100 STEP 2
30 CIRCLE (150+N,150),100-N,9
40 NEXT N


Replace N by N*0.8 or so, or even N*1.1, and the 3D cone effect will be stronger.

PS

I have something coding wise that I plan to announce soon.  A new programming language.  Waiting for it to mature to a certain level before I announce it.