Interesting Error in my BS2 Interpreter (or implementation)
Bill Chennault
Posts: 1,198
All--
I run the BS2 interpreter on two machines, both are tablet PCs. Only one of them actually has Parallax equipment hooked up to it. The other, I just used to install the software some time ago to see if it would actually work.
Today, I thought I would write a little code on this second machine . . . the one I do not use for my robotics work. A funny thing happened when I wrote the DO keyword. As soon as I typed·any visible, ASCII character less than an upper case "A" after the DO keyword,·DO turned to DC! A syntax check found nothing wrong with it.
Further testing revealed that this strange behavior does not occur when either the directives ' {$PBASIC 2.5} or·' {$STAMP BS2} are in place. However, as soon as the second one is inserted, DO goes nuts. (It also turns blue.)
I will test on the production Parallax machine when I can get to it.
In the meantime, if this is a known issue, I would appreciate some information, because, like good ol' DO, I am going nuts trying to figure it out!
--Bill
ps First, I thought it was George Jones, because I had him cranked up under iTunes. Then I shut iTunes off, but it made no difference.
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You are what you write.
I run the BS2 interpreter on two machines, both are tablet PCs. Only one of them actually has Parallax equipment hooked up to it. The other, I just used to install the software some time ago to see if it would actually work.
Today, I thought I would write a little code on this second machine . . . the one I do not use for my robotics work. A funny thing happened when I wrote the DO keyword. As soon as I typed·any visible, ASCII character less than an upper case "A" after the DO keyword,·DO turned to DC! A syntax check found nothing wrong with it.
Further testing revealed that this strange behavior does not occur when either the directives ' {$PBASIC 2.5} or·' {$STAMP BS2} are in place. However, as soon as the second one is inserted, DO goes nuts. (It also turns blue.)
I will test on the production Parallax machine when I can get to it.
In the meantime, if this is a known issue, I would appreciate some information, because, like good ol' DO, I am going nuts trying to figure it out!
--Bill
ps First, I thought it was George Jones, because I had him cranked up under iTunes. Then I shut iTunes off, but it made no difference.
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You are what you write.
Comments
The DO command only came about with the advent of PBASIC 2.5, so I suspect that's part of the issue.
Regards,
Bruce Bates
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I really thought as you suggested, especially since I downloaded PBASIC 2.5 very early in the game . . . long before I bought anything from Parallax. But, today, after I noticed the issue, I used Parallax's uninstall utility--which is included in their install utility and is visible only if the utility detects PBASIC on your machine--to completely uninstall PBASIC. Next, I used the Parallax website to re-install 2.5.
Same results.
Perhaps someone from Parallax will see this and jump in to give us·a clue. (Personally, I believe it is my new IBM Thinkpad/XP/SP2.)
I need to know the answer, or a good work-around, because I am going to start using this computer (the "I hate PBASIC" Thinkpad) to write code, in addition to my other one; the production machine!
--Bill
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You are what you write.
Are you sure there’s not some weird font or dot pitch problem going on? When you type DO (or do) with the PBASIC 2.5 directive in the code it should turn blue and become uppercase. You’re indicating it’s becoming DC, which looks like DO with the right part of the O covered up. Here’s how you can tell. First of all do a syntax check. If it passes it’s probably an O. Second, highlight the word and do a COPY, then paste it into notepad and see what it says. If you see DO or do, then something is happening with your font in the Editor on that machine. Take care.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
Ha! Good one! Great thinking!
Below is my "DC" . . .
DO
I also stuck it in Word with the same results. I will quit worrying and start writing (and playing with fonts). (I also have a help ticket in on a USB to serial adapter compatible with your eb500. I imagine I should have just posted that question here, as well!)
--Bill
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You are what you write.
Gee. Changing the font from 10 to 12 made a big difference!
I really thought it was George Jones, though. He was singing one of those "crying in your beer songs." I hate it when that happens. (After a while, the beer tastes salty.)
--Bill
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You are what you write.
- The Basic Stamp Editor/Development system is version v2.2.6 is the most recent EDITOR program
- PBASIC is the name of the language you are using inside this editor when you write code.
- The Basic Stamp Editor/Development system can "tokenize" code written with PBASIC v1.0, PBASIC v2.0 and PBASIC v2.5.
- The ' {$PBASIC X.X} directive tells the Basic Stamp Editor/Development system what syntax set to use to interpret your code
So, the Basic Stamp Editor/Development system and the version of PBASIC are very separate things.
Ok, long shot here, but if its a laptop, and you are using the internal keyboard to type, is the NUMLOCK on by any chance? I've seen circumstances where the numlock had caused numeric data to be entered when you hit keys such as "o"
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Post Edited (Vern) : 3/19/2007 9:15:07 PM GMT
· It’s the font.
--Bill
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You are what you write.
I forgot to thank you for the other information: Thank you!
--Bill
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You are what you write.