Propeller Forth
EdKirk
Posts: 27
Guys,
I have succeeded in getting PROPELLER FORTH to run on my Protoboard.
Simple Forth commands work great.
How can I determine what Forth words have been defined and what they do.· There must be a way to access the Dictionary or the Glossary.
EdKirk
I have succeeded in getting PROPELLER FORTH to run on my Protoboard.
Simple Forth commands work great.
How can I determine what Forth words have been defined and what they do.· There must be a way to access the Dictionary or the Glossary.
EdKirk
Comments
*Peter*
\ PBJ's q&d CLB propeller forth extensions hex \ convert start and cnt to form suitable for "DO" : bounds ( start cnt -- end start ) over + swap ; : spaces ( cnt -- ) 0 do space loop ; : .hex ( nibble -- ) 30 + dup 39 > if 7 + then emit ; \ Print as 2 hex digits regardless of current base : .byte ( byte -- ) FF and 10 /mod .hex .hex ; : .word ( 16bits -- ) FFFF and 100 /mod .byte .byte ; : .long dup 10 rshift .word .word ; : .chars ( adrh adrl -- ) do i c@ 7F and dup 20 < if drop 2E then emit loop ; \ dump hex bytes + ascii from main memory : dump ( adr cnt -- ) bounds do i 10 bounds do i 0F and 0= if cr i .word ." : " then i c@ .byte space loop 2 spaces i 10 + i .chars 10 +loop ; : variable [noparse][[/noparse] ' create H, ] 0 , ; variable cksum ' Dump memory in INTEL hex format : IDUMP ( src cnt --- ) HEX BOUNDS DO 0 cksum ! CR 3A EMIT 10 DUP cksum +! .byte I FF AND cksum +! I 8 RSHIFT FF AND cksum +! I FFFF AND .word 0 .byte I 10 BOUNDS DO I C@ DUP cksum +! .byte LOOP 0 cksum C@ - .byte 10 +LOOP CR ." :00000001FF" CR ; \ dump words from cog memory : ldump ( wadr wcnt -- ) bounds do i 7 and 0= if cr i .word ." : " then i l@ .long space loop ; : ftype ( addr cnt -- ) bounds do i c@ dup 0= if 20 + then emit loop ; : .head ( cfa -- ) dup .word ." =[noparse][[/noparse]" \ print cfa dup h@ .word ." ] " cfa>nfa dup c@ 80 and if ." I" else ." ." then dup c@ 40 and if ." C" else ." ." then dup c@ 20 and if ." S" else ." ." then dup c@ 1F and .byte \ print count+atr space 1+ 7 ftype \ print name 4 spaces ; \ list dictionary words : WORDS 0 latest @ begin \ 4 words/line over 3 and 0= if cr then dup .head swap 1+ swap cfa>nfa nfa>lfa h@ dup while repeat 2drop ; 1F0 CONSTANT PAR 1F1 CONSTANT CNT 1F2 CONSTANT INA 1F3 CONSTANT INB 1F4 CONSTANT OUTA 1F5 CONSTANT OUTB 1F6 CONSTANT DIRA 1F7 CONSTANT DIRB 1F8 CONSTANT CTRA 1F9 CONSTANT CTRB 1FA CONSTANT FRQA 1FB CONSTANT FRQB 1FC CONSTANT PHSA 1FD CONSTANT PHSB 1FE CONSTANT VCFG 1FF CONSTANT VSCL* main memory address (header)
* cog address
* attributes (Immediate, Compile only)
* name count
* name
*Peter*
Your reply gives me a good start.
EDKirk
past messages looking for the download but the best I could find was a binary file in one of the past messages.
Although there was a source file listed, it was not present when I tried to download it. I did get the binary file
and the following instruction indicated:
From this page, you can download a binary image of PropellerForth, suitable for transfer directly to the Parallax Propeller chip using the Propeller Tool.
How do you load a binary file to the propellor using the Propellor tool? I read through all the docs in the Hydra
manual but I didn't see any reference to being able to upload a binary file to the propellor...
I may be mis-reading some of this, I have been known to do things like that -- so please be kind to a propellor
newbie.
Fred2
Cliff wrote this Forth and there is no Spin/ASM source available as the binary was assembled from Cliff's Propasm tool. Cliff has since been abducted by aliens.
*Peter*
I hope the aliens take pity on us and let him do some more wonderful programs..
I'm getting ready to do some FORTH!!!
Fred2
I have a compound question.
(I haven't really looked at FORTH, but I've read a little about it. I did look at Cliff's website and I am afraid that Peter is right... except, I suspect Cliff might actually BE an alien, living among us. I am afraid that he might have gotten bored and just left.[noparse]:)[/noparse]
I even went as far as to forgo my usual reasons for accessing the newsgroups and looked at the Forth stuff there... to put it mildly, if you wanted to engage in anti-Forth advertising you couldn't do it better than the newsgroups do... I didn't find a single question that seemed like it was in English or a single answer that didn't sound like it was a joke I would appreciate... if I could understand it.
1) I was half-thinking about the Propeller for some number theory stuff... and Forth seems like it could do things like very big numbers... would that be accurate?
and
b) do I have to join a cult or can normal people learn Forth?
For instance, with what you now know... if you sat down to create a huge number capacity in Forth... how long would it take you?
Let's say for argument that by "huge number" we mean integers of unlimited scale, with support in the usual operators.
Rich
ps... I'm getting old. So, write slowly.
Ok rjo, I'm writing slowly, each character is taking approximately 200,000,000,000ps to type so bear with me.
b)
I'm sorry to tell you that if you need to ask whether you need to join a cult to learn Forth then you are not "one of us". Forth is a write-only language incomprehensible to the uninitiated. Forth is not learned, it is something instinctive to the select few and incantations are best carried out in dark basements away from bright corporate lights.
Computer languages are much the same really, you just need to learn the rules. Unfortunately Forth has no rules which makes it that much harder to learn. Most conventional languages require strict syntax and strong data typing to suit the compiler and since there are very few ways of doing one thing it is easy to teach and learn.
Forth IS the compiler, and the O/S, and the language, the debugger etc. So the "compiler" can be rehashed simply to suit the application and the language changed to suit the applicator etc. This is why Forth is dangerous in the hands of the uninitiated, like the wizard's apprentice you can end up making a real mess of things.
What IS required is a different way of thinking, you are not bound by compiler rules so you can make the rules that suit. Have a look at the online book "Thinking Forth" by Leo Brodie thinking-forth.sourceforge.net/
Yes, you can handle big big numbers contrary to what most people think (because Forth does not come standard with Floating Point (sinful!)). The secret is in the extensible nature of the language so that you could define 256-bit numbers and number handlers if you wished.
Ok, I better get back to abduct some more humans delving into alien concepts.
*Peter*
Love that!
Love the Prop for same reasons.
I have fallen in love three times.
First time with present wife. That was a long time ago.
Second time when I learned about Forth back in 1981 (I think).
Third time when I met the Propeller.
Falling in love every twentieth year keeps you young at heart.
Thanks!!!
Rich
read your message a little late, so I am a few messages from your original post.
when an early home computer came out in the pre-pc days termed the "jackintosh", I was so anxious to
get one that I haunted a local store until the first one arrived and snapped it up. Unfortunately, (as was
the case in those days) there were no programs available except for a FORTH implementation. I was
more used to assembly languages but I was determined to get a memory dump and so I pored over the
FORTH specs and by "cut and try" experimentation, I managed to get a dump working. I was so impressed
with the FORTH capabilities that I wrote an article about the process and it was published in one of the
computer magazines at the time. BUt I hadn't used FORTH since then and now here is my chance to
do it again.
I have learned how to upload the binary file to the demo board but I have had no success in getting a
display, either on TV or VGA. And since it is a binary, I don't know where or how to debug it to find the
problem. I do see that the pin leds 17,19,21 and 23 are lit if that is a significant clue. I would appreciate
any suggestions....
I, too, am interested in number theory and playing with large numbers. One of my goals with the Propellor
was to write a program called TRAC which is a string handling program that uses only integers and can
generate extremely large numbers for analysis. I have written versions of TRAC for many early machines
like the PDP8 and similar small computers.
Can anyone suggest some steps to get the FORTH program active on the demo board? And is the output
supposed to be TV or VGA?
Fred2
As I have mentioned previously I am writing my own Propeller Forth (restarting actually) but it uses the Propeller tool environment so you can add the objects that you wish to etc. Once you have downloaded your "distro" of Forth into EEPROM it is possible to develop and test Forth programs independent of the PC, especially if you have extra storage connected such as an SD card.
Hopefully, if I don't get too sidetracked I will release some code in the next few weeks.
*Peter*
In the meantime, I tried various speeds in Hyperterm until I hit the right one and got
a display indicating "PropellorForth v1.0 20061112" and "Ready". I tried keyboard input
but no response.
The "dump" I referred to was a program to do a memory dump, not a criticism of the program....
Now I understand why there was no output to TV or VGA.
I am now more anxious than ever to try FORTH on the demo board. All the previous messages
gave the impression that people had been using the program and that is what gave me the
idea to try it.
Good luck and I will anxiously await any further code releases.
Fred2