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IT-Berater: Theo Gottwald (IT-Consultant) => Brians Board => Topic started by: Brian Alvarez on March 08, 2018, 03:58:28 AM
Title: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on March 08, 2018, 03:58:28 AM
Until now, the engine could compile 64 bit applications with no problems. However since the engine was using plain "string" strings, the calls to external DLL's crashed.
Today i decided to make a big step and started implementing BSTR as the default string type.
It is a challenge because now the engine must do much more to compare, concatenate and in general, handle the strings.
The benefits are that PluriBASIC will support Unicode, as well as being compatible with external DLL's and producing highly compatible DLLs and C++ SLLs, aka LIBs.
When i finish this, i would like to handle the array order to handle the params backwards. If you know what i mean. This will increase the compatibility with external stuff.
Brian. :)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on March 09, 2018, 12:57:16 AM
Done. The engine now uses BSTR's. Yay!
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on March 09, 2018, 12:58:23 AM
They all interact correctly when compared and concatenated.
:)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Theo Gottwald on April 07, 2018, 07:26:58 AM
Sounds good! Can you cooperate with other programmers who are working on such projects - for example - Charles Pegge (Oxygen) - James C. Fuller (bc9Basic) such a Cooperation would speed up things significantly. Especially as you come now to the part where you need to be compatible with APIs, DLL's from other Languiages and such.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Chris Chancellor on April 17, 2018, 12:28:21 AM
Brian, this O2 Charles Pegge is a maestro and he can help out on your project.
You should register as a member in oxygen basic and see what you can come up with a better product
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Charles Pegge on April 17, 2018, 10:24:19 AM
I would warmly welcome any compiler development that needs a back-end. Oxygen.dll (141kb) provides all-in-one basic compiling, assembly and linkage, both for PE files and direct JIT execution. The benefit to the Oxygen party would be to establish the best protocols and techniques for creating new compilers :)
The core functions are the minimum required for BASIC, and uses ole strings, like PowerBasic and thinBasic.
It is quite easy to add extensions and specialised syntax such as DDT, which can be decomposed into standard procedures.
As an example, here is our current co2 compiler source (4k), using oxygen.dll.
sys a,i string s,t,u sys swa,swc,swm 'COMPILER SWITCHES string fname,mname,xname '1st FILE NAME COMPONENTS string bfname,bmname,bxname '2nd FILE NAME COMPONENTS string er 'ERROR MESSAGES ' s=lcase CommandLineArgs() if not s then goto nofile ' 'SWITCHES '======== i=0 do i++ : skiplspace s,i if ascb<>45 then exit do i++ : skiplspace s,i select ascb case "i" : swa=ascb '-i intermediate output case "a" : swa=ascb '-a asm output case "b" : swa=ascb '-b o2 output case "c" : swc=ascb '-c compile case "m" : swm=ascb '-m do not show messagebox end select end do ' s=mid s,i ' nofile: 'check '============= ' if not s then pr.in " compiler options: <filename> compile and execute directly in memory -a <filename> list assembly code -b <filename> list o2 machine script -c <filename> <optional filename> compile to a binary -i <filename> list intermediate code -m output to console " jmp fwd done end if ' 'GET FILENAMES '============= ' i=1 : xname=".o2bas" 'DEFAULT SOURCE EXTENSION NAME fname=ParseFileName(s,i,mname,xname) bxname=".exe"'DEFAULT BINARY EXTENSION NAME bfname=ParseFileName(s,i,bmname,bxname) ' ' 'ATTEMPT TO GET FILE '=================== ' t=getfile fname if not t then pr.in "error 3: file empty or not found: "+fname jmp fwd done end if ' u="" ' if swc then if bfname="" then bfname=mname+".exe" end if u+="#file "+qu+bfname+qu+cr end if ' t=u+chr(12)+t ' ' 'NORMAL COMPILE '==============
'o2_mode 0 'read/return null terminated ascii strings o2_mode 9 'ascii string (1: byte characters) (8: o2 string) ' select swa case "a" : pr.in o2_prep(t) 'OUTPUT ASSEMBLY CODE case "b" : pr.in o2_view(t) 'OUTPUT O2 MACHINE SCRIPT (AFTER ASSEMBLY CODE) case "i" : pr.in o2_abst(t) 'OUTPUT INTERMEDIATE CODE (BEFORE ASSEMBLY CODE) case else : o2_basic t 'COMPILE TO EXECUTABLE BINARY end select ' er=o2_error ' if er then pr.in cr+ er jmp fwd done else if swc=0 then o2_exec 0 else pr.in cr+"Okay" end if end if
done: 'DISPLAY RESULTS sys ho,lew string prs=pr.out if len(prs) then if swm=0 then mbox prs else 'sys p=GetCurrentProcess() '-1 parent process AttachConsole(-1) 'attach to console of parent process output prs sys ho=GetStdHandle( STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE ) if ho<>consout then consout=ho : output prs 'windows 10 sleep 10 FreeConsole end if end if
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 17, 2018, 02:16:04 PM
Hello Charles, what is oxigen? The syntax looks very different to what i am aiming to... Can you ellaborate?
By the way, i already implemented ARRAY SORT. Im very close to compiling PluriBASIC in itself as a 64 bit compiler.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Charles Pegge on April 17, 2018, 04:27:28 PM
Hi Brian,
Oxygen understands the Qbasic/PB genre of Basic syntax, but has additional flexibility, including C notation. It could replace any dependencies on PB or a C compiler at the back-end.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Chris Chancellor on April 17, 2018, 05:45:54 PM
Hello Brian
PB commands can be converted directly to Oxygenbasic O2 commands and then be compile to 64bit exe and dll assemblies
and that O2 also allow for inline assembly which has all the features of PB inline assembly codes.
see the http://www.oxygenbasic.org/forum/index.php (http://www.oxygenbasic.org/forum/index.php) for yourself
and download its latest compiler and sample from https://github.com/Charles-Pegge/OxygenBasic/blob/master/OxygenBasicProgress.zip (https://github.com/Charles-Pegge/OxygenBasic/blob/master/OxygenBasicProgress.zip)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 17, 2018, 08:39:27 PM
PluriBASIC is prepared to output code for any platform. So, even if i added an Oxigen mode, i would still like to finish the C++ version. I also know Qbasic, maybe that will help. I will take a look when i have the chance. :)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Chris Chancellor on April 28, 2018, 09:06:26 PM
@Brian
As long as your IDE can produce 64bits native code from PB source code, it would have tremendous advantage over others. Alternately if it can emit O2 source codes for which we can later recompile to native codes it would be godsend also.
we need native compile exe and dlls bcos they are harder to hack than those MS intermediate language IL from VB.Net and C#. the MSIL are in clear text format and any source code it contains can be easily extracted out by hackers.
it is the time saving that matter most in any given established company where there are thousands of programs that need to be converted to 64bits. I heard of a company which has only converted some 40% of its codes from PB to Purebasic after a 4 year + non stop conversion effort and he has 3 programmers working full time on it. sadly the Purebasic language is very weird and this explains the difficulty involved for this conversion, Purebasic syntax is very different from other basic languages, it is like going against the grain task to do the conversion.
this means that there will be a very high demand for your product if you can produce an IDE converter that can convert 60 to 70% of the PB programs to native 64bits code.
Just join us at the O2 forum, and you will be able to write the O2 code that you needed. i myself has already converted more than 10 of company programs to O2.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 28, 2018, 09:14:15 PM
I might. However, PluriBASIC can already compile 64 bit apps with the help of a c++ compiler. I am now working on making it compatible with Jose's api headers. I only have two hands, and my partner is currently away from any computer. Its still going to be a while.
However, i tend to disagree. I have barely seen any interest in it. Quite the contrary. I am doing it as a hobby, and it might prrobably never see the light of day. Who knows. But i will still finish it.
Added: As a compiler developer, i kind of understand the point of view that Bob Zale once expressed. Creating a compiler is a huge load of work and if there is not enough market for it, it is not worth it to focus in it. Unfortunately i also need to make a living and the kind commends of 5 or 6 people, althoug VERY APPRECIATED, is not enough to invest such long time into the creation of it.
Even less if the effort i am putting into it is obscured by the ominous situation of releasing it.
Should an investor with $$ appear, i could focus in it (And I openly express it with the intention of attracting someone to jump in) and finish it much faster.
As things are right now, im just a guy with big intentions but very little time. If i had $$ i would invest in it to even give it away for free. But that is a luxury i unfortunately cannot afford. :(
This said, PluriBASIC is prepared to add new languages in very little time. I could probably add Oxigen basic support for it probably in the time i take to lear it + a week to implement it, but i have a tiring job i need to attend.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Mike Lobanovsky on April 29, 2018, 12:54:43 AM
... probably in the time i take to lear it + a week to implement it ...
You're obviously underestimating the O2 learning curve. It's a mature low-level BASIC-like language that takes time to master plus probably as much time to select and test thoroughly, among its many features, the ones that would best fit your needs to re-implement PB's higher level functionality to any practical degree of usability.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 29, 2018, 05:15:58 AM
You're obviously underestimating the O2 learning curve...
I didnt mention i would learn it quickly, so i am not underestmating it's learning curve [time?]. That time could be much more than a week. <playfulness>Or probably less? Probably you are also underestimating my humongous I.Q. ;) Hehehe. Jk. </playfulness>
Anyway, im sure i could have the fundamental basics of O2 (like if/then, for/next), in a couple nights. Maybe i will have a chance to prove it next weekend.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 29, 2018, 07:23:14 AM
I took a look at oxigen basic, and it looks like a BASIC-C++ hybrid. PluriBASIC should not have any issues generating code for it.
Charles, Where can i find information for invoking the dll function for compiling the generated code?
Thx.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 29, 2018, 08:07:22 AM
I went ahead and added an Oxigen basic compiler configuration tab. It seems to work fine.
PluriBASIC is now generating the basic if/then for/next macros and other stuff. According to the online reference, PluriBASIC seems to be generating code that can already be compiled (as soon as i find information on how to invoke the compiler DLL).
#COMPILER OXIGEN #COMPILE EXE #DIM ALL #OPTIONS X64 #DATABASE CLOSED
FUNCTION PBMAIN() AS LONG
STDOUT "Hello world"
END FUNCTION Other stuff like variable declarations should also be easy to generate. Two nights was an over estimate. I added the basics in 3 hours. Now off to sleep. :)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 29, 2018, 08:13:00 AM
Looking good.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Mike Lobanovsky on April 29, 2018, 10:41:41 AM
It is OxygenBasic, not Oxigen, Brian.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Chris Chancellor on April 29, 2018, 03:12:24 PM
Hello Brian
to invoke the O2 compiler use shellexecute the gxo2.exe in the format below
::Set the Oxygenbasic compiler path set o2dir=C:\OxygenBasicProgress
::Compile %o2dir%\gxo2.exe FindEd.o2bas
echo done pause
Note that the C:\OxygenBasicProgress is the folder containing the downloaded and unzipped contents from https://github.com/Charles-Pegge/OxygenBasic/blob/master/OxygenBasicProgress.zip (https://github.com/Charles-Pegge/OxygenBasic/blob/master/OxygenBasicProgress.zip)
and the given file name is FindEd.o2bas in this example use your own filename
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 29, 2018, 07:43:52 PM
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 29, 2018, 11:56:00 PM
Ok i will try it now. Should be easy to do if everything is in place.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 30, 2018, 12:01:14 AM
Charles, is there a way to omit the Messageboxes with syntax errors and instead get the message via STDIN so i can parse the line with the error and highlight it? the -m switch doesnt seem to work for that...
I would lke to be able to either do that, or make a direct call to the DLL that doesnt pop up messageboxes. Are the DLL declarations available?
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: James C. Fuller on April 30, 2018, 12:39:56 AM
Brian, In the tools subdirectory is exo2.bas that needs to be compiled with FreeBasic for console output. It is attached here. exo2 -c <filename>
James
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 30, 2018, 03:07:47 AM
Brian, In the tools subdirectory is exo2.bas that needs to be compiled with FreeBasic for console output. It is attached here. exo2 -c <filename>
James
Thanks James, i made a version of the Exodus file that doesnt display popup messageboxes. It now works fine and compiles OxygenBasic applications fine too. Next step is expanding the variety of statements supported by the engine.
Yaay! :)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Charles Pegge on April 30, 2018, 07:58:19 AM
Hi Brian,
You can now make your own fully customised compiler, using Oxygen.dll directly. My favourite is co2, as it is written in O2. Use o2_mode 9 for oleString i/o, like PB.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on April 30, 2018, 08:19:08 AM
Mode 9, got it.
What is mode 0 for?
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Charles Pegge on April 30, 2018, 12:38:42 PM
These are the i/o modes specified in oxygen.bas: ( bits 1,2 and 8 )
'specify string mode for various o2 API functions '0 ascii char* '1 ascii char* '2 unicode wchar* '8 ole bstring ascii '9 ole bstring ascii '10 ole bstring unicode '-------------------------------------------------- sub o2_mode alias "o2_mode" (byval m as sys) export '================================================== omo=m End Sub
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Chris Chancellor on September 09, 2018, 03:03:02 PM
Hello Brian long time no hear
any progress status on your project ?
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on September 10, 2018, 09:57:41 AM
Hello Chris.
The project is pretty advanced. In fact i already use it for my own purposes. Unfortunately the market is not very profittable and i need to focus in other things.
I wish to return to daily progress on it like before but since it is taking too long to generate profit i cant afford it. Thats why i wanted Adam to purchase the project, I believe he is more able to work on it and at the same time pay the bills.
Brian. :)
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Chris Chancellor on September 10, 2018, 04:06:02 PM
Hope that Adam will buy it from you and then resell it to us
at last there is a light at the end of the tunnel
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on September 11, 2018, 06:58:07 AM
A man can hope. Im sure it would help us both a great deal.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Patrice Terrier on September 11, 2018, 08:43:17 AM
Don't you understood that PowerBASIC as you known it, is gone for ever.
No serious programmer should invest on a dead horse.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on September 12, 2018, 02:52:28 AM
No serious programmer should invest on a dead horse.
Nobody should invest on a dead horse, unless you want an skeleton of a horse or something. I dont understand the analogy. Perhaps if i had understand it before i would not had things done? Sometimes thinking like the rest is a major obstacle.
Brian.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Patrice Terrier on September 13, 2018, 10:35:59 AM
Quote
Sometimes thinking like the rest is a major obstacle.
Try to pragmatic, and ask yourself does there is still a PowerBASIC market to make a living from as a third party addon provider?
Myself and my friend Philip Monteil, were the first PB's addon provider with DV32, in the year 1998 (after the PBDK fiasco). And the time of PB/DLL was the best period for the addon provider market, because many formal VB programmers where looking for an alternative to their tool of choice. But since that time, PB has always been years back compared to C/C++, mainly because Bob Zale spent too much time on DDT rather than improving the core features of the compiler.
As an example, i can compare the number of GDImage license sold to the PB's group and to the WinDev's one, and the ratio is 1/20 (countless of the 64-bit version), go figure…
If you are retired then keep on your good work, but if you are not, then better to move to a real market to feed your family.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Brian Alvarez on September 13, 2018, 07:42:04 PM
I believe the PowerBASIC market is big, but most of its fans are holding back because of the storm around it. I think you are right for the moment though. I believe the people can return to PowerBASIC, but it takes a man with enough funds to make it great again.
Title: Re: PluriBASIC - Progress March 7 2018
Post by: Patrice Terrier on September 14, 2018, 09:32:06 AM
Quote
I believe the PowerBASIC market is big
So big, that they can even deny access to their main site to all the EU residents, except those using a VPN, ridiculous...