📚 Saving (all of) BASIC Anywhere Machine: It doesn't have to be clunky

With a traditionally installed BASIC implementation, that BASIC implementation is software installed on your computer.  And every BASIC program you create is in a file.

BASIC Anywhere Machine is a TiddlyWiki instance (specifically, an instance of TiddlyWiki 5.2.3).

Because it is a TiddlyWiki instance, everything that makes BASIC Anywhere Machine work, and every BASIC program you create in it, are all part of the one HTML file that is TiddlyWiki.

As you work on some project in TiddlyWiki, like any project with some other BASIC, it is a good idea to save what you are doing every once in a while (and when you are done!)

But your web browser's "file save" will not work correctly.  You have to use the TiddlyWiki save mechanism, which actually triggers the browser "download" functionality.  Your "save" is a download of a new version of BASIC Anywhere Machine (the one that exists in your browser window/tab) with whatever changes you've made since you opened it in your browser (your programs are now part of your instance of BASIC Anywhere Machine.)

So you download it for the first time (say after opening my hosted version of BAM) by pressing BAM's save button in the top-left(ish) corner and you save it to a USB thumbdrive.  Next time, you open your copy of BAM from the thumbdrive.

As you work away and decide to save, you press that save button and make a decision: overwrite the already existing file on your thumbdrive, or save it with a new name (there or somewhere else.)

The TiddlyWiki saving mechanism is a little bit clunky because it is always a download with a decision to make.

There are "helper tools" to make saving more like traditional software.

TiddlyWiki has various saving options for many operating systems and web browsers.  See this page and explore the options.  (Although all of these should work with BAM, you might want to compare with the same info circa BAM's version of TiddlyWiki.)

I will discuss here just the few I've used.

TiddlyDrive (no longer exists!)

My home being a Chromebooks only household, having everything on Google Drive is a natural fit.

The TiddlyDrive "Google Drive Add-On" did this to save: pressing the save button overwrote the file on Google Drive.  Nothing else to do.  Awesome.

However, the developer of TiddlyDrive stopped maintaining it last January, and it finally stopped working about a week ago.

Bummer.

TiddlyDesktop

That is quite awesome.  It is like a file manager for all of your TiddlyWiki instances (including any number of BAM instances).  Opening a TiddlyWiki instance via TiddlyDesktop, the save button then triggers TiddlyDesktop to automate replacement of the file.  Nothing else to do.  Awesome.

However, for me, it means having to load Linux to run TiddlyDesktop (the Linux version).  Everything runs just as well as things would run on any other computer, but I am so used to the blazing speed of my Chromebook, that I cannot stand any delays.

TiddlyHost

I really like this.  The experience is exactly like the one I had with Google Drive + TiddlyDrive add-on.

I've only been using this for about a week, but it feels excellent.  So much so that I've started monthly donations to support the service.  I highly recommend it if you have a good internet provider and service.

Other Options

For all other options, you'll have to investigate them yourself.  Try the options with a download of the latest version of TiddlyWiki.  If you need help getting a "saver" working with the latest version of TiddlyWiki, the TiddlyWiki community can definitely help.

Once you've got that figured out with the latest TiddlyWiki instance, get a hold of me, show me what needs to be done, and I'll help you get that working with BASIC Anywhere Machine via a Google Meet or something like that.