For both functions, "1" would be returned to indicate that a mouse button is pressed.
Now, both functions return "-1" (i.e. the system constant TRUE) to indicate that a mouse button is pressed.
Unchanged: a "0" (i.e. the system constant FALSE) is returned to indicate that a mouse button is NOT pressed.
In any previously created BAM programs, you will need to change things like "IF _MOUSEBUTTON = 1" to one of:
The _GETCHR$ function does the reverse of the recently added _LETCHR$ statement.
Checkout a sample application:
The _GETCHR$ statement returns the string representation of the 8x8 pixel definition for a character that matches the specified ascii code.
_GETCHR$( ASCII_code%)
About three months ago, I made changes to BASIC Anywhere Machine's screen modes, rolling out the update and completely forgetting to make any kind of heads-up announcement about it.
And I forgot to update a whole bunch of programs to use the new screen modes.
Surprise?
The previous screen modes were the as-is screen modes as implemented in wwwBASIC (as found on Github Dec 27, 2020. I wanted something more to my liking, so I adjusted them to the ones described in this post.
You can still access the last version of BASIC Anywhere Machine with the old screen modes here (and the documentation for that version here.)
You can compare with the current version of BASIC Anywhere Machine here (and the current version of the documentation here.) If you had noticed any programs not working: I updated these programs in BASIC Anywhere Machine yesterday to use the new screen modes. (list of those further down below.)
Also, for your convenience, you can compare the previous screen modes (info below) to the current screen modes in this post.
| Mode | Screen Width | Screen Height | Columns | Rows | Screen Aspect | Font Height | Colour Scheme | Bits Per Pixel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 640 | 200 | 80 | 25 | 2.4 | 8 | rgba | 4 | |
| Alternative width: 40 | (See the statement) | ||||||||
| 1 | 320 | 200 | 40 | 25 | 1.2 | 8 | screen1 | 2 | |
| 2 | 640 | 200 | 80 | 25 | 2.4 | 8 | monochrome | 1 | |
| 7 | 320 | 200 | 40 | 25 | 1.2 | 8 | rgba | 4 | |
| 640 | 200 | 80 | 25 | 2.4 | 8 | rgba | 4 | ||
| 640 | 350 | 80 | 25 | 480/350 | 14 | rgba | 4 | ||
| 640 | 350 | 80 | 25 | 480/350 | 14 | monochrome | 2 | ||
| 11 | 640 | 480 | 80 | 30 | 1 | 16 | monochrome | 2 | |
| 12 | 640 | 480 | 80 | 30 | 1 | 16 | rgba | 4 | |
| 13 | 320 | 200 | 25 | 1.2 | 8 | undefined | 24 | ||
| 14 | 320 | 240 | 15 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | ||
| 15 | 400 | 300 | 18 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | ||
| 16 | 512 | 384 | 24 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | ||
| 17 | 640 | 400 | 80 | 25 | 1.2 | 16 | undefined | 24 | |
| 18 | 640 | 480 | 80 | 30 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | |
| 19 | 800 | 600 | 100 | 37 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | |
| 20 | 1024 | 768 | 128 | 48 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | |
| 21 | 1280 | 1024 | 160 | 64 | 1 | 16 | undefined | 24 | |
| Mode | Width X Height (Pixels) | Columns X Rows (Characters) | Screen Aspect | Font Height | Colour Mode | Bits Per Pixel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 640 X 200 | 80 X 25 | 2.4 | 8 | p16 | 4 |
| 1 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 1.2 | 8 | p4 | 2 |
| 2 | 640 X 200 | 80 X 25 | 2.4 | 8 | p2 | 1 |
| 7 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 1.2 | 8 | p16 | 4 |
| 8 | 640 X 200 | 80 X 25 | 2.4 | 8 | p16 | 4 |
| 9 | 640 X 350 | 80 X 25 | 480/350 | 14 | p16 | 4 |
| 10 | 640 X 350 | 80 X 25 | 480/350 | 14 | p2 | 1 |
| 11 | 640 X 480 | 80 X 30 | 1 | 16 | p2 | 1 |
| 12 | 640 X 480 | 80 X 30 | 1 | 16 | p16 | 4 |
| 13 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 1.2 | 8 | p256 | 8 |
| 14 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 1 | 8 | p256 | 8 |
| 15 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 2.4 | 8 | p256 | 8 |
| 16 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 1.2 | 16 | p256 | 8 |
| 17 | 320 X 200 | 40 X 25 | 1 | 16 | p256 | 8 |
| 23 | 640 X 400 | 80 X 25 | 1.2 | 8 | pRGB | 24 |
| 24 | 640 X 400 | 80 X 25 | 1 | 8 | pRGB | 24 |
| 25 | 640 X 400 | 80 X 25 | 2.4 | 8 | pRGB | 24 |
| 26 | 640 X 400 | 80 X 25 | 1.2 | 16 | pRGB | 24 |
| 27 | 640 X 400 | 80 X 25 | 1 | 16 | pRGB | 24 |
| Mode | Number of Colour Attributes | Bits Per Pixel |
|---|---|---|
| p2 | 2 | 1 |
| p4 | 4 | 2 |
| p16 | 16 | 4 |
| p256 | 256 | 16 |
| pRGB | undefined | 24 |
In BASIC Anywhere Machine, when working with colour modes that have colour attributes, we normally refer to those attributes as attributes zero to whatever maximum for that colour mode. (For example, attributes 0 to 15 in colour mode p16.)
When we refer to attributes with numbers outside of the range, BASIC Anywhere Machine loops around (treating the list of attributes like a circle.) So in colour mode p16, attribute 16 means attribute 0, and attribute 17 means attribute 1.
The same works in the other direction. In colour mode p16, attribute -1 means attribute 15, and attribute -2 means attribute 14.
The following statements and functions have been tested to make sure that works:
The _LETCHR$ statement redefines the 8x8 character assigned to an ASCII code.
_LETCHR$( ASCII_code%, characterTemplate$ )
Finding emojis useful for sporadic "grab-you by the jugular" icons, I'm now experimenting with Unicode characters for more numerous things I want grabbing my attention without doing so obnoxiously.
Note: I am experimenting with these as a way to help folk with cognitive/visual disabilities, to make it easier to locate/identify sections of code.
Emojis are pretty quick to access, at least on my Chromebook: right-click and click on emojis to access them in a dialog.
Unicode character access was requiring too many steps, so I've added a section for Unicode characters in the Lookups Window (in the menu: Tools - Lookups). This brings up the List of Unicode characters Wikipedia page, and provides a field in which you can copy/paste frequently used Unicode characters. (IF IT IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO EXPERIMENT WITH TOO !!!)
EDIT:
A big reason I'm using GOTO's in this sample: getting old non-structured BASIC programs working in BASIC Anywhere Machine is a ton of fun, especially when exported programs can be shared as small HTML files on the web.
I see Unicode characters and emojis as a way to help see parts of these old BASIC programs in order to create structured versions of them.
The arrows make it a little easier to find/identify branching/flow, and that "STOP" character makes it really easy to pinpoint the END of the program.
Although I generally do not do well with symbols to convey information (I do much better with words), I do find symbols helpful as attention-getters and visual cues to convey very simple information.
For example, in the code below, the emoji's help me quickly identify/locate colour constants in my code.
CONST 🎨brick_red = &HC62D42, _
🎨electric_lime = &HCCFF00, _
🎨metalic_sunburst = &H9C7C38
SCREEN 23 : COLOR ,&HFFFFFF : CLS
LINE (10, 10)-(100, 100), 🎨electric_lime, BF
LINE (200, 200)-(300, 300), 🎨brick_red, BF
CIRCLE (200, 100), 50, 🎨metalic_sunburst, , , , F
As a coding exercise, I wanted to make use of DRAW statements to get plot points for regular polygons repeated around an axis to create geom...
