Visual bB 1.0 - a new IDE for batari Basic

[yuppicide]

I have never used the score editor, but I will confirm my screen looks like yours. The buttons in the wrong place and that text.

 

I just noticed that the score editor in Visual bB Build 536 is messed up. It works fine for me in Build 535, but in Build 536 it looks like on the picture below...

Does anyone else have the same problem?

[jwierer]

I just noticed that the score editor in Visual bB Build 536 is messed up. It works fine for me in Build 535, but in Build 536 it looks like on the picture below...

Does anyone else have the same problem?

Yeah I noticed that after I posted it. It will be fixed in later releases.

 

-Jeff

[jwierer]

Here's the latest build with quite a few changes and a number of bug fixes based on feedback. New build posted to first post. The biggest changes are in the syntax checking. If you come across any problems there, the easiest thing to do is to disable it from the settings tab. Also please send me error reports so I can address them.

 

New

Improved Sprite/Playfield Drawing

-Drawing now works more like other graphic programs.

-Hold Down Control Key to erase

-Hold down Alt to Draw

-Hold down Shift to select an area to draw or erase

Improved Syntax Checking

-auto correct

-auto line indenting

-check for duplicate labels, variables, constants, functions

-checks for illegal syntax

-Intellisense suggests terms to use as you type

-makes sure end statements are never indented

-enforces proper use of logical and bit operators

-Added a warning tab to the information pane when pre-compilation errors are identified.

-Automatically corrects incorrect case errors

Improved color coding

Projects are now sorted alphabetically

Settings allow you to specify an alternate batch file to use when compiling

added ability to go to a specific line of code

Support for 10-25-2008 bB Compiler updates

-Supports Def

-Supports romsize 8kEB

-Supports Peephole Optimizer (-O) compiler option (enable from Settings Tab)

-Supports using macro, callmacro

Bugs

Score Editor buttons covering editor - fixed

Losing colors when vertically flipping sprites - fixed

Search Window rests on top of every open window - fixed

Find Replace periodically crashes - fixed

Set Color textbox shows up in the wrong location when working with large sprites/playfields - fixed

Added a bunch of bB terms that were not previously recognized - fixed

 

known Issues

If you use syntax checking, periodically warning messages are not cleared, error line columns will be off, or are just wrong. You can hit Refresh, or F5, to force a full check of an open code file to correct this.

 

-Jeff

Edited December 19, 2008 by jwierer

[+Random Terrain]

Thanks. I'll update the Visual batari Basic Guide tonight.

 

In case anyone took a quick glance and missed it, the sprite and playfield editors are much easier to use now. You no longer have to use the space bar (but you still can if you want to). Just drawing without holding down any key is a simple toggle draw. If you want to draw without toggling, hold down the Ctrl key to erase or hold down the Alt key to draw. I think that was the last major complaint that people had. It's fixed now, so grab a copy of VbB and have some fun.

[ginnidog]

ahhhhhhh... i`ll have to check this out, once i find the free time...

[jman1093]

Quick Question:

Every time I try to compile something, visual bB says it compiled fine. But when I click run it says: "Could not locate File.bas.bin and could not recompile. Please check to make sure it was compiled correctly." Then, I check the folder that the BAS file is located in and the BIN file is nowhere to be found.

 

Thanks for the help

jman1093

Edited January 4, 2009 by jman1093

[jwierer]

Quick Question:

Every time I try to compile something, visual bB says it compiled fine. But when I click run it says: "Could not locate File.bas.bin and could not recompile. Please check to make sure it was compiled correctly." Then, I check the folder that the BAS file is located in and the BIN file is nowhere to be found.

 

Thanks for the help

jman1093

It's most likely the bB Batch file your using. I believe that was the culprit for others. Search the forum for the updated 2600bas.bat that Random Terrain posted.

 

You can download all the fixes and updates to batariBasic here. It should include the latest 2600bas.bat. I would be interested if that didn't fix the problem.

 

-Jeff

Edited January 4, 2009 by jwierer

[jman1093]

Unfortunately, that didn't fix the problem. This isn't a huge problem for me though. I can write the program in visual bB then compile it from the command line then run it in Stella.

 

jman1093

[jwierer]

Unfortunately, that didn't fix the problem. This isn't a huge problem for me though. I can write the program in visual bB then compile it from the command line then run it in Stella.

 

jman1093

So you can compile it from the command line? That's odd, because vbB just takes the standard output from the command line. If it doesn't work there it should work from the command line either.

 

-Jeff

[yuppicide]

Know what I was thinking would be a nice feature to VbB? Ability to generate high resolution cartridge labels.

 

Sort of like that online cartridge label generator..

[jwierer]

Quick Question:

Every time I try to compile something, visual bB says it compiled fine. But when I click run it says: "Could not locate File.bas.bin and could not recompile. Please check to make sure it was compiled correctly." Then, I check the folder that the BAS file is located in and the BIN file is nowhere to be found.

 

Thanks for the help

jman1093

By any chance is the .bin file created in the same folder as the source (.bas) file? I recently discovered a case where that can happen.

 

-Jeff

[jwierer]

Know what I was thinking would be a nice feature to VbB? Ability to generate high resolution cartridge labels.

 

Sort of like that online cartridge label generator..

Is the source for the online cartridge label generator available? If so it's possible, but I wouldn't want to recreate it myself.

 

-Jeff

[Dan Iacovelli]

Know what I was thinking would be a nice feature to VbB? Ability to generate high resolution cartridge labels.

 

Sort of like that online cartridge label generator..

Is the source for the online cartridge label generator available? If so it's possible, but I wouldn't want to recreate it myself.

 

-Jeff

I think there is a link in the 2600 section to make labels: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=111225

Edited January 13, 2009 by Dan Iacovelli

[yuppicide]

Linking to his site might be a good idea so you're still giving him traffic. I was just thinking of some kind of all in one solution where I never had to leave VbB.

[jwierer]

Linking to his site might be a good idea so you're still giving him traffic. I was just thinking of some kind of all in one solution where I never had to leave VbB.

If you just want to embed the website you can just add a link to the getting started area. Unzip this archive addLink.zip and double click the addlink.reg file. There isn't much room for additional links, but one should be ok.

 

-Jeff

[jrok]

Hi,

 

I've been using VisbB for about a month now, and its really a great IDE. I'm finding it makes bB development a breeze. Thanks for all your hard work on this!

 

I have one feature request, and it may seem like a sort of bizarre one. In the Sprite Editor, we are given the option of creating sprites that are larger than 8px wide. I assume that option exists for those of us who are using two or more adjacent hardware or virtual players to create larger, more detailed sprites for title screens or even in-game elements. I've done this a few times, and its quite a painstaking process. The way I've been doing it, I have to copy and paste the sprite data into my program, than go line by line deleted the appropriate sprite bits from each player instance. For a large single sprite, this isn't a huge hassle. But for multi-frame animations it becomes incredibly labor-intensive, and if you decide to make any changes to individual frames, you pretty much have to edit the original "large" SPR file and manually split it all over again.

 

Would it be possible to develop a Sprite Action that took such 9+ wide sprite and autmatically split it into consecutive "sub-sprites" at 8px intervals? Basically, if we have a 32 pixel wide Sprite saved as "Big Spaceship", and click "Split", VisbB would generate, save and open four 8px wide SPR files called "Big Spaceship_A" "Big Spaceship_B" "Big Spaceship_C" and "Big Spaceship_D," which we could then insert into our programs?

 

Anyway, thanks again for great toolset.

 

Cheers,

Jarod

Edited January 26, 2009 by jrok

[+Random Terrain]

Hi,

 

I've been using VisbB for about a month now, and its really a great IDE. I'm finding it makes bB development a breeze. Thanks for all your hard work on this!

 

I have one feature request, and it may seem like a sort of bizarre one. In the Sprite Editor, we are given the option of creating sprites that are larger than 8px wide. I assume that option exists for those of us who are using two or more adjacent hardware or virtual players to create larger, more detailed sprites for title screens or even in-game elements. I've done this a few times, and its quite a painstaking process. The way I've been doing it, I have to copy and paste the sprite data into my program, than go line by line deleted the appropriate sprite bits from each player instance. For a large single sprite, this isn't a huge hassle. But for multi-frame animations it becomes incredibly labor-intensive, and if you decide to make any changes to individual frames, you pretty much have to edit the original "large" SPR file and manually split it all over again.

 

Would it be possible to develop a Sprite Action that took such 9+ wide sprite and autmatically split it into consecutive "sub-sprites" at 8px intervals? Basically, if we have a 32 pixel wide Sprite saved as "Big Spaceship", and click "Split", VisbB would generate, save and open four 8px wide SPR files called "Big Spaceship(A)" ""Big Spaceship(B)" "Big Spaceship©" and "Big Spaceship(D)," which we could then insert into our programs?

 

Anyway, thanks again for great toolset.

 

Cheers,

Jarod

I know it's not what you're asking, but remember that you can highlight a section of a sprite, copy it, create a new sprite of the size you want in another sprite editor, paste the sprite data, then save it. You wouldn't have to delete data line by line.

[jwierer]

I know it's not what you're asking, but remember that you can highlight a section of a sprite, copy it, create a new sprite of the size you want in another sprite editor, paste the sprite data, then save it. You wouldn't have to delete data line by line.

This would be the easiest way.

 

-Jeff

[yuppicide]

I still for the life of me cannot figure out how to use the Sprite Animator. I load up build 544, goto View, Sprite Animator, I click, right click, ALT click, CTRL click.. nothing does anything!

 

I don't have any sprites currently and need to draw some.

 

I loaded up a game that has sprites and went to sprite animator no luck.

 

Also, pressing UP gives me an error:

 

"FormSpriteAnimator

Unhandles exception has occured in your application. If you click Continue, the application will ignore this error and attempt to continue. if you click Quit, the application will close immediately.

 

InvalidArgument=Value of '-2' is not valid for 'index'.

Parameter Name: index."

 

When I click details here's what shows up:

 

"See the end of this message for details on invoking

just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

 

************** Exception Text **************

System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: InvalidArgument=Value of '-2' is not valid for 'index'.

Parameter name: index

at System.Windows.Forms.ListBox.ObjectCollection.get_Item(Int32 index)

at VisualbB.FormSpriteAnimator.button_UP_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)

at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)

at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)

at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

 

 

************** Loaded Assemblies **************

mscorlib

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll

----------------------------------------

VisualbB

Assembly Version: 1.0.0.544

Win32 Version: 1.0.0.544

CodeBase: file:///C:/Atari/VisualbB.exe

----------------------------------------

Microsoft.VisualBasic

Assembly Version: 8.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 8.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll

----------------------------------------

System

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll

----------------------------------------

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll

----------------------------------------

System.Drawing

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll

----------------------------------------

System.Runtime.Remoting

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Remoting/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Remoting.dll

----------------------------------------

System.Configuration

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll

----------------------------------------

System.Xml

Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0

Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)

CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll

----------------------------------------

 

************** JIT Debugging **************

To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this

application or computer (machine.config) must have the

jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.

The application must also be compiled with debugging

enabled.

 

For example:

 

<configuration>

<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />

</configuration>

 

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception

will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer

rather than be handled by this dialog box."

Edited February 3, 2009 by yuppicide

[+Random Terrain]

I still for the life of me cannot figure out how to use the Sprite Animator. I load up build 544, goto View, Sprite Animator, I click, right click, ALT click, CTRL click.. nothing does anything!

Assuming you have a project open that contains some sprites, there should be a list of sprites in the Sprite Animator. Clicking on a sprite once highlights it and shows the image. Once a sprite is highlighted, you can then click on the check box and a check will appear. Does it look similar to image on the following page when you open it:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-me...#spriteanimator

[jwierer]

I still for the life of me cannot figure out how to use the Sprite Animator. I load up build 544, goto View, Sprite Animator, I click, right click, ALT click, CTRL click.. nothing does anything!

It's only useful if you already have projects open with sprites already.

I don't have any sprites currently and need to draw some.

That's your problem. Create some first and then come back to the animator.

I loaded up a game that has sprites and went to sprite animator no luck.

If you opened the project after you opened the sprite animator window it's not going to know about them. Load up a project with sprites, then open the animator.

Also, pressing UP gives me an error:

That's a bug. I need to disable the buttons if you have no sprites. I guess I never thought of the case that somebody would want to animate sprites that didn't exist

 

-Jeff

Edited February 3, 2009 by jwierer

[+Random Terrain]

yuppicide, take a look at this:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-me...atinganimations

Creating Animations

 

If you want to work on an animation and you've never done it before, here's one way to do it. Create a sprite in the Sprite Editor and save it. Then use Save As to save a copy of it. Open that copy and as you work on that 'frame' of your animation, you can click on the tab for it to make sure it's active and 'flip' between the two sprite editors by using the left/right arrow keys on your keyboard. You can flip back and forth, work on the image some more, flip back and forth and so on until you get it looking perfect. Make sure you save the sprite, then use Save As to save a copy of that sprite. Open that copy and work on it, click on a tab and flip between all three using the left/right cursor keys to see how your animation is progressing. You can keep on with this process until you have perfected your animation. Just remember to save the latest version of all of your 'frames' and you'll be ready to use the Sprite Animator.

[Tempy]

I was having the same issue Kamaria and jbs30000 were having: bin file not being found and couldn't recompile.

Hitting compile didn't give any errors, but neither did it finish! In the messages window it would say "Compiling N:\Emu\Atari2600\bAtari\Projects\Test\default.bas", but nothing else. I figured 2600basic.exe was having issues executing for some reason. bB.asm was 0 bytes, and I couldn't delete it or the bas file; they were still being used by some program - Took me a while to find it in the windows task manager, since it wasn't something obvious like 2600basic.exe, but rather ntvdm.exe and conime.exe. Wait, conime? Ding ding ding!

I went to my windows (vista) regional setting and changed the Unicode language from Japanese to English (US) and Visual bB worked!

 

I've compiled bB stuff before using macros in UltraEdit, so what was going on? One of the odd things I had when setting the Unicode language to Japanese was that backslashes in paths would appear as Yen symbols. Though there didn't seem to be any programs which had issues with that. I'm guessing that Visual bB is sending filename parameters to 2600basic/dasm in some different way which makes compiling never finish.

 

Maybe jbs30000 was also using an Asian language Unicode setting?

 

Edit: Maybe related? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903204/en-us

Edited February 7, 2009 by Tempy

[jwierer]

I was having the same issue Kamaria and jbs30000 were having: bin file not being found and couldn't recompile.

Hitting compile didn't give any errors, but neither did it finish! In the messages window it would say "Compiling N:\Emu\Atari2600\bAtari\Projects\Test\default.bas", but nothing else. I figured 2600basic.exe was having issues executing for some reason. bB.asm was 0 bytes, and I couldn't delete it or the bas file; they were still being used by some program - Took me a while to find it in the windows task manager, since it wasn't something obvious like 2600basic.exe, but rather ntvdm.exe and conime.exe. Wait, conime? Ding ding ding!

I went to my windows (vista) regional setting and changed the Unicode language from Japanese to English (US) and Visual bB worked!

 

I've compiled bB stuff before using macros in UltraEdit, so what was going on? One of the odd things I had when setting the Unicode language to Japanese was that backslashes in paths would appear as Yen symbols. Though there didn't seem to be any programs which had issues with that. I'm guessing that Visual bB is sending filename parameters to 2600basic/dasm in some different way which makes compiling never finish.

 

Maybe jbs30000 was also using an Asian language Unicode setting?

 

Edit: Maybe related? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903204/en-us

 

The problem that jbs3000 was having was DASM was reporting an error which vbB was picking up and skipping the file copy part. I have a private build that works if you're interested I can PM you a copy. It doesn't use XMLSerializer so I don't think that kb article applies.

 

-Jeff

[yuppicide]

You wrote to create a sprite in the sprite editor and save it. How do I do that? I go in to the Sprite Animator and everywhere I click does nothing to draw for me.

 

So, now I am reading you wrote "create in the sprite editor" -- what is "the sprite editor"? VBB has no sprite editor that comes with it that I can see. Only sprite animator.

 

So, I loaded up a game that has Player1 defined. Then fired up Sprite Animator. Still not working or showing me anything.

 

yuppicide, take a look at this:

If you want to work on an animation and you've never done it before, here's one way to do it. Create a sprite in the Sprite Editor and save it.

Edited February 8, 2009 by yuppicide