English translations of Turbo Basic Compiler articles by Frank Ostrowski

[markmiller]

When I was researching the Turbo Basic compiler, I kept coming upon a couple German articles about it by Frank Ostrowski, published in the Happy Computer magazine. I wondered if there was any good information in them on what works well with the compiler, and what doesn't. Turns out there was some info. on that. I decided to create English translations, using Google Translate, and making some edits, to make it sound more like how an English speaker would express things. I included some brief notes in []'s.

 

There were two articles:

 

Schnell, schneller, Turbo-Basic XL aus dem Compiler - This is the type-in article containing the machine code for the compiler, and the runtime. It describes how to enter these two programs, how to boot, and operate them, and gives some do's and don't's re. the code you give to the compiler.

 

So funktioniert der Turbo-Basic-Compiler - This gives some idea of how the compiler operates on your Turbo Basic code, to convert it to machine code, including some insights on its optimizer.

 

I'm attaching the English versions as RTFs.

How The Turbo Basic Compiler works by Frank Ostrowski - English translation of Turbo-Basic-XL compiler info..rtf Turbo Basic Compiler type-in article by Frank Ostrowski - English translation of Turbo-Basic-XL compiler article.rtfd.zip

[+DjayBee]

@luckybuck might add the above documents to the Wiki.

[+Larry]

Interesting!  I've never seen Picture 1 (title screen) of the compiler on any of the disks or ATR's that I have of the TB Compiler.  Have others (especially in the U.S.)?  Mine boot to Picture 2. 

 

Also, has the original article for the Interpreter been translated?  I've got the article, but have not seen a direct translation.

[+Larry]

I may as well post the original Interpreter article.  Maybe someone will see it and get ambitious...

 

 

turbo-basic_xl -German.pdf

[pirx]

turbo-basic_xl -English.txt turbo-basic_xl -German.txt

[+MrFish]

4 hours ago, pirx said:

turbo-basic_xl -English.txt 27.54 kB · 5 downloads turbo-basic_xl -German.txt 30.78 kB · 4 downloads

 

"Basic, fast as the wind - with the Turbo-Basic XL interpreter"

 

 

[+Larry]

@pirx  That is awesome!  Thanks so much.  I've had that German PDF for at least 20 years, looking for a translation.

[pirx]

i learned german to read this article.

[mnemo]

The aforementioned scans of the interpreter and compiler articles were made by me more than 20 years ago. I cropped and aligned them as best I could and first uploaded them to my webpage as TIFF images and created the PDFs some years later.

 

It makes me smile that they are still passed around. 🙂

 

Side note: The scans are from an "Atari Special Issue" of Happy Computer magazine (which I still have).

 

The original published article of the interpreter appeared in Happy Computer issue 12/1985 (at newsstands in November 1985), which is available at archive.org (not my scan). Sadly, I don't have that issue anymore. According to that article, Frank received 2000 Deutsche Mark for the interpreter back then, which equates to about $680 at the exchange price of 1985.  

[+Larry]

Does anyone know how the AMPEL (typing) program worked?  Is it a simple checksum revealing the two low-order two digits of the sum?

[mnemo]

6 hours ago, Larry said:

Does anyone know how the AMPEL (typing) program worked?  Is it a simple checksum revealing the two low-order two digits of the sum?

I always wondered that myself. I don't think they ever published the full source code to AMPEL in Happy Computer, only the known "runtime" version. Should be easy to disassemble, though.

 

EDIT: I found an article about AMPEL 2.0 in another issue of Happy Computer, which explains the checksum calculation.

 

Original: "Das höherwertige Byte der Zeilennummer (die ersten beiden Zahlen) multipliziert der Computer mit zwei -und addiert darauf das niederwertige Byte der Zeilennummer. Dieses Ergebnis multipliziert er erneut mit zwei. Dann addiert er der Reihe nach die acht Datenbyte hinzu, wobei er wiederum nach jeder Addition das Ergebnis verdoppelt. Nur nach dem achten Datenbyte läßt er das Ergebnis unangetastet. Von dieser Summe verwendet er nur die letzten acht Bit (eine Zahl zwischen Null und 255), die schließlich die Prüfsumme bilden."

 

My translation:

"The higher-order byte of the line number (the first two digits) are multiplied by 2 and then the lower-order byte of the line number is added. This sum is again multiplied by 2. Then it adds the eight data bytes in order, doubling the result each time. Only after the eighth data byte the sum is left unchanged. Of this sum only the lower eight bit (a number between 0 and 255) is used which is the checksum."

 

The author of AMPEL is Henrik Fisch, by the way, an editor at Happy Computer magazine at the time.

Edited November 26, 2023 by mnemo

[mnemo]

Here's the disassembly of the three AMPEL V1.1 machine language routines. The disassembly was done with ATR Image Explorer.

 

The three routines are loaded from the BASIC program in order to:
$0600 (page 6),

ML$ BASIC string,

CIO$ BASIC string.

 

ML$ is probably the data entering and checksum routine, CIO$ is a general purpose interface to CIO calls (appending data to the file).

 

The code at $600 is called from the ML$ and CIO$ routines that reside anywhere in memory and need an absolute address for their sub routines.

Entry points are $600, $609 and $61C.

 

Since Frank Ostrowski is listed as the author in the AMPEL 1.1 article, this code is probably from him.

 

; file ampel_p6.bin is 57 bytes

; Disassembly of 0600 to 0636
0600   AD 25 E4   LDA $E425
0603   48         PHA
0604   AD 24 E4   LDA $E424
0607   48         PHA
0608   60         RTS

0609   48         PHA
060A   4A         LSR A
060B   4A         LSR A
060C   4A         LSR A
060D   4A         LSR A
060E   20 14 06   JSR $0614
0611   68         PLA
0612   29 0F      AND #$0F
0614   09 30      ORA #$30
0616   C9 3A      CMP #$3A
0618   90 02      BCC $061C
061A   69 06      ADC #$06

061C   A8         TAY
061D   AD 47 03   LDA $0347 ; ICPTH ...
0620   48         PHA
0621   AD 46 03   LDA $0346 ; ICPTL PUT BYTE ROUTINE ADDRESS - 1
0624   48         PHA
0625   98         TYA
0626   60         RTS

; Data 0727 to 0739 (19 bytes)
; Table of valid keyboard codes read from CH.
; Order is 0-9, A-F, Ctrl+S, DEL

0627                        32 1F 1E 1A 18 1D 1B 33 35
0630   30 3F 15 12 3A 2A 38 BE 34 00

 

; file ampel_ml.bin is 261 bytes

; Disassembly of 0700 to 0803
0700   A9 00      LDA #$00
0702   85 D5      STA $D5 ; FR0+1 
0704   68         PLA
0705   C9 02      CMP #$02
0707   F0 10      BEQ $0719
0709   AA         TAX
070A   F0 05      BEQ $0711

070C   68         PLA
070D   68         PLA
070E   CA         DEX
070F   D0 FB      BNE $070C

0711   A9 03      LDA #$03
0713   2C A9 01   BIT $01A9
0716   85 D4      STA $D4 ; FR0 
0718   60         RTS

0719   68         PLA
071A   85 D7      STA $D7 ; FR0+3 
071C   68         PLA
071D   85 D6      STA $D6 ; FR0+2 
071F   68         PLA
0720   85 D9      STA $D9 ; FR0+5 
0722   68         PLA
0723   85 D8      STA $D8 ; FR0+4 
0725   18         CLC
0726   65 D6      ADC $D6 ; FR0+2 
0728   85 D6      STA $D6 ; FR0+2 
072A   A5 D9      LDA $D9 ; FR0+5 
072C   65 D7      ADC $D7 ; FR0+3 
072E   85 D7      STA $D7 ; FR0+3 
0730   A9 9B      LDA #$9B
0732   20 1C 06   JSR $061C
0735   A5 D9      LDA $D9 ; FR0+5 
0737   20 09 06   JSR $0609
073A   A5 D8      LDA $D8 ; FR0+4 
073C   20 09 06   JSR $0609

073F   A9 3A      LDA #$3A
0741   20 1C 06   JSR $061C
0744   A9 00      LDA #$00
0746   85 DA      STA $DA ; FRE 

0748   AD FC 02   LDA $02FC ; CH GLOBAL VARIABLE FOR KEYBOARD
074B   29 BF      AND #$BF
074D   A2 11      LDX #$11

074F   DD 27 06   CMP $0627,X
0752   F0 05      BEQ $0759
0754   CA         DEX
0755   10 F8      BPL $074F
0757   30 EF      BMI $0748

0759   86 DB      STX $DB ; FRE+1 
075B   8D FC 02   STA $02FC ; CH GLOBAL VARIABLE FOR KEYBOARD
075E   20 00 06   JSR $0600
0761   29 7F      AND #$7F
0763   20 1C 06   JSR $061C
0766   A5 DB      LDA $DB ; FRE+1 
0768   C9 10      CMP #$10
076A   F0 A8      BEQ $0714
076C   90 28      BCC $0796
076E   A5 DA      LDA $DA ; FRE 
0770   F0 CD      BEQ $073F
0772   4A         LSR A
0773   B0 05      BCS $077A
0775   A9 7E      LDA #$7E
0777   20 1C 06   JSR $061C

077A   A0 04      LDY #$04

077C   46 DC      LSR $DC ; FRE+2 
077E   66 DD      ROR $DD ; FRE+3 
0780   66 DE      ROR $DE ; FRE+4 
0782   66 DF      ROR $DF ; FRE+5 
0784   66 E0      ROR $E0 ; FR1 
0786   66 E1      ROR $E1 ; FR1+1 
0788   66 E2      ROR $E2 ; FR1+2 
078A   66 E3      ROR $E3 ; FR1+3 
078C   66 E4      ROR $E4 ; FR1+4 
078E   88         DEY
078F   D0 EB      BNE $077C
0791   C6 DA      DEC $DA ; FRE 

0793   B8         CLV
0794   50 B2      BVC $0748

0796   0A         ASL A
0797   0A         ASL A
0798   0A         ASL A
0799   0A         ASL A
079A   A0 04      LDY #$04

079C   0A         ASL A
079D   26 E4      ROL $E4 ; FR1+4 
079F   26 E3      ROL $E3 ; FR1+3 
07A1   26 E2      ROL $E2 ; FR1+2 
07A3   26 E1      ROL $E1 ; FR1+1 
07A5   26 E0      ROL $E0 ; FR1 
07A7   26 DF      ROL $DF ; FRE+5 
07A9   26 DE      ROL $DE ; FRE+4 
07AB   26 DD      ROL $DD ; FRE+3 
07AD   26 DC      ROL $DC ; FRE+2 
07AF   88         DEY
07B0   D0 EA      BNE $079C
07B2   E6 DA      INC $DA ; FRE 
07B4   A5 DA      LDA $DA ; FRE 
07B6   C9 12      CMP #$12
07B8   F0 13      BEQ $07CD
07BA   C9 10      CMP #$10
07BC   D0 04      BNE $07C2
07BE   A9 3C      LDA #$3C
07C0   D0 05      BNE $07C7

07C2   4A         LSR A
07C3   B0 CE      BCS $0793
07C5   A9 20      LDA #$20

07C7   20 1C 06   JSR $061C
07CA   B8         CLV
07CB   50 C6      BVC $0793

07CD   A5 D9      LDA $D9 ; FR0+5 
07CF   0A         ASL A
07D0   65 D8      ADC $D8 ; FR0+4 
07D2   0A         ASL A
07D3   65 DC      ADC $DC ; FRE+2 
07D5   0A         ASL A
07D6   65 DD      ADC $DD ; FRE+3 
07D8   0A         ASL A
07D9   65 DE      ADC $DE ; FRE+4 
07DB   0A         ASL A
07DC   65 DF      ADC $DF ; FRE+5 
07DE   0A         ASL A
07DF   65 E0      ADC $E0 ; FR1 
07E1   0A         ASL A
07E2   65 E1      ADC $E1 ; FR1+1 
07E4   0A         ASL A
07E5   65 E2      ADC $E2 ; FR1+2 
07E7   0A         ASL A
07E8   65 E3      ADC $E3 ; FR1+3 
07EA   C5 E4      CMP $E4 ; FR1+4 
07EC   D0 12      BNE $0800
07EE   A9 3E      LDA #$3E
07F0   20 1C 06   JSR $061C
07F3   A0 07      LDY #$07

07F5   B9 DC 00   LDA $00DC,Y ; FRE+2 
07F8   91 D6      STA ($D6),Y ; FR0+2 
07FA   88         DEY
07FB   10 F8      BPL $07F5
07FD   A9 00      LDA #$00
07FF   2C A9 02   BIT $02A9 ; TABMAP+6 
0802   85 D4      STA $D4 ; FR0 
0804   60         RTS

 

; file ampel_cio.bin is 83 bytes

; Disassembly of 0700 to 0750
0700   68         PLA
0701   C9 04      CMP #$04
0703   D0 42      BNE $0747
0705   68         PLA
0706   68         PLA
0707   AA         TAX
0708   68         PLA
0709   68         PLA
070A   85 D4      STA $D4 ; FR0 
070C   68         PLA
070D   85 D6      STA $D6 ; FR0+2 
070F   68         PLA
0710   85 D5      STA $D5 ; FR0+1 
0712   68         PLA
0713   85 D8      STA $D8 ; FR0+4 
0715   68         PLA
0716   85 D7      STA $D7 ; FR0+3 
0718   A0 86      LDY #$86
071A   8A         TXA
071B   C9 08      CMP #$08
071D   B0 21      BCS $0740
071F   0A         ASL A
0720   0A         ASL A
0721   0A         ASL A
0722   0A         ASL A
0723   AA         TAX
0724   A5 D4      LDA $D4 ; FR0 
0726   9D 42 03   STA $0342,X ; ICCOM COMMAND CODE
0729   A5 D5      LDA $D5 ; FR0+1 
072B   9D 44 03   STA $0344,X ; ICBAL BUFFER ADDRESS
072E   A5 D6      LDA $D6 ; FR0+2 
0730   9D 45 03   STA $0345,X ; ICBAH ...
0733   A5 D7      LDA $D7 ; FR0+3 
0735   9D 48 03   STA $0348,X ; ICBLL BUFFER LENGTH
0738   A5 D8      LDA $D8 ; FR0+4 
073A   9D 49 03   STA $0349,X ; ICBLH ...
073D   20 56 E4   JSR $E456 ; CIOV CIO ROUTINE

0740   84 D4      STY $D4 ; FR0 
0742   A9 00      LDA #$00
0744   85 D5      STA $D5 ; FR0+1 
0746   60         RTS

0747   A0 0A      LDY #$0A
0749   AA         TAX
074A   F0 F4      BEQ $0740

074C   68         PLA
074D   68         PLA
074E   CA         DEX
074F   D0 FB      BNE $074C
0751   F0 ED      BEQ $0740

 

[markmiller]

On 11/25/2023 at 3:16 PM, mnemo said:

According to that article, Frank received 2000 Deutsche Mark for the interpreter back then, which equates to about $680 at the exchange price of 1985.  

In constant dollars, that comes to more than $1,900 today.

 

I imagine the creator of Atari Basic got paid quite a bit more than that, which is why this sort of thing was so unusual. Most people wouldn't go through the effort to make a better version of a language for that kind of money. Though, I imagine Ostrowski might have made TB more for himself, and published it to make some extra money.

 

Sometimes, the type-in stuff was really good. That was the exception, not the rule. I can think of some others from Compute! Magazine that were above the fray:

 

- SpeedScript - a word processor. Tom Halfhill, one of the editors of Compute!, said in an interview from years ago that a vendor who advertised in the magazine got pissed with them for publishing this, because it competed with their word processor, called Quick Brown Fox. They said it cost them sales. Halfhill told them that if their word processor couldn't compete against a product that was made by a guy who wasn't experienced in writing such things, then they were the ones with the problem.

- SpeedCalc - a spreadsheet

- Laser Chess - a neat take on chess that actually had some longevity (originally developed on the Atari ST, and was ported to the Atari XL/XE, and others. The author submitted it for a coding contest Compute! ran, and won a cash prize for it. Though, I forget how much.)

Funny thing. Whenever I think of Laser Chess, I think of this scene from The Big Bang Theory.

 

- Crossroads - A rather famous, fast-paced shoot-em-up game on the C-64

- Screen Print - One of the last type-in listings Compute! published, but it was also one of the must useful graphics display programs I'd seen on the Atari. It could decode any Atari graphics file format I gave it. Really impressive, and it could print out a nice copy of the image on a dot matrix printer.

 

On 11/26/2023 at 12:03 PM, mnemo said:

I found an article about AMPEL 2.0 in another issue of Happy Computer, which explains the checksum calculation.

I've kind of wondered how those checksum programs worked. Compute! had its own, called Automatic Proofreader, for Basic programs, and MLX for machine code.

 

For some odd reason, the versions of Automatic Proofreader for the Apple II and C-64 were able to detect transposed characters/things out of order, but the Atari version couldn't. I thought, "Why the hell not? Is it that hard?"

 

Funny story: Google Translate came up with "Traffic Light" for "AMPEL". I don't know if that's the name Ostrowski intended for it, but it makes sense.

Edited November 30, 2023 by markmiller

[markmiller]

On 11/13/2023 at 12:04 PM, Larry said:

I've never seen Picture 1 (title screen) of the compiler on any of the disks or ATR's that I have of the TB Compiler.  Have others (especially in the U.S.)?  Mine boot to Picture 2.

The splash screen comes up for me. I got my ATR from the Atari Wiki, which has an image which has the interpreter and the compiler/linker on the same disk.

[mnemo]

On 11/30/2023 at 5:40 AM, markmiller said:

Funny story: Google Translate came up with "Traffic Light" for "AMPEL". I don't know if that's the name Ostrowski intended for it, but it makes sense.

The name was surely intended and is an acronym in German: "Atari-Maschinen-Programm-Eingabe-Listing" (translates literally to "Atari Machine Program Input Listing").

Edited December 17, 2023 by mnemo