amos-professional/AMOS/Accessories/AMOSPro_Help/LatestNews_200.Txt

About AMOS Professional Version 2.0

This  section  of help describes the modifications done to AMOSPro since the
previous version V1.12.  Please select one of these options:

                 {[IFeatures     ,4,3]            Features added to AMOSPro          }
                 {[IResource     ,4,3]            The Resource Bank Creator          }
                 {[IUserGuide    ,4,3]         Corrections  to  the User Guide       }
                 {[IFuture       ,4,3]             The   future  updates             }

                 {[IHelpInfo     ,4,3]           Latest  News of Version 1.12        }


Features added to AMOS Professional

When you run it, you'll realise that AMOSPro has not changed very much since
V1.12.   V1.12  had  fixed  many bugs and had major enhancements compared to
V1.00.

Even  at  V1.12  we  realised  we'd  need  to  update AMOSPro so that it was
structured  more  modular - thus ensuring it was modern in terms of software
design.   We  are  now  able  to  update  AMOSPro  much more easily than was
possible.   In  otherwords  we've thought ahead to make our life easier when
creating  new  updates  like  AGA support.  It has also ensured the Compiler
intergrates wonderfully.

Here's the list of modifications:


* AMOSPro


The  re-write of AMOSPro has resulted in a vast reduction in the size of the
"AMOSPro"  file.   It is now only a mere 20K.  AMOSPro is now only a loader:
it  loads  "AMOS.library",  the  main  instruction  set ("AMOSPro.Lib"), the
various extensions, the editor and the monitor files.  That's all it does.


* The Main Instruction Set

The  main  instruction  set is now treated as a normal extension to AMOSPro.
Every  instruction  routine  is  now  callable  from another extension.  The
system is now fully modular.
	AMOSPro.Lib  is  common  to  both  the  AMOSPro  Interpreter and the
Compiler.   This means that a new AGA update for example, would add commands
to  AMOSPro.Lib  and  these  would  be  available under both interpreter and
Compiler.


* The Extensions

With  the  extension  system  being  extended to cope with all the different
syntaxes of the AMOSPro instruction set, it is now much more versatile.  You
can  create  reserved  variables  within  extension,  have  single or double
floating point parameters etc.  The extension system is also compatible with
all the extensions written for AMOSPro since V1.00.

Extension  writers  should  wait  for  the  AGA  version  of  AMOSPro before
releasing  their  code  into  the  public  domain:   AGA  will  induce  many
modifications within the screen structures of AMOS.  Information about these
new screen structures will become available when we release the AGA version.


* The AMOS.Library

- The requester routines are now part of the library. This reduces the size
  of the requester extension to a mere 250 Bytes

-  The default Mouse.Abk has been included within the library.  If you want
   to,  you  can  remove  it  from  your  APSystem  folder,  so long as your
   AMOSPro_Interpreter_Config does not call it.

- AMOSPro_Default.Font is no longer necessary:  AMOS.Library now asks for a
  system font to create the AMOSPro window font.  As a default this font is
  Topaz 8, but you can change it to whatever 8x8 fixed size font you wish
  using Interpreter_Config.

You'll  be  glad  to  here  that the default font is now the same throughout
AMOSPro:  In the menus, the graphical text instructions and in windows.


* Default resource banks

The  resource  banks  have been cleaned up.  Some icons have been redrawn to
offer  a  better  graphical  interface.   The  Default resource includes new
graphic elements to create new kinds of buttons and editing zones.


* AMOSPro Interpreter Config

The  default  screen  setup  has  been  rewritten  to  accept the future AGA
palettes.


* AMOSPro Editor Config

The  editor  screen  setup has also been rewritten to cope with the extended
AGA palettes, availables when AMOSPro works in AGA.


* New function: =ZDialog (Channel,X,Y)

This  new  instruction  can  be  very  useful:  it returns the number of the
interface zone under X and Y coordinates - without waiting.

Channel:	Number of an opened dialogue channel
X : 		X screen coordinate to test
Y : 		Y screen coordinate to test

Result:
-1:		the coordinate does not point to a zone
>-1:		the number of the zone

{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }



Problems removed from Version 1.0

* Block in the editor.
The  editor used to add garbage at the end of a block when cutting the block
which included a non-tokenised line.

* Program to menu problems: you could totally mess-up the editor's menu by
adding/removing   "Programs   to   Menu"  on  certain  menus,  like  "Help",
"Configuration" etc...

* From V1.12 of AMOSPro, INPUT could not be seen from the monitor.

* Doing  a screen close in direct mode on a screen which included an active
dialogue channel, resulted in AMOSPro stuck within an infinite loop.

* Such a line:

Vdialog$(0,1)=Array(a$(1)) 

was  accepted  by  the  test.   This  line  was false, as the Array function
returns an integer (the base of the array) and Vdialog waits for a string.

* Integer multiplication.
From  the  very  start  of AMOS a bug in integer multiplication caused false
results  for certain numbers.  Not very annoying because no one has reported
it in 3 years!

 
{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }

Resource Bank Maker Enhancements

The  resource bank maker has been enhanced and now offers the possibility to
store interface programs within a resource bank.

To reach the new functions of the resource bank maker, just click on the new
button  from  the  main  menu:   'Edit dialog programs' You will enter a new
panel with the list of programs currently present within the resource bank.

The  purpose  of  these new function is to allow you to insert the Interface
programs  within  the middle of a resource bank.  The interface strings will
no  longer  be  required  within your AMOS Program - line like:  "A$=A$+" or
"Data".  The interface program can be edited using any ASCII editor and then
simply loaded into the bank.

* Loading a program:

You can load any ASCII file into the list by clicking on the 'LOAD' button.

* Editing programs:

Edit  your  interface  programs  within  any  ASCII  editor (ED, CygnusED or
others...)  and  then  import  them  into  the Resource_Bank_maker using the
'LOAD' button.

Large Ram or Hard-disk users (only):

It's   possible   to  call  up  any  CLI  Ascii  editor  directly  from  the
Resource_Bank_Maker.AMOS accessory.
	To  Edit an existing program, select it with mouse from the list and
then  click  on the 'Edit' Button.  If you do this when the selected program
is empty, a requester will ask you if you want to create a new one.

The editor called by this button is defined by the varable string 'ED_NAME$'
which  can  be changed by editing the actual Resource bank maker AMOS source
program  file  (around  line  56).   Or  by  clicking on the 'Change Default
Editor' Button.  Be aware that these rules must apply to your editor:

1) The ASCII editor must freeze CLI multitasking during editing. So you
cannot have a 'run' command before the editor's name. With CygnusED you'll
have to add the option '-keepio' to ensure the editor presents itself to you
and not hide in the background.
	Workbench's ED works fine, you might use a line like:

	c:ED {f}

For CygnusED:

	c:CED {f}

2)  The  {f}  parameter  is a dummy filename which your Ascii Editor usually
expects when you request an edit from CLI or Shell.  It carries the dialogue
program  position  within the bank.  When you've finished editing, just save
the  file  and  quit the editor.  You'll then be back in the resource editor
with the Ascii file stored within the bank.

If  the Resource bank maker cannot find the Editor described by ED_NAME$, it
will only display your DBL program using the 'Readtext' AMOS function.


* Copy, Cut, Paste & Rename:

Use  these  buttons  to duplicate, move and rename any Interface programs in
the list.

* Remove unusued characters:

By  clicking  here,  you  can  filter  and  optimise  the currently selected
dialogue  program  in  order  to  save  precious  bytes and speed up (just a
little),  your  AMOS interfaces.  Warning!  Always keep a backup of your DBL
programs  before removing unusued characters.  You'll hardly be ably to read
them  after  they've had spaces removed.  Only perform this operation at the
very end of you interface programming.

* How to access dialogue programs in banks from within AMOS?

This is very simple. Just call your dialogues by:

Resource Bank x  (x = number of the bank where your DBL programs are)
Dialog Open 1,n  (n = number of the DBL program within resource bank x)

This is much better that using:
S$=S$+... (initialising string S$)
S$=S$+...
Dialog Open 1,S$ ( S$ = big string containing your DBL programs)

The initialisation phase will be faster and you'll gain some variable buffer
space!

The other interface instrunctions are working exactly the same way.
(D=Dialog Run(1,label), Vdialog(1,va) and so on...)

{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }


Corrections to the AMOS Pro User Guide

Also read the "Correction to the User Guide" chapter in 1.12 help files.

Page 05.07.06
Read Text$ should read Read Text

Page 07.06.23
"Move On" should read "Movon"

Page 11.01.04
XGRAPHIC / YGRAPHIC
"Xtext" should read "Xgraphic"
"Ytext" should read "Ygraphic"

Page 11.04.04
EXEC instruction does not accept an "Output" parameter.

{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }



The future updates

We will continue with our update  policy.  Here are some of the things you
can wait for in the future:

- AGA Update
- Intuition On  /  Off  to  display  an  AMOS  Screen  under intuition and
  therefore create real workbench applications.
- New instructions to handle intuition screens.
- More and more integration to the Amiga's system.
- and all your good ideas!

{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }