278 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
278 lines
9.8 KiB
Plaintext
About AMOS Professional Version 2.0
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This section of help describes the modifications done to AMOSPro since the
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previous version V1.12. Please select one of these options:
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{[IFeatures ,4,3] Features added to AMOSPro }
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{[IResource ,4,3] The Resource Bank Creator }
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{[IUserGuide ,4,3] Corrections to the User Guide }
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{[IFuture ,4,3] The future updates }
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{[IHelpInfo ,4,3] Latest News of Version 1.12 }
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Features added to AMOS Professional
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When you run it, you'll realise that AMOSPro has not changed very much since
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V1.12. V1.12 had fixed many bugs and had major enhancements compared to
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V1.00.
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Even at V1.12 we realised we'd need to update AMOSPro so that it was
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structured more modular - thus ensuring it was modern in terms of software
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design. We are now able to update AMOSPro much more easily than was
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possible. In otherwords we've thought ahead to make our life easier when
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creating new updates like AGA support. It has also ensured the Compiler
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intergrates wonderfully.
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Here's the list of modifications:
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* AMOSPro
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The re-write of AMOSPro has resulted in a vast reduction in the size of the
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"AMOSPro" file. It is now only a mere 20K. AMOSPro is now only a loader:
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it loads "AMOS.library", the main instruction set ("AMOSPro.Lib"), the
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various extensions, the editor and the monitor files. That's all it does.
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* The Main Instruction Set
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The main instruction set is now treated as a normal extension to AMOSPro.
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Every instruction routine is now callable from another extension. The
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system is now fully modular.
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AMOSPro.Lib is common to both the AMOSPro Interpreter and the
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Compiler. This means that a new AGA update for example, would add commands
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to AMOSPro.Lib and these would be available under both interpreter and
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Compiler.
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* The Extensions
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With the extension system being extended to cope with all the different
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syntaxes of the AMOSPro instruction set, it is now much more versatile. You
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can create reserved variables within extension, have single or double
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floating point parameters etc. The extension system is also compatible with
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all the extensions written for AMOSPro since V1.00.
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Extension writers should wait for the AGA version of AMOSPro before
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releasing their code into the public domain: AGA will induce many
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modifications within the screen structures of AMOS. Information about these
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new screen structures will become available when we release the AGA version.
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* The AMOS.Library
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- The requester routines are now part of the library. This reduces the size
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of the requester extension to a mere 250 Bytes
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- The default Mouse.Abk has been included within the library. If you want
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to, you can remove it from your APSystem folder, so long as your
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AMOSPro_Interpreter_Config does not call it.
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- AMOSPro_Default.Font is no longer necessary: AMOS.Library now asks for a
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system font to create the AMOSPro window font. As a default this font is
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Topaz 8, but you can change it to whatever 8x8 fixed size font you wish
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using Interpreter_Config.
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You'll be glad to here that the default font is now the same throughout
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AMOSPro: In the menus, the graphical text instructions and in windows.
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* Default resource banks
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The resource banks have been cleaned up. Some icons have been redrawn to
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offer a better graphical interface. The Default resource includes new
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graphic elements to create new kinds of buttons and editing zones.
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* AMOSPro Interpreter Config
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The default screen setup has been rewritten to accept the future AGA
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palettes.
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* AMOSPro Editor Config
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The editor screen setup has also been rewritten to cope with the extended
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AGA palettes, availables when AMOSPro works in AGA.
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* New function: =ZDialog (Channel,X,Y)
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This new instruction can be very useful: it returns the number of the
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interface zone under X and Y coordinates - without waiting.
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Channel: Number of an opened dialogue channel
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X : X screen coordinate to test
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Y : Y screen coordinate to test
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Result:
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-1: the coordinate does not point to a zone
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>-1: the number of the zone
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{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }
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Problems removed from Version 1.0
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* Block in the editor.
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The editor used to add garbage at the end of a block when cutting the block
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which included a non-tokenised line.
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* Program to menu problems: you could totally mess-up the editor's menu by
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adding/removing "Programs to Menu" on certain menus, like "Help",
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"Configuration" etc...
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* From V1.12 of AMOSPro, INPUT could not be seen from the monitor.
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* Doing a screen close in direct mode on a screen which included an active
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dialogue channel, resulted in AMOSPro stuck within an infinite loop.
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* Such a line:
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Vdialog$(0,1)=Array(a$(1))
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was accepted by the test. This line was false, as the Array function
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returns an integer (the base of the array) and Vdialog waits for a string.
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* Integer multiplication.
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From the very start of AMOS a bug in integer multiplication caused false
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results for certain numbers. Not very annoying because no one has reported
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it in 3 years!
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{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }
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Resource Bank Maker Enhancements
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The resource bank maker has been enhanced and now offers the possibility to
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store interface programs within a resource bank.
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To reach the new functions of the resource bank maker, just click on the new
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button from the main menu: 'Edit dialog programs' You will enter a new
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panel with the list of programs currently present within the resource bank.
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The purpose of these new function is to allow you to insert the Interface
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programs within the middle of a resource bank. The interface strings will
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no longer be required within your AMOS Program - line like: "A$=A$+" or
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"Data". The interface program can be edited using any ASCII editor and then
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simply loaded into the bank.
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* Loading a program:
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You can load any ASCII file into the list by clicking on the 'LOAD' button.
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* Editing programs:
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Edit your interface programs within any ASCII editor (ED, CygnusED or
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others...) and then import them into the Resource_Bank_maker using the
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'LOAD' button.
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Large Ram or Hard-disk users (only):
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It's possible to call up any CLI Ascii editor directly from the
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Resource_Bank_Maker.AMOS accessory.
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To Edit an existing program, select it with mouse from the list and
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then click on the 'Edit' Button. If you do this when the selected program
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is empty, a requester will ask you if you want to create a new one.
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The editor called by this button is defined by the varable string 'ED_NAME$'
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which can be changed by editing the actual Resource bank maker AMOS source
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program file (around line 56). Or by clicking on the 'Change Default
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Editor' Button. Be aware that these rules must apply to your editor:
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1) The ASCII editor must freeze CLI multitasking during editing. So you
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cannot have a 'run' command before the editor's name. With CygnusED you'll
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have to add the option '-keepio' to ensure the editor presents itself to you
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and not hide in the background.
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Workbench's ED works fine, you might use a line like:
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c:ED {f}
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For CygnusED:
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c:CED {f}
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2) The {f} parameter is a dummy filename which your Ascii Editor usually
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expects when you request an edit from CLI or Shell. It carries the dialogue
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program position within the bank. When you've finished editing, just save
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the file and quit the editor. You'll then be back in the resource editor
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with the Ascii file stored within the bank.
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If the Resource bank maker cannot find the Editor described by ED_NAME$, it
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will only display your DBL program using the 'Readtext' AMOS function.
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* Copy, Cut, Paste & Rename:
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Use these buttons to duplicate, move and rename any Interface programs in
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the list.
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* Remove unusued characters:
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By clicking here, you can filter and optimise the currently selected
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dialogue program in order to save precious bytes and speed up (just a
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little), your AMOS interfaces. Warning! Always keep a backup of your DBL
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programs before removing unusued characters. You'll hardly be ably to read
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them after they've had spaces removed. Only perform this operation at the
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very end of you interface programming.
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* How to access dialogue programs in banks from within AMOS?
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This is very simple. Just call your dialogues by:
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Resource Bank x (x = number of the bank where your DBL programs are)
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Dialog Open 1,n (n = number of the DBL program within resource bank x)
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This is much better that using:
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S$=S$+... (initialising string S$)
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S$=S$+...
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Dialog Open 1,S$ ( S$ = big string containing your DBL programs)
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The initialisation phase will be faster and you'll gain some variable buffer
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space!
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The other interface instrunctions are working exactly the same way.
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(D=Dialog Run(1,label), Vdialog(1,va) and so on...)
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{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }
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Corrections to the AMOS Pro User Guide
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Also read the "Correction to the User Guide" chapter in 1.12 help files.
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Page 05.07.06
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Read Text$ should read Read Text
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Page 07.06.23
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"Move On" should read "Movon"
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Page 11.01.04
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XGRAPHIC / YGRAPHIC
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"Xtext" should read "Xgraphic"
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"Ytext" should read "Ygraphic"
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Page 11.04.04
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EXEC instruction does not accept an "Output" parameter.
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{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }
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The future updates
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We will continue with our update policy. Here are some of the things you
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can wait for in the future:
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- AGA Update
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- Intuition On / Off to display an AMOS Screen under intuition and
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therefore create real workbench applications.
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- New instructions to handle intuition screens.
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- More and more integration to the Amiga's system.
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- and all your good ideas!
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{[IHelpInf ,4,3] Back to main menu }
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