currier@romeo.cs.duke.edu (Bob Currier - DCAC Network Comm. Specialist) (01/03/89)
Has anyone had any problems with ForthMacs on the 1040ST? I ftp'd a copy from him1.umich.edu and have been playing with it. It does not like to live in my Rambaby ram drive, if I make it >128k. If I have <128k, it and Emacs runs ok... >512k, forth runs fine, but if you try to *edit*, the system locks up. If you make it inbetween, I get bus errors and the bombs... :-( Does anyone have any ideas? I am new to the ST, so perhaps I am doing something wrong. I have tried removing all desk accessories etc etc, but to no avail. I like the forth implementation, but if it is going to crash my box all the time, I don't think it is worth the $50 Mitch is asking for. I would love to send him the money and get the docs, but only if someone out there can convince me that ForthMacs is worth it.... Otherwise, it goes into the blackhole with all the other interesting but useless programs I have accumulated. Thanks in advance! P.S. What do you _GET_ in the docs?? Is it more than just the source for the VDI and AES stuff??? Is it a Real Document, as in, how to use or just a list of commands? Bob Currier currier@romeo.cs.duke.edu
Dave_Ninjajr_Flory@cup.portal.com (01/04/89)
>Has anyone had any problems with ForthMacs on the 1040ST? I ftp'd >a copy from him1.umich.edu and have been playing with it. It does not >like to live in my Rambaby ram drive, First let me say that I am not a programmer, but an experienced user. Then I will say that I have several (4 or 5) versions of 4th for the ST and to my untrained eye Forthmacs looks to be a pretty good system. I think the problem you are running into is due to conflict with 4th memory location. In the manual it tells you how to move it around to wherever you want. i.e. hex 90000 memtop! "" FORTH.TOS splice-relocation "" FORTH.TOS save-rel wil give you a version which runs with hex 90000 as its TOP address. Don't move too high as Emacs uses the space above MEMTOP. He goes on to say that you can find top of avail. memory with - base-page 1a1+ 1@ . The Manual is about 1/2 inch thick and is mostly a complete glossary but also has advice on how to do things. There is a Macintosh Forthmacs and also a version for the Sun workstation, as well as a Gem Window interface for the ST which lets it run in windows and use them easily. Of interest to music people is Formula (Forth Music Package for Midi), very powerful but intended for programmers not casual musicians. With the complete kernel code ($$) is a metacompiler to let you prune uneeded words from a final product. Haven't corresponded with Mitch for over a year so would guess there is more now. Compared to the price of competing commercial systems Bradley is quite competitive in value for the buck. (I don't have any connection to Bradley Forthware other than being a casual user. I just wish I had the time to become an 'experienced' user.)