The news is organised in chronological order, with the most recent stories at the top. Choose the month you require, then click on a topic heading to jump to the associated announcement.
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Virtually all the software on my web site has been updated to be 32-bit clean. Some of these releases incorporate new features, others are simply a 32-bit recompilation.
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tigger/
http://www.bookmaker.riscos.org.uk/
Applications that are simple recompilations:
Applications with new features:
The latest version 1.40 of DiscKnight is now available. All registered users should have already have recived a notification from the smartgroups support mailing list. If you are not registered or have changed email address and not received a message from smartgroups, please write to the address below quoting your serial number, which is displayed on the first line of output from the program.
Changes in this release:
This did not affect normal checking and repairing of the disc, only the very infrequent action of undoing a failed repair. However it is highly recommended you upgrade to eliminate this problem.
This is the second fully 32bit compatible release suitable for the Iyonix. A 32bit C Library and support files are provided to allow use on all operating systems including RISC OS Select.
Announcing the release of !DrW2HTML 3.70 to coincide with the latest release of DrWimp.
DrW2HTML takes the textmanual of DrWimp and converts it to an HTML manual complete with internal links. This version allows for some slight changes in the textmanual of DrWimp 3.70.
DrW2HTML is available from
http://www.denmarkwa.net.au/~kwright/
My RISC OS drivers for the Epson Stylus Color 900 and 980 printers have now been updated to include new initialisation code sequences. This change makes them fully compatible with the Simtec USB card without compromising their parallel port operation.
To make use of these new drivers a system running RISC OS 4 and !Printers version 1.64, or later, will be required.
For more information, please email Jonathan Briggs at the following address: jbcb@globalnet.co.uk
An updated version of MouseAxess is now available from my homepage.
This is just a revamp from 0.15b, with the following changes:
It has been tested on RISC OS 3.1, 3.7, 4.xx (Select), and RISC OS 5 (Iyonix).
MouseAxess is a 'background' tool providing a number of various enhancements for the RISC OS desktop, which can be accessed with the mouse. For a full feature list, please visit the URL below.
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~cfloeter
A new version of CDrip has been put on the download area of the URL below.
http://rogerdarlington.members.beeb.net/
Using the recently released Shine module, CDrip will convert a directory full of WAV files into MP3 files, at any bit-rate from 32kB/s to 320kB/s.
Speed is 1.15x real-time on a 233MHz StrongARM RiscPC for 128kB/s bit-rates with viewfinder. Will now incorporate ID3 data from !CDviewer (via freedb).
Can also use Lame or Blade encoders, but these are much slower.
Having found and corrected a bug in CDrip, I, the author, have now corrected it and it is now (until known otherwise) bug free. The bug fix means that you really can add the ID3 data from freedb during the conversion process, since if it's not in freedb, you have plenty of time to enter it yourself. Before, although the help said you could, it didn't actually work. Now it does!
All programs on this site are nominally bug-free. If you find a bug, please write to me about it and it will get fixed. If you don't, I may not have noticed it myself, so it wont. You know it makes sense.
RISC OS drivers are now available for the HP Deskjet 995, 3820, 3822 and 5550 printers.
All drivers provide settings to allow either full colour or grey scale printing at both 300 and 600dpi. Specific settings are provided for a variety of media types and print qualities.
An appropriate icon bar symbol, which resembles the printer being driven, is provided with each driver. The Deskjet 5550 driver package also includes new palette files, created specifically for this printer, and a 'toolkit'.
All drivers should work reliably with RISC OS 4 and Printers version 1.64 or later. Use with Printers version 1.53, or later, may well be possible but is not guaranteed. All drivers should work reliably either via the parallel port, with the recommended IEEE1284 standard cable, or via the Simtec USB card. Simtec USB setup is straightforward and does not require a modified version of !Printers. The Deskjet 995 does not include a parallel port so can only be used via a USB connection.
Please note the 3820 and 3822 printers do not include the automatic print head alignment of the other models. If print head alignment is required it will be necessary to connect the 3820/2 to a Mac or Windows PC.
For more information and pricing details please contact Jonathan Briggs via email, jbcb@globalnet.co.uk
ARMalayser version 0.42 is now available from
http://www.armclub.org.uk/free
e.g. ADR Rx, |short_label| becomes ADR Rx, |actual_label|-offset
ADD/SUB Rx,Rx,#Offset ADD/SUB Rx,Rx,#offsetIt has extensive analysis features to detect problems that may be encountered when converting code to 32bit.
It is available for 26bit and 32bit RISC OS with a desktop front end, and command line versions for Win32, ARM and x86 Linux.
I've just fixed the Altavista decoder for !RiscSearch, and updated both the release and the development version of !RiscSearch on its homepage (www.riscsearch.de) with it.
For all of you, who don't know about !RiscSearch: !RiscSearch is meant to be a meta-search engine, and AFAIK it is the only one available for RISC OS anywhere. It helps you to find web-pages about a certain topic by asking different search engines about the keywords you supply. It collects results from (at the moment) 9 different engines, filters out duplicate matches and then presents all links in a window of your web-browser.
Version 2.10 of Ancestor+ is now available from the APDL web site.
This has a number of additions requested by users.
During the next few weeks I hope to make several more improvements, especially to the creation of charts, so watch out for further upgrades which may not be announced here.
KinoAMP 0.24 - MPEG movie player
Shine 1.06 - MP3 encoder
These versions provide 32 bit compatibility. Please let me know of any problems, as I have not personally been able to check these on an Iyonix. There are very few changes from the last released versions. Both require the new 32 bit libraries when not used on an Iyonix.
Changes to KinoAMP
The ability to play more than 1 file when multitasking.
An audio mute control.
A couple of small bug fixes.
Changes to Shine
Removal of test code.
Both KinoAMP and Shine are available from,
http://www.everett9981.freeserve.co.uk/pete.htm
Happy Christmas,
I've just put PDF v1.01.1.09 on my web site.
It has the following changes
Merry Christmas everyone.
!PDF is a public domain PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file viewer for RISC OS.
With apologies to everyone who downloaded version 1.14, I've uploaded a fixed new version of FreeMem. There was a typo in 1.14 which meant the icon bar kept flickering, particularly noticeable when e.g. copying things from floppy. 1.15 is now available from my Downloads page.
http://www.liquid-silicon.com/
FreeMem constantly shows you the amount of free memory currently available in your machine and can also give you the time. This latest version is 26/32-bit neutral allows you to configure the amount of memory below which the display turns red, i.e. a low memory warning. Previously this was 512K which was fine in the old days when we used 4Mb machines! It now defaults to 4Mb, but you can set it to what you like.
We are pleased to annouce that UniPrint 1.10 has been sent out via email to customers.
This is a major update for the program, being up to five times faster, especially in colour printing. Additionally, the Windows end of the software has a much improved interface, giving status information, and living in the system tray.
For those unfamiliar with UniPrint, it allows RISC OS machines to print to almost any printer, via a network. The printer is attached to a Windows PC, so that the Windows printer driver can be used, to ensure best quality. The RISC OS end of UniPrint sends the printout to the PC end, which then prints the page as if it were originating on the PC. The end result is that you can access all the features offered by the Windows drivers such as stunning photo printing, duplexing or simply "better" regular prints.
UniPrint costs 40ukp including VAT and UK delivery. For more information see http://www.rcomp.co.uk/
Version 0.46 (21 Dec 2002) of BeebIt has now been released.
BeebIt is a freeware BBC Micro computer emulator for RISC OS versions 3.00 and above. It emulates the Acorn BBC Model B, BBC Model B+ and BBC Master 128 computers.
The following improvements have been done since 0.45.
As always, you can get the latest version from
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mjfoot/ under the BBC link.
Note: This release of BeebIt is not 32 bit compatible because I do not have the tools to compile a 32 bit version. The source code has been changed to be 32 bit compatible so as soon as I get the tools to build it, a 32 bit version will become available.
Do you remember playing the game Cybertron Mission by Micro Power on your BBC Micro?
Now you can play it again under RISC OS!
Cybertron Mission has been converted to RISC OS directly from the BBC game of the same name. The conversion process takes the original BBC game code and converts each processor instruction to a comparable routine under RISC OS. This means that instead of having to rewrite the game from scratch and trying to get everything the same, I now have an exact conversion that looks, plays and feels the same as the original. The only thing missing from this release is the sound effects.
Please download the RISC OS version of Cybertron Mission from
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mjfoot/ under RISC OS Software.
Wireless USB adaptor inc RISC OS drivers: UKP79.95 inc VAT and carriage.
Wireless USB adaptor for PC (no RISC OS drivers): UKP69.95 inc VAT and carriage.
Simtec USB card: UKP99.95 inc VAT and carriage.
Wireless PCMCIA card (for use with PC portables): UKP59.95 inc VAT and carriage.
Wireless Access point / Bridge / Media Converter: UKP99.95 inc VAT and carriage
NET100 100BaseT card: UKP89.00 inc VAT and carriage
All wireless poroducts operate at up to 11Mbps and support 128-bit WEP.
Contact:
Phone: 0845 458 8803 / 01706 848 600
Fax: 0870 164 1604
email: info@stdevel.co.uk
web: http://www.stdevel.co.uk/
The Bristol Acorn RISC User Group would like to offer a small (40K), hopefully useful, Christmas present to fellow members of the RISC OS community just because we're a caring, sharing bunch.
It's on our website.
The program is to allow users of RComp's DialUp Internet to easily swap between news servers while maintaining the individual separate configuration files - including the record of what has already been downloaded - for each news server.
It's needed because different servers give different headers, so duplicated news items are not exact duplicates, and so cannot be dealt with as such by, for example, Pluto.
Also, like me, you might have to PAYG for some restricted newsgroups and download these on quickfetch to save expense.
I use it to make my main news download via an ntlworld server at zero cost on my ntl dial-up account, and then occasionally to switch to a Pipex server to monitor the Argonet groups (which are not available via ntlworld) on a PAYG number as a QuickFetch.
It is accessible from the Pic_Index index page at:
by following the 'John's Software' link.
Compliments of the Season to All!
And Complements of the Season to DialUp users!
APDL and ProAction Software have recently taken over Clares Micro Supplies FULL range of current RISC OS products; including Schema, Composition and - as is the subject of this release - Rhapsody 4. We'll be taking a good long look at each product with regards to possibilities for the future, and you can expect to see major price reductions on most products. Please dont contact as yet with regards to other products; we've yet to decide upon prices and release details.
Rhapsody 4 is the latest of the Rhapsody series of music notation applications for playing, recording and printing music. Music can be input manually by dragging notes onto staves or with the addition of a MIDI card and MIDI keyboard you can play a tune and Rhapsody will capture it to then place the notes on the staves automatically.
Just a few features on offer include:
Midi functionality on offer is considerably more sophisticated than earlier versions, and you are no longer limited to 128 Midi voices and can add controller or other Midi information anywhere in the score.
Clares most recent price (given on their website) was £60.00 inc VAT; the launch price from APDL and ProAction is £29.90 inc VAT and postage within the UK. We supply Rhapsody 4 on CD-ROM, so if you require a floppy disc version please specify when ordering. We have a further special offer: if you buy our Music Maestro pack (usual price £19.90) at the same time, you'll save £5 - both for just £44.80 inc delivery within the UK. Given that the component applications (Serenade, VoxBox and ReMidi) with Rhapsody 4 individually retailed at over £200 you're looking at a considerable saving!
The new Rhapsody 4 launches on 3rd January 2003.
Contact APDL on 020 8778 2659, email info@apdl.co.uk or write to APDL, 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5RN for further details.
All the software available from my website, including WebJames, PHP, ccache, Subversion, Roots, YABU and various utilities, has now been updated for 32bit compatibility.
Enjoy.
This is to announce the stable release of version 0.32 of Director
All the archives can be downloaded from:
http://director.sourceforge.net/
or
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/director
Added WinLogo and WinMenu as keys which Director understands (OS dependant). (Philip Ludlam)
Fixed bug if AddSprites wasn't present. (Martin Dann)
Fixed bug in FindDrives and possible bug in ExpPath. (Chris Manning)
Really changed format for bin to YYYY-MM-DD. (Jérôme Mathevet)
After loading Director checks the status of MenuProcessing. If it is off then the user is informed. (Philip Ludlam)
Minor changes to make Director happier with RISC OS 4.33/Select2i3. (Philip Ludlam).
There are numerous changes since the last stable release. Due to length they are not listed here but details of these can be found in the ChangeLog file supplied with Director
When installed it will reside in Choices:Director.Menus.AutoRun or !Director.Menus.AutoRun depending if you are using the 'new' !Boot sequence or not.
You can either:
If you are unsure which option is the best then option 1 is recommended.
Then you may need to customise !!SetVars for your system.
Director also allows an alternative and faster view onto files in the form of directory menus and allows these menus to be attached to other menus also.
Director has some other useful features such as remembering the most recently used files, the ability to add key strokes into the keyboard buffer and the ability to produce directory menus over drive icons.
Director is fully customisable by the user, and can do many or all of the functions of Pinboard+, TreeMenu (AKA DirMenu), Filer-, QuickDir, DeskUtils, Memorizer, Menon and some of the functions of Filer+.
Partis Computing has recently moved.
Our new address is:
Partis Computinghttp://www.partis.co.uk/move/main.php
Google Toolbar for RISC OS Public Beta version 0.62 (18 December, 2002)
After a while of no development, I have released the latest beta of !Google, a version of the Google Toolbar for RISC OS computers.
The Google Toolbar for RISC OS is an attempt at making the Google Toolbar, which is an add on to Internet Explorer which allows the user to search the Internet from any Internet Explorer window without going to the Google website, available for the RISC OS platform. It allows the user to search for web pages, images, usenet articles, open directory links and news.
This new version contains a few updates to the previous release version, such as the option to search in the .co.uk domain rather than the .com domain, the option to hide the iconbar icon and the option to start small.
Please note that the homepage for this version has changed to the http://toolbars.andrewpoole.org.uk/
Bug reports, suggestions etc. are welcome. Please Email them to andrew@andrewpoole.org.uk
The show will be on Saturday, 10th May 2003, and open to the public between 10 am and 4:30 pm. It has been decided to run only a one day event this time, due to the low attendances on the Sunday in the past, and in order to be able to continue with the show. Although we had looked at some alternative venues for this years smaller show, we have again decided it will be back at its usual venue, for the past few years, of the Thornes Park Athletic Stadium.
It is again intended to have a show theatre, but this will be in a different location within the building to previous years since the room used before is no longer available.
We also plan on the usual charity stall, and this year everything must go by the end of the day, so there will be some real bargains to be had.
There will be no advance ticket sales available this year, in order to help to keep costs down. Tickets will cost £5 (under 16's will be free if accompanied by an adult), but large parties of under 16's arriving together will be subject to the normal entry charge.
More details will be released as soon as possible.
A website will also be going active as soon as possible.
http://www.wakefiedshow.org.uk/
Our principal sponsor this time is R-Comp/R-Comp Interactive
The show will again be run and organised by the members and volunteers of the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club in their spare time. Please do support both the dedication of these volunteers and the exhibitors attending.
I've uploaded a new version of my very popular FreeMem application - see the Downloads page of www.liquid-silicon.com. This version is 26/32-bit neutral plus a few enhancements.
FreeMem constantly shows you the amount of free memory currently available in your machine and can also give you the time. This latest version allows you to configure the amount of memory below which the display turns red, i.e. a low memory warning. Previously this was 512K which was fine in the old days when we used 4Mb machines! It now defaults to 4Mb, but you can set it to what you like.
ROX-Session 0.1.18 is out now!
ROX-Session is a session manager for the ROX desktop. It controls logging in and lets you log out again. It lets you set which programs should be started automatically and provides access to desktop-wide configuration (such as the default font and mouse speed):
http://rox.sf.net/rox_session.php3
By default, it creates a desktop with a pinboard and a panel (iconbar) containing the removable devices (floppy, CD, zip, etc), the Apps directory and your home directory on the left, and itself (for logging out and desktop options) and a tutorial/guidebook on the right.
The guidebook, which provides an introduction to ROX for new users, is also available on-line, and includes many screenshots:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/guide.php3
ROX-Session is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that anyone can modify it, use bits of it in their own (GPL) programs, etc. Indeed, many of the improvements made to ROX-Session were added by other ROX users and posted as patches to the mailing list.
Changes since 0.1.17:
Enjoy!
I have made available on my website 26/32-bit compatible beta versions of most of my software (I haven't bothered with anything not applicable to RISC OS 5). All the software is available from
http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/software/
In general, there is no change in functionality for any of these (but see the exceptions list below) -- the only difference is that the new versions should run on 32-bit systems as well as on 26-bit ones. A summary of the updated software is as follows:
Application 26-bit version 26/32-bit version
----------- -------------- -----------------
Filer Dir Patch 1.05 1.10
Find Icon Bar 0.02 Not converted
Float 0.34 0.35 (Upgrade not strictly required)
Fortune 1.02 1.10
Free Memory 0.02 0.02 (Upgrade not required)
Get Filer 1.01 1.01 (Upgrade not required)
Index 1.10 Not converted
Locate 0.80 0.85
PC Keyboard 1.05 1.10
ResFSApps 1.01 1.10
Task Kill 1.01 1.01 (Upgrade not required)
Windows Keys 0.13 0.20
Windows Scroll 0.30 0.51 (0.50 now withdrawn)
As I do not have a system to test these updates on, I really would like reports from people who try to use them on RISC OS 5 (whether or not they work). For the time being, I've released anything with 32-bit changes as a beta version, though they have been tested on RISC OS 4.33.
I have not specifically looked at any of my games as yet, with the exception of Pairs which was largely re-written recently. Since they are all simple BASIC programs, I would expect no problems. I currently have no plans to update Disc Index, as I am still planning to re-write this from scratch.
Locate
Float
PC Keyboard
WimpWorks is our Integrated Development Environment for RISC OS, which allows you to create Desktop applications in BASIC quickly and easily. For example, a simple clock can be created by typing just two lines of code!
Applications which have been previously produced using WimpWorks can, generally, be made 32-bit compatible by simply resaving them in the new version. The only exceptions will be if an application includes inline Assembler or relies on a non-32-bit compatible module.
To allow further development and to cover increased costs, this release sees a small price increase and a chargeable upgrade to existing users. However, for the first time we can now accept payment online - including credit and debit cards.
The prices are now:
Full version 39.99ukp
Upgrade for existing users 9.99ukp
Upgrade from WimpBasic, ArchWay, HelixBasic or WimpGen [1] 19.99ukp
More details, and a fully-functional demo are available on our website:
http://www.jaffasoft.co.uk/product/wimpworks.html
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me, or ask our mailing list.
[1] Subject to terms & conditions. More details on the website.
To avoid being left out in the recent 32bit rush... There are two !GCCide upgrades... the functionality is identical in both versions except for:
v1.22
Is a straightforward upgrade from earlier versions - simply save the new version over existing copy to upgrade.
v2.02 Is the same as v.122 except...
As a result of the changes, you should find that v2.02 is more stable and is noticably faster than v1.22.
Upgrading from v1.nn to v2.nn requires some reconfiguring to be done by the user, hence the release of v1.22. However it is expected that all future development work will be carried out on v2.nn
Projects - helps to build projects quickly
Toolsets - switch between compiler options pre-defined in toolsets
Libraries - easily select libraries to use
Makefiles - generates and uses makefiles
Stonar School is one of the leading RISC OS centres in independent education. There are currently 116 RiscPCs in use, about 40 of which are Kinetics and the remainder 32MB OS4 Strongarms. There are a few PCs about for specialised purposes within departments.
There is a campus-wide fibre optic network with 100Mbit links to each building, then cat 5 drops directly into the workstations at 10mbits. Virtually all is switched right to the desktop. The file server is a twin-box linux unit, with access via Lanman98. The is Navaho internet server accessible from outside as well as within, and an uncontended 8Mbit leased line to the internet. The whole is supremely reliable. Funding is sufficient.
We provide classes in ICT throughout the school, leading to results at GCSE which are well above our competitors; 45% grade A*, 30% A, a few B and nothing below a couple of C grades.
We offer ICT at AS and A2 levels, and we have done Computing at AS.
The school is also an authorised test centre for the ECDL, possibly the only one specialising in ECDL under RISC OS.
For further information about the school you can email me, or look at http://www.stonar.wilts.sch.uk/.
We need two people to divide the work: teaching AS/A2/GCSE, coordinating the department, managing the network, dealing with maintenance, keeping ECDL records, supporting other staff, etc, etc ,etc...
Stonar will pay whatever is needed to secure the right people. Obviously a RISC OS person will be preferred.
Informal enquiries in the first instance, addressed to me at mailto:m.devon@stonar.wilts.sch.uk
New version of !CDrip, a WAV to MP3 converter.
Using the recently released Shine module, this will convert a directory full of WAV files into MP3 files, at any bit-rate from 32kB/s to 320kB/s.
Speed is 1.3x real-time on a 233MHz StrongARM RiscPC for 128kB/s bit-rates. Will now incorporate ID3 data from !CDviewer (via freedb).
Can also use Lame or Blade encoders, but these are much slower, Blade especially so.
There is also a new version of !ID3toName on the website. This one is more useful for use with CDrip because it renames MP3 files with the track number first, so that all the MP3's appear in original CD order.
These programs should all work on an Iyonix, they are all written in BASIC. (Apart from the MP3 encoders themselves?)
Let me know if they don't.
Available from URL below:
http://rogerdarlington.members.beeb.net/
The German article about the Omega has been updated:
http://firmen5.chiemgau-net.de/ausserstorfer/artikel/omega.pdf
There is now also a German article about the Iyonix PC out:
http://firmen5.chiemgau-net.de/ausserstorfer/artikel/iyonixpc.pdf
Feel free to spread, print and use.
This is to announce that previous versions of Director are now available to download from
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=25910
The 'new' versions available are 0.08, 0.11, 0.13, 0.18, 0.20, 0.21, 0.22, 0.23 0.24, 0.25 and 0.26.
Their only purpose in being there is for historical reasons, and speaking personally, it is quite interesting to see how Director has developed over the years.
Please note that any bugs in these releases will not be fixed ;-)
Director also allows an alternative and faster view onto files in the form of directory menus and allows these menus to be attached to other menus also.
Director has some other useful features such as remembering the most recently used files, the ability to add key strokes into the keyboard buffer and the ability to produce directory menus over drive icons.
Director is fully customisable by the user, and can do many or all of the functions of Pinboard+, TreeMenu (AKA DirMenu), Filer-, QuickDir, DeskUtils, Memorizer, Menon and some of the functions of Filer+.
ARMalayser version 0.41 is now available from http://www.armclub.org.uk/free
It has extensive analysis features to detect problems that may be encountered when converting code to 32bit.
It is available for 26bit and 32bit RISC OS with a desktop front end, and command line versions for Win32, ARM and x86 Linux. Please note that the later two executables remain at version 0.40, in the archive on the website, 0.41 versions will be uploaded shortly.
Nettle is the terminal emulator and telnet client for the RISC OS operating system. It utilises the ZapRedraw module for speedy display and is a fast, clean native implementation.
Notable items in this release:
New Features:
It's available for download from the usual place
(Nettle website: http://nettle.sourceforge.net/)
To whom it may concern:
I have released new versions of ZeriBeep, ZeriLink and Labyrinth. Please refer to:
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/J.Kortink/software.htm
ZeriBeep is an SN76489 emulator in a module. The SN76489 is the sound chip used in, among others, the BBC. Version 1.10 considerably improves the responsiveness of the sound rendering.
ZeriLink is a parallel port file transfer system. Version 2.42 (2.41 was released over 5 years ago) is a cleaned up, reassembled, recompiled release with revised docs. No functionality changes.
Labyrinth is a lean and mean BBC emulator dedicated to the Acornsoft game Labyrinth. Version 1.03 introduces a few small improvements and now uses ZeriBeep 1.10.
ARMalayser version 0.40 is now available from http://www.armclub.org.uk/free
The previous release, 0.35, contained both 26bit and 32bit executable with different filenames, so you may want to delete the old copy rather than installing over the top, to avoid leaving redundant files behind.
This is a major new feature that enables the value of registers to be determined via immediate MOV's, loading from memory, or PC relative calculations, and then tracked as many arithmetic operations are performed on them. This results in more accurate recognition of code and data areas from direct use of register contents or when they are passed to known SWI's Shared C Library routines
To warn the user or potentially problematic instructions and code sequences code comments are now prefixed with "CAUTION:" for easy searching.
A number of new cautions have been added to aid in the identification of unsafe code when porting to 32 bit, including:
ARMalyser can recognise tests for whether the processor 26bit or 32bit mode using TEQ PC,PC, and not caution the use of 26bit only or 32bit only instructions which are only executed on the appropriate condition, or are in a block of code which has been taken or not taken on the result of the test.
It is available for 26bit and 32bit RISC OS with a desktop front end, and command line versions for Win32, ARM and x86 Linux.
I am please to announce the release of version 0.19 of the SysLog module which has now been made 32 bit compatible.
SysLog is a freeware program which provides a module that offers a central logging facility that can be used be programs to log information at various levels of importance.
This is a 26/32 bit neutral version based on the previous DoggySoft version and it should run equally well on old machines and Iyonix.
Note that RISC OS Select users will already have a suitable SysLog module available in ROM and they do not therefore need this version.
SysLog 0.19 can be downloaded from http://www.compton.nu/syslog.html and any problems or queries should be directed to me at the address given below.
GedcomWeb 3.00 is now available from
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
GedcomWeb enables you to convert GEDCOM files into JavaScript family tree Web pages. Unlike web output from other genealogy software, GedcomWeb's output is interactive, allowing the user to view and print different parts of a tree, and display in different styles. Even if you don't want to display your family tree on the Web, the output is still very useful for sending to relations who may not have genealogy software, as it will work with any modern web browser on any type of computer.
GedcomWeb version 2 was reviewed in Archive, January 2002.
New features in version 3.00 include:
This version of GedcomWeb has been compiled to run on 32-bit versions of RISC OS. If you are using it on RISC OS 3 or RISC OS 4 you may need to upgrade your System modules to obtain the new Shared C Library. Details of how to do this are on the web page and in the ReadMe file which accompanies the release. Users who would prefer a 26-bit-only upgrade should contact me at the address below.
Online registration is now available again: details are on the web page.
Existing licensed users can upgrade by downloading the demo version and dropping it on top of their existing copy of GedcomWeb.
ROX-Filer 1.3.5 (developer release) is out now! This version should be pretty stable.
ROX-Filer is a small, fast, powerful filer for Unix, Linux and compatible systems. Its user interface is based on the RISC OS filer, and it supports similar concepts, such as application directories, drag-and-drop saving and popup menus. It also implements a RISC OS like pinboard, and a panel which can be used in a similar way to the RISC OS iconbar. It also supports many features not found in RISC OS, including thumbnails of images, keyboard short-cuts, many more options, powerful search facilities, etc.
ROX-Filer can be used on its own, with another desktop (such as GNOME, KDE or XFCE), or as the core component of the ROX desktop. The ROX desktop aims to bring all the good features of RISC OS to modern systems. Get ROX-Filer here: (source and Linux-x86 binary archives at present):
http://rox.sf.net/rox_download.php3
The filer now requires Gtk+-2.0 (which installs easily alongside Gtk+-1.2):
Screenshots:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/index.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php
The filer is distributed under the GNU General Public License, which means that anyone can modify it, use bits of it in their own (GPL) programs, etc. Indeed, many of the improvements made to the filer were added by other ROX users and posted as patches to the mailing list.
Changes since 1.3.4:
New features
Small changes
Bugs
Translations
http://rox.sourceforge.net/install.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/guide.php3
You can read more, download ROX-Filer, read the comments people have made, and look at some screenshots here:
http://rox.sourceforge.net
http://rox.sourceforge.net/comments.php3
http://rox.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php3
There are two mailing lists; rox-users and rox-devel. You can subscribe here, or look at the archives:
http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=7023
A selection of tutorials on writing ROX applications is available on-line:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/tutor.php3
Enjoy!
Just a quick note to say that version 0.15 of Variations, a freebie image manipulation application that I play about with when the mood takes me is now available from:
This version may - I repeat - *may* work on an Iyonix. If someone wants to try it then I'd be interested to hear about their experiences. If it doesn't work yet then please don't panic, I'm quite sure that it'll not work a lot less than any previous version... :-)
Other changes are:
Tidied up Border a bit and made it work for fullsize as well as thumbnail.
Made Shift-drag move the image around within the thumbnail. This is particularly useful for fade, shape and border. Try it, you'll soon see why.
Made reload original in the menu work - useful as a simple "undo"
Added options to restrict the effect of Saturation, Brightness, Gamma and Contrast to any combination of the red, green, or blue image channels.
Added the menu to the thumbnails window too. Added menu items for saving the thumbnails as a drawfile or spritefile and the code to make these features work.
Added new choice for fade/shape/border scaling. This is the scale at which the relevant vector image will be plotted (centred) over the image.
SwiftJPEG has been updated again. It's now at eversion 1.02. SwiftJPEG is a JPEG file viewer that uses the fast direct JPEG plotting capabilities of RISC OS 3.6 upwards, but which, by loading various support modules, can also run on RISC OS 3.5 and 3.1.
http://nines.rowing.org.uk/folder/
Changes are as follows:
This conversion is only done on RISC OS versions prior to 4. RISC OS 4 is assumed to cope gracefully with any file. Regardless of OS version, SwiftJPEG can still only handle images that the OS fundamentally supports, so (for example) if you don't have Select 2, you can't use it for progressive JPEGs.
Whilst this works on a real A5000, in Virtual A5000 an abort is (I'm told) generated within ColourTrans. I have no solution to this at present.
There are various other new features that people have asked for - not forgotten, but it'll take a while! I'm fitting this all around other work in little half hour chunks here and there...
I have just put the latest version of my portable BBC Basic interpreter, Brandy, on my web site at:
http://www.brandy.riscos.org.uk/
There are extensions to the COLOUR, DIM, GCOL and MODE statements in this version plus the usual bug fixes. There are also new Mac OS X and FreeBSD ports. The changes are of most benefit to people who run the program under RISC OS. As supplied the program is 26-bit, but it has been test compiled with the Castle C compiler and works fine.
Brandy is a portable BBC Basic interpreter that implements Basic V as supplied with RISC OS plus some later extensions. It runs under RISC OS, DOS, Mac OS X and various flavours of Unix-like operating systems.
On my website is the latest copy of FSI_Batch, 3.0 by now.
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/tudor
The program is a batch processing front end for ChangeFSI and allows you to process many graphics without having to sit at the computer dropping them in one at a time.
The addition this time 'round is a 'Resume' button. This enables you to continue with a current batch conversion from the point at which you pressed stop. I find this very handy because some batch processes on large files tend to lock up the computer for a long time. You can now press the Stop button to halt the process - use the computer for another task and resume batch processing when you are ready.
A further small change is the inclusion of 200*150 size in the 'Resolutions' menu.
FSI_Batch is shareware and you can download a copy by going to the bottom of my Welcome page (address below) and selecting the link to my shareware.
While you are at it, why don't you take a look around Limavady, which is what the rest of the site is about.
Corrected Announcement:
The OSLib maintainers are pleased to announce the release of OSLib 6.40.
The Change List is a bit long to post here, but, in summary, this release contains numerous enhancements, including coverage of the latest Select and RISC OS 5 API calls; fixes for all known bugs in both C and assembler modes; updates to all build tools to allow them to be used in either 26 or 32-bit environments; and a 32-bit neutral version of OSLibSupport.
This release also brings another major change: Over the last 9 months, the OSLib team have been working towards placing the entire OSLib and OSLibSupport source on CVS at SourceForge. This work is now complete, and, in addition, the OSLib binary archives are now held at SourceForge.
The OSLib home pages have now been re-vamped and moved to SourceForge http://ro-oslib.sourceforge.net, and this is where the latest release is publicly available.
The mk-net site will continue to redirect you there for the foreseeable future, but if you hold any links to OSLib in your address book, please amend it now to the new location.
For those who don't know, OSLib is a set of functions and C headers to provide complete coverage of the RISC OS application programmer's interface in C. It provides access from C code to all RISC OS system calls ("SWIs") which is
It also provides names for all the data structures and reason codes used by the A P I. Code that uses it is superior to similar code using _kernel_swi() or _swix(), both in terms of the compile-time checking that is available, and often in the size and speed of the code generated.
This is to announce the beta release of version 0.32 of Director
There are three archives available for download. The first (director) contains the main Director programs and associated utilities and menus. The second (director-devel) also contains the source code and CVS information. The third (director-docs) contains the documentation in a variety of formats.
All the archives can be downloaded from:
http://director.sourceforge.net
or
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/director
Since the last beta release of Director the following changes have been made:
Added NewIcons command alias.
Added DirectorOptions command. See NewDocs for more information.
Changed format for bin to YYYY-MM-DD. (Jerome Mathevet)
Fixed repeated EndMenu's causing internal errors.
Fixed a couple of bugs in TreePickSM and TreePick. (Lenny)
Fixed a few other bugs.
All BASIC assembler files changed to ObjAsm format.
When installed it will reside in Choices:Director.Menus.AutoRun or !Director.Menus.AutoRun depending if you are using the 'new' !Boot sequence or not.
You can either:
If you are unsure which option is the best then option 1 is recommended.
Then you may need to customise !!SetVars for your system.
Director also allows an alternative and faster view onto files in the form of directory menus and allows these menus to be attached to other menus also.
Director has some other useful features such as remembering the most recently used files, the ability to add key strokes into the keyboard buffer and the ability to produce directory menus over drive icons.
Director is fully customisable by the user, and can do many or all of the functions of Pinboard+, TreeMenu (AKA DirMenu), Filer-, QuickDir, DeskUtils, Memorizer, Menon and some of the functions of Filer+.
I've just updated my website with !VwSprt, a new version of !SAMP & RISC OS 5 upgrades for !SAMP, !VwSprt & !STRing.
!SAMP - A Simple Sprite Animation and Manipulation Program.
Designed as an aid to produce animations (eg animated GIF images for web sites). A few special effect functions are built in along with useful general purpose sprite manipulation functions. New since the last announcement are two extra rotation effects, a Ticker Tape effect for scrolling text & two delete functions. The source code is included inside the application. An Upgrade to run native under RISC OS 5 is available.
!VwSprt - View Sprite
A simple application to display an animated sprite in a window. To be used along side !SAMP. The source code is included inside the application. An Upgrade to run native under RISC OS 5 is available.
!STRing - Scanned Text Recognition
Has a RISC OS 5 upgrade available.
I've updated my RISC OS port of Analog to the current version 5.30. The changes are:
If you don't know what's that all about, Analog is a webserver logfile analyser. Just have a look at http://www.analog.cx/ as this is its real home.
My RISC OS port can be found in the software section of my homepage at
http://www.sbellon.de/software.html
Sine Nomine Software are pleased to announce that 32-bit compatible versions of:
Prune
- for cutting family trees down to size
FX80Emul
- for emulating 9-pin Epson compatible printers
SpriteClean
- for cleaning up scanned line art
are now available for download from
http://www.sinenomine.freeserve.co.uk/software/
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