JCSM Shareware Collection 1996 September/JCSM Shareware Collection (JCS Distribution) (September 1996).ISO/uother__/13030a01.ziv/PBPLUS.DOC

Text File | 1994-05-18 | 6KB | 104 lines

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                               PB Plus+ Compiler
                         Computing Systems Design, Inc.
                               4437 Ormond Trace
                               Marietta, GA 30066
                            CompuServe ID 72701,155
                           24 Hour FAX [phone]

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    PB Plus+ is an extension of PowerBatch, adding several powerful commands
    for the advanced developer. PB Plus+ gives the developer the capability to
    create sophisticated programs with relative ease. Below is a list of
    commands included in PB Plus+ in addition to all the commands in
    PowerBatch.

    ASCII File I/O
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Four file commands READFILE, WRITEFILE, APPENDFILE, and CLOSEFILE provide
    the capability to manipulate up 8 files at any one time. Files are
    automatically opened and closed at the appropriate time. (You can issue a
    READFILE command immediately following a WRITEFILE command and the file
    you were writing to will automatically be closed as output, re-opened as
    input and positioned at the beginning of the file.) With the APPENDFILE
    command, you can add to an existing file. All files are automatically
    closed for you at the successful completion of your program.

    Dynamic Arrays
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Array handling was never easier. Define an array by giving the APPROXIMATE
    length of each entry in the array and the APPROXIMATE number of elements in
    the array. PB Plus+ will allocate enough memory in the heap to contains the
    number of bytes needed to contain these entries. Each array element written
    consumes only as much space as the length of the element! If you define an
    array containing 25 entries each 40 characters long, 1000 bytes of memory
    would be allocated for your array. Since each entry takes only as much
    space as is necessary, you could write 100 entries that were only 10
    characters each!! No matter that you told me you would have only 25
    entries, it is the total amount of memory used that counts.

    It get even better. Suppose you underestimate the size needed for the
    array. No worry. PB Plus+ will simply allocate additional memory for your
    array and you continue writing as long as heap memory is available! You
    could easily write several thousand entries in your array without crashing
    the program.

    Subroutines
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    True subroutine execution up to 32 levels deep. (You can PERFORM within a
    PERFORM within a PERFORM... up to 32 levels). A subroutine begins with a
    label and ends with an EXIT command. When the exit command is reached, the
    program returns to the statement immediately following your PERFORM
    statement.

    Screen Saves
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Just the thing that is needed for true "menu popping". Execute the SAVEBOX
    command identifying the upper row and column and the lower row and column
    boundaries and PB Plus+will allocate memory on the heap to save all the
    data, color attributes, and cursor location within the defined box. Draw
    your menu on the screen, get the input from the user, and issue the RESTBOX
    command. PB Plus+ will find your saved data and restore the screen in a
    flash. Up to 16 saved areas may be active at any one time. Multiple
    executions of the RESTBOX command will "pop" the screen back for you in
    sequence.

    Program Swapping
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    What a powerful command! The swap command is so simple... either SWAP ON or
    SWAP OFF. If SWAP is ON, any external program or DOS command you execute
    will cause your PB Plus+ program to be "swapped" out of active memory to
    give the external process the maximum amount of memory available. When the
    external command is finished, your PB Plus+ program takes up right where it
    left off!

    Here's what happens without you even having to worry. PB Plus+ searches
    your system for either EMS, XMS, or a hard drive (in that order). Your PB
    Plus+ program is swapped to one of these available resources, leaving
    behind less then 4k to handle the swapping back in of your program after
    the external command is finished. Swap to one of the memory resources (EMS,
    or XMS) and this occurs in the blink of any eye. Even swapping to a hard
    drive takes approx 2 seconds.

    PB Plus+ is a solid bug free system that is already in use by several
    thousand users. It comes with printed documentation on the diskette size of
    your choice. If you haven't run PLUSDEMO.EXE located on your PowerBat disk,
    run this demonstration to see the power and flexibility of PB Plus+.

    Mouse Support
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Many of you have been asking for mouse support and it is now available.
    Three commands and another standard variable give you full flexibility for
    DOS text mode mouse support. The new standard variable (MOUSEINST) will tell
    you if the machine on which your program is running contains a mouse driver.
    If a mouse driver is present, you know you can use the mouse as a pointing
    device, if not then execute your keyboard commands. A MOUSE command allows
    you to define the mouse shape and color and make this shape visible on the
    screen. A READMOUSE command will read any button presses OR KEYBOARD presses
    from your user. The command identifies which button(s) were pressed. The
    MOUSEHERE command allows you to define the co-ordinates of a box and if the
    mouse was "clicked" anywhere within this box you are notified. Run the demo
    program MOUSDEMO and you will see the PB Plus+ mouse commands in action.