amiga-news.de - Archive

Archiv 'Updates for hardware and software products'

09.Mar.2024

Amiga E Compiler: E-VO 3.7.0
E-VO Amiga E Compiler is a derivative of the original Amiga E compiler written by Wouter van Oortmerssen. It adds many new features, bug fixes and optimisations including object UNIONs, string merging, non word-aligned objects and many more (amiga-news.de reported).

Darren 'dmcoles' Coles has now released version 3.7.0. Changes:

Compiler sometimes produced garbage error message with an error at the very end of the file.
Reformatted the Amigaguide document to better fit in 80 columns.
added Arexx compile scripts
allow creating a new object directly into an object member, eg. self.a:=NEW self.a.method()
method table was not correctly initialised for objects declared as eg. DEF a:b OR DEF a[5]:ARRAY OF b
heap in compiler is allocated with MEMF_CLEAR in compiler to ensure all data in the exe is initialised to 0 and not contain random data from memory
calling a method on an array element of an object did did not calculate the correct address for the method.
compiler was creating 020 opcodes when accessing an array of objects
added NIL pointer checks when calling methods on array of objects
self variable was set incorrectly for methods declared with an exception handler
fix issue with wrong opcode being generated in this code DEF a DEF b:PTR TO LONG a:=[0,b[0]:=5] resulting in the value not being stored correctly
include textfield module
fix bug in reaction_lib with the freeClickTabs, freeChooserLabels and freeRadioButtons functions not looping through the list correctly.
add support for long branch 020 instruction.
fix invalid memory access when casting the result of a procedure call to an object
fix inconsistencies with SIZEOF command
fix error in branching code for the == operator
add missing listview module
add some extra functions in reaction_lib (openClass, openLibs, closeLibs, libDoGadgetMethodA)
added PSIZEOF operator
added ARRAYSIZE operator
added SelectFirst function
added debug symbols for methods
allow CONT and EXIT within SELECT statement
updated Rnd() function to be pure
flagged openw, opwns, boolgad, settopaz, sets, gets functions as not pure
added WARN TRUE/FALSE to enable/disable warnings
added Rol() and Ror() functions
the 020 variant of Mod() was not correctly used by the compiler and was also taking the parameters the wrong way around
added 020 variant of ListItem function
track line numbers for warnings
NOREGS option was not correctly parsed on methods
taking a reference to a method {obj.method} did not return the correct address
1.3 startup code now updates stack pointers to allow stack space functions to return the correct values.
skip NameFromFH call on kick 1.3 meaning the compiler now works on that OS again
NOT operator was very broken (inconsistently applied and in some cases not applied at all)
Added EVO_3_7_0 define
casting and PTR TO PTR handling is improved and should now work in all use cases.

Direct download: evo.lha (673 KB) (dr)

[News message: 09. Mar. 2024, 21:16] [Comments: 0]
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09.Mar.2024
Amiga Kit Amiga Kit: ARM Graphics library for A600GS computer
Press release: AmigaKit Ltd is pleased to announce an important software development for the forthcoming A600GS computer system (amiga-news.de reported). The new ARM Graphics Library is pre-installed accelerating the performance of AmiBench and 68K applications.

The ARMgraphics.library was created by AmigaKit's in- house developer to bypass the bottleneck of the 68K graphics functions. It accelerates graphics rendering performance in applications.

AmiBench is pre-installed on the A600GS computer system. It opens the desktop environment in high resolution 1080p with True Colour icons. Now it can use the new ARM Graphics Library for various purposes including faster rendering of windows, icons and backgrounds.

Third party developers can take advantage of this library by using it's powerful functions from their 68K application. It also offers an opportunity for 68K games developers to enhance their games with faster graphics rendering.

The library provides a link between 68K programs and the native ARM processor. Further work is underway to patch 68K system graphics functions so older applications that are not written to use the ARM Graphics Library can benefit.

AmigaKit has developed AK-Datatypes, Picture Datatype and Datatypes Library over the many years for the Enhancer Software on X5000, X1000 and A1222+. These have been compiled for 68K to run on the A600GS, In addition these system components can also be accelerated by the ARM Graphics Library for extra performance.

The A600GS computer system is due for launch in the second quarter of 2024. (dr)

[News message: 09. Mar. 2024, 15:09] [Comments: 0]
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09.Mar.2024

Chat software: AmigaGPT V1.4.3 for AmigaOS 3 and 4
Cameron Armstrong has written AmigaGPT, a chat program for AmigaOS 3.2 that uses the power of the chatbot ChatGPT (amiga-news.de reported). Originally written for AmigaOS 3.2, the programme meanwhile also supports AmigaOS 3.9, Cloanto's Workbench 3.X and AmigaOS 4.1. Changes of version 1.4.3:

Updated to the latest OpenAI chat models
Fix crash when config.json doesn't exist
Fix crash when selecting the root menu items
Adjust screen colours to enhance visibility
Improved error handling for connection errors
Use a stack cookie to set minimum stack size to 32768 bytes (AmigaOS 3.1.4 or higher required)
Shows a warning if the stack size is smaller than 32768 bytes (AmigaOS 3 only)
Send button no longer appears in corner of screen on image mode in 3.X after an error message is dismissed

Download: AmigaGPT.lha (909 KB) (dr)

[News message: 09. Mar. 2024, 12:13] [Comments: 0]
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07.Mar.2024

SCSI-SD adapter: ZuluSCSI firmware v2024.03.07
ZuluSCSI is a new generation of file-based SCSI hard disk and CD-ROM drive emulators (review of a user). ZuluSCSI emulates a SCSI-I or SCSI-2 hard disk using an SD memory card (amiga-news.de reported). Changes of version 2024.03.07:

Added Apple CD-ROM digital audio over SCSI
Added Xebec Support
Added Plextor d8h vendor cmd
Initiator improvements from BSv2 fork
Fix SCSI-1 check in initiator mode
Fix for ZuluSCSI v1.0 mini logging debug with default settings

(dr)

[News message: 07. Mar. 2024, 22:24] [Comments: 0]
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07.Mar.2024

A1222 Plus: Production finished, available in shop
AAA Technology, a joint venture between Amedia France, A-Eon Technology and AmigaKit in co-operation with ACube Systems, informs us that the production and subsequent testing of the A1222-Plus boards (formerly "Tabor") has been completed and can now be ordered via the title link:

In addition to the board from €1,199.00, a complete system is also available for €1,599.00. Around 80% of all participants in A-EON's "Early Adopter" programme have already been contacted within the last three months, and the rest are now gradually following suit. Potential buyers are recommended to read Eldee Stephens The QuickStart Guide for New A1222+ Users (amiga-news.de reported), which is still being updated. (dr)

[News message: 07. Mar. 2024, 13:29] [Comments: 0]
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07.Mar.2024 Cross development: amitools 0.8.0 for macOS
Christian Vogelgsang has published amitools, a collection of Python 3 tools that should make it possible to work with Amiga OS binaries and files on macOS and all other *nix-like platforms that support Python. The author has not tested it on Windows, but it should work just as well.

The developer focusses his tools on classic Amiga setups, i.e. a 680x0-based system running Amiga OS 1.x - 3.x. However, as this is an open project, other Amiga configurations can also be supported. However, as this is an open project, other Amiga configurations can also be supported. The tools are mostly developer orientated, so a background in Amiga programming will be very helpful. A documentation is available on GitHub.

Now the new version 0.8.0 is available. (dr)

[News message: 07. Mar. 2024, 09:52] [Comments: 0]
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05.Mar.2024

Creating Amiga Reaction GUIs: ReBuild v1.1.0
In mid-November, we introduced Darren 'dmcoles' Cole's "ReBuild" in detail, which is intended to make it possible to create graphical user interfaces for ReAction, the evolution of ClassAct (for example EmptyADF). Changes of version 1.1.0:

Creating a virtual gadget could cause crashes (due to a bug in the version of E-VO used to compile 1.0.0)
About dialog changed 'Rebuilder' To 'Rebuild'
Loading a bitmap with no image selected reported an incorrect error
Added option to generate code that does not use macros in the object definitions (for better GCC compatibility).
add GA_TabCycle property to click tab
code generated for fuel gauge now uses GA_Text instead child label
fuel gauge used incorrect default number of ticks
GetScreenMode did not include child label in generated code
Glyph did not include child label in generated code
Glyph used incorrect default type
Added USEMACROS tooltype
Sketchboard was missing many of the settings in the generated code
SizeBRight and SizeBBottom did not work correctly in preview window

Download: Rebuild1.1.0.lha (160 KB) (dr)

[News message: 05. Mar. 2024, 06:23] [Comments: 0]
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