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@dmsc dmsc released this 20 Sep 13:58
· 328 commits to master since this release

The Spring 2020 Release!

This release mainly brings many changes to the IDE to make it more usable, allows writing "shorter" code by adding more abbreviations and extends the DLI support.

The changes in the IDE:

  • BREAK key handling in the IDE - this was long overdue, now you can press BREAK key to return to the IDE from your program.
  • COPY/PASTE of lines to the editor, you need to press CONTROL-C to make a line to copy, then when you press CONTROL-V that line is copied after the current one. Pressing CONTROL-V multiple times copies multiple lines. This needed a change from CONTROL-V to CONTROL-I for the page-down action.
  • Go to Line, pressing CONTROL-G moves the cursor to any given line, this makes editing larger programs easier.
  • Allows usage of the page-up and page-down keys on the 1200XL keyboard (SHIFT-F1 and SHIFT-F2), in addition to CONTROL-U and CONTROL-I.

Changes to the language:

  • Adds CLR statement, that un-dimension arrays and sets all variables to 0.
  • Adds WSYNC command to the DLI, allows setting multiple lines in one DLI.
  • Adds & operator for abbreviating the ADR() function.
  • Allows abbreviations for some BASIC functions and operators and skipping the parenthesis on most functions, allowing to write shorter code, see the manual for details.
  • Minor incompatible change: The abbreviations for ELSE, ENDIF, PMGRAPHICS and PMHPOS changed to make them more consistent.

Changes to the cross-compiler:

  • Allows to compile to code that can be put in a cartridge - by removing all uses of self-modifying-code and adding a stub to copy the zeropage interpreter from ROM to RAM at startup.
  • Allows accessing to DATA's from external assembly files.
  • Adds a DATA FILE statement that includes binary data from external files.
  • The CC65 tools are included in the distribution, you don't need to install CC65 to use the cross-compiler anymore.

And many bug-fixes!