Hi,
I've been doing a few parts of a user guide as time allows .. :)
I hope folks might find some of it useful.
Here's Part1 - Welcome ..
all the best, :)
Graham
Part 2 - Using Windows
Graham :)
Part 3 - The Editor, Programming and Data types.
Graham :)
.. and the last one I've done so far ..
Part 4 - Mathematics
Graham :)
Error .. Error! ::)
In the encryption example of Part 4 using XOR, I'd not noticed that if any character in the text, is the same as a character chosen from the key text, nothing was coded - the character just disappeared :-[
Obvious really because of the way XOR works - "a" XOR "a" = ""
So I've modified the example so that if this situation arises, the original text character just passes through unencoded. It chickens out .. ;D
The best bet would be to choose a key as you would choose a password - with numeric and special characters mixed in the key text.
I've updated the Part 4 .zip file ..
If anyone finds a better way, I'd be interested. :P
all the best, :)
Graham
Ahh what to say...
Simply great work mr.Graham ;D ;D ;D
Glad you like it .. 8)
There's a long way to go yet ..
best wishes, :)
Graham
Looks like you've done some nice work here. These go in the 'keeps' folder for sure. Thanks for putting these together. :)
Graham:
LOVE it! Thanks for doing this ... looking forward to the continuing saga ... :)
Tom
You're welcome guys .. :)
I sort of enjoy doing it - bit of a masochist I suppose, but I like to think it might help newcomers
to get as much enjoyment as I've had over the years from this great little language.
Can't wait to see what Paul's cooking up for a graphics enhancement I've pestered him for .. ;D
all the best, :)
Graham
Oops .. spotted anothe little error - my pdf writer had somehow lost a return statement from an example
in the Part 4 - Maths.zip file.
Proof reading your own text isn't easy .. ::)
Anyway, I've uploaded the revised version. Errors are not permitted .. ;D
Let me know if you spot anything else amiss.
regards, :)
Graham
Here's Part 5 - Basic Programming, which covers the branching and looping commands.
best wishes, :)
Graham
Graham
My 33 year old son (an unemployed welder) is currently reading your CBasic writeups and using a demo copy CBasic.
He has wanted to learn programming for quite some time.
Now that he has moved in with us he is going to take advantage of the situation.
We now have 5 computers running in our den.
I'm going to have him join the forums but I don't know how many questions he might ask because he and I are sitting back to back and he can ask me.
Anyway, he is liking and understanding your quides; so I thank you.
It takes some of the load off me.
Larry
;D ;D ;D
Graham :)
Part 6 - Strings and Structures.
Phew, this nitty gritty stuff is hard work. :P
Can't wait to get on to the more interesting Windows and Graphics stuff. ::)
Only Files and Printing left of the more boring stuff I reckon - oh! I don't know though - there's
Pointers and API usage .. cripes, there's too much stuff in this little language .. ;D
Let me know if you spot something I've missed or (hopefully not) got a bit wrong.
all the best, :)
Graham
Edit:
Noticed the pdf index had somehow disappeared .. I've uploaded it again, hopefully it's OK now. :)
Graham
QuotePointers and and API usage .. cripes, there's too much stuff in this little language .
Like you see and like you know CBasic is not to little language as someone's means. ;D
Nice work Graham! ;D ;D ;D
Thanks Egil .. :)
Here's Part 7 - Just Do It .. ::)
This section will take anyone just starting to program in Creative, all the way from a blank screen to a working window program.
Hopefully, it will explain fully what's happening along the way .. :P
best wishes, :)
Graham
GWS:
Last week I purchased Creative Basic and was strolling through the Creative Basic forum and discovered your CBasic manuals. I downloaded them and unzipped them to have a look. What a tremendous job you did putting them together.
Thank you--two thumbs-up. ;D
Logman
Thank you Graham. Such a great job.
I hope you don't mind it, but I placed all the 7 parts into one PDF file, so it is all there in one place. Something I'll sure be using often.
Hobo
Thanks Hobo .. glad you liked it .. :)
I really must try to do a bit more - there's a long way to go yet.
Trouble is, there are so many interesting projects beckoning .. ::)
I don't know if you've ever seen Alyce's (aaw) Liberty Basic Companion .. but that's a real tour de force.
If I could ever get to cover all that ground for CB, I'd be very happy - that is if my meagre capabilities are up to it.
Alyce pops up occasionally on this forum - as a newbie ::) - don't believe it.
She's as near a guru as you can get - a leading member of the IBasic Developer's Group some 10 years ago. :)
I'm always so pleased when she can spare the time to call in here.
best wishes, :)
Graham
Graham, your capabilities are indeed "up to it." It has been an honor to know and work with you. ;)
I'm not around this forum much because I have not made the switch to IWBasic. Perhaps the "leetle gray cells" are more resistant to change these days, but I find it to be more and more tedious to learn new syntaxes. :-[ I'm still using Visual Studio 6, which has not been supported by MS for many years. That should tell you something...
I still use Emergence Basic. I'm not sure if there is even a spot to find support for that language any more. ???
Thanks for your kind words, Graham.
Quote from: Alyce on October 07, 2011, 04:29:22 AM
I still use Emergence Basic. I'm not sure if there is even a spot to find support for that language any more. ???
Right here!!
You probably know more about it than me but I would gladly try to help you if you ever had a question.
Or, since I now own CodingMonkeys you could ask over there.
LarryMc
New bit coming up quite soon, kind readers .. ;D
I'm having to make it an Input/Output Part 1 .. :o
'cos I/O is such a huge subject .. so I'll be doing some aspects like File I/O as a separate bit ..
I'm also having to change the format slightly.
So far, example programs have been included in the text - but now they are getting more substantial, and will be requiring supporting graphics and sound files.
I'll post this and future documents as .zip files as usual, but they will also include separate small zips for each example program. These can be copied into individual folders and unzipped to give the working programs and all associated files.
I've done it this way rather than incorporate the resources into the .exe files, because I wanted the user to see exactly what files are involved, and also give him/her a chance to change the graphics to his/her own preference if desired.
The user guide text will of course still refer to the example programs, with descriptions, explanations and discussion snippits, which I hope will make things clear.
I hope this method will work out. It does mean that the whole series of pdf guides can't be fastened together as a book exactly - the larger example programs would have to be on the equivalent of an accompanying CD/DVD. That's the problem with having so many large examples ::)
The whole thing should sit nicely on the hard drive though ..
best wishes, :)
Graham
Hi folks,
It's been a while, and I've sort of lost track of the numbering, but I think this is Part 9 ..
Graphical User Interface - Part 1.
I'm having to do it in parts 'cos it's rather large. This first part relates to the various Window types.
Subsequent parts of the GUI subject will cover the various Controls and their use.
It's attached .. I'm hoping all the graphics in the pdf work OK ..
All the best, :)
Graham
Excellent work, as always!
Thanks for keeping up this work over more than four years, Graham! It may not get a mass readership but it is incredibly helpful to those of us who need all the help we can get. Best wishes for Xmas and the New Year.
:)
Graham,
You have been doing outstanding work on this guide. I placed
it in my zip of the rest of the guide. Looking forward to the
other parts and more. Keep up the fantastic work.
Bill
P.S. I might try an use my PagePlus to make the guide into one PDF.
Great work (and persistence Graham), sure to be an indispensable guide when completed (or even now with the chapters you've finished). One question though..did you miss out the chapter (or 2 sub chapters) you mentioned in your earlier post (http://www.ionicwind.com/forums/index.php?topic=3519.msg37991#msg37991) about Input and Output?
EDIT: sorry, I should have looked a bit harder before posting; they seem to be attached to some posts in another thread of this topic. Here is a link (http://www.ionicwind.com/forums/index.php?topic=4598.msg38049#msg38049) to the start of the posts that have the chapter missing from this thread.
Thanks for the nice comments folks .. :)
Sorry it takes me so long to put them together. I have to think what to say, and then code the example programs - then type up the pdfs in PagePlus.
Bill, I don't know how you'd get on with trying to put them together. One problem is all the little pictures I've included to make the documents attractive. They are from a number of Image Collections from Serif software (Numbers 2,3,4,5,and 6)
Maybe if I ever get to finishing .. ::) , I might take Larry up on his offer to use some authoring software he has. Even copy and pasting though, I bet it would be a big job .. :)
The reason I like to press on with the notes, is that I really do think Creative is a super little language for almost anything you want to do on a PC. With a footprint of only 4Mb, it's amazing what it can do.
I know some folk talk of 'dead languages' but you could say that about QB45,VB5,Delphi7 etc .. but all of those are still fully functional and some interesting work can be done using them. I just think CB beats those with its ease of use and feature set.
Well, on with the next bit ..
Best wishes, :)
Graham