QL Hacker’s Journal 28

Date: July 1998
Issue: 28
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Articles

TitleDescriptionComputers
Case Statement ImplementationWhen I recently was working on SSB 2.6, I was using a SuperBasic implementation of a CASE structure for the core of the program. The deeper the structure got, the harder it was to read and understand. I starting thinking of using another way of implementing a CASE structure. For those that don’t know whatSinclair QL
Creating Loadable Extensions Using QlibOne of the things that has always amazed me about the QL was the ability to load a binary file and have a bunch of new keyboards available in SuperBasic. In most computers that had Basic built in, the language was static and had no way to extend itself. Other languages (like C, Fortran, orSinclair QL
Editor's ForumI have not received much feedback on the Qliberator Source Book idea I mentioned in the last issue, and I have received basically no “helpful hints”. So, my plan is to write what I can, put it out on the Net, and see what feedback comes from it. If I make any mistakes, I’m sureSinclair QL
Environment VariablesThe concept of Environment Variables comes from the Unix world. They are used slightly in MS-DOS, but not at all to the same extent as UNIX. For the QDOS world, the file ENV_BIN provides a number of extensions that allow the use of Environment Variables. Essentially an environment variable is a variable that can beSinclair QL
Revision Control System (RCS)Whether it’s source code or system configuration files, it’s nice to be able to keep track of changes made to files over time. The Revision Control System is a collection of programs that keep track of different versions (revisions) of text files. A special file is created by RCS that contains information about the changesSinclair QL
Structured SuperBasic 2.6Structured SuperBasic is a utility that has been printed a couple of times in this newsletter. I have recently dusted the program off and completed a new version. SSB 2.6 has all of the functionality of SSB 2.5, but I have added a lot of error checking, fixed a few bugs, added Config Block support,Sinclair QL
Working DirectoryAs we all know, QDOS did not come with the concept of directories and subdirectories. A number of extensions to QDOS are available to help create the working concepts of directories. When using ED drives, I found the Path (PTH) extensions useful because they would search a list of subdirectories looking for a particular executable.Sinclair QL