Author
| Compass 2.0
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snout
msx legend
Posts: 5011 |  Posted: October 03 2003, 15:38 |
I know many MSX developres are anxiously waiting for the release of Compass 2.0, which was announced long time ago. Although I heard rumours Jon de Schrijder was indeed working on Compass 2.0 again, I'd like to know
Are you waiting for Compass 2.0?
Compared to Compass 1.0, which additions/improvements would you like to see?
What features of other compilers/IDE's should Compass 2.0 use as well?
etc.
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BiFi
msx guru
Posts: 3142 | Posted: October 03 2003, 15:39 |
I am waiting for Compass 2.0. The main new feature is already implemented... An I/O monitor.
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GuyveR800
msx guru
Posts: 3048 | Posted: October 03 2003, 15:41 |
It would be cool if Compass 2.0 supported some of tniASM's features, most notably INCBIN.
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yakumo
msx user
Posts: 51 | Posted: November 16 2003, 00:55 |
I am also waiting for compass 2 as well since I had version 1.2
But now that I can work with Chaos Assembler wich makes my work, when I have one, much faster, I am not in a hurry of having Compass 2.0. What I would like instead is that the creators of Chaos Assembler 3 integrate an emulator for debugging the programs made with this cool cross compiler.
Nice coding 8)
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d-fader
msx lover
Posts: 81 | Posted: November 16 2003, 12:18 |
Quote:
| What I would like instead is that the creators of Chaos Assembler 3 integrate an emulator for debugging the programs made with this cool cross compiler.
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hmm, maybe it is interesting to create some sort of system to make debugging possible on cross-platform development... Maybe a DLL in which the cross-development-IDE can communicate with the emulator is a nice idea, and if so, maybe CA4 is a possibility, still want to 'rebuild' CA3, since it has more bugs than functionality 
Would be nice to create apps via CAx and OpenMSX or NlMSX 
ahwell...
d-fader |
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GuyveR800
msx guru
Posts: 3048 | Posted: November 16 2003, 17:00 |
Recently it has become a possibility to control openMSX via stdout/stdin interfaces from an external program. This way a debugger can relatively easily be added as an external program.
'Live' assembling, directly into a running MSX' memory would be another one.
It would be very cool if you could reprogram CA3! (or CA4 directly) A lot of people think it's a great program, and I would personally use it too, if I could use it with tniASM |
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d-fader
msx lover
Posts: 81 | Posted: November 17 2003, 12:26 |
Quote:
| It would be very cool if you could reprogram CA3! (or CA4 directly) A lot of people think it's a great program, and I would personally use it too, if I could use it with tniASM
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Then make it stable! ...and as fast as TASM |
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sjoerd
msx addict
Posts: 457 | Posted: November 17 2003, 15:29 |
Quote:
| It would be very cool if you could reprogram CA3! (or CA4 directly) A lot of people think it's a great program, and I would personally use it too, if I could use it with tniASM
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Isn't it possible to rename tniasm to tasm? Quote:
| Then make it stable! ...and as fast as TASM
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I think it's fast enough, it's just the multiple pass method that makes it 'slow'. And tasm isn't fast either. (And ok, everybody should use SjASM )
On topic:
I think a emulator with debugger is more useful than compass 2. Of course, you don't have a ide, but within a multitasking environment the need for a ide is not that big. Assembling on a pc is much faster than on msx. |
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Grauw
msx professional
Posts: 1008 | Posted: November 17 2003, 16:49 |
I am very much waiting for Compass 2.0. Assembly speed will be blazing fast, mainly, but also the debugger will be very powerful, and Compass will get more "multitasking" features. About the assembly speed, I think it will be able to fairly well compete with crossassembling. Currently assembling of a decent source code can take about 30 seconds or so, but that should be reduced to somewhere around 5 in Compass 2.0 (not that I know any actual test results...). That's hardly an obstacle I would think . Add to that an easy to use IDE and the fact that you're a real die-hard MSX developer (*grin*)...
About what I would like to see in Compass... Well, I discussed it a year or two ago I think, don't remember where exactly but it could very well have been msx.org, or else the mailinglist. I also mailed Jon back then with the features I'd be interested in, and that is also when the precompiling-idea sprouted, I think. Not too long ago I wrote another mail with more feature requests, mainly inspired by tniASM, amongst others INCBIN (indeed, very very useful)... MSX can handle most of them.
~Grauw |
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ro
msx guru
Posts: 2477 | Posted: November 18 2003, 16:29 |
We all know which assembler is the fastest, now don't we |
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GuyveR800
msx guru
Posts: 3048 | Posted: November 18 2003, 18:18 |
Quote:
| >>It would be very cool if you could reprogram CA3! (or CA4 directly) A lot of people think it's a great program, and I would personally use it too, if I could use it with tniASM <<
Then make it stable! ...and as fast as TASM
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tniASM v0.4 is quite stable, I haven't heard any bugreports or complaints.
Last time I checked the speed it was more than 20 times faster than TASM. |
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BiFi
msx guru
Posts: 3142 | Posted: November 19 2003, 09:32 |
Quote:
| We all know which assembler is the fastest, now don't we
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Yeah, get a Z80 book, write down the source on paper and assemble it using the book... that's really utter fast! |
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d-fader
msx lover
Posts: 81 | Posted: November 19 2003, 11:31 |
hmm, then a cross-development environment with plug-ins to compile sources? Also different highlighters (compiled within the plug-in, or separate)... Maybe that is the solution...
I still think an interface should be written to let assembler and emulator communicate, just like Kaillera does with e.g. MAME... That would be quite cool...
Maybe CA4 isn't such a bad idea after all... I personally think it's possible to make an assembler that can compete with everything that Compass 2.0 can, except that it won't run on an actual MSX...
What does the community think?
d
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GuyveR800
msx guru
Posts: 3048 | Posted: November 19 2003, 17:11 |
Quote:
| hmm, then a cross-development environment with plug-ins to compile sources? Also different highlighters (compiled within the plug-in, or separate)... Maybe that is the solution...
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Would be great!
Quote:
| I still think an interface should be written to let assembler and emulator communicate, just like Kaillera does with e.g. MAME... That would be quite cool...
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As I already said, openMSX has such an interface. Other emulators could adopt it.
Quote:
| What does the community think?
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Would be absolutely fab-tastic! |
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konamiman
msx freak
Posts: 246 | Posted: November 20 2008, 10:11 |
Huh... 5 years since this thread was started, and 10 years since Compass 1.2 was released.
I have lost any hope about Compass 2.0 (nowadays I wouldn't have much time to use it anyway), but what about Compass 1.2? Is it still sold? Is it public domain/freeware?
From time to time (the last time, today) I receive mails from people who tells me "I have discovered that there is an active MSX community! I was a MSX user in the 80s and I want to use it again! What do you recommend me for programming?", and it is very frustrating having to say "Compass is very nice, but AFAIK it is not for sale anymore nor it is freely available". 
So, just for information, what's the current status of Compass 1.2? |
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