Alternative BB4W IDEs

[RichardRussell]

There are three IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) available for use with the full (paid for) version of BBC BASIC for Windows:

• The standard IDE (bbcwin6.exe) supplied with BB4W, which is what is used by the vast majority of people.
  
  
• bbcide.bbc which is an IDE written in non-portable BBC BASIC, i.e. it makes use of Windows API functions to reproduce a look-and-feel very similar to the default IDE (but is obviously much more amenable to customisation).
  
  
• SDLIDE.bbc which is an IDE written in portable (cross platform) BBC BASIC, intended primarily for use with BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 but fully compatible with BBC BASIC for Windows. The look-and-feel is similar to the default IDE but since it cannot use the Windows API it is cosmetically different.

Although SDLIDE is compatible with BB4W, its debugging and profiling tools (e.g. sdldebug.bbc), and some of its add-in utilities (e.g. searchin.bbc), are not. Would there be more interest in using SDLIDE with BB4W if those tools and utilities were updated to be BB4W-compatible?

[RichardRussell]

Would there be more interest in using SDLIDE with BB4W if those tools and utilities were updated to be BB4W-compatible?

It seems that the answer is no! I'm pleased, if somewhat surprised, that everybody is seemingly entirely happy with the existing BB4W IDE.

Notwithstanding, SDLIDE does have some nice features (including the Dark Mode) and it's a good example of what can be achieved using plain BBC BASIC code without help from the Windows GUI or assembly language. Although I won't now be adapting the debugger, profiler etc. to run in BB4W in the short term, what I have done is to modify SDLIDE.bbc so that the 'compile' utility works as expected on that platform. This new version will be supplied with the next release of BBCSDL.

[RichardRussell]

bbcide.bbc which is an IDE written in non-portable BBC BASIC, i.e. it makes use of Windows API functions to reproduce a look-and-feel very similar to the default IDE (but is obviously much more amenable to customisation).

I've updated bbcide.exe to v0.19 (I discovered that some of its debugging features were broken by the changes in BB4W v6.13a). It can be found in the files area of the Discussion Group.

[dnm]

Hello Richard,

Thanks for making bbcide.exe available on the Files section of the Groups.io site. Is the source code (i.e. bbcide.bbc) available anywhere, e.g. for customization, or reading?

I have SDLIDE.bbc on my machine given that I also have a copy of BBCSDL installed, but I didn't see a copy of bbcide.bbc anywhere, in either the BBCSDL install nor my current (6.13a) BBC4W install (not that I was expecting to, but I figured I'd check).

Thanks in advance!

[RichardRussell]

Following discussion in another thread, I have updated bbcide so that the list of functions and procedures can optionally be sorted alphabetically; there is a new item in the Options menu to control that (I know it's in a different place from the equivalent option in SDLIDE, I hope that won't cause too much confusion).

The new version can be downloaded from the same place as before.

[Edja]

Richard,
I've just downloaded and tried it.
A very nice functional improvement! And no confusion whatsoever.
Edja

[Ivan]

I can't find any download link - please help.

[RichardRussell]

I can't find any download link - please help.

You must be a member of the Discussion Group to download it (as is the case for all the files available there).

[Ivan]

Tanks.

I have not seen Forth since the eighties.

I did not know anyone use that language anymore.

[dnm]

Following discussion in another thread, I have updated bbcide so that the list of functions and procedures can optionally be sorted alphabetically; there is a new item in the Options menu to control that (I know it's in a different place from the equivalent option in SDLIDE, I hope that won't cause too much confusion).

The new version can be downloaded from the same place as before.

Hello Richard,

I just wanted to say thanks, for both making and posting a new version of bbcide, both the executable and the source code, on the Groups.io files section. Much appreciated.

Also, separately, I wanted to say thanks again for your continued development of the BBC Basic Console Mode editions, as well as BBCSDL.

Happy Holidays!