BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.34a released

[Hated Moron]

I have released version 1.34a of BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 - the cross-platform programming language for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, Android, iOS and in-browser. The main changes are as follows:

1. BASIC Interpreter / Run Time Engine
   
   Updated the version of SDL to 2.26.2 (Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS editions) or 2.24.2 (in-browser edition).
   
   Updated the version of SDL_ttf to 2.20.1 (Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS editions) or 2.0.15 (in-browser edition).
   
   Updated the version of SDL_net to 2.2.0 (Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS editions).
   
   
2. IDEs and Utilities
   
   Added the addconst utility (desktop editions only) to scan a program and create a list of SDL constant declarations on the clipboard.
   
   Updated SDLIDE to include addconst in the Utilities menu (slot 5).
   
   Updated the compiler utility to include hidden files in a Linux bundle, and to support the use of labels without having to disable any crunch options.
   
   
3. Libraries
   
   Added script.bbc to support the Harfbuzz text-shaping engine available in SDL2_ttf 2.20.1.
   
   Updated pdflib.bbc to improve the 'hardcopy' capability (which now behaves similarly to *HARDCOPY in BB4W).
   
   Updated dlglib.bbc to fix the recently-reported crash on scrolling a listbox too far with the mouse wheel.
   
   
4. Example Programs
   
   Updated pdfdemo.bbc to demonstrate the new capabilities of the pdfib library.
   
   Updated unicode.bbc to use the new script library for rendering Arabic text.
   
   Updated tower.bbc to use the SDL_RenderGeometry() API, available in SDL 2.0.18 and later. This may mean it will no longer run in Linux, depending on the version of SDL available from your repository.

This version may be downloaded, for all the supported platforms, from the usual location. The GitHub repository has also been updated.

[Hated Moron]

On 07/02/2023 14:45, Sean Miller wrote (cross-posted from the Discussion Group):

This may mean it will no longer run in Linux, depending on the version of SDL available from your repository

One of the downsides of Linux is the fact that there has never been a de facto "official" release - it's an upside too, of course, because it means that nobody is tied to any particular group of developers.

I will have to power up my Linux laptop and see whether it's compatible. I guess that if it isn't I could just compile the SDL from source and that'd be fine?

Absolutely, you always have that option. The SDL_RenderGeometry() function used by the updated tower.bbc is in SDL 2.0.18 (and later), which was released on 30th November 2021, so it's over a year old.

Versions of Linux which should have a sufficiently recent SDL2 in the repository include CentOS Stream 9, Debian 12 and Ubuntu 22.04. On the Raspberry Pi you would need Raspbian Testing (Raspbian Stable is still 2.0.14 I believe).

The big advantage of SDL_RenderGeometry() over the 3D rendering used in the earlier version of tower.bbc is that it isn't limited to filling the entire window (or screen in the case of Android and iOS) so it's much more straightforward to combine the game area with 2D text and graphics such as scoring. It's also much easier to code and test!

[KenDown]

Thanks. I've just tried to download it but AVG aborted the connection, claiming that the download was infected with some sort of virus, and now it won't let me connect to the download page at all.

Is this a problem or is it AVG?

[KenDown]

I've just tried again using Chrome, in case it was a Firefox problem, and got the same result. This time I managed to jot down the message before it disappeared. The claim is that the download is infected with Win32:MalOgb-IJ [Ceryp] - which means nothing to me, but may to someone else.

[Hated Moron]

Is this a problem or is it AVG?

It's AVG. I highly recommend Microsoft's Windows Security (what used to be called Windows Defender): it's free, comes as standard with Windows, and gives (touch wood) very little trouble in respect of false-positives like this.

The commercial vendors of anti-virus tools have a vested interest in scaring you, to encourage you to use their product. There's a constant 'arms race' to report more threats than their competitors, but of course this inevitably increases the number of false alarms as well.

[KenDown]

Thanks. Anyway, I tried again tonight and it loaded without problems. Perhaps AVG went off and had a little think about it and decided it was harmless after all?

[Hated Moron]

Perhaps AVG went off and had a little think about it and decided it was harmless after all?

More likely somebody else did what you should have done, which was to submit it to AVG as a false positive. Typically, once an antivirus vendor receives such a submission (and has confirmed that the file is indeed harmless) they will automatically exclude it by adding its signature to their list of known safe files. This can happen within hours.

Reporting it here won't make the problem go away, whereas submitting it as a false positive will! On the other hand reporting it here will cause unnecessary anxiety and distress; perhaps that was your intention?

[Hated Moron]

I have released version 1.34a of BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0

I have received a report that BBC BASIC doesn't run on Android 13 ('Tiramisu'). None of my devices have that version (they probably aren't new enough to do so) so I cannot confirm that here. If anybody has Android 13 could they please install v1.34a and report back whether it works or not (it would probably be wise to save the v1.33a APK in case it doesn't).

[funkheld]

hello , good day.
BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.34a released for WIN 64 not found as exe.

thanks greeting

[Hated Moron]

BBC BASIC for SDL 2.0 version 1.34a released for WIN 64 not found as exe.

That's correct, in Windows there is no advantage in having a separate 64-bit edition: 64-bit Windows runs 32-bit executables perfectly well.

Indeed, in the case of BBC BASIC, there is a big advantage in running the 32-bit edition: it's coded in assembler and runs a lot faster than the 64-bit edition (about twice as fast), which is coded in C.

If you had some very specific reason for wanting a 64-bit Windows edition you can easily build it from the source, or for some applications you might be able to use the 64-bit Windows Console Mode edition. But this would be most unusual.