The Sinclair QL Forum

RalfR wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 5:07 pm If you had described in more detail in your text what the program actually does, it would have been clear from the start.

Ah, thats the old "manual" problem. II thought I had! But I also wanted to keep it short and snappy, otherwise it wouldnt be read.

Finally, I didnt want to spend much time on something that I dont really believe in. The matter had been discussed on this forum, and so I assumed that those who are interested in this sort of thing would know what it was about.

Those who kicked up the biggest fuss about alternatives to Qliberated programs have shown no interest in any of the possible solutions. Obfuscater was part two of my reply..

Peter wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2025 9:01 pm

Derek_Stewart wrote: Sun Jan 12, 2025 8:18 pm The Configurable SuperToolkit II v2.06 is available on the QL Homepage.

But SuperToolkit II is TK3, not TK2. Configurable TK2 would be far more interesting.

Hi Peter,

Toolkit 3 was written by Ultrasoft, and later sold by Digitial Precision, an now is freeware.

Toolkit 3 is supposed to be an enchancement to Toolkit 2, but when I bought Toolkit 3, I did not like the it analysed the QDOS devices on initialisation.

But I disassembled Toolkit 3, made the Toolkit 3 initialisation simpler, it that it just added keywords to the QDOS/Minerva operating system

Hi,

I must be one in a billion then, as I put REMarks in every programme I write even the boot file.

But I am just an ordinary user that has used the QL for nearly 40 years.

I maybe one that talks about Qliberator alternatives, nameley, Turbo, but I use both compilers.

I just want the Q60 to run Qliberator compiled programmes with the Cache on, which means to my limited programming ability, is to alter the Qliberator compiler. Which I will have to get my programming books out again and try and understand the programming of the Qliberaotr compiler.

But getting back on topic, I read the manual and I am not sure about the concept of obfuscater. Is not the idea to make every simplier or do I not understand as Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language.

Derek_Stewart wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2025 7:22 amToolkit 3 is supposed to be an enchancement to Toolkit 2, but when I bought Toolkit 3, I did not like the it analysed the QDOS devices on initialisation.

I'd be happy to explain why and how this is the case, but I'll put that in a new thread; it doesn't really belong here.

Hi there!

I have been pretty lazy of late. Even so, here are a few more additions to Knoware, some scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Enjoy!

Please let me know if you discover any bugs, etc.

pjw wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 6:38 pm Hi there!

I have been pretty lazy of late. Even so, here are a few more additions to Knoware, some scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Enjoy!

Please let me know if you discover any bugs, etc.

looks great, I like the WHERE command, I can make good use of this.

Derek_Stewart wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 9:16 pm

pjw wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 6:38 pm Hi there!

I have been pretty lazy of late. Even so, here are a few more additions to Knoware, some scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Enjoy!

Please let me know if you discover any bugs, etc.

looks great, I like the WHERE command, I can make good use of this.

Thanks, Derek. Ive always found it useful. It was reading about qlfreak's struggles that finally made me decide to put it out there.

pjw wrote: Sat May 24, 2025 6:38 pm Hi there!

I have been pretty lazy of late. Even so, here are a few more additions to Knoware, some scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Enjoy!

Please let me know if you discover any bugs, etc.

Hi!
Nice and good site.
I have been checking some toolkits, specially ERRM$ since it could be helpful to me.
Not sure with the description if it does the job that I am expecting... I see it catch the Err message or it just show the message in the ROM for a specific Err?

In other words, When I execute a command from QDOS (or inside a SBasic program) like dir mdv1_ and there is not any cartridge, does it catch the err message allowing me to manage it? like inside a basic program doesn't return the control to the QDOS but continue with the next line?

I have read the ERRM.txt file, but I don't understand what it actually does.
Change the err message?
Redirect the code to another ram position instead ROM?

Function to return a standard error message as a string

Usage

string$ = ERRM$(<error code>)


Accesses the Qdos/SMSQ message table to return the message string
associated with the given error code, in the current language.

However, not all messages in the table are error messages, so other
messages (ie those without a termnating LF) will appear truncated. If a
suitable message for a given code cant be found, ie codes > 27 in Qdos,
"unknown message" is returned (in English!)

ERRM$ also supports the "special" error message convention:

Given a standard Qdos string in memory, its address, with the top bit set,
may be used as an error code. For example:

Code: Select all

10 adr = ALCHP(50)
20 POKESTR$ adr, 'Serious error here!' & CHR$(10)
25 er = adr + $80000000
40 PRINT ERRM$(er)
50 RECHP adr

REPORT er and ERT er will all return the same error message.

Sorry being so annoying ,
By the way... where is the Message table with the errs in the ROM?
I would like to catch those err messages from a Superbasic program in order to manage them (something like exception-catch from Java.) and don't loose the control that get me out from a SuperBasic code in execution to return to the QDos shell.

Hi popopo!

Im sorry my manuals are so obtuse! I will try harder to make them clearer.

ERRM$ doesnt 'catch' anything. It simply returns the message associated with a given error code as a string. Then you can format the error message as you like, print it where you like, etc. You cant do that so easily with REPORT.

You, or your program, have to provide the error code by other means, for example:

PRINT ERRM$(-10)

Prints "End of file" or equivalent depending on your OSes language setting.

Or Getting to the message tables: I wrote this so long ago, that I cant remember the details off the top off my head; the source code is there for your perusal! Otherwise I refer you to the SMSQ/E Reference Guide.

Basically, SMSQ/E has a method for getting the message tables; in Qdos you have to fiddle it out. Thats why there are two versions of the toolkit, one universal, and a more compact and sane version for SMSQ/E only.

You can also construct your own ad hoc messages. It works for any language, including BASIC, and works with all QL OSes. Simply poke the message string into some safe memory and return the address of the message with the top bit set. The function below does that. It is a bit convoluted, mainly in order to make it universal and easier to understand(!)

Popopo wrote: Tue May 27, 2025 8:50 am Hi!
Nice and good site.
I have been checking some toolkits, specially ERRM$ since it could be helpful to me.
Not sure with the description if it does the job that I am expecting... I see it catch the Err message or it just show the message in the ROM for a specific Err?

In other words, When I execute a command from QDOS (or inside a SBasic program) like dir mdv1_ and there is not any cartridge, does it catch the err message allowing me to manage it? like inside a basic program doesn't return the control to the QDOS but continue with the next line?

Hi

When there is no microdrive cartridge in the the drive, there should be a system error generated: ERR_NF (-7) file or device not found. See QDOS Technical Manual Chapter 18.1 Page 158 and SMSQ/E calls the error code: err.fdnf (-7) file or device not found, see SMSQDOS Reference Manual section 18.1

The error can be caught using a WHEN ERRor clause, see QL User manual or online Superbasic manual for details and Toolkit 2 and Qliberator manuals for updates.

Note pre-JS Roms the WHEN ERRor did not work, so, JS, Minerva, SMSQ/E are the only versions that will work.