Comet32

From CometWiki

Recent Changes

Comet 2009.401:

• Implemented CURPOS.
• Implemented support for contiguous files.
• Implemented NOVA / SNOVA functionality.
• Recoded the str function for Comet32 so it emulates the Comet16 one.
• Implemented the shortpath DOSMS function.
• Implemented the CometAnywhere update mechanism.

Comet 2009.400:

• Improved printer functionality including pdf printers.
• Improvements in the functionality of dialog-based programs. Try DlgDemo.
• Improvements in GDI operations such as wallpaper.

Known Problems that We Plan to Consider and/or Address

• The Spool driver has not been implemented. -- Not needed, replace with DocMgr
• A WinSock driver has not been implemented. -- Justin
• XAP has not been implemented. -- Justin
• Background partitions have not been implemented. You may launch a new foreground session as an alternative. --Forget it
  • ACTIVATE and TERMINATE have not been implemented.
  • PCOMM and INTERRUPT have not been implemented.
• DataExpress gets hung up when exiting back to the IB program. -- Barb
• Custom toolbars aren't fully operational. -- Barb
• Document archives (for DocMgr) are not yet implemented. -- Barb
• DbMgr, ViewMgr, and DBX do not run. -- Barb
• ODBC is not supported. Perhaps replace with SQL interface. -- Justin
• Serial Gateway is not supported. -- Brian
• Inputting a numeric value from the screen works differently under Comet32 than under Comet16. For example if you declare a variable to be 6.2 and you input its value as "5", under Comet16 that would be interpreted as .05 whereas under Comet32 it would be 5.00.Hallelujah, never could get operators to understand the old way.--badge 18:03, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
• The Comet logo and Document Manager bit map do not display in DocMgr. -- Brian
• No error log (such as QERRLOG) is kept. -- Jim

Functionality that Will Not Be Part of Comet32

• Image file support.
• Q-emulation for QICBASIC objects.
• The SORT driver will not be implemented. We have modified the Reporter (version 9.02) to work without it.
• Invalid character substitution in file names
• QSTARTX.

Differences Between Comet16 Objects and Comet32 Objects

It is our intention that your Comet16 objects will run under Comet32 exactly as they do under Comet16. IB has been enhanced for Comet32 so not only will you be able to do more things easier we also may decide to change the functionality of some of the legacy instructions. We welcome your input on these issues as they come up.

• Numeric overflows will generate a runtime error E01 for Comet32 programs. You can trap this with an ERRORTO.See Discussion Page--badge 18:03, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
• STR function strips leading spaces from the result whereas with Comet16 objects the leading blanks remain as they have. See Discussion Page

IB Enhancements for Comet32

• The size of the user buffer (# buffer) has been increased to 8K.
• Strings may be declared up to 64K in length.
• You may declare a dynamic string that will allocate only the memory required for the current length of the data assigned to it. These strings may be up to 4gb in length. For performance, chunks of memory will be allocated in 64k increments. (Arrays may not be dynamic).
• Numbers may include up to 64 digits; 32 integer and 32 fractional.
• An extensive math package has been added including trig functions, factorial, logs, and exponents.
• Editmasks rules regarding the length of the editmask and the length of the number have been relaxed to reduce runtime errors.
• The maximum array size has been increased to 4.2gb.
• User-defined procs have been implemented. For more info see User Defined Procedures in the IB manual or User Defined Procs - Wiki Version.
• New instructions have been implemented:
  • InputFile and PrintFile or Input/Print File - Wiki Version
  • Call and ProcReturn or Usr Defined Procs - Wiki Version
  • GetFormat and PutFormat or Get/Set Format - Wiki Version
  • SearchFile or SearchFile - Wiki Version
  • NOEXCP has been added as an option to EXCP= on file system statements, NoExcp - Wiki Version

Please Add any other issues you see with this product here

• PDF printer does not return the path the first time it is run (Jims machine only?)