The fastest BASIC compiler for the Mac
by
Staz Software, Inc

• Freeware package
• Great Editor
• Integrated super fast Compiler
• Project Manager
• Debugger
• Profiler
• Program Generator (CASE tool for 68K & PPC)
• .nib's I.B. files support via programming
• Rich documentation
• Abundant examples
• Open Source Runtimes:
• Console
• BASIC Standard
• Appearance
• Toolbox
• BASIC-88
• Universal Binaries via FBtoC & GCC compiler
• Carbon compilation
• PPC & 68K inline assembly
• Toolbox and shared libraries access
• Appli mini: 28 Kbytes
• Appli maxi: 2 Gbytes
• System mini: Mac OS 7.6 for FB^3
• System mini: OS X 10.2 for FB4

• No more specific European edition
• Localisation is open to anyone

• FutureBASIC Italia
• mogwerks.net
• green

INTERNATIONAL NEWS


Download FutureBASIC for free at Staz Software web site

For the French speaking visitors lost on this page, they should know that FutureBASIC 4 Release 4.4.2 along with FBtoC are now available now in French at: http://4toc.com/fb4/. This new release has been updated to offer a smoothier transition to FBtoC. The localized package weighing 50Mb is stuffed in a single archive containing the manuals and the example files . FBtoC must be downloaded separately.

As expected, the recent announcement made by Staz Software has induced a surge in activity among the FB programmers, newcomers and oldtimers alike. This is a positive sign. Now we must hope that this excitement will spread and last over time.

As a consequence, I have started to receive e-mails asking for technical support from around the world and while I appreciate the confidence, I must remind my correspondents that FutureBASIC is now a hobby as far as I'm concerned. I'm no longer officially in charge of the technical support. Said otherwise, I can only reply when time permits. Let me add that English is not my native tongue, therefore it takes much more of my time to come up with a decent reply in this language. So, for a better support you should subscribe without reticence to the official FB mailing list at associate.com. This is clearly the hot place for FB programmers nowadays.

In a recent contribution, I wrote that MacWise by Carnation Software had been compiled as a Universal application using FBtoC. This was wrong. I must apologize now for the false statement I made. Actually, the updated application was released to run smoothly under Leopard, which is not the same thing at all. However, my statement was just a bit premature because today it's OK.

Lately, I've been working on the French version of FBtoC in collaboration with the FBtoC team and this was the opportunity for them to implement a new feature that will ease the localization of your own created applications. Stay tuned.

Note that the French versions of FB and FBtoC although ready for prime time are not yet available for download. I will seek an arrangement with Staz Software in the shortest delays. I have no insight regarding the Italian version, all I know is that Michele Neri is working hard on the FBtoC application itself at this time. At last, if you are interested in localizing FB in your own language (other than English, Italian, Japanese and French, that is), you might get in touch with the FBtoC team via the FB mailing list as it seems there is no contact form on their web site.

Some programmers (myself included) have been using the DataBrowser For Dummies library in their applications, but while I am honoured by that fact, I have to say now that this is not a really good news. At first this library was intended for the learning of the DataBrowser control, which is a very rich puppy in Apple's bestiary and therefore a bit hard to fathom on first approach. However, that library is shamelessly reaping advantage from the weak typing of the FB language, furthermore the underlying mechanism to achieve the desired simplicity for the end-user (in that case, you as the programmer) is somewhat intricated, not to say convoluted.

Now, the problem is that this way of coding is totally unfit for the compilation with GCC through FBtoC, and worst, it cannot even be tweaked to get it up to the task of becoming universal binary. There's only one alternative for those of you who already use the DBFD library: code rewriting to implement the DataBrowser in your applications, if you want them to run natively on Intel Macintosh. Not really cool.

That being said, the code and functions in DBFD could serve as a template to start the necessary job of adaptation for your specific needs. You might also prefer to start with the DataBrowser example by Bernie Wylde that comes along with the FBtoC package.

Some of you have raised the question of the significance of FutureBASIC going freeware. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Quite frankly, I have no insight as to where Staz Software is going, and it has been a while since I spoke to Chris Stasny privately, but I don't think it is really a good news for him in spite of the fact that it will relieve him of a heavy burden. Furthermore, I suspect that hurricane Katrina played a significant part in his decision. Following the disaster we have all noticed the slowdown in the frequency of new releases and major upgrades, a slowdown that has come close to an halt, in fact. Sad. Whatever the true reasons may be, we owe Chris a big thank you for his relentless support during the past two decades. Personally, I can't find the words to say 'Thank You'.

Anyway, according to his last contribution on his Web site, this is not the end for FutureBASIC. On the contrary, it may well be a new start. First, I believe that spreading this recent news about the fresh status of FutureBASIC can bring back some of the old customers who were reluctant to pay their annual fee for an update of their IDE. Secondly, now nothing can stop new users from getting on board. Better late than never. The latest point being the most important, as I see it, guaranteeing a healthy survival of our favourite IDE.

While the FB community was probably the most friendly around the Web that one could hope for, it was more like joining a little tribe, a survival of the past, isolated from the general programmer community at large. The current paradigm shift might give a nudge in the right direction. FB is on the verge of becoming an open source project. If this is not the key for success per se, at least, this should increase the odds to see FB still well alive in the years to come.

For the moment, we can count on the small team that has been tackling the heavy job for Staz Software for the last two years. Today, we can benefit from their work with the first official release of FBtoC, but they still have plans for the future: they have yet to convert the FB editor to a Universal Application, and, more importantly, they have to integrate FBtoC with the FB Editor, making FB programming for Intel Macs a seamless experience.

In short, it is a bit early to decide whether we are dealing with good news or bad news on this matter. At this very moment, only time will tell.

Yesterday I posted an update to wish everybody a Happy New Year. Today I'm at it again to report the latest good news. Yesterday, FutureBASIC became freeware. That means that anyone can now download it and use it for free. So, if you don't own the latest release, it's time for you to visit Staz Software web site.

Here is Staz' announcement:

NEWS! FB is Freeware!-- January 1, 2008
FutureBASIC is now freeware! Starting January 1, 2008, FB will become freeware. Does this mean that work on the product will come to a halt? Absolutely not. For starters, you will be able to download a revised editor that addresses problems with OS X, System10.5. Later, you will be able to download the exciting new translator under construction by the FBtoC team that will allow FB code to be compiled by the GCC compiler.

As a matter of fact, the FB front has been very quiet the past year: no big announcements, no major releases. This is not saying that nothing has happened during that time, but what the FB community is awaiting eagerly now is the next big step regarding programming with FutureBASIC that could guarantee its survival.

The good news is that it's coming. Some time ago, a small team, led by Robert Purves, started to work on a new tool designed to produce Universal Binaries and generate applications running natively on Intel Macs. This project is now well advanced, up to the point that we can expect its first release in the very near future.

Of course, no date has been proposed yet, but a few beta testers have already reported that they have successfully compiled some of their applications, even commercial ones. For instance, MacWise, is now available with Intel compatibility. This is quite encouraging.

The tool called (for the moment) FBtoC, reads FB native projects and, as its name implies, converts the code into C, to ask the GCC compiler (available on the Developer CD of all Mac OS X System disks) to generate the resulting application. The process is straightforward, at least on paper, and ideally it should be transparent for the programmer.

Actually the things are not that simple, because the process bypasses entirely the FB compiler. That means that a lot of legacy code had to be cut out. Old Apple "technologies" like the archaic 'working directory reference number' for example, are no longer used, and forbidden in your code if you intent to target Intel Macs. For those of you who are still lagging behind, it is really time to move on.

So the strength of FB in that it allowed very old BASIC code to continue to run on Macintosh, is over. This is an inconvenient fact, and if you have not followed the advice of FB gurus, be prepared to spend some time rewriting your old applications. For now, the best advice I could give you on my end is to subscribe to the FB mailing list at associate.com. Not only will you find other programmers ready to help, but also the announcements for the latest versions of FBtoC with its documentation that you can download and test.

This maintenance release corrects a bug occurring in the Italian and French versions which prevented a few menus from acting properly. The code has been very slightly edited but has been compiled using the most recent FB headers coming from the latest beta version of FB.

You can download QuiXample here

Mousewheel support, which was inadvertantly disabled, has been restaured in this release.

You can download DBFD here

Recent changes in the DataBrowser For Dummies library that QuiXample uses, introduced a severe bug that caused the application to crash while the user was toying with checkboxes. This new version, built with the latest release of FB, should fix the problem.

You can download QuiXample here

In spite of its pompous new version number, there is nothing new in this release, except that a nasty bug related to the handling of CF strings is supposed to be squashed by now.

You can download DBFD here

This maintenance release comes with a special renewal offer for current subscribers. The main feature of FB4 R4 is its new compiler which is not only faster and smaller but now OS X-only. It produces almost exactly the same PPC code that Release 3 did. The Compiler also no longer includes obsolete resources in your applications ['CODE', 'Tara', 'Gigi', 'Andy', 'Staz' 1997] . The Compiler's user interface has been also updated in the process.

There are very small changes in the Editor application: it uses less CPU time and sees minor cosmetic changes in some panes of its Preferences window. There's a new header file called CFIndex.incl that can seriously boost your Index$ arrays. New commands have been implemented to work with dynamic arrays:
Def DynamicInsertItems, Def DynamicRemoveItems and Usr DynamicItemSize. (see Reference Manual for details).

A bit more about this release here.

Many of you have been following FutureBASIC's adventure since the dawn of Macdom, record longevity for an IDE on this platform bar none. But times are a-changing and while FB is still full of ass-kicking goodness for the aficionados -- from where I'm sitting, at any rate -- I, on a personal level, also have to do other things with my life. In no way I am abandoning ship, but I'll be honest by saying that after the disappearance of Pix & Mix, I simply have to earn a living, and that is why I am also tying my bootstraps to another boat. This will clearly mean that I will be less present on the FB front, even though I still plan to continue the translations for the French-speaking programmers. I am also still officially in charge of the master of the Euro CD, and I'll try to keep this site up to date as much as I can (hey, look at that, I'm even ahead of Staz Software in the publication of the new features in the next release).

The funny thing is that I'm now involved in the mogWerks project, actually a brand new company for Web development that has been settled by another FB-er whom I met around year 2000 thank to the FutureBASIC mailing list at associate.com and whom you know perhaps for his programming skills with FB or without your knowledge because that's him who designed the euro.futurebasic site eons ago. Jonathan (a.k.a. the gnome) for many years was a great figure in the FB community.

mogWerks has little things to do with FB, if at all, therefore be aware that I will handle all the tasks related to FutureBASIC in my spare time, so you should not expect an immediate answer to your e-mails and for those who are used to calling me on the phone, I'll ask them to be indulgent if I need to shorten our conversations.

If you are curious about our new company, come to visit our commercial Web site at: mogwerks.com, but as programmers, you will be probably more interested in the other Web site we have put together which is dedicated to our Open Source projects at: mogwerks.net. Do I need to say your support is welcome?

Last of all, I would like to finish with special thanks -- but I'm embarrassed, lacking the words, both in English and in French that can sincerely indicate the depth of these thanks -- to Michele Neri (a.k.a. Mich the Great) the Italian localiser of FB for his incredible volunteering work, help and support for all these years. I even believe that we have never met each other IRL, how come? I think I'm really missing a rare human being. And now Michele has just offered to join us in our first Open Source project. At least, it seems the FB spirit is alive and well in this new endeavour, isn't it?

Alain

In spite of the battering inflicted by Hurricane Katrina -- the traces of which will still take many years to clear, if they ever do -- we are glad to announce that FutureBASIC 4 Release 3 is ready for shipping. While this release was long overdue, we must congratulate Chris Stasny for having stayed the course and providing us with a new, enhanced version of our favorite IDE. For a detailed list of changes, bug fixes and new features, please follow this link.

Go to the Staz Software site to place orders for new subscriptions, or renew an existing one. If you want the European CD (at no additional charge), remember to note this in the Comments field of the order form.

This is what Herbie Gluender is exploring in a short article which he gave us the right to reprint here.

"We are currently experiencing Apple’s transition from the PowerPC- to the Intel-based hardware accompanied by a corresponding software transition. Hence, users of the FB IDE might also ask what this transition means for their existing, and future, code and applications? Although specific statements about future versions of the FB IDE can’t be made yet, this document will cover general considerations of what needs to be done by the makers of the FB IDE and, by consequence, by FB coders." Read more...

Nothing really fancy here, this new version makes use of CF Preferences.

You can download the package here

Following an overwhelming demand, I have implemented a new feature that allows to search the FB documentation with QuiXample. The search is performed in the language keywords only, but you can use a partial term to retrieve the keywords of interest. From there, the FB documentation can be opened in your favorite Web browser.

You can now also label files to help you sort the results. At last, a couple of serious bugs have been squashed. Please, have a look at the readme file.

You can download the package here