NEW FEATURES of FutureBASIC 4 Release 4

The FutureBASIC compiler now competes its work in half the time. Speedier compilations are the result of streamlining the compiler's workflow and modernizing the source code. This thing really zooms!

The INDEX$ statements have long been an important part of FB. We now have an optional include file (CFIndex.Incl) that allows the substitution of CFStrings, also known as Core Foundation strings to be used in place of the old Pascal strings. In rewriting this code, many advantages fell into our binary laps.

• CFStrings are better suited to non-Roman languages (like Kanji).
• Routines such as insertion and deletion of strings are faster.
• There is now a single function that will sort the index array for you.
• Memory handling is improved.
• You will also see other additions to this in the future as our beta team is already testing routines that automatically read and write entire index arrays with a single line of code.

When we built in support for the scroll wheel, we failed to include support for the Project window. That oversight has been remedied.

The Find/Change menu had a few problems. The biggest one was that Command-F and/or Command-G were not always enabled when the Find window was not visible. This is just one of the annoying little things that needed fixing with Find/Change.

There were many modifications to the editor:

• Some indenting was not correct for old style records.
• The preference for turning off color printing did not work.
• When Running (not Building) and application, the FB_Temp application was not erased.
• On continued quote lines (those where the open quote was continued with the option-L character) entering a question mark would cause the word "Print" to appear in the window.
• The Script menu has been fixed.

Some minor repairs have been carried out in the runtime.

• Def DynamicInsertItems had a bug that could cause a crash.
• Window centering in the Standard BASIC runtime was off by a few pixels.
  
  

Before you ask... Robert Purves (New Zealand) is heading a team that is working on the new Intel compiler. This is a brand new, built from the ground up, product. But even with the mountainous task standing before them, Robert says the peak is in sight. Stay tuned for more info.