Axe Q&A

[Hayleia]

EDIT: Oh, I see, that way if FOO translated to {V+17}, you could do something like 23→FOO and FOO→X and both would be valid statements.

It would still be no different than using {V+17} everywhere though, since FOO wouldn't actually exist. It'd be more like a macro than anything.

Yes that's it. It would not save space in any way. It is just so I can easily see who is who in my appvar. Because I have wood, stone and apples (among others) and having this
   {V+17}^^r equ wood
   {V+19}^^r equ stone
   {V+21}^^r equ apple
would be of a great help for me to understand my code easier. So would it be possible ?

[Deep Thought]

You can ask for a feature request here.

[shmibs]

just use subroutines. {SUB()}:Lbl SUB is perfectly valid, and works for both storing and recalling. in your case it will be slightly slower and the exact same size as writing it inline, though (plus extra for the subroutine itself), so i guess i see your point.

[Deep Thought]

If he uses the subroutine more than twice it'll actually make his program smaller (I think, haven't tested it). Would be slower though (subroutines are always slower than inline code, aren't they?).

[Hayleia]

just use subroutines. {SUB()}:Lbl SUB is perfectly valid, and works for both storing and recalling. in your case it will be slightly slower and the exact same size as writing it inline, though (plus extra for the subroutine itself), so i guess i see your point.

Yeah, I guess I am going to do that. But you have to admit that {Wood()} is more ugly than just Wood

[shmibs]

deep, adding two numbers and calling a subroutine come out to be the same size. if his subroutine was more complex, it would save size, but in this particular case it just slows things down.
EDIT: nevermind, he's adding a variable and a constant rather than two constants, so it will be -2n+5 butes smaller, meaning anything past two calls saves space

[Hayleia]

Pt-Mask draws on the two buffers to get 3 shades of grey.
Is there an equivalent to get 4 shades or is it necessary to use two Pt-Off ?

[MGOS]

Pt-Mask draws on the two buffers to get 3 shades of grey.
Is there an equivalent to get 4 shades or is it necessary to use two Pt-Off ?

No there isn't. But the reason Pt-Mask has only 3-level gray is that the fourth color/combination is transparent, so you don't need to have always square shapes.

[Hayleia]

Pt-Mask draws on the two buffers to get 3 shades of grey.
Is there an equivalent to get 4 shades or is it necessary to use two Pt-Off ?

No there isn't. But the reason Pt-Mask has only 3-level gray is that the fourth color/combination is transparent, so you don't need to have always square shapes.

Ok, thanks.

Wait, for 4 shades, is it like this ?
L3,L6
 0,0 → white
 0,1 → dark grey
 1,0 → light grey
 1,1 → black

[leafy]

Pt-Mask draws on the two buffers to get 3 shades of grey.
Is there an equivalent to get 4 shades or is it necessary to use two Pt-Off ?

No there isn't. But the reason Pt-Mask has only 3-level gray is that the fourth color/combination is transparent, so you don't need to have always square shapes.

Ok, thanks.

Wait, for 4 shades, is it like this ?
L3,L6
 0,0 → white
 0,1 → dark grey
 1,0 → light grey
 1,1 → black

Indeed.

[Hayleia]

Now I have a new question and it seems very stupid to me because if the answer was yes, it would probably be in the Commands.
Is there free RAM available elsewhere than in L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,L6 ?
(for example, I heard about "missing RAM pages", so there should be "available RAM pages" too somewhere)

[Runer112]

thepenguin77 made a very nice list of all static RAM locations that can be used by an assembly program without resulting in an instant crash if OS interrupts or some basic B_CALLs are used. It lists what will not work or what will corrupt your data if each section is used, and how to properly restore each section upon exiting so the OS will function properly.

This list can be found here.

Regarding extra RAM pages, I would imagine a large reason why their access isn't a built-in Axe feature is because they do not exist on the 83+BE, and Axe is quite faithful to ensuring that all programs using the standard commands will work on all 83+ and 84+ calculators.

[Hayleia]

thepenguin77 made a very nice list of all static RAM locations that can be used by an assembly program without resulting in an instant crash if OS interrupts or some basic B_CALLs are used. It lists what will not work or what will corrupt your data if each section is used, and how to properly restore each section upon exiting so the OS will function properly.

This list can be found here.

Regarding extra RAM pages, I would imagine a large reason why their access isn't a built-in Axe feature is because they do not exist on the 83+BE, and Axe is quite faithful to ensuring that all programs using the standard commands will work on all 83+ and 84+ calculators.

Ok, thanks, I'll look at it

[Hayleia]

Can constants be declared this way ?
  18→°Var1
  +1→°Var3

Or at least like this ?
  18→°Var1+1→°Var3

[Runer112]

Constants cannot be declared the first way because starting a line with an operator results in the assumption that what precedes the line can be anything, not just a constant. Constants also cannot be declared the second way, although because there's no line separating them, I feel like support for that could be added easily enough. Neither of those methods save space in the executable since constant definitions don't consume any physical data, but I can see how the second one would be useful for saving space in the source program. Maybe you should take that on over to the Features Wishlist.