I’ve a solution to the compiling filename problem in FBdos!

[Adigun A. Polack]

Dearest v3cz0r,

Hello, and I *just* tonight (evening of 2-1-2005) discovered and possibly solved a major problem for the recently released FreeBasic DOS version 0.11b that you might need to fix for the next release.

The problem I am talking about is the fact that when the FB source programs in .BAS are being compiled through FBdos, for filenames that are longer than 8 characters long (with a .BAS extension in it), FBdos speaks some pretty weird stuff like this:

C:\FB\FBDOS\FREEBA~1\REL-PL~1.asm: Assembler messages:
C:\FB\FBDOS\FREEBA~1\REL-PL~1.asm:10: Error: junk at end of line, first unrecognized character is `~'
C:\FB\FBDOS\FREEBA~1\REL-PL~1.asm:11: Error: junk at end of line, first unrecognized character is `~'
C:\FB\FBDOS\FREEBA~1\REL-PL~1.asm:12: Error: invalid character '_' in mnemonic
C:\FB\FBDOS\FREEBA~1\REL-PL~1.asm:13: Error: invalid character '_' in mnemonic

.......and it just would not compile diddly-squat. However, when I changed the filename from “rel-plasma.bas” to “rel-plas.bas” and ran it then through the FBdos compiler, it successfully compiled in its full entirety and worked great!!! =b !

This reminds me now....... for your very next FreeBasic DOS release, v3cz0r, be sure to please change the FB source-code filenames of the FBdos package to the filenames that are simply 8 letters or less — which is the bare maximum that MS-DOS actually supports on that — all while leaving the .BAS extension in. That way, man, when you compile them the next time through the FBdos compiler, they are sure to compile into .EXEs that can run just fine! :wtnod: (Hey, I have tried a couple of the 8-characters-or-less .BAS filenames for FBdos myself, and they worked *excellently* well here!!)

Just wanted to let you know now, and I thank you in advance. :king: See you now, and keep up the REAL AWESOME work in FreeBasic the way you are doing right now!!!



LENDING YOU AN IMPORTANT HELPING HAND,


Adigun Azikiwe Polack
One of the Founders of “Aura Flow”
Continuing Developer of “Frantic Journey”
Current Developer of “Star Angelic Slugger”
Webmaster of the “AAP Official Projects Squad”

[v3cz0r]

Ok, i can see what is going on, DOS is converting the file names in long format to "name~1.bas", as the entry point is "guessed" by the file name, i have to add a check for ~ as it's an invalid character on symbol names, i will fix it asap, thanks.

[Adigun A. Polack]

To v3cz0r:

Hey, not a problem, dude! It is always a pleasure to help out around here, you know?

Thanks once again for your prompt response and honesty, and be catching you later now!




- Adigun Azikiwe Polack
One of the Founders of “Aura Flow”
Continuing Developer of “Frantic Journey”
Current Developer of “Star Angelic Slugger”
Webmaster of the “AAP Official Projects Squad”

[KiZ]

i noticed that error too, but then i remembered WinXP supports long filenames in DOS. Woo for DOS emulation in WinXP!

[DrV]

If you're using FB for DOS under Windows 9x and you want to use short names, you should make sure that Windows truncates filenames (instead of using the tilde renamings) - see the DJGPP FAQ.