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                ^6[5HINTS & TIPS FOR BETTER PROGRAMMING.[0

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^7 Please  note  that  most  of  the tips & hints are for Amos V1.3 and
^7above.   To  get  the  best from Amos, and avoid a lot of programming
^7problems,  it  is  important to update to the latest version of AMOS.
^7This  is  always  available from:-

^2DEJA VU SOFTWARE,
^2C/O SANDRA SHARKEY
^225, PARK ROAD,
^2WIGAN WN6 7AA.

^7.....................................................................

^2 This tip sounds good, but we haven't been able to test it yet, we'll
^2let you know what happens in the next issue.

^6  Sometimes  when you are writing a program, one procedure can slow
^6the  whole  program  down.   We  have  heard that you can compile a
^6single procedure then run it from a Basic listing.  This will speed
^6up an otherwise slow part of your listing.

^7.....................................................................

^4 We  hope  that  the  next tip will help you avoid a major problem we
^4came across when we first started using the Compiler, we hope it will
^4save  you  the  frustration  we've  suffered  over the last couple of
^4months!

^6 Most  of  our  programs  have  needed  a random number generator for
^6various  reasons,  and  we  have  been using the same one without any
^6problems......until  the  Compiler came along.  A problem was spotted
^6when  we  were  beta testing the compiler, none of our programs would
^6compile,  whereas  most other programs did.  We didn't know why for a
^6long time.

^6 The problem got really frustrating when Marvin The Martian needed to
^6be  compiled  in  order  to  get  better  gameplay  & speed.  It kept
^6crashing after just a minute or two.

^4 The  answer  came  by  chance while working on another program.  The
^4only  thing  that all our problem programs have in common is that the
^4random routine uses the RND command inside a loop.

^2 It seems that the compiler does not accept the program if it loops
^2around the Rnd command.

^7.....................................................................

^6 If you have come across any problems like this where things work OK
^6in  Basic, but  not when compiled, let us know, even if you have not
^6found the answer!!

^4 If you haven't got you copy of The AMOS Compiler as yet, why not try
^4our competition?  It's  easy to enter,  we give  you all the answers,
^4you just have to pick it out from the choice of three  we've given!
^7...................................................................

                ^6{7USING THE RAM DISK IN YOUR PROGRAMS.{

                        ^4[5Help given by ^2SPARX.[0


^2[5WHAT IS A RAM DISK?[0

^1 A  Ram  Disk  can be used in the same way as a floppy disk, with the
^1following differences.

^21.  ^7As will be explained later, a ram disk is dynamic, it is only the
^7size  that  is  needed,  ie if you save a small file to ram, the disk
^7will  not  have  any wasted space as you would have on a floppy disk.
^7For example, if the files you put onto ram come to 50,000 bytes, then
^7the ram disk will be 50,000 bytes, no waste!

^22.   ^7The data is stored in Fast mem, not in a drive, so that there is
^7a great advantage to storing graphic data.

^23.  ^7Data stored on a ram drive, will NOT survive a guru or a reset as
^7data on a floppy does.

^6 This  tip is only relevant if you are writing programs for users who
^6have ^21 meg or more.  ^5It will [2NOT [0work in a 1/2 meg machine.

^4 Using  a  ram  disk is a great way to store your graphic data during
^4the  run  time of your program as you will not have to wait while the
^4new graphics are loaded in.

^6 This I have done several times in the past with great sucess, if you
^6wish to try this out, then read on!

^1 First  make sure that the ram handler and the ram device are on your
^1AMOS disk, to check, look in the devs and l directories.  If they are
^1missing,  then  copy  them from your workbench disk into the relevant
^1directories, not forgetting that these files will also have to be on
^1the disk that holds your finished program!

^2 Once  you  have  checked  for these files, it is very easy to create
^2your ram disk.

^5 You can do this either from the cli, or directly from AMOS itself.

^7 To  do  so  inside  AMOS,  all  you  have  to do is put in this line
^7somewhere inside your initialisation routine.

                          ^2RM=Exist("ram:")

^7 It's as simple as that!

^2 When  AMOS  meets  this command, it looks at your disk to see if the
^2ram  handler  is available, if it is, it will create the ram disk for
^2you.   Once the ram disk is created, you can now load in your graphic
^2files  whatever  they  may be, screens, bob banks etc and immediately
^2they have been loaded save them to ram:  then delete the bank etc.

                          ^2eg Load"bobs.abk"
                             ^2Save"ram:bobs.abk",1
                             ^2Erase 1

^5 Carry  on  like  this until all your graphic files are in ram.  Once
^5they are safely in ram, you can load each bank or screen etc as it is
^5needed  with  next  to no loss of time, it's almost as fast as a hard
^5drive.   I have used it sucessfully in several programs and it hasn't
^5let me down yet.

^6 This  gives  the  illusion  that  all the graphics are in memory, as
^6there  will be no drive access, also that there are far more graphics
^6in memory than the machine is physically capable of handling.

^7 There  are limits to how much can be put onto a ram disk, so keep an
^7eye on the byte size of your files.

^2 Using  a  ram  disk will take a bit of experimenting, but it will be
^2worth it in the end when you think of the advantages.

^4 An example of how a ram disk is used can be found in SHYMER, LPD 30.
^4This  is an illustrated adventure where the picture changes each time
^4you  move  to a new location.  Having seen the original version where
^4the  disk  access slowed things down no end, I suggested that the ram
^4disk  was  used,  the difference was amazing!  You can now ove around
^4from  place  to  place without waiting ages for the drive to catch up
^4with the game-play!
 
^1 As  a  tip, while you are writing your program, REM or leave out the
^1save  to  ram until you have finished.  This is because leaving it in
^1will  cause  the  program  to  load your files and save them into ram
^1every  time you test your program, this will take up a lot of time if
^1you test your program frequently, as is normally the case.

^2 If  you  have any problems, drop us a line and we'll see what we can
^2do!

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