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Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
anti_functional
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Posts: 7
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Joined: 23.10.08
Rank: Wiseman |
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I'm in the process of getting acquainted with PowerBASIC by request of my employer, but I'm having one slight problem...
The PowerBASIC compiler we're using is the old PB for DOS, which is refusing to run on this spiffy new Windows 7 (x64) platform. I'm aware of the options for using DOSBox and VirtualBox with FreeDOS but I'm trying to avoid using any kind of "middle man" if that makes sense.
Does anyone know of a way to force the 64-bit Windows 7 to run a 16-bit DOS based compiler? I also have the option of purchasing the Win32 compiler, but I'd rather not drop the money if I don't have to, especially since the portability of applications from the DOS compiler to the Windows compiler and vice-versa is questionable.
Any ideas are much appreciated.  |
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
fuser
Member
Posts: 959
Location: in front of a computer (duh)
Joined: 05.04.07
Rank: HBH Guru |
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just one question. why on earth does your company require you to use PowerBasic?
And imo, I think you should buy the latest version. But before you make the leap, contact the developers and ask them whether backwards compatibility for code written in previous versions of the interpreter is supported.
Telling modern Internet users to stop whining is like telling them to stop breathing — it seems unrealistic and inhumane. Paul Lutus
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
anti_functional
Member
Posts: 7
Location:
Joined: 23.10.08
Rank: Wiseman |
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Well, apparently the person who started coding all of our programs did it all in PB and feels that for some reason DOS-based PB is the absolute bee's knees of programming. The way the program works, certain values and functions (which should have been coded as variables requested from the user at run time) need to be changed manually in the code on a daily basis.
It's actually very, very irritating, and I'm not a fan of BASIC to begin with... 
I did actually contact the company about backwards compatibility, to which they said "it's questionable." A lot of it depends on what methods are implemented in the code, as some of those from the DOS compiler were tossed out for the Win32 version. |
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
wolfmankurd
Member
Posts: 1519
Location: UK
Joined: 30.05.05
Rank: God |
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anti_functional wrote:
I'm in the process of getting acquainted with PowerBASIC by request of my employer, but I'm having one slight problem...
The PowerBASIC compiler we're using is the old PB for DOS, which is refusing to run on this spiffy new Windows 7 (x64) platform. I'm aware of the options for using DOSBox and VirtualBox with FreeDOS but I'm trying to avoid using any kind of "middle man" if that makes sense.
Does anyone know of a way to force the 64-bit Windows 7 to run a 16-bit DOS based compiler? I also have the option of purchasing the Win32 compiler, but I'd rather not drop the money if I don't have to, especially since the portability of applications from the DOS compiler to the Windows compiler and vice-versa is questionable.
Any ideas are much appreciated.
I hate to state the obvious but have you tried compatibility mode? On the program, installer or anything?
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
Compromise
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Posts: 224
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Joined: 11.11.09
Rank: Moderate
Warn Level: 30
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Make a time/cost graph and realize that the quickest solution is the best. Drop the money or make/clone a VM.
CrazySpai |
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
fashizzlepop
Member
Posts: 482
Location: Old folks home.
Joined: 08.04.08
Rank: Uber Elite |
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Would it be too hard(time consuming) to rewrite the program altogether in a language you know and improve upon it? With user entered variables and such?
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
~Albert Einstein~
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
anti_functional
Member
Posts: 7
Location:
Joined: 23.10.08
Rank: Wiseman |
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fashizzlepop wrote:
Would it be too hard(time consuming) to rewrite the program altogether in a language you know and improve upon it? With user entered variables and such?
I'm working on that in my off time. It's a considerable amount of code (at least for one person), but not anything that a little time and patience can't manage. In the mean time, I set up an old laptop with FreeDOS so I can compile the source after each edit. Ironically, the compiled source will run in Powershell.
Thanks, everyone, for your ideas! |
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
b0r15
Member
Posts: 35
Location: yoursshd
Joined: 05.09.09
Rank: God |
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Good luck with the new job. I think you will have to end up paying for a compiler and i'm not sure if Powerbasic even compiles on 64bit Windows 7? Why any company would rely on such a high budget, ill supported language is beyond me..?? Just because some guy wrote your company's scblockedripts a long time ago? Surely, someone since then could've converted the code to a more supported open source language.
Edited by b0r15 on 21-02-10 00:10 |
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
anti_functional
Member
Posts: 7
Location:
Joined: 23.10.08
Rank: Wiseman |
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b0r15 wrote:
Just because some guy wrote your company's scblockedripts a long time ago?
ROFL The company's owner wrote the program about a year ago... on a Win98 PC  |
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
fashizzlepop
Member
Posts: 482
Location: Old folks home.
Joined: 08.04.08
Rank: Uber Elite |
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Sounds like a nostalgia vs. efficiency case. 
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
~Albert Einstein~
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RE: Anyone here use PowerBASIC? |
define
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Posts: 201
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Warn Level: 1
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b0r15 wrote:
Why any company would rely on such a high budget, ill supported language is beyond me..?? Just because some guy wrote your company's scblockedripts a long time ago? Surely, someone since then could've converted the code to a more supported open source language.
Yes, if companies had budgets in the style of the GPL, then every custom software package they use would be rewritten as often as they could with the understanding that money is no object.
... Unfortunately, that is not reality. Companies are generally run by largely non-technical people that don't appreciate "this newer language pwns that crappy old one" as a good argument for the cost and time of rewriting a large software package from scratch.
If you need to contact me, send me a PM. I will read and/or respond in time. |
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