Week of September 1st: - Work continues on porting vpdf from MorphOS (mazze) - Hurrican has been added to port repository (mazze) - Separate Ok, DirUp and Search images have been implemented in themes (mazze) - Debugging of why attaching pcDuino crashes AROS continues (DizzyOfCRN) - Shell has been updated to have completion working for redirection (otigreat)

Hi All, In this thread I will be posting short summaries of work happening in AROS. Hopefully this will give the community more insight in what the developers are doing with their free time ;) Disclaimer: Treat this as information on current work only. The fact that someone is working on a feature in a given week doesn't mean, he will work on it next week or that the feature will be completed.

@AmiDARK Ah, sorry for my laziness. I've finally managed to download the OS4 archive and locate the documentation (as well as header-files). Looking good so far :thumbsup: Actually, when i read the bounty i was thinking about it all wrongly. I initially thought you made a basic language re-implementation but in fact it's completely written in C but uses basic-a-like syntax/commands. I probably have to await patiently (until bounty goal is reached so i can see for myself), but when (initially) looking at things i wondered, would it also be possible to port the engine to f.i. linux/windows/mac ? Or is the underlying code relying (too much) on OS dependencies ? regards,

hi AmiDARK, Pardon my ignorance on the topic (as i never came across your project before), but is there some (separate) documentation (SDK) available already. Or is it simply located in one of the (already) existing archives for the other platforms ? I am aware that the project hasn't already 'opened up', but that doesn't always necessarily means SDK reference documentation is closed. Do you encounter or expect specific problems in porting the engine to AROS ? Any AROS tidbits you could already 'reveal' ? Thanks in advance.

Hello. I'm trying to port my AmiDARK Engine to AROS... I'ts a GDK that you can use under C and that makes C become as easier as "BASIC" languages... But using the power of C :) The GDK ( Game Development Kit ) itself is not finished, it's under development. (All informations at : http://www.amidark-engine.com and here : http://www.power2people.org/projects/amidark/ ) Regards, AmiDARK

@MasterTggtt If you think that the files you created are supplemental or bonus files that some people might find worthwhile to download, then upload them to Aros-Archive. It's easy. Otoh, if you think it would be better if these files were integrated into the Aros code base, then please consider the other options magorium outlined. Either way, it seems that you might enjoy the developer mailing list. ;)

hi MasterTggtt, Thanks you for the extensive report on your findings. I'm more then sure it would be helpfull to others as well :thumbsup: [quote]I have, up to now, 3 layouts that I've coded. 2 are not custom so I think I should contribute, who do I should contact to make it public?[/quote] There are several options: 1) [url=http://archives.aros-exec.org/index.php?function=presubmit]submit your archived project to the aros-archives[/url] (can include sources, but is not requirement) 2) if you have [url=http://aros.sourceforge.net/documentation/developers/contribute.php#the-subversion-repository]svn acces[/url], you can upload your sources there 3) If you do not have svn acces but would like someone to help you then make contact on [url=http://aros.sourceforge.net/contact.php#mailing-lists]the developer mailing list[/url] (ML), telling what you did and what you need help for. 4) Upload your changes to [url=http://repo.or.cz/w/AROS.git]repo[/url], which requires account as well (but is easier to get then svn acces which takes long to verify sometimes -> months). repo is abiv1 only btw, need to ask someone to backport when wanted. 5) upload changes to [url=https://gitorious.org/aros]gitorious[/url] (supports all abi's in seperate branches), also requires account (and also quicker than svn). All vcs solutions would require you to be familiar (or get familiar) with version control software. If that is too much, then simply upload to aros-archives or ask help from a developer on ML. If all of the above fails or does not apply for you, then i'm out of ideas :D (in which case ask on ML for help).

This message was written using OWB and my custom keyboard layout. Thank you very much. I've found a thread on aros-exec about how to compile differently than the turkish example. [code]i386-aros-gcc -o outputdevfile input.c -nostartfiles[/code] The compile time problem was m problem caused by the struct node. In common.h there's the line: [code] { NULL, NULL, 0, 0, keymapname },[/code] However, the struct node has two possible formats and the AROS I'm running was expecting [code] { NULL, NULL, keymapname, 0, 0 },[/code] Therefore the error was caused by the compiler trying to convert the name into a dynamic pointer, so it could be converted into an integer. node.h has the following solution that is also used by that turkish layout magorium has linked. [code]#if (AROS_FLAVOUR & AROS_FLAVOUR_BINCOMPAT) { NULL, NULL, 0, 0, keymapname }, #else { NULL, NULL, keymapname, 0, 0 }, #endif[/code] I've changed a common.h here, but I've kept the interface as expected by the common.h provided in the repositories. Maybe it was related to the ABI issue and I got the wrong "common" I have, up to now, 3 layouts that I've coded. 2 are not custom so I think I should contribute, who do I should contact to make it public?

Just in case: please note that abiv0 <> abiv1, so please don't mix them up. Normally when you installed latest aspireOS/Icaros, there is no need to update the sdk. That would only be enjoyable when wanting to really develop for Aros, but then you would most probably have another development environment to begin with. FWIW: it's just c, not c++. See also [url=http://stackoverflow.com/questions/160960/error-initializer-element-is-not-computable-at-load-time]here[/url].

I keep getting "initializer element not computable at load time" when trying to compile any of the layout files. Usually this error appears when someone mistakes C++ for C when initializing arrays, but g++ gives more errors. At first I thought it was my "sdk on linux"'s fault but the same thing happens on Icaros native. I will update once I find the problem. I will try compiling from the aros sources instead of using SDK includes. maybe something has changed.

[quote][url=http://arosworld.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=69&pid=389#post_389][b]MasterTggtt wrote:[/b][/url] now I just need to to learn how to compile it, I'm going to try using "make" to read that makefile. [/quote] Erm, not that i am someone that knows, but i believe using make on something like that is a bit overkill. In the end you only need to add your compiled table as new keymap. So taking a little peek [url=http://archives.aros-exec.org/index.php?function=showfile&file=driver/input/arosturkishkeyboard.zip]here[/url] shows that it should be possible to compile using [quote]gcc -opc105_tr pc_105.c -nostdlib[/quote] were ofcourse the pc105_tr/pc_105.c needs to be replaced with your own adjusted keymapname/c-file. Glad to see that you were able to make it over to a-e.org as well :)

A keyboard layout editor would be a fine project and benefit Aros. Hope you have a chance to do it. Good luck.

Thanks a lot, it seems easy enough to create via C code anyway. Perhaps I could help on a new keyboard layout editor later, now I just need to to learn how to compile it, I'm going to try using "make" to read that makefile. [edit] After a while, I was sent a registration code for aros-exec as well. I'm going to post news there if I succeed.

Hi MasterTggtt, cavemann is right, keymaps are in place but unfortunately when they are not, then indeed things become a bit 'low-level' as it involves redefining some tables with values that match your keyboards. Theoretical it should be possible to create some kind of a keyboard/leymap editor (amiga-os had them as well) to circumvent the use of grabbing a c-compiler. On the other hand, it 'only' involves adjusting some tables. If you would like further instructions on creating/modifying keyboard layout then feel free to ask (although i have to dive into it myself, but there are some others that did the same before us)... Cavemann is also right about the acceptance of certain e-mail addresses (although the one you used to register here should be accepted by aros-exec). Please try cavemann's other suggestion as well. Mostly it's just a browser (and it's cache) that's playing tricks. If you are still having troubles and really want to register on a-e.org then please feel free to send a pm. It's no problem for us (besides being busy) getting in contact with a-e admin to ask questions on your behalf in order to sort things out.

Welcome to ArosWorld MasterTggtt Here are the maps, if you want to give it a try. [url]http://repo.or.cz/w/AROS.git/tree/HEAD:/workbench/devs/keymaps[/url] Iirc, because of spamming, some e-mail addresses are not allowed at Aros-Exec, you might try another if available. Also you could try another browser, or first delete any cookies received from Aros-exec.

Hello, I like using a custom keyboard layout while typing long texts. I would like to know if someone is used to creating layouts and can tell how I can create mine, I have browsed http://aros.sourceforge.net/documentation/ already and all I find is low level references about keyboard mapping. Do I need to code in C a new keyboard mapping? Is there a new way? For example, for Windows and Linux I've managed to create the layout without needing to write low level code. (I tried to ask the guys from aros-exec but I cannot register there) Thanks in advance.

Todays crop of coders never played with Commodore or Atari. They like C++, C#, or java... not C (or Pascal). Todays system programmers come from India and China and have never seen an Amiga. Todays game programmers work in teams larger than all the Aros developers together. But I live in Redmond so take this with a grain of salt.

Hi cavemann, Although this view might be right, i think the same about ReactOS ;) The endless stream of games and applications without paying microsoft tax is reason for me to choose AROS :D ok ok ok, maybe not so the endless stream of applications. I also have to correct myself as it seems ReactOS also has support for arm (other support seems to have been abandoned). But looking at things a bit more serious, AROS indeed lack some software to be more competitive. But i don't think this would be a reason for (system)developers to stay away. But alas i have no clue either so maybe you're right, even if i disagree with people that consider AROS as being such as you suggested.

[quote][url=http://arosworld.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=61&pid=332#post_332][b]magorium wrote:[/b][/url] In that regards it is strange to see that a project like ReactOS (which only serves one cpu architecture) having much more developers and interrest. I really wish i would know what's the solution for that.[/quote] The allure of ReactOS is an endless stream of games and applications without paying the Microsoft tax. I guess those developers would consider AROS a mysterious quirky and primitive retro framework with an obsolete software base.

I really wish it would be true trans, and i was thinking more or less the same. Unfortunately practise shows otherwise :( AROS supports (native) 68k, x86 (32 and 64 bit), arm and powerpc processors already. AROS also supports Windows, Linux, Darwin, Android, Windows and hardware like the SAM. The most recent contribution is the attempt to (native) port AROS to the Raspberry Pi (current hurdle is porting our USB-stack). So, in short all the pieces of the puzzle are already there, yet no more developers seem to join in, while we could desperately need it. As a (negative?) side-effect all that architectures need to be supported and maintained as well, giving current developers practically less time to work on improvements (or as practice shows, leaves the current support for some architectures a bit behind once in a while) In that regards it is strange to see that a project like ReactOS (which only serves one cpu architecture) having much more developers and interrest. I really wish i would know what's the solution for that.