I was wondering what is so great about the sstart What does it even do.

You had to post this same question twice? How spiteful.

Many programs come in ppg compressed format. To decompress them they include a CUSTOM decompressor that is tailored to the specific name of the ppg file. This wastes a lot of space, as the code for each decompressor is the same.

But if a bug is ever discovored in the code then ALL decompressors suffer. TI changed some stuff in recent AMS version that caused a bug in the decompressor.

My solution to this is to execute a ppg program by a basic program that does ttstart("name"). By doing this I replace a 1600 byte custom decompressor with a 30 byte basic program.

Or you could use the tict explorer or any other shell that supports ppgs. In general I don't care much for shells, there are some nice hacks that can be done with the tict explorer so it is on my calc.

Greg's program sstart is supposed to be another solution. It works well, but I find waiting on ti to sign apps questionable. I also worry that some higher ups will wise up to just what sstart does and will not allow any more signings. But I do like the flash app nature as it does not involve any ram use.

I like my method because if a bug is discovored in ttstart then that is only 1 program to change, not a bunch of decompressors. Or if ttstart where to some how magically decompress faster then that is 1 program to update. Recently I optomized the assembly parts of the decompression routine (removed all looping) so yes it does decompress faster. sstart should contain these optomizations.


-The crusader against the consumption of High fructose corn syrup:

Samuel S

Wow, that's a pretty good description.

I think that I'll stick with the desktop with ttstart, and making icons when the need arises. However, for those of you who refuse to put AMS 2.08 on, or don't like ID, then this is a good solution.

I am not going to put 2.09 on until the come out with a final release.

-W-

I have updated Integrated Desktop to make it work with Super Start. v0.2d is in the upload queue of ticalc.org's archives.

Why do you mean with 'a final release' ?

- Olivier Armand

I think he means when ID is at 1.0.

Mmm, I think he was talking about the AMS version.

And there will not be any final release for ID of course (or there will be one when I stop programming on TI calcs).

Sorry, that was my mistake. I was refering to the AMS, however I did not read the title of the news item correctly. I thought that it said that it was a semi-release as in it was not finished. I now realize that it was saying that it was not put on the ti epsstore website.

-W-

Oh, and is the only update of ID the sstart support? If it is, I will not get it. I don't see the advantage over ttstart.

-W-

There are 3 advantages at the moment:
1. It uses very little ram, which means the launched program has more memory available to it.
2. It decompresses ppg's noticeably faster than ttstart does.
3. If you are a developer, you could use Super Start together with Command Post to monitor your programs for memory leaks.

But please note that #2 will change as soon as Lionel releases an updated ttstart with the optimized ttunpack routine that Sam and I worked on. Once that happens, the decompression speed should be the similar.

-Greg

Where the hell's the newsletter? It's been a month!!!

Not to mention, the last one is still not up on the site.

-W-

Last months is on the site, it is in eBook format. You should have also gotten it in your e-mail.

I forgot to subscribe. Can't you just put it up on the site????? It doesn't seem that hard!

I've gotten WAY behind in my stuff, but I'm going to get caught up this weekend. The June newsletter will be sent out, and the May AND June newsletters will be posted on the site. My apologies.

That's okay. When school is out, you'll have a lot more free time... I'm really cramped for time now too, with finals and all.

I hate finals! One more thing I have to do!

2 more, plus $#@%$#%$#%%&^&$% SAT IIs :)

I hate them too... except the alg final. I was so excited to take that. All my friends were comparing me to Jason from Foxtrot! LOL That's definitely not the first time that I've been compared to him.
Oh yeah, I also took the end of my enrichment testing today... woohoo, I felt stupid, except for on the math section. I went above my level. Oh yay.

The most common person I get compared with is Bill Gates. I kind of hate that for obvious reasons but I wouldn't mind having his money :)

Hopefully you don't really look like bill gates. That would be horrible.

-W-

I haven't done a comparison. I also used to be called Dumbow, if I spelled it right, because my ears kind of stick out. I'm serioud when I say I have good hearing.

And i'm serious when I say you suck at spelling.

Speaking of spelling, I think I did okay on the spelling section of the enrichment testing, except, I couldn't spell "soliloquy" (argh)

I know. I've always had a problem with it.

Thank you for doing the newsletter.