I sorta agree with the graphics thing (see above) but it could be a component. There should be one shell, with as many components as possible, made by other programmers. I think that it looks great. I think all your ideas are great ... it looks by the screenshot that you practically wrote it already.. why don't you release the program to make it easier on others? i'd like to help but i'm just started Z80

The icons thing is just for fun and you really don't need it. I was trying to show shell developers that icons are possible on a calculator. They would also allow programmers to make custom icons for their programs. Basic programmers could also have icons (see my article update below) I never programmed the shell myself. Some of the screenshots I've had for a while and others I made right before writing this article.

I've recently wrote a simple (Basic) sprite routine that uses 8*8 sprites, stored in a binary way, so they take up only eight numbers (=between 8 and 22 bytes). I think this would be the easiest and smallest way to give a Basic program an icon:

PROG:ANYBASICPROG
::"Discription", {255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255}
: - Rest of the program-

For a program with an entirely black icon.

I'll soon try to make an ASM program to read and display that information, but I have a feeling there are much more capable programmers to help you on the details. I am a man of ideas...

WoW! That's a great llokin Shell. If you could pass that on to a programmer who is interested, it should be finished. Although that shell looks like I imagined Window 2000, which is not yet done. I would also like some help on how to make a shell: Tikki-Lord@Prodigy.Net
-Matt-

that would be totally awesome. I think that 10/96k isn't too much to ask for if the program was how that was described. Including icons wouldn't be a problem either, i think that is cool too. It is a great idea, if ony he had time. this message was pretty pointless. oh well.

I think that this is a great idea. I have a suggestion though (if somebody were to make it), it should run everytime the calc is turned on. This would be really awesome to have, especially with the ability to delete what you think it doesn't need. Somebody should really consider this.

i gotta say that having it start up whenever you turn on the calculator would have to be easy enough. cause if you look at other programs like ashell, or mario, or repton, you just hit the power button and it turns off the calculator. then when you turn it on it is rigth back where you were. so granted that you shut down the calc the right way it should be quite easy. though i know nothing about asm at all so i don't know how to do it. ask bill or scabby. by the way. im going to buy a ti-89 the second i can find one near me, so you good programmers get some good asm tutorials ready cause im waiting to learn assemble on that calc. =)

you are right about that but thats not what he meant. he means programs like on86 that turn on regardless of how you turn it off (except from shell)

adam

What if you just want to turn the calc on to do a simple math problem?

If you're gonna have it turn on everytime the calc does, then it should be a Flash APP & you could just have the Start-Up APP run it when the calc is turned on.

AWESOME!!!! This shell sounds so cool, useful, and intricate. Please pass it onto a programmer. I definitely like your idea on putting game variables into individual folders. A clock isn't necessary I don't think since we all have watches anyway. Compression is an awesome idea especially if it's like the GPC described in S.T.L.'s article that can double or 1.5x your memory capacity. TI-82, TI-83, & TI-85 emulation are a must. TI-83 hasn't been done yet although CLEM is implememnting it into Dynamic Shell. There some TI-83 Asm games I really want but they haven't been ported yet or aren't going to be ported. Like Mega Man 83-ASM or FFX4. And having emulation for these would mean less time porting for the 86 for programmers and more time making new games. I don't think 10K is too much. I have every game that I want on my calc (except The Quest III which isn't done yet. By the way, does anyone when that'll be done?) and I still have like 25K free. You have to pass this on to another programmer to finish. PLEASE!!!!!

<<Compression is an awesome idea especially if it's like the GPC described in S.T.L.'s article that can double or 1.5x your memory capacity.>>
You know, that's just what I was thinking as I read that part of the article. :-D

oh no!! we all dont wear watches. It looks kind of embarassing when you are in a class and you keep looking at your watch. The teacher starts degrading you because you look like you want to get out of that class. Well anyway enough of my jibberish. I would love a clock which would run like a watch (as in never stop) even if the calc is turned off. Probably isn't possible.

Also, do some of those games and shells with the shut off feature really turn off the calc when pressed the button. I don't think they do because once i turned it of through my shell and my batteries were low after a while. I heard the same from a friend of mine also. I could be wrong, so slap a message on my face.

bye

Yes shutting down the calc through a shell does work. I've had my 86 for three months and I've always used a shell and the shut down feature. I also use my calc a lot since newer and better than my old 83. But whenever I check my battery power with System Monitor it says that I still have like 84% of my battery power left. Maybe it doesn't turn the calc off like if you use 2nd [Off] but it definitely goes into extermely low power at least. Ask the programmer of whatever shell you use to find out for sure.

I was looking at the source code of something that shuts the calculator down and I think it just turns the screen off... it is like a call like _screenoff or something like that....

Most shells use the ports to turn of the screen and timer interrupts, and then execute a HALT, which waits for an interrupt: ON interrupts, because timer interrupts are deactivated. Then it turns the screen back on and if necessary the timer interrupts. If tried to see what TI-OS does, and it seems to be about the same. Strange thing: according to TI-OS, it remains at 38h, ex af,af'! Anyone know why?

I think this shell would really kick ... uh... really be cool. :) I'm no ASM programmer, but speaking from a general programming standpoint, most of the graphics wouldn't waste too much memory, as someone mentioned above. If you look at the screenshots, most of the graphics (besides the icons) could probably be made with a few line or box routines. As for the icons, their usefulness is somewhat dubious, but nevertheless pretty cool. Once again, an icon routine couldn't be that bad, and each icon would only be 49 bits raw. Still, I guess it all adds up. And even if these features were component based, how much programming overhead do you think implementing the components would take? Kind of saying, "You can get rid of this 1K component, and that 2K component, but to do that, I'll have to add another 3K to the code."

The shell wouldn't have component information buil-in. When you tried to run Explorer from the start menu for example, the shell would look for Explorer and if it didn't find it, it would give a message like "Component not found!". Searching through the Ram for a program or component only takes a small amount of bytes. Adding components would be easy too, and add almost nothing to the size of the raw shell.

MOO!

I saw a lot of references/similarities to WindowsCE. Now, I have to let you know that I am a die-hard WindowsCE fan, but hate Microsoft; I especially love H/PCs. Now that you know I have a somewhat biased opinion, I'll let you know that you GUI is a great idea. But, wouldn't it be easier just to port WinCE over? Besides, the lawsuits filed by Microsoft after this GUI is created will leave someone broke. Granted, the UI will let all of the Win95/98/CE dummies use a TI-calc with no learning. But, with all of the above-mentioned, I'd still use your shell, regardless of UI or the 'brand name' (rather: feel) of a Microsoft product. I love the customization one could do... the icons and explorer expecially.

-Miles Raymond

P.S. When will the integrated web browser be available?

Yeah, we need a modem in these Calcs Someone needs to think of a way to do that, lol =)

Actually, that's already been done with the 85 and 86. The GraphLink converts the link port to the standard RS232 protocol, or the serial protocol used by your PC.

To connect a modem to your calc, you need a graphlink and an external 9600 baud modem. There is a program called RTerm which simply turns your 85/86 into a terminal to be used with a modem (or or works as a chat program).

This could be fun. The author of RTerm said you could call local BBS's and stuff. I'd love to try, but I don't have an external 9600 modem...

I have one but I have no Idea where to find a bbs in my area.. or how to use one

Cmputer for Internet, calculator for math (and games)

Just wanted to point out that the abbreviation seen in the screenshots for Windows CE is "WinCE" or "Wince" - something I do often when using Windows 98, CE, or NT!!!!!!! How appropriate! =)