Win32Forth
Win32Forth
Release
NotesLatest at the top
CONTRIBUTORS
Developers: Alex McDonald, Dirk Busch, Ezra Boyce, George Hubert
and others
CVS: provided by Ron Aaron
Library: John Peters
VERSIONING
W32F now uses versions of the form
Version numbers: v.ww.rr
v Major version
ww Minor version
rr Release
Odd minor version numbers are possibly unstable beta test code (for example, 6.07.12). Even minor versions are "production" releases; the release number will increment if there are fixes. For " production" releases, ONLY MINOR FIXES FOR BUGS WILL BE APPLIED. Major bug fixes, enhancements and other feature will be added to the next odd-numbered release.
NEW INSTALL PROGRAM
A new install program is driven from SETUP.BAT. Several batch files have been modified to simplify the build process.
SETUP.BAT -- runs the setup program, rebuilds the entire
system from scratch
_MAKEALL.BAT -- remakes the entire system, but doesn't do a
full install
META.BAT -- meta compiles a new kernel
MAKEWINED.BAT -- rebuilds WINED
MAKEINDEX.BAT -- rebuilds the word indices used by WINED
MAKEFORTHFORM.BAT -- rebuilds the W32F Forms Generator
NEW APPLICATION FORTHFORM.F
See SRC\FORTHFORM for the application and instructions.
"ForthForm.F A Free Form Designer for Win32Forth by Ezra Boyce
Written to simplify the design of forms with user design classes
of controls. The generated file can be saved as a forth file (.f)
or pasted into one's program and modified as needed."
CODE ONLY SECTION
Extensive changes were made to most of the files that built assembler code words. There are now three sections built in an image;
1. A CODE section that contains all the assembler code words 2. A DATA (or APP) section that constains colon defs and data 3. A SYSTEM (or DICTIONARY) section that contains dictionary entries
This has improved the performance of W32F by separating out code and data. The word .FREE shows these sections:
.free
Section Address Total Used Free
------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
CODE 00000000h 40,960 15,410 25,550
APP 0000A000h 761,856 247,584 514,272
SYSTEM 000C4000h 512,000 205,440 306,560
Malloc/Pointer: 21,704 ok
GENERALISED FOLDER SUPPORT
Extensive chnages made to the way that W32F holds information about loaded files. During an EXTEND, the W32F source files used during the build are now held as absolute file names. This simplifies the movement of applications that might refer to the source via VIEW or EDIT words.
CHANGES TO HEADER
Internal changes were made to the headers built in the dictionary. This has no effect on application programs (except for the bugs noted below).
META COMPILER GENERALISATION
Some work has begun on generalising the META compiler so that other images, apart from the current FKERNEL.IMG, can be generated in meta-compile mode. Work will continue to make this more flexible.
BUG FIXES
For detailed information on bugs fixed, please see SRC\VERSION.F for details.
If you discover a bug, please post your note to win32forth@ yahoogroups.com, giving as much information as possible. Your input is appreciated.
BUGS & TEMPORARY FIXES
There are two temporary fixes to known bugs in this version.
1.[ NFORGET.F doesn't forget properly. Due to changes in the dictionary structure with 6.06.xx, the link field is now at a lower address than the NFA; this causes the dictionary to be incorrectly trimmed and potentially corrupted when it is added to after ANEW, MARKER or FORGET has been executed. ]
The code has been modified to work without corruption; there may be the occasional spurious "XXX is isn't unique" message after ANEW, FORGET or MARKER. It can safely be ignored, as XXX doesn't in fact exist. You are advised NOT to TURNKEY or APPLICATION if you have used ANEW, MARKER or FORGET.
2.[ OPTIMIZE.F does NOT work, and generates incorrect code. Cause by the changes to a CODE ony section; some debugging will be required to work out how to best get the optimiser working again. ]
The code has been modified to work correctly; however, the code is built into the APP section, not the new CODE section, so there may be occasional performance hits caused by optimising.
There are several unknown bugs. They have not been found yet.
WORDS REMOVED
The following words have been REMOVED from the system:
CD (a synonym of CHDIR)
E ( " EDIT)
B ( " BROWSE)
due to conflicts with hex numbers of the same "name". To restore
these words, please FLOAD COMPAT.F
Minor changes -------------
Several minor changes to improve the performance of the kernel, and to tidy up the code.
501B Kernel -----------
Change of numbering. VRRF where V is version of the kernel, RR is a release and F is a fix version (or something pretty small) from the previous release.
Major changes -------------
TASK SUPPORT
Changes were made to the following files:
ASMWIN32.F, FKERNEL.F, FLOAT.F, PRIMHASH.F and CALLBACK.F
A new file TASK.F was added.
MULTITHR.F is now obsolete.
Changes to support better handling of stacks and user-words was made that do not affect any code except those that use the now obsolete MULTITHR.F. As TASK.F is not yet complete, accurate discussion of it is deferred until it stabilises.
Please note that the kernel is thread-aware, not thread safe. The
following kernel words are all thread-safe:
. file i/o
. dynamic memory allocation words (allocate, free etc)
. most standard forth words.
The following are NOT thread-safe:
. console i/o (but see the demos for a primitive console locking mechanism)
. any forth word that allocates space in the data space (for
instance, if the words invoked use , allot etc)
. any forth word that allocates space in the dictionary (for
instance, if the words invoked use create value variable etc).
Basically, compile time words are out. Other than that, tasks are just ordinary words that take a parameter. Example:
: foo ( parm -- flag )
... \ do something tasky with parm
1 \ return a flag
;
0 value new-task
10 ' foo task-block to new-task \ create a new task block for foo
new-task run-task \ and run it
or, if you're not interested managing in the task once you've started it:
10 ' foo task-block run-task
New task words: create-task run-task suspend-task resume-task stop-task task-sleep task-block task-stop? TCB
New lock words (process specific): lock unlock trylock make-lock
LOCALS support --------------
Some changes in FKERNEL.F, PRIMHASH.F to more quickly initialise locals. Further changes will be made to speed up further.
Windows Version ---------------
New words WIN95 WIN98 WINME WINNT351 WINNT4 WIN2K WINXP and WINVER. These can
be used to check for a version, say Win2K or greater;
WINVER WIN2K >=
FLOAD and other file words --------------------------
Most (not all) have been changed to use PARSE-S$ rather than BL WORD. This allows file names with imbedded blanks to be handled if they are delimeted by " (double) or ' (single) quotes. Further work required here.
Other changes -------------
CALLBACK.F -- all callback routines have been moved out of the kernel. The word
WNDPROC is no longer supported (it was just a 4 CALLBACK).
CLASS.F -- FIND has a bug (in MSGFIND) that returns found for any variable x.y
if x exists, regardless of whether it is an object. An attempt has
been made at a temporary fix that checks X is an object (but as yet
it does not check that Y is a variable or method).
CONTROL.F -- all subclassing moved here out of the kernel.
DIALOG.F -- WNDPROC changed to a callback - see callback.f
ENVIRON.F -- bug fix, spotted by Leo Wong that LOCALS support was incorrectly
reported.
FKERNEL.F -- changes to the deferred call mechanism, and a bug fix when loading
libraries that were not available. The call mechanism was modified
to make it easier to call routines from assembler.
WINLIB.F -- very minor performance enhancements
META.F and FKERNEL.F -- changes to use the word CFA-CODE instead of LABEL, or
CREATE x INIT-ASSEMBLER. Cleaner and more easily maintained.
NFORGET.F -- was forgetting too much, especially about vocabularies when ANEW
was executed. RBS change in marker removed.
PRIMUTIL.F -- new word .. to RESET-STACKS.
VCALL.F -- optimised.
\ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consolidation release. Changes here include 4.0A, 4.1B, and 4.1B patches, and various changes contributed by RBS, JvdVen, Ron Aaron, JAP.
DIS486.F --------
Major reworking of disassembler. If you don't like the new version you can revert to the old disassembler by replacing with 486ASM.OLD
FKERNEL.F ---------
Major changes to remove the following:
TIB, CUR-FILE, TEMP$, FIND-BUFFER, POCKET, SPCS, PARMLIST
These were ALLOTed as up to 256 byte strings. Now they are allocated on the stack at initialisation time, and reduce the total size of the image by around 1.5K. See : COLD for details.
Major changes to support better callbacks. See CALLBACK.F.
Other minor optimisations.
META.BAT --------
Now always asks during compile of Win32For.exe whether a FIXED LOADPOINT or RELATIVE LOADPOINT should be built. Requested by Jos vd Ven.
CALLBACK.F & FKERNEL.F ----------------------
Some of the CALLBACK functionality has been incorporated into the kernel. This reduces the number of pieces of code that create callback type code, and simplifies debugging.
EXCEPTIO.F ----------
Exception handling now uses a process wide exception handler to trap all OS generated errors in Win32Forth. This has required disabling the _try code in FKERNEL.EXE. See EXCEPTIO.F for how to use this feature.
EXTEND.F --------
Minor changes to the fload order.
FKERNEXT.F ----------
Minor changes to improve the doc and the messages produced for FIXED and RELATIVE loadpoint code.
FLOAT.F -------
Removed all FWAITs. These haven't been needed since 386 coprocessors!
FORTHDLG.F ----------
Improved versioning, Win32For.exe now shows message with an explicit origin.
Version: 6.03 Build: 0001 Experimental Build Kernel V4.9C at origin 0x00000000
UTILS.F -------
Clears the MALLOC links during FSVAE and TURNKEY to prevent errors in allocation. Clears the exception record.
NFORGET.F ---------
Support trim on PROCs and LIBs. Added POSSIBLY and new version of ANEW.
MENU.F ------
Support multiple windows for a single menu
PRIMUTILS.F -----------
Added deferred CRTAB, new chain for NFORGET.F
\ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
META.F ------
Real mistake -- had compiled kernel via several versions, and introduced 2 major changes which don't compile from raw -- only from an intermediate -- version.
1. Added NALIGNED to kernel, but this stops META which uses it. Added
[UNDEFINED] NALIGNED
[IF]
CODE NALIGNED ( addr n -- addr2 )
mov eax, ebx \ n
dec eax \ n-1
neg ebx \ -n
pop ecx \ addr
add eax, ecx \ addr+n-1
and ebx, eax \ addr+n-1 and -n
next c;
[THEN]
which can be removed once this becomes the base.
2. In DIALOG.F changed load-dialog to load from subdirectory RES. Again, meta uses
old version, so it doesn't get loaded. Bypass - copy metadlg.res and metadlg.h
to the <forth> directory. Delete once compiled.
DEBUG.F -----
Lost a change here in 3.3D, don't know why, reinstated. Same as last time with SEE.F
Objective of this set of changes: 1. New META build dialog to accomodate future enhancements. 2. Corrected some minor bugs in previous beta releases
Version 3.9J is a release candidate.
NOte: 3.3D existed in two forms, one bust, one not.
3.3E to 3.9J ------------
FKERNEL.F ---------
_INTERPRET changes:
3.3D INTERPRET changes removed, too experimental at this point. These will be added
back in once some improvements to the handling of options set by meta compile have
been completed. If you want the enhancements, add them back in from 3.3D
BUG: Reinstated TIB, removed in error from FORTH dictionary, noticed by RBS. Fixed.
Added function NALIGNED, like ALIGNED except aligns to any 2^n boundary.
METADLG.F <=== NEW FILE! (3.4E) ---------
File to support new META dialog. See META for details.
META.F ------
New dialog using METADLG.F, all non-operable features are disabled. Allows:
1. Build EXE file at relocatable loadpoint (default). This will not have the NEXT/EXEC
optimisations.
2. Build EXE at fixed loadpoint. This WILL have the NEXT/EXEC optimisations (see 3.1B
changes under ASMWIN.F for details)
Other minor changes in support of this feature, including slightly clearer output from
the build process.
SEE.F -----
Lost a change here in 3.3D, don't know why, reinstated.
VERSION.F ---------
390000 value version#
C" 3.9J" CHAR+ @ CONSTANT KVER
Updated as above to allow the version printed from the kernel to be built automatically
rather than by updating the source. Note the slightly odd construct, can be typed with
&KVER SP@ 4 TYPE DROP 3.9J
&KVER in the kernel is an alias of KVER in VERSION.F
DIALOG.F --------
Modified to read from <forth>\res directory. All .RES, .H files moved here.
Objective of this set of changes:
1. Restore some of the wrapper! Print stuff now back in.
2. Modified FORTH.C and TERM.C junked -- using originals for the moment. This
has no overall effect EXCEPT that the code is now no longer thread safe.
RBS addmods.bat now works OK. Use w32Forth_rbs_v6r0512.exe as a base.
3. Performance enhancements -- new technique gets another 1 to 3% improvement in
speed.
Version 3.3D is a consolidation release, with a few minor enhancements.
3.3D ----
UTILS.F & FKERNEL.F
1. Bug: term-alloc was being called at the wrong time, and malloc-link (the head
of allocated memory) was not being set to zero when building an image, causing
all sorts of errors.
FKERNEL.EXE and KERNEL.BIN 1. 3.1B changes removed, now uses original files.
XPRTDLG.F <=== NEW FILE! (3.1B) 1. Now no longer in EXTEND.F, code uses original print features
Notes for version 3.1B 04/10/2002 15:50:52
Read in conjunction with 1.9G, 2.9G
Objective of this set of changes:
1. Remove more of the wrapper. Now only terminal I/O is left to do.
2. Support building of EXE using PE header - some misc changes, particularly building
fixed loadpoint images (see below for specifics)
3. Performance enhancements -- up to 30% improvements on CPU intensive code without
requiring the optimiser. See How to Use at the bottom.
Version 3.1B is the most experimental yet, but appears to be very stable and does not cause any problems with the demo programs and in particular WINED. I'm managing to keep to my program goals of not requiring any changes in developed apps while these enhancements to the underlying Win32Forth system take place. BUT:
NOTE *3.1B is a testing release, not a release candidate* ---- Specifically, ALL PRINTING FUNCTIONS ARE EFFECTIVELY "NOOPs". I have yet to work out how all the kernel XCALLS work, and have made an attempt to rewrite the printing stuff in forth, but it is truly horrible to duplicate. Looking at the MS doc, I think there are several problem areas that need addressed; for instance, there's no ABORTPROC to allow the user to cancel printing. Work will continue on adding this to the 3.9 release candidate. Attempting to print won't do you any harm -- it just won't do anything.
FKERNEL.EXE and KERNEL.BIN (same file, copies of each other, optional this build)
1. Recompiled to remove redundant XCALLs.
2. Recompiled to use thread safe libraries, as the new kernel will include
thread support.
This is optional, and old FKERNEL.EXE/KERNEL.BIN will work with this code. Source changes
not included yet.
OPTIMIZE.F had a couple of bugs.
1. The optimiser was bombing out when the kernel was built with a non-zero origin in META
compile. OPT-LAST was pointing to 0 address, OK when origin=0, but pointed at absolute
0 when origin<>0. This was causing exception C0000005. Fixed.
2. The length of the NEXT macro was hardcoded. Changes to NEXT were causing the optimiser
to generate invalid code. Fixed.
FKERNEL.F
1. Took out MACRO NEXT and MACRO EXEC and placed in SRC\FKERNEXT.F, a new file. See below
in ASMWIN32.F for reasons. Included from META.F, again see below.
2. Minor changes to tidy up code
3. Removal of file open dialog XCALLS and print XCALLS. Print stuff still bust.
4. Took out XCALL jump table and ripped out the code in FORTH.C/TERM.C instead.
ASMWIN32.F
1. Took out macro: exec and macro: next and and placed in SRC\FKERNEXT.F, a new file.
This new file allows the NEXT and EXEC code to be changed in the one place, rather than
have separate files (FKERNEL.F and ASMWIN32.F) possibly build different code.
FORTHDLG.F 1. Bug: ORIGIN set as decimal, rather than hex, on the SAVE-MEMORY-DIALOG dialog. Fixed. 2. Bug: NOT FIXED -- when "Don't Save" pressed, saves anyway! NOT FIXED
META.F
1. Now loads SRC\FKERNEXT.F before FKERNEL.F. Taken out of FKERNEL.F as the line numbers
get all screwed up if there's an FLOAD inside FKERNEL.F, and none of the code in
FKERNEXT.F defines any words anyway.
2. Additions to allow seperate CODE, DATA and DICTIONARY areas in the image we are
building. Reasons for this will be clearer when next phase is complete... Right now
they do nothing and aren't used.
3. Added the following words that will work in the kernel only:
|: |CODE |NCODE
These are the same as : CODE and NCODE but they don't build entries in the FORTH
vocabulary. An attempt to stop "word pollution" from kernel functions.
4. Bug: META was miscounting the size of the generated image. Fixed.
WINDOW.F
1. Minor change: _win32forth-message changed to use SendMessageTimeout rather than
SendMessage, which was locking up when there was a slow or dead window during the
broadcast of the message.
XFILEDLG.F <=== NEW FILE! 1. All of the Open/Save/New file dialog functions here. Replacement for XCALLS.
XPRTDLG.F <=== NEW FILE!
1. All of the print dialog functions here. Replacement for XCALLS.
SERIOUSLY BUST! Won't cause any failures if you try to print, but DOES NOTHING.
FKERNEXT.F <=== NEW FILE!
Code moved out of ASMWIN32.F and FKERNEL.F so that definitions of NEXT and
EXEC are next to each other for ease of edit.
There are two definitions, one for use in ASMWIN32.F, that builds NEXT and EXEC
as macro: for use in assembled code; and one for META.F that builds NEXT and EXEC
as macro definition for use in CODE and NCODE sections of FKERNEL.F.
Relocatable definitions
-----------------------
Relocatable EXEC is
mov ecx , [eax] [edi]
add ecx , edi
jmp ecx
Relocatable NEXT is
mov eax, 0 [esi]
mov ecx, 0 [eax] [edi]
add esi, # 4
add ecx, edi
jmp ecx
Relocation uses register EDI that contains the load address of the image.
ORIGIN (in META) and &ORIGIN @ (in other code) will both contain 0 (zero)
and NEXT and EXEC are built using EDI. (Note that the NEXT now has a slightly
optimised EXEC at its tail to prevent register stall).
Fixed Loadpoint
---------------
Fixed EXEC is
jmp [eax]
Fixed NEXT is
mov eax, 0 [esi]
add esi, # 4
jmp [eax]
Fixed does NOT use EDI, as ORIGIN (or @ORIGIN @) of non-zero means that this
has been built to load at that, AND ONLY THAT, address. It's much faster (25-30%)
but cannot be moved in memory, and must be loaded at a specific address. EDI will
contain 0, but NOTE -- other code will use EDI, and it is ESSENTIAL that it is
not changed elsewhere in the code.
EXE vs DLL
----------
EXE files are loaded at specific addresses, and do not require relocation sections. Under
all opsys except NT, this address is 0x00400000 (NT 0x00010000). Currently, because
the C wrapper occupies that address, to build a FIXED loadpoint image requires that it
is built elsewhere (for instance 0x00800000).
DLLs require relocatability. Win32Forth doesn't build relocation sections for addresses
so the relocatable code MUST be used, as the loadpoint can be anywhere.
Advantages of this technique:
-----------------------------
1. Old code works fine with an origin of 0 (i.e. relocatable at run-time, use EDI).
EXE and DLL both supported, no change at all.
2. New code with FIXED loadpoint (origin <>0) can build EXE files that run much
faster, especially compute intensive, without requring optimisation. Can't build
DLLs that do this however. Code is also shorter -- so kernel is smaller.
No attempt has been made to optimise other code. For instance, @ is
CODE @ ( a1 -- n1 ) \ get the cell n1 from address a1
mov ebx, 0 [ebx] [edi]
next c;
There's not much to be gained by changing to <mov ebx, 0 [ebx]>.
How to use
----------
1. Recompile the kernel;
win32for fload src\meta.f SETSIZE BYE
When prompted, change the ORIGIN to something like 0x00800000. During compile,
you should see this:
Loading Meta Compiler...
-- BETA META.F V3.1A --
Metacompiler Loaded
Loading FKERNEXT.F V3.1A Beta kernel extensions...
--- Compiling FIXED LOADPOINT at 0x00800000
Compiling the KERNEL...
Unresolved references:
*** No words Unresolved ***
Target origin: 800000h
Target size: 35901
Header origin: 8C0000h
Header size: 18384
54285 bytes written to file FKERNEL.IMG
Delaying: 5 seconds, press a key to HOLD
Note the messages and origin addresses.
2. Recompile WIN32FOr.EXE;
fkernel fload src\extend.f
If you look at the top of the screen, you will see:
Loading 486ASM/Win32Forth Interface File...
-- BETA ASMWIN32.F V3.1A --
Loading FKERNEXT.F V3.1A Beta kernel extensions...
--- Compiling FIXED LOADPOINT at 0x00800000
3. Recompile any other programs you might want, such as WINED.
ANS File Words. ---------------
Added the following ANS file words to the kernel:
open-file create-file close-file read-file write-file
delete-file rename-file file-position reposition-file
file-append file-size flush-file read-line write-line
resize-file file-status
plus supporting words.
The following XCALL based words are now OBSOLETE and will cause
a compile time error if used:
FOPEN-FILE FMAKE-FILE FCLOSE-FILE FREAD-LINE FREAD-FILE
FSEEK-FILE FREPOSITION-FILE FSAVE-FILE FFILE-POSITION
The corresponding n XCALL function will cause a runtime error:
Error: XCALL for unallocated function
ANSFILE reduced to non-key words, some changes to REGISTRY.F,
UTILS.F and DC.F to remove obsolete words.
Other future changes: file-status can cause errors, and needs
to be rewritten.
Memory words ------------
Added the following words to the kernel:
allocate malloc free release realloc resize
init-malloc term-malloc
plus supporting words.
Changes to the memory structure have been made to permit future
enhancements for stand-alone PE header. Does not affect application
code that sticks to the words above.
All functions now use heap storage. All LocalAlloc etc calls which
are a hangover from Win32S and 16 bit windows removed.
PRIMUTIL.F changes to .mallocs word to produce more explanatory
output.
Abs-Addr Rel-Addr Bytes HeapAddr Type
-------- -------- -------- -------- ----
0013B638 FF86B644 8,192 00130000
001396A0 FF8696AC 8,060 00130000
00135060 FF86506C 260 00130000
00136D70 FF866D7C 10,000 00130000
-------- -------- -------- -------- ----
Total allocated 26,512
Type field (1 cell) is for later use, and currently only the
default process heap is in use.
Cosmetic changes ----------------
Some cosmetic changes to FKERNEL.F so I can find my way around a
bit more easily:
Moved up the 486ASM.F in EXTEND.F so that the assembler is available
much earlier. Some code sections will be moved out of the kernel into a
separate file to ease size of FKERNEL.F.
One or two other cosmetic changes that I can't remember now. Not important.
XCALLs removed --------------
The following xcalls are now OBSOLETE and will cause run-time error:
XCALL Old function New function
----- ------------ ------------
10 malloc_x malloc
11 free_x free
12 open_file_x open-file
13 close_file_x close-file
14 read_line_x read-line
15 save_x fsave-file
+16 load_library_x *winlibrary
+17 freelibrary_x *free-library
+18 get_proc_x *proc, *call
24 getstartup_x ( none )
33 reposition_x reposition-file
47 realloc_x realloc
63 seek_file_x file-position
64 make_file_x create-file
65 read_file_x read-file
68 uppercase_x upper, uppercase
69 lowercase_x lower, lowercase
70 file_position_x file-position
Those marked with an *asterisk are not direct replacements, but provide
similar functionality. Functions 16, 17, 18 should NOT be used, as they
will be replaced shortly. In general, XCALLs should be avoided in app code.
Document $Id: p-relnotes.htm,v 1.1 2004/12/21 00:18:56 alex_mcdonald Exp $