Ready for primetime?

[dhouston]

I spent most of Feb, Mar & Apr in the hospital and expect to have a lengthy period of recovery during which physical activity will be severely circumscribed so it seems like a good time to concentrate on more cerebral tasks.

I have a PB application which I developed under Windows and ported to Linux (which went very well). I would like to port it to OSX but have yet to buy a Mac. Before I spend the money, I have some questions.

1. Is PB/OSX ready for primetime? I do not see a great deal of activity in the OSX forums and wonder why. I don't want to get into a project only to find it too frustrating and find I've wasted my money for a Mac. BTW, I'm 68 years old and hope to finish this quickly.

2. Bearing in mind that I'm a novice when it comes to OSX - Are there clear instructions for getting started with PB on OSX?

3. Will it be best to start with my Windows or my Linux code?

[WilliamL]

I would be interested to hear what some other Mac users have to say too.

The PB commands seem to work fine on the Intel version but not all the color options work and some other options in some gadgets are not available. Printing is limited to printing the content as an image so text is not sharp. Of course, converting the API from Windows to a Mac will be a problem. Installation of PB should be simple.

My short answer would be that PB on the (Intel) Mac runs fine and you won't have any problems if you stay within the PB language and away from the API.

[Blood]

PB for Mac is very unpolished. The IDE is terrible and the docs non-existent for the Mac related stuff.

[jamirokwai]

Hi,

68 years, and still interested in coding? Great. Hope you recover fully soon

I am using PB since 4.1 on my intel-Mac. I coded two tools which are sold in Germany via the internet.
As of now, I am not aware of people complaining about instable software made with PB on the Mac.
Keep in mind: printing is still blurry, the manual is sometimes outdated or wrong. The color-code-
problem (using #blue for $0000ff eg) is based on Windows-API... So some things won't work, but
nothing causes really bigs problems. PB is evolving and getting better with every version.

My workflow: coding everything on my MacBook using PB4.5, converting it over to Windows and Linux
(and having fun with the different approach Windows has...). If you like to code smaller tools for
all 3 systems, go ahead. The problems described above are minor (except the printing-problem).

If you like to keep the cost down, buy a used Mac Mini and use your Windows-Screen and Mouse. You'll
need a new Apple-keyboard, probably third party, so it's a bit cheaper. That's it.

Good luck (and much fun...)

[OrangeJuice]

You can also use an Windows Keyboard on the MacMini without any trouble, that was my setup for the first 2 years. Of course, since the newer aluminum Mac Keyboards are so insanely beautiful, I would get one even if I would stick with Windows/Linux PCs.

[dhouston]

@jamirokwai,

Thanks for the tips.

I've been looking at used minis but find prices for the Intel versions to be $400-500 while a new, low-end Mini is only $600 and an open-box one is $500 so I'll probably opt for new for peace of mind. I found a wireless keyboard & mouse (made by MS but designed for Apple) and have a monitor.

My app is about 7000 lines of code. I've ordered a book called "Mac OS X for Unix Geeks (Leopard)". While I am far from being a Unix Geek, I managed to port my app to Linux (including automatic enumeration of serial ports and a few other things requiring the API) and hope the book will help if I need to solve similar problems under OS X.

The links below are to the user manuals for my app under Windows and Linux. I'd like the OS X version to have a similar look & feel.

• http://davehouston.org/roZetta%20User%2 ... 0Linux.pdf
  http://davehouston.org/roZetta%20User%2 ... indows.pdf

[aaron]

I use the OSX version of Purebasic along with the windows version and 99% of the stuff is compatible across the platforms. I took a look at your manuals and your app seems to be pretty straight purebasic code and nothing too custom (windows API calls, etc..). It will be easy to port I would imagine, particularly given that you've done it already for linux.

The serial port handling is different in OSX versus windows (enumeration of available ports primarily), but your Linux port ran into the same issues and the OSX/Linux methods are very similar so it should be a cinch.

I don't agree with Bloods' comments above that the IDE for OSX is terrible. It works quite well for me and is virtually identical to the Windows version. Perhaps he hasn't used the OSX version in a while?

[dhouston]

I use the OSX version of Purebasic along with the windows version and 99% of the stuff is compatible across the platforms. I took a look at your manuals and your app seems to be pretty straight purebasic code and nothing too custom (windows API calls, etc..). It will be easy to port I would imagine, particularly given that you've done it already for linux.

Thanks, Aaron.

Aside from a lot of cosmetic issues (differing font sizes, etc.) most of my Windows code worked under Linux - and I had it running (aside from the issues noted) in about 20 minutes. I had to use API calls for enumerating the ports (but I had to do the same under Windows) and to scroll the large EditorGadget on the main screen. I found a couple of OS X - Unix tutorials on the web and it looks like most of the API functions I needed for Linux are the same for OS X.

I've used Purebasic code except where API calls were unavoidable, expecting that would simplify porting between the various operating systems. I think I'm about to take the OS X leap.

[dhouston]

OK - I have a Mac Mini up and running and have installed XCode (I did not install the Unix tools - are they needed?) and PureBasic. I have commented out some gtk functions which caused error messages and now get...

PureBasic - Assembler error
sh: nasm: command not found

Where do I go from here?

[WilliamL]

So it's not running at all? I just did the standard XCode install (no unix) and that was it... no problems. Did XCode install correctly (what version is it.. 3.0?) ? Can you do a simple 'Hello' compile? You shouldn't have to comment out anything... What version of pb are you using (ppc/x86)?

[dhouston]

PB 4.50 x86. It installed cleanly. The IDE runs. The error messages come when I try to compile my Linux source. The gtk functions were needed to scroll an Editor gadget under Linux.

XCode is the latest version (I'm not on the Mac right now so don't have the version number). It installed cleanly. The only message was at the end saying it had installed successfully. I did not see a way to deselect the iPhone stuff although I don't need it. I did deselect the Unix package.

I haven't yet tried a compile of a simpler example - that's for tomorrow.

[WilliamL]

Scrolling works, for me, with the Editor gadget but I get both scrollbars which may not be ideal. I think I know how to suppress the scrollbars. Word wrap doesn't work so it is difficult to make a text editor.

It looks like your compile will take some work.

[Fred]

nasm means you don't have installed the commandline tools for XCode, just reinstall it and check this option.

[WilliamL]

[delete]

[dhouston]

nasm means you don't have installed the commandline tools for XCode, just reinstall it and check this option.

`Thanks, Fred - installing the Unix tools fixed that and I can now compile.

Unfortunately, it looks like I will have a lot of code to rewrite under OSX. I'll start separate threads for the two most immediate problems.