(Suggestion) - A couple of possible example apps to include with HLA

[latte]

Hi all - 

I've been thinking of a couple of possible example apps that I think would be very useful to include with HLA. 
They are - a simple public-domain text-editor and a public-domain workalike of the Grub boot-manager. 

The text editor would be very useful as an example of how to do windows and menus with HLA.  I'm not aware of any explicitly public-domain HLA apps which involve creating an application with a window and menus.  If there are any, I'd be keen to know of them. 

The Grub work-alike would be useful as a public-domain replacement of Grub (and also as a useful learning tool for the boot process.)  As a supporter of public-domain software, it has annoyed me for a while that it is (almost) necessary to   
use a non-P.D. app for booting hobby operating systems. If there were a P.D. alternative to Grub, that would be a great step forward in being able to create an OS which is 100% P.D. - from the earliest stages of booting, right through to the command prompt (or GUI). 

Just my 2 NZ cents worth..... comments welcome... :) 
- latte 

[Evenbit]

You are going to have a l-o-n-g wait on that GRUB-clone.  I'm not saying it is impossible, but it would be extremely unwise to attempt to write a GRUB-clone using HLA.  NASM would be a much better choice.  NASM can generate flat files.  HLA targets specific OSs.  I suppose, with a little hacking, one could coerce a modified HLA to generate a flat file, but I fail to see the advantage.  Also, generating some 16-bit code (every boot-loader requires at least some of it) from HLA is going to be another nightmare.

For a Windows-based text-editor, take a look at the source for HIDE:  http://sites.google.com/site/highlevelassembly/downloads/hide

Nathan.

[latte]

You are going to have a l-o-n-g wait on that GRUB-clone.  I'm not saying it is impossible, but it would be extremely unwise to attempt to write a GRUB-clone using HLA.  NASM would be a much better choice.  NASM can generate flat files.  HLA targets specific OSs.  I suppose, with a little hacking, one could coerce a modified HLA to generate a flat file, but I fail to see the advantage.  Also, generating some 16-bit code (every boot-loader requires at least some of it) from HLA is going to be another nightmare.

For a Windows-based text-editor, take a look at the source for HIDE:  http://sites.google.com/site/highlevelassembly/downloads/hide
Nathan.

Hi, thanks for your reply! 
Ok, that sounds fair enough to me - I will definitely defer to your better knowledge of HLA (I'm just getting started with it).  I may have got a bit "carried away" there, given my love of HLA.....  :)   

Although I'm using Linux, I might have a look at HIDE anyway, out of interest. 
Thanks again for your reply - bye for now -
- latte   

[Randall Hyde]

I am currently working on HOWL (see announcements elsewhere).
This makes creating a small text editor (32K limit) quite trivial in HLA.
Check out the HOWL announcement for more details.