Here in Pennsylvania, late summer is turning to quickly to fall, and
only slightly behind schedule (but with more features than originally
promised), version 1.0 of the IZL interpreter is ripe for release.
With beta testing coming to completion, and with the finishing touches
being applied to the user's manual, I thought I'd post a status report
regarding the features in 1.0, along with some pricing information.
For those of you unfamiliar with the history of IZL, I released a FREEWARE
version of this interpreted language for Zoomer/GEOS platforms in late July,
with a promise to release version 1.0 in late summer. (Almost made it !)
Its been a busy summer, and listed below is a bullet list of the features
and improvements that have been made to the product since its original
FREEWARE release:
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Added array capability.
Added file I/O via extension of GET/PUT statements, and creation
of new OPEN/CLOSE statements.
Creation of SEEKSTART, SEEK_END, and SEEK_HERE statements, for
random access file I/O.
Added BYTESREAD global variable accessible from IZL functions, to
indicate the number of bytes read from a file.
Added ability for functions to call functions.
Enhanced to allow DISPLAY, POSITION and VARIABLE
definition statements to take expressions as arguments.
In fact, anywhere that a numeric or quoted string literal can
be used, an algebraic expression is also valid.
The user interface has been overhauled in such a way that IZL
interpreter commands are invoked from a menu. This overhaul also means
that the problems the RUN, STOP, and TRACE button running off of the
bottom of the display in the FREEWARE version are now history.
Added a new object, "menu_item", so that IZL programs can have
functions invoked by a entries in a "pop-down" menu, not just buttons.
Added the INVOKES keyword for buttons and menu_items to name the
function that they will invoke.
Added INVOKER pre-defined variable in functions to allow
functions to detect which button or menu_item caused them to run.
Added FRAME objects to contain (be the parent of) other objects.
Changed the object definition statement syntax (button, label, text, and value)
to optionally specify the parent object (typically a FRAME) that will be the
parent of the defined object.
Added a number of statements that instruct FRAME objects how to layout or
organize their children: (HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, CENTERing, etc...)
Added CHAR_SIZE and PIXEL_SIZE keywords to control the size of objects as
they are defined.
Enhanced status display to be in a movable window, and contain 2 lines when
debug mode is enabled, and error messages are now printed instead of numbers.
Added ability to run a function named "startup" before any button or menu_item
is selected. This will be typically used for array initialization.
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Like I said, it's been a busy summer. We are now in the process of completing
beta testing, finishing the user's manual, and preparing for the production
and shipping process. Although we're not quite ready to take orders, pricing
information is given below:
Version 1.0 of the IZL interpreter, with all of the features mentioned above,
plus the ability to interpret IZL programs written for the FREEWARE version of
the language, will sell for $45.00, plus $3.00 for shipping and handling.
Pennsylvania residents will have to add 6% sales tax.
If you know that you will be purchasing IZL version 1.0, you could drop us an
E-mail message with your name and postal address, so that we could expedite
your order (pre-print mailing labels and such). In this way after we announce
the product's official release, and we receive your check or money order,
we'll simply drop the 3.5" disk and manual in the mail immediately, in order
to minimize turnaround time.
As always, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated,
John Feras
jferas@netaxs.com