norecess | The Amstrad CPC news portal

QuickCMD v1.0

Amstrad CPC, Development, Utility No Responses »

Jun 222011

Norecess released another handy utility which makes your work with the CPC easier. It is a command line shell, which helps you to start your programs faster, speeds up the screen output, autocompletion and much, much more. It is possible to put QuickCMD into a ROM, into your HxC floppy emulator or just run it from disk. You can download it from Norecess’ homepage.

And this is the complete feature list:

a really fast text output (really appreciated for discs containing lots of files)
no need to type RUN" prefix anymore, simply typing a filename is required to execute a file
faster approach to execute a file : even if the pattern Shift+Arrows + copy/paste a filename + Control+LeftArrow + Control+Enter is handy to fast-launch files after a CAT command, I found myself more efficient to uniquely deal with program’s filename
autocompletion : just type F then I letters then TAB key; if FILENAME.BIN exists on disc then it will be automatically completed!
fully compatible with the system : you can launch BASIC as BINARY files the same way, you can quit to BASIC then getting back to QuickCMD, DIR command also supports Cat’Art, etc.
extensible command system : instead of type a filename to launch, you can also specify a Resident System eXtension (RSX)! By example, to launch HxC Floppy Emulator Manager, instead of getting back to BASIC and type |HXC, you just have to enter HXC as any other command. Parameters are also supported, so by example you can use default REN command or Arnor UTOPIA’s COPY commands!
respect the system: if an external command use the classic char output routine (&BB5A), then its output will be merged to QuickCMD’s user interface. This is possible thanks to usage of hardware scrolling provided by the system.
handy shortcuts: pressing two times TAB key acts as a DIR, ESC two times acts as a quick exit to BASIC, etc.
history management! It’s working like MSDOS’s DOSKEY does (use up/down keys)
auto-launch. When QuickCMD is installed on your system, it will get launched automatically after all other ROMs will get properly initialized
not intruisive: credits are voluntary kept hidden behind ABOUT command; the aim is to provide a neutral program, not a front-end for personal advertising or whatever
clean, efficient and simple Z80 implementation using a mix of C and assembly programming language

SDCC2Pasmo v1.4

Amstrad CPC, Development No Responses »

May 282011

Norecess released an update to his nice utility which makes it possible to use the Pasmo assembler instead of the in SDCC included ASZ80 assembler. This allows you to use a more familiar (Maxam style) assembly syntax. You can download it from Norecess’ homepage.

Changes:

bugfixes for IX/IY register handling

State of the Amstrad CPC community in 2011

Amstrad CPC, Common No Responses »

Feb 132011

Some weeks ago, Norecess asked for informations about the state of the german CPC scene and I tried to gave him a brief overview about who is active and still using his CPC here in germany. He also asked Arnoldemu (Kevin Thacker) about the UK scene and Optimus about the greek scene and wrote about the canadian and french CPC scene, too. Well, you can now have a look at the result on his website :-).
P.S.: If I missed to mention you or just gave the wrong information –> hit the contact button and blame me for that ;-)!

SDCC2Pasmo v1.0

Amstrad CPC, Development No Responses »

Jan 132011

After his tutorials on how to use SDCC with the Amstrad CPC, Norecess released a nice utility which makes it possible to use the Pasmo assembler instead of the in SDCC included ASZ80 assembler. This allows you to use a more familiar (Maxam style) assembly syntax. You can download it from Norecess’ homepage.

[UPDATE]
Version v1.1 was released and fixes bugs with IX/IY registers and adds _multiply and _abs at the end of the source.

[UPDATE]
Version v1.2 fixes another minor issues with IX/IY registers, adds better support for #< and #> and adds only needed C lib code to the end of the file.

SDCC tutorial for the Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC, Development 1 Response »

Jan 102011

Norecess, who has just launched his new website, is writing a tutorial on how to use the SDCC compiler with the Amstrad CPC. You can use the links below to get directly to Norecess’ article. I will update the links when he releases a new tutorial.

Older Entries Newer Entries