Documentation: new and improved helpview.

Helpview. v2.0.3's fast and easy help system just got a bit more helpful with a new search feature & glossary.

The search feature is accessed by entering keywords (separated by spaces) into the search box in the hud, then clicking the "search" button.

Helpview will search its pages and present a list of matching pages, and the number of matches on each.

But what about the glossary? well, you can read through it like a normal page, but you will probably find the integrated glossary results included in the search feature to be much more helpful.

Utilities - New Development aids: GUIasm & memory map views

GUIasm

For the longest time, the only way to run the assembler was by typing in a string of commands into a terminal.

Now when you open tasm files in fileview2 and fileman in run mode, GUIasm will open up and easily allow for repeat assembling with a mouse click, an automatically opening a log of assembler output upon errors. It can also be run from codeview as well.

Codeview enhancement: memory view.

When Opening troms and .dmp memory and iobus dumps in codeview, users will see a handy new memory view.

This view can be scrolled independently from the main view with w & s (or e & d for faster scrolling), or by scrolling over it with the mouse wheel. It even highlights faulty trits in red for easily knowing when somethings not quite right.

SBTGA: SBTCVM's graphics adapter.

It happened.

SBTGA mode G0, 114x81 @ 3-trit RGB, (27 colors)

SBTCVM, for the longest time, has had no framebuffered displays. and while the 9x9 and 27x27 plotters have proved functional, the time has come.

SBTGA currently has a standby mode (default), and Graphics Mode 0 (G0, shown). While its indeed colorful, SBTGA has more features planned: such as formatted text modes, and a new, high-resolution plotter mode to replace the old 9x9 and 27x27 plotters that have proven quite useful.

Under the hood, SBTGA is SBTCVM's first complex IObus device, (unless you consider a basic psudo-random number generator or scratch memory, complex)

it works via a pointer address that points to a portion of Memory Bank A (the first memory bank), that tells SBTGA where its DMA-based framebuffer is. 

Naturally this lets programs have precomputed framebuffer memory ranges.In fact, this is the first job of the new MK2-GAT.py utility (GAT meaning Graphics Adapter Toolkit): To convert 114x81 binary images, to SBTGA Mode G0 framebuffer maps.

And while for the moment, SBTGA lacks even sprites, Its a definite start to a new chapter in SBTCVM's development.

The SBTCVM Desktop

SBTCVM's central launcher and its recently added "mini tools" are now much more:

Presenting a new and upcoming part of the SBTCVM suite: The SBTCVM desktop.

Featuring a multi-windowing enviornment, with resizable windows, additional applications as plugins, and powerful builtin utilities, along with integration with SBTCVM's powerful backend. Best part is, like the rest of the SBTCVM suite, its OS-agnostic, and very portable, and powered by python and pygame.



Builtin applications (often called SDAs, or SBTCVM Desktop Applications, for short) include:

• Shell, a shell interface used to create a veriety of CLI interfaces, such as a System Shell (center) and a math shell (right)
• taskman, manages the various tasks that are running. (top left)
• fileman (not shown) a compact variant of the larger fileview.
• and more on the way.

The Plugin system also provides some applications as SDAPs (SBTCVM Desktop Application Plugin)

• The Math shell mentioned before is implemented as an SDAP, it features the same math functions as the command shell.
• Scribble started as a mouse coordinate test and grew into a simplistic paint program (keyword: simplistic).
• the scrolling credits shown is a port of the same code used in the credits window accessible via the VM's file menu.
• as with the builtin SDAs, more SDAPs are in the works.

As mentioned in the recent, "new system of things" post, Themes are supported, and several are provided, along with various backgrounds.

new system of things - how v2.0.3 is shaping up...

The VM

First and foremost, The VM has been redesigned, like the rest of v2.0.3, it features standardized UI elements, with support for themes...

notable enhancements are the new, mouse-ready menus at the top, and the enhanced post-VMSYSHALT mode, that tries to be more helpful than waiting for the user to press enter...

Launcher & the new mini-tools.

SBTCVM v2.0.3's launcher is a far cry from v2.0.2's it features a multi-window environment of smaller tools,
such as Scribble: a sketch tool that started as a test for mouse coordinates, and even SBTCVM's scrolling credits.

Like Several of v2.0.3's utilities, launcher has also been redesigned around a resizable UI, meaning you can resize the window as you wish. Other utilities with this feature include, helpview, imageview, & codeview/textview.






SBTCVM now has support for themes, and in select utilities, different backgrounds changeable on-the-fly.

SBTCVM's new dark theme, for those who prefer darker UIs...

Help!

SBTCVM now has a unified help system. called helpview, this nifty program offers quite a bit of it.

Fileview

The new Fileview program is far more useful than its v2.0.2 predecessor, featuring a redesigned UI, right-click menus, and even single, and dual pane view modes.

In Conclusion.

SBTCVM's other utilities, including the new calculator, all have been enhanced to match the new UI style, complete with drop-down menus, and theme support.

The release schedule for v2.0.3 is "when its done", but you are quite welcome to try out the latest code over on GitHub.  That aside, v2.0.3 already makes huge leaps in unifying SBTCVM's suite of utilities, as well as vastly improving the User interface side of things...

Stay tuned for more updates on SBTCVM v2.0.3!

Utilities - calc

Overview

SBTCVM does have a command shell with mathematics functions, and a powerful integer mathematics backend, but for the longest time it hasn't included a graphical calculator. until now.

Presenting SBTCVM's newest utility: calc.py

It provides common operations like invert, mpi, mcv, the usual arithmetic operations like add, and some copy and swap operations, including the ability to either manually, or automatically copy the result to either or even both inputs.  It even features simultaneous decimal, and balanced ternary representation, with ability to enter and edit inputs in either form, with conversions handled automatically.

Dev.to article - calculating fibonacci in balanced ternary

https://dev.to/thomasthespacefox/calculating-fibonacci-in-balanced-ternary

Developers Notes - Challenges in development

Developers Notes: A series of thoughts on SBTCVM's development.

Overview:
SBTCVM. Simple Balanced Ternary Computer Virtual Machine.

Its definitely not a simple project... while most VMs and emulators are based on existing hardware, SBTCVM isn't... its not even based on the same computer logic paradigm as the computers it runs on...

As you might guess, this poses many challenges in both developing the code, and also research into the obscure world of Balanced Ternary computers in general...

Those 3 simple values... Positive, Ground, and Negative... have a certain elegance to them...  and that basic idea of 3 balanced states is represented in SBTCVM's mascot:

The three ears and three eyes are more than a design choice, they symbolize the key difference balanced ternary has with binary. a balanced base three, instead of an unbalanced base two...

Deep meanings aside, it is definitely striking isn't it?


Balanced Ternary Is quite Obscure...  The SBTCVM dev team could just reverse engineer one of the many balanced ternary microprocessors right? no... Yes, I'm being sarcastic, Balanced Ternary is quite an obscure little base number, though it is at least, one with some solid footing... strewn through the history of computing, are various stories on people taking the plunge into the peculiar base number... From the Russian Setun computer, to Thomas Fowler's ternary calculating machine, to even modern-day projects, like balanced ternary adders, multiplexers, and of course, the SBTCVM project.

In the end, SBTCVM is less a new paradigm, and more, part of a rebirth of one.

So what Attracts people to balanced ternary? some say its boredom with binary, others say it is its simple elegant concepts, and others seem to have different reasons altogether...


SBTCVM:  Changing computing; 3 trits at a time.

utilities - helpview

Background:

SBTCVM v2.0.2 has a rather patchy help system. the context help is plain text, and the tutorials were based on a modified point and click game engine.

The new system:

Like the old tutorial system, the new helpview system has multiple pages, and is XML based. key difference: helpview handles all the formatting details, and is resizable, and has a streamlined codebase and xml syntax, and is now fully integrated with the context help of the latest code.

and as you can see in the screenshots, its User interface adjusts to the size of the window.

It handles multi-line text, page links, and even images.

v2.0.2 stable is here!

SBTCVM Mark 2 v2.0.2 stable is now available for download!
after much work and development, its finally here. With a wide variety of additions over previous versions, SBTCVM mark 2 is looking good.


https://github.com/SBTCVM/SBTCVM-Mark-2/releases/tag/v2.0.2
Download: Zip Tar.gz

V2.0.2 beta 0 is ready for testing!

SBTCVM has come a long way, and now v2.0.2 is nearly ready!

if you wish to help with testing, you can find the beta here:
https://github.com/SBTCVM/SBTCVM-Mark-2/releases

please report any bugs you find on github.

Utilities - Settings

Some Background.

When the original prototype was far from easy to use. You had to literally edit the config file just to run a different program.

and for the longest time, that python-based config system remained... until now.

The new system

libvmconf is the new library that controls SBTCVM's new XML-based configuration system. like the old system, it also has a user-specific settings file, and a default settings file, but the key difference is the new system, copies this default configuration only when the user configuration is initalized, or reset.

Now, you don't need to know python, or XML for that matter, to edit the configuration...

settings.py

settings.py is SBTCVM's latest graphical utility. It provides a convenient way to change the configuration, without needing knowledge of what strange variable names mean, or how to set them.

This new settings system is one of many changes implemented for Mark 2 v2.0.2, and more changes are likely.

Steady changes... On the road to v2.0.2

Overview

You Might have noticed the rapid codebase changes as of late...
well... part of these changes is updating the version numbers to 2.0.2.

Now... This doesn't mean that v2.0.2 is right around the corner...

However SBTCVM now has many new utilities... many of them have a GUI even.

such as Fileview.  

fileview.py

With filtering, the option to run or view troms and stregs, and a friendly, graphical UI, Fileview, combined with its many companion viewer utilities, is sure to be a staple program in the SBTCVM project.








and one level above Fileview is launcher

launcher.py

Although this does look quite similar to the launcher.py shown in a previous post, its not even close.

The rather bloated, point-and-click-game-engine-based, code was re-written from scratch as a dedicated program. As such, it is much faster and more efficient.






SBTCVM's original main menu has also been given some work, Now launching stregs in the same way as launcher and fileview: as separate processes altogether.

MK2-MENU.py

the background has been given a new gradient look. (the pause menu also got a similar treatment) also, menu options have been added for launcher, fileview, and the tutorial.

also, A change in SBTCVM's VM UI is also visible, SBTCVM's three-eyed and three-eared feline mascot is visible between the two portions of the status area...