Tips
* You can combine Cd with Dir by using Cdd
* You can change the frame rate with SetFPS
* You can toggle scrolling and blinking with ToggleScroll and ToggleBlink
* Turn-off or reboot (<CTRL-ALT-DEL>) at any time, except during disk writes.
Writes are not cached.
* Use Seed() and the cmd line to switch Rand() to non-timer mode and replay
games you like.
* 64-bit values are most efficient for the compiler.
* See Key Map for a list of defined keys. Define your own keys in MyPutKey().
See Keyboard Devices.
* <ALT-m> maximizes a window. <ALT-SHIFT-w> closes AutoComplete. <ALT-w>
brings back AutoComplete. <ALT-v> vertically tiles windows. <ALT-h>
horizontally tiles windows. The ALT keys are defined in ~/HomeKeyPlugIns.HC.
You can customize them.
* If you make changes to TinkerOS files in your /Home directory, generally you
reboot to make them take effect. (You don't compile anything.) You should have
two TinkerOS partitions on your hard drive because a syntax error in a start-up
file will make the partition unbootable. Boot to the second partition or boot
to a standard TinkerOS CD/DVD and use Mount() to mount your hard drive.
* I copy my files to a mirrored ident partition, periodically with CopyTree()
commands in scripts. I do merge commands with a menu entry like this:
Merge(\"C:/*\",\"D:/*\",\"+r+d\"); to check my changes.
* <CTRL-m> at the cmd line to access your PersonalMenu. Place macros there with
<CTRL-l>, or icon-like sprites with <CTRL-r>. Use the Pop-Up option on macros
to Spawn() a task to run a file. It dies when it is finished. This returns mem
to the system. Be sure to press <CTRL-s> to save your macro/menu area after
making changes.
* You can use ans in cmd line expressions. It holds the res the last cmd line
operation. You can use the cmd prompt as a calculator by just entering
expressions like 1+2*3;. F64 ress can be accessed with ansf.
* Use the PullDown menu at the top of the scrn to learn commands, or for finding
the keyboard controls to games.
* You can adjust the mouse movement rate by setting global vars in your start-up
file. See mouse scale.
* You can set your local time zone by setting the local_time_offset global var
in a start-up file. It's units are CDATE_FREQ. See local time.
* <CTRL-SHIFT-L> in the editor to reindent a HolyC function or renumber an asm
routine's local labels.
* You can use filter_lines in the editor text search form (<CTRL-f>) to
temporarily display just lines near each match. A value of filter lines set to
5 will display lines within 5 lines of matches. Then, you can do another find
to a different string and achieve a AND search. When finished, press <ESC>.
* You can recompile and reinstall the kernel with BootHDIns(). You'll probably
want to make a function for recompiling that uses the In() function to answer
the cfg questions. See my technique Cfg Strs, Update Funs.
* Scale2Mem(min,max,limit=2*1024*1024*1024) can be used for cfg questions when
recompiling. The BootHDIns() cfg prompts accept expressions, not just numbers.
The dft disk cache is Scale2Mem(0x80000,0x8000000).
* You can permanently disable AutoComplete commenting-out ACInit() in
~/HomeSys.HC.
* Boolean expressions in if stmts don't have short circuit logic and are
compiled inefficiently.
* You can use progress1-progress4 in your programs for whatever you like.
They're just global vars that are shown on the wallpaper. The original intent
was to indicate how far along operations were. There's no coordination, so
different apps might interfere. I use them most for debugging--just values
easily viewed. See ::/Demo/Progress.HC.
* Use DocMax() to adjust the size of the cmd line buf. It counts CDoc entries,
not lines.
* Many data structures have a user_data member. Those are available for you to
store a data item, for convenience. CTask, CDocEntry and CDirEntry have them.
You shouldn't encounter conflicts with TinkerOS using them.
* If, for some strange reason, you wanted to reduce mem usage, make a smaller
disk cache when you recompile the kernel; disabling AutoComplete; Specify
smaller stk sizes when doing Spawn(), chang MEM_DFT_STK, and using DocMax() to
reduce the cmd line buffer size.
* Filenames ending in ".Z" will be automatically compressed and uncompressed
when read or written. The compression method is not supported by other
operating systems. You can store files uncompressed by Move()ing them to a
filename not ending in ".Z". See ::/Doc/TOSZ.DD if you want to uncompress while
in Linux.
* Merge() can be used to see what's changed. The +d flag will show differences
of files which have changed and allow you to merge code. (The +r flag will
recurse.)
* There is a utility LinkChk() which will check for broken links in
documentation.
* You can use Option(OPTf_WARN_PAREN,ON) to find unnecessary parentheses in
code.
* You can use Option(OPTf_WARN_DUP_TYPES,ON) to find unnecessary local var type
stmts.
* Option(OPTf_ECHO,ON) can be placed in StartOS.HC to echo start-up scripts.
* Use Plain() to edit a plain text file. You'll need this if your file has $'s.
Use the ToDolDoc() utility to convert plain text to DolDoc's by doubling $'s.
* Use Silent() to disable scrn text output.
* Grab-scroll any window at any time with {CTRL-LEFT-MOUSE-DRAG}. Null
grab-scrolling with {CTRL-RIGHT-MOUSE}.
* Use <CTRL-ALT-z> to zoom-in and <CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-Z> to zoom-out. You can
scroll by moving to the edge of the window. Set gr.continuous_scroll to TRUE if
you want.
* Use <CTRL-ALT-g> and <CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-G> to display a grid on the scrn.
* Use <CTRL-ALT-a> to enter an extended ASCII char.
* Use <CTRL-ALT-f> to toggle between Std Font and Cyrillic Font.
* Use <CTRL-ALT-s> will capture the scrn as a sprite on the clip. You can save
the cmd line doc as text with <CTRL-a>.
* You can save a sprite as a .GR file in <CTRL-r> on the Sprite BitMap Menu.
* You can eye-dropper colors in the <CTRL-r> sprite editor by pressing 'c'.
Press 't' for transparent.
* There are handy functions--F(),R(),FD() and RD() which are defined in
~/HomeWrappers.HC. You are encouraged to change them and add more. They will
perform find-and-replace operations accross multiple files. The +l flag is
particularly useful since it limits to whole labels. The +lb and +la flags
limit to whole labels just before or after. You are encouraged to add or modify
handy wrapper functions to make cmd line operations easier.
* When using Find() while modifying code, work from the bottom-up so that line
numbers are correct. If you work top-down, then inserting or deleting lines
causes the lower file links will be incorrect.
* You can save files after making changes, anytime you are within the editor,
like when viewing help/macro files. <CTRL-a> saves as, <CTRL-s> saves with the
same name in the scrolling title bar. Hitting <ESC> will exit and save. (<SHIF
T-ESC> will abort). You can save the cmd line window to a file, too, since
you're actually in the editor when you're at the cmd line.
* When using <CTRL-l> to insert links in documents, you can usually leave the Ta
g Text blank and it will be filled-in automatically based on other entries.
* There is a feature of the precompiler that allows code to be executed in the
middle of compilation and data inserted into the compilation stream. Click here
for an example: #exe {.
* If you output to the cmd line and wish to allow users to scroll around and
view data, you can use View().
* Use View() in Pop-up macros to linger until the user presses <ESC> or <SHIFT-E
SC>.
* You can access the word under the cursor at ac.cur_word.
* You can reactivate AutoComplete after closing it by pressing <CTRL-Fun Key> or
<ALT-w> if you have it defined.
* <CTRL-SHIFT-T> to toggle to/from plain text just the CDoc cmd under the
cursor. See ::/Demo/DolDoc/TextDemo.HC.
* If you toggle to plain text when you are working with graphics in a document,
you can add duplicate entries for sprites by entering a $SP...$ cmd with the
same num.
* If you toggle to plain text when working with graphics, you can add a str to
the $SP...$ entry to keep track of it. Try $SP,"<2>",BI=2$ where '2' is the
sprite num.
* I use spaces-to-tab operations on all my src files to keep them small. You
have to be careful, though, because spaces in strings will be converted. I use
<SHIFT-SPACE> ' ' in such cases. See S2T() for spaces-to-tabs.
* You can edit an existing sprite by putting the cursor on it and pressing <CTRL
-r>.
* When editing a sprite, you can cut and paste the elements in the sidebar text
list window.
* I recommend keeping CSprite in vect format until you are done creating them,
so you can edit the ctrl points. Then, convert them to bitmaps, so the flood
fills work well. If you are doing interpolation, however, they must be vect.
* GrFloodFill() is slow. GrRect() is fast.
* You can customize the wallpaper. See ::/Demo/Graphics/WallPaperFish.HC.
* Your RAM disks will not be reformated when you reboot if the memory location
has not changed and it finds the disk intacted.
* try{} catch{} in a function will cause all vars to be non-reg.
* Using a sub-int array, i.u8[3], for example, will force a local var to
non-reg.
* You can delete the ~/Registry.HC.Z file. The policy is that deleting it will
restore defaults. It is a text doc, if you want to edit it. Be careful of tree
indentations.
* Study ::/Adam/Opt/Utils/MemRep.HC and WallPaper() to learn how the system
resources are put together.
* The editor's sel-text mechanism allows for disjoint portions of sel text.
This is a feature, not a bug -- you can cut-and-paste disjoint text.
* cnts.time_stamp_freq is continuously calibrated. Be careful because
expressions might decrease. Take a snap-shot, like this: timeout=GetTSC+
cnts.time_stamp_freq x seconds; and compare against GetTSC(). I recommend just
using tS or cnts.jiffies.
* Use HeapLog(), HeapLogAddrRep() and HeapLogSizeRep() to find leaks. Don't be
confused by CDoc allocations. Those are generated when text is written to the
cmd line buffer.
* For advanced heap debugging, play with _CFG_HEAP_DBG. You're on your own.
* You can use Type() to display .GR files.
* Use Man() to jump to short sym name src code.
* Use Fix() to edit and fix the last compiler err.
* You can use <CTRL-SHIFT-L> to do a check for compile errors.
* You can use DocOpt() to optimize links. (Mostly just removes .Z)
* ZipRep() can highlight src files with lots of redundancy.
* With start/end, common trailing code is fast. Common leading code is slow.
* The first line of the Psalmody HolyC song files is a comment with a category
recognized by JukeBox(). The categories are "no nothing", "has words", "has
graphics", or "special". The third character in the song comment is a digit
rating number, shown in JukeBox(). You can set the song rating in JukeBox() by
pressing 0-9. You can press <DEL> to delete songs.
* "Linux" is a trademark owned by Linus Torvalds.