Schema 2 and WimpBasic

In early 2004, I was employed to produce 32-bit compatible versions of two Clares applications: Schema 2 and ProArtisan 24. I had to reverse-engineer the C source code for parts that had been lost. I also updated the user interfaces, resolved various incompatibilities with modern OS versions and fixed some longstanding bugs. In late 2005 I did the same for WimpBasic, with the additional complication I had to rewrite the code to link programs with the runtime library.

Those titles have been commercially unavailable since the death of David Holden of ADPL in 2015. As such, they could be reasonably described as abandonware. In addition, being exclusive to RISC OS makes them technologically obsolete with little commercial value.

Updated versions of the Schema 2 and WimpBasic applications (including compiler), linker and runtime library are now available from my web site, http://starfighter.acornarcade.com/mysite/apdl.html
They should be compatible with Beagleboard and other ARMv7-architecture machines but I haven’t actually tested them on anything newer than my Risc PC.

In future I also hope to make ProArtisan24 available from the same page but right now the bugs are too embarrassing. (I spent weeks debugging WimpBasic and I need a break.)

WimpBasic – is that the one that’s BASIC meets OPL? It’s a 404, unfortunately.

ProArtisan… Wow. The last time I used that it was a single tasking program that mucked up the system configuration (as was typical in those days).

The correct URL for the WimpBasic application is http://starfighter.acornarcade.com/mysite/download/wbapp.zip

My congratulations and thanks for updating WimpBasic, Christopher. I enjoyed using it years ago and was disappointed when development stopped. I’m delighted to see it back again.

This sounds fantastic – can you confirm if this fixes the “files get corrupted when saved and won’t reload” issues that occurred with older 32bit versions, as this has prevented two or three people from moving onto native-ARM solutions in the last 12-18 months.

Andrew,

It works Ok now on both my Panda and Iyonix running the latest development builds.

However the !sch2xls and !xls2sch excel convertors do not work, though I can at least get them to load by adding some files from the old version to the updated v1.23 Dec17 one, though the Excel HTML ones do so this may require updates from Anton Reiser.

Many thanks Christopher for upgrading Schema 2.

I have been using it for the the last month and was so impressed that I recently purchased a user’s manual. Unfortunately my edition (1994) does not include the macro manual, apparently that was available free on request from Clares in printed form or as an Impression file. Would anyone have a pdf of the macro manual or one to sell?

Hi Christopher Bazley,

Yesterday I found your link to the Schema2 software. In the past I bought 2 times the Schema2 software. The first time by Clares, David Jackson, the 26 bit version. The second time by ADPL, the 32 bit neutral version. But the last version did not worked on ROOL RISC OS 5.24-5.28 builds. So I tryed your version today and I am delighted that this version works on the ROOL RISC OS 5.28 build. I use a RPi4B with 4G memory. Many thanks for supplying that version for free. I need further testing if all my macros are still working, but I have a good feeling about it. In the past I had also a regularly e-mail contact with David Jackson. He extended the commands with some extra possibility and removed some faults from the software, overlaying bigcells etc.., fatal errors. Are you planning further development of the Schema2 software? I have made some macros that could, maybe, implemented in Schema2 if it benefits from it.

Hi Norman Lawrence,

Are you still looking for the macro manual? I have a paper version of it. I could make a pdf of it if still desired.

I use it a lot too, so your macros could interested me :)

BTW is ProArtisan 24 available from somewhere?

Hi Rammy,
Many thanks for your kind offer for a pdf of the macro manual. Fortunately, I got a copy at the 2018 London RISC OS show, courtsey of Julian Fry. The macro manual is a must have for any serious Schema2 user. My understanding from correspondence with Christopher Bazley is that he 32 bitted Schema2 but did not do any development work. I am interested in your mention of David Jackson’s contribution to Schema2 as I would love to know who wrote the contours macro, I checked with Christopher and he was unaware who wrote it. It would be great if someone continued to develop this great program. I wrote a number of articles on Schema2 for Drag&Drop and was hoping to move onto macros but D&D seems to be recess at the moment.
Best wishes Norman

Hi Norman,

I agree, Schema 2 is a great program. Its needs further development. Who will stand up for further development? The macro manual that ADPL wrote, Introduction to Schema 2 Macros Ltd. 2004, is of very bad quality. If compared with the original, Introduction to Schema2 Macros release 1.0, it contains many many typing errors, especialy in the macro part. Also the new commands that were introduced in version 1.06 are not listed. You may find more information, at http://www.claresmicro.com/schema-2/, of the development work that David did in conjunction with me. I think there is more. If you are interested, than I need to investigate more deeply because it is a long time ago. What is the contoursy macro? I don´t know this macro, so I can´t tell you who wrote that. Do you have any idea of what becomes of David Jackson?

Best wishes Rammy

Hi David Feugey,

What kind of macros do you use and what sort of macros are you interested in? Did you make also macros yourself?

Greatings Rammy.

In fact I use Schema2 for all my work, need some macros to ease my business tasks, but did never really take the time to RTFM on my desk :) A few simple examples would be a good start.

Hi Rammy
The macro is called contoursy and I recall it being part of the download from Christopher’s site. I used it in the last published version of D&D. Happy to send you the info if you want, but basically in the article I solved an engineering heat transfer problem that required a 20by20 grid using circular references in Schema2 and then used the contoursy macro to give a visual indication of the result.

Hi David
You can download simple macro examples from Christopher’s website. In my view if you want to get serious with macros, then the macro book is essential. Happy to help you get going if you want.

I see that Schema2 was developed by CRM Ltd. I assume that Andrew Colin and Robert Hawking provide the first two letters of the name. Does anyone know who the M refers to? What about the history of CRM? Are these people still around or have they left the RISC OS scene completly?

Hi Norman,

I take your offer for sending me more info about the contoursy macro. Always willing to learn more about macro programming. Is there a PrivatMessage mail posibility in the RISC Open forum? I can´t find it on the website?

Hi Rammy
I am not aware of any Private Message facility but if you provide me with an email address, I will send you the information.

Is there a PrivatMessage mail posibility in the RISC Open forum?

There is no Private Message system on this forum :-(

Members tend to post their email address obfuscated here e.g. myname77 at gmail dot com ¹ or find one of the parties email address elsewhere.

¹ after the address has been used it can then be deleted from the forum.

Is there a PrivatMessage mail posibility in the RISC Open forum?

yes no private messages on rool forum, however what about using ChatCube for messaging? also there is still the glorious ##riscos channel on IRC (accessible via freenode.org)

Hopefully in the future ##riscos IRC will be accessible via ChatCube too using the IRC plugin when it’ll be available

what about using ChatCube for messaging?

Good point although, I assume that ChatCube is for messaging only and not for sending zip files?

You can send files with it.

Hi Norman,

Thanks for sending me the mail.

Best wishes Rammy.