Zap on a Pi 400

I’ve had a report on my blog that Zap doesn’t work on a Pi 400. Unfortunately, it’s light on details so I don’t know which version of Zap and what doesn’t work amounts to, so I thought I’d ask – does anybody have experience of Zap on a Pi 400? Does it work? Does it fail?

Thanks in advance.

I’ve had a report on my blog that Zap doesn’t work on a Pi 400. Unfortunately, it’s light on details

Zap 1.49 (13 Jun 2020) rick-07 starts up on the RPi400, RISC OS 5.29 (13 Feb 2021), and looks OK as lightly tested. (I use StrongED, but Zap only occasionally.)

I tried it just now on my Pi 400, using the latest RISC OS Direct (i.e. Zap 1.49 on the 400 patched version of RISC OS 5.28) and it seems to work. I haven’t tested it rigourously, but it could open, modify and save files just fine.

light on details

Users, eh?

Thanks everybody.

He got it from Store, so I do wonder if he got Zap instead of Zap Ultimate.

I do wonder if he got Zap instead of Zap Ultimate.

I lost track I think, but wasn’t a small group discussing a major overhaul of Zap?

If so, might I suggest that the new version has a name of “Zap2” ?

ZappEd

I lost track I think, but wasn’t a small group discussing a major overhaul of Zap?

If they are, do we know who?

I’m currently working out who needs to be contacted with respect to the source code; if there’s anyone else working on it as well, it might not help us to reach a smooth conclusion.

If so, might I suggest that the new version has a name of “Zap2” ?

Continuing on from the existing release numbering scheme seems more sensible, but having an “official” source for updates. It should be noted that we’re a very long way away from that happening, though.

I’m currently working out who needs to be contacted with respect to the source code;

This may help.

I upgraded to Zap ultimate from the Store as my previous version was very unstable on RO 5.28

I have 1.49 (13 Jun2020) rick-07.

The main bug I found is that triple click used to select the whole current line and this is broken. Its not driven me entirely nuts yet but its on the way. Been meaning to ask about that in another thread but here seems a good place now.

Alan

The main bug I found is that triple click used to select the whole current line and this is broken

Yes, that has been mentioned before in other threads, and it’s not a Pi4(00) specific issue as I get it on ARMX6 too.

I am wondering how we can address this?
Rick, is the source somewhere public?
Alan

https://heyrick.eu/random/zapsrc20200620.zip

Unfortunately Zap is a good example of poorly orginized Assembly source.

Is it poor organisation, or is it simply organic growth?

To give an example, the insides of Manga are modular, but the flow is messy and there is rubbish like two entirely different fetchers (used to be three!). That’s not because of bad organisation, it’s because what Manga is now is a lot different to what it was planned as being in the beginning (it does a lot more).

Really it needs a rewrite (the benefit of hindsight!), but time…

Also where is the current Zap_Ultimate hosted?

!Store

Rick: Are you the current maintainer?

Yes, no, maybe.

Zap didn’t work on my ARMv7 Pi2. I hacked at it until it did. Along the way, people smarter than me figured out other stuff that was going wrong and sent me details of what to change, which got done.
I wouldn’t call myself a maintainer, exactly, but I did put together a full distribution because it was tedious to get a base version of Zap from here, then updates from there, then somebody else’s update, then my update. Better to point people at one thing – here, this is the latest 32 bit version, hit download…

I got it stuck on Store too, because it’s a central resource. Better for newbies to have things together rather than scattered around disparate websites.

Is it poor organisation, or is it simply organic growth?

Disorganised growth.
Without a defined structure for growth, that is adhered to, any chance of a clear organisation of the elements is, just that: Chance.

Edit: That is one cause of me not doing certain things – I need a plan in mind before start active work. Sometimes people achieve something because they didn’t spend time planning. Pro’s and Cons.

1. Prototype, 2. prove the concept. 3.DESTROY. 4. Start again.
Without 3. you get what used to be called Topsy. (it just grew)

Without 3. management see it, declare it good to go, and Sales flog it.

Without 3. management see it, declare it good to go, and Sales flog it.

Too late, they already started the marketing when you did the proof of concept and got a success. Frequently best to ensure management feel uneasy approaching your area of work.

Yes, no, maybe.

For those who aren’t aware, I contacted James Aylett last month to enquire about the situation, and received a very helpful response – although it did confirm what I (and Sprow) already expected.

I haven’t had chance to contact any of those from here who got in touch as a result of that thread to offer help. Apologies for this, but I simply haven’t had the time (I think this could be why Sprow noted that a non-programmer could have done everything that I’ve done so far back in 2016). I have, however, been pondering the next move – or, more accurately, precisely what needs to be in the email.

This really is an area where having multiple “teams” working in isolation could be a problem, so if anyone else (aside from those who have already been in contact) thinks that they’re a “current Zap maintainer”, I really would appreciate them getting in touch.