HForm BASIC code

I was taking a look at the source code to HForm (it’s giving me some headaches trying to correctly format large SDcards). It’s BASIC, but the source code has clearly been obfuscated.

Is this a left-over from days of yore, or is someone maintaining the code and ‘compressing it’ before release? Just wanted to check before I reverse engineer the code.

Uncrunched BASIC can be found in CVS at castle/RiscOS/Sources/Utilities/HForm/bas/!RunImage

Thanks David; I clearly must get around to taking a copy of the CVS and exploring it.

is someone maintaining the code

It would be nice if said someone could be make it a little more user friendly, Titchy text on white background is hard to see and the first prompt would have most users thinking “there are two options beginning with S so which one do I press S for and which one is M”

or am I alone in thinking that?

thanks!

Chris: There is a bounty covering this:

From: https://www.riscosopen.org/bounty/polls/10

Filing system improvements (step 2)
…
Technical details
…
In addition, the ageing HForm application will need rewriting to cope with being able to lay down partitions, or at least respect any partitioning scheme it finds before writing the FileCore formatted area. A desktop front end using the standard Toolbox may be used to present the information more clearly than its current command line form, though a scriptable interface would be beneficial – particularly so that 3rd party filing systems can make use of its facilities without needing to replicate the functionality.
…
Deliverables
…
Replacement HForm utility
…

I clearly must get around to taking a copy of the CVS and exploring it.

The simplest solution is to download the source tarball for the DiscDev build. You will also need UnTarBZ2 to decompress the archive on RISC OS. This is by no means all of the stuff in CVS (not even close) but it’s a good selection of things and it’s the source code not the CVS repository so you can just look at BASIC files in an editor as normal.

You will also need UnTarBZ2 to decompress the archive on RISC OS.

That is Colin’s improved version, isn’t it?

That is Colin’s improved version, isn’t it?

You tell me. :)

Yes. ROOL does do QA surely?

Yes. ROOL does do QA surely?

Two pass:
Pass 1. Tested by in house personnel
Pass 2. Tested by beta testers.

On completion of pass 2 item is added to products on sale.

ROOL does do QA surely?

There’s a big difference between a) giving something a test run after it’s submitted to ROOL, one of the many, many things hitting us every day, and popping it up on our site and b) remembering every little detail about everything we’ve published vs every other bit of software that’s out there when someone says “is your thing X the same as this other thing Y I found somewhere?”.

If I spent the amount of time required to investigate every question, then not only would I not have time for a day job or a family, I wouldn’t have time to sleep and I’d need a few clones of myself. This is why I tend to leave most questions to the community, if I feel the community is capable of handling them itself. :)

If I spent the amount of time required to investigate every question

There was a reason I said what I said. :)
Actually it expands to many, but the base answer is “are you sure you asked the right question?”

“A desktop front end using the standard Toolbox may be used”

You might suggest that, but it should not preclude other options. ;-)

I revisted the HForm code. IMHO is is horrible, in whichever form, and will take quite bit of effort to make it into a desktop application. I also think it has to done by someone who knows just what is being done to format the discs.

I wonder if HForm runs as a non-desktop application as a simple way to ensure exclusive access to the drive in question.

I’d like to see a GUI too, but how would one ensure exclusive access?

I’d like to see a GUI too, but how would one ensure exclusive access?

Since it’s RISC OS, I’m guessing you can pop an hourglass and just stop polling whilst doing the exclusive access part. That way nothing else can interfere?

I think¹ that is what the Simtec formatter did. A nice GUI program, but single-tasked the mission critical part.

¹ Eighteen year old memory, may be wrong.