Re: 1000 Silly Things English French ProDOS

[Toinet <antoine.vignau@laposte.net>]

On 29 mai, 04:44, "Bill Buckels" <bbuck...@mts.net> wrote:
> Download Program
>
> http://www.clipshop.ca/DiskImages/1000SillyThingsP8.zip
>
> Download PDF
>
> http://www.clipshop.ca/DiskImages/1000SillyThingsP8.pdf
>
> User's Manual Complete with screenshots
>
> I am very please to announce the release of 1000 Silly Things for Apple
> ProDOS 8 written in Aztec C. This may not be the final release because Mr. T
> will need to verify that the FRENCH translation is done properly. You will
> likely note that this has been rebranded and is no longer attached to one
> kid. This has not improved the program but makes it more fit to share. The
> bilingual features are the improvement and T claims that the ProDOS version
> runs quicker and I fear he is right. The run-length graphics really seem to
> load quickly. Amazing!
>
> I will also be trying to squeeze a French Language User's Manual from Mr. T
> but he has young kids and I promnise to be gentle and provide him with a
> French Draft for him to edit if he concedes to this at all. In the meantime
> enjoy the program. You too T! I hadn't planned on getting this up for
> download so quickly but as the other T on the Sopranos says (unquote) "Just
> when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!"
>
> Some Brief Notes Follow for your spell checker. Despite the fact that I got
> off my butt and finally documented this in detail:
>
> 1000 Silly Things
> 1000 caricatures farfelues
> ProDOS Version 2.0
> By Bill Buckels May 2008
>
> Program Description
>
> Children's Play Activity
>
> "1000 Silly Things" is a bilingual play activity for children from 1-100. It
> runs in either English or French and language can be changed "on the fly"
> during game play.
>
> This program is based on "The Mixed-Up Toy game" from Broderbund's PlayRoom
> program. "Three different sections of the body--the head, torso, and legs
> spin around and its up to the kids to change the body parts to match the
> cartoon characters..."
>
> It also offers a BSAVE option to save the Silly Things.
>
> From the 10 cartoon characters 1000 combinations are possible.
>
> Graphics Demo
>
> From the programming side, this is an Aztec C demo program to show how run
> length encoded image fragments can be used to save disk space and increase
> file load speed since the disk files are smaller and load more quickly than
> a raw file, despite the extra time required to decode the file onto the
> screen.
>
> Origin of the Graphics
>
> The graphics images were captured from the 1989 MS-DOS CGA 4 color version
> of The PlayRoom then saved to BSaved IBM images using my ClipShop program.
> Following that they were subsequently chopped into the required pieces using
> a modified version of my Fraggle utility, I then modified my FragRAG utility
> to provide a run length encoded version of my RAG format that I call the RAX
> format. This format is the same as the RAG format (which is an Apple II
> HIRES native mode format) with the exception  that the graphics image data
> following the width and height header is encoded as one chunk using the
> ZSoft PCX encoding algorithm (which is relatively decent and unpacks
> quickly).
>
> History
>
> This program has a little history attached to it as well. Around 1990 when
> my son was just a little guy I would give him Apple II programs to take to
> school.
>
> My kids had The Playroom on their IBM-PC. A ComputerLand Salesman had given
> me an Okey-Dokey Licenced Copy as a gift at one point. I was purchasing a
> fair amount of software like compilers around that time.
>
> So I got busy and created "Billy's Silly Things" since like me my son's name
> is Bill. I did so similarly to what I have done here and wrote it in Aztec C
> for DOS 3.3, and then finally (again) for ProDOS 8.  I long ago lost the
> original code, and the program.
>
> But with the resurrection of my Aztec C compiler I decided that it would be
> nice to recreate this program for a graphics demo, and of course for any
> kids that you might be kicking around.
>
> I first created an Apple II DOS 3.3 Version which is functionally identical
> to this one. However I was asked to provide a ProDOS version so with a few
> changes I did the ProDOS version as well. Both versions behave the same way
> but the ProDOS version has some characteristics of its own.
>
> While creating the French Version, "Billy's Silly Things" became "1000 Silly
> Things". This happened for several reasons.
>
> From the production side of things I did not want to complicate the
> programming by asking the child (user) to enter their name to personalize
> the program, and I did not want the program to become rebranded and
> redistributed with the last user's name.
>
> I could also see that young children might be stuck with someone else's name
> simply because it was too complicated to enter their own name or worse yet
> they or someone else could enter "garbage" or "bad words".
>
> At the same time, a boy's name is not gender inclusive, and my son's name is
> not even culturally recognizable in most of the world even though English or
> French may be understood.
>
> The third thing that I did not want was to make the child feel that the
> program is for someone else (Billy) besides themselves, like an older
> brother called "Billy" or worse yet, a school-yard bully called "Billy".
> Even worse yet could be a bad "Uncle Billy" or a bad priest called "Father
> Billy".
>
> Well you get the point I am sure, so with some reluctance but a realization
> that my son is no longer a "little guy" and we still have our memories of
> our history together, and given my other reasons, I changed "Billy's Silly
> Things"  to "1000 Silly Things".
>
> I am sure that both you and Bill can understand why.
>
> Program Details
>
> Silly Things runs in standard Apple II HIRES 290 x 192 x 6 colour Mixed 40
> column Text and Graphics Mode.
>
> It is not necessary for your child to read in order to use Silly Things. The
> Menu Commands are very straight forward.
>
> Note also that Silly Things remembers the last language used and will
> start-up the next time using that language. English and French are toggled
> during game play by pressing the 'E' or the 'F' key respectively
>
> Getting Started
>
> Commands and Navigation
>
> The arrow keys and number keys 1,2,3 are used interchangeably toggle the
> next Silly body part.
>
> 1 or T or [UPARROW] - Get Next Silly Top
> 2 or M or [LEFTARROW] or [RIGHTARROW] - Get Next Silly Middle
> 3 or B or [DOWNARROW] - Get Next Silly Bottom
>
> [RETURN] or [SPACEBAR] - toggle between full-screen mode and mixed-screen
> mode (displays the menu at the bottom of the screen).
>
> F - Run program in French. 1000 caricatures farfelues.
> E or A - Run program in English (Anglais). 1000 Silly Things.
> S or C - Save Silly Thing
>
> [ESC] - Exit
>
> A mouse is not used.
>
> Saving
>
> Silly Things are saved using an automatic naming based on the three body
> parts. If the head is from a ROBOT and the middle is from an ELEPHANT and
> the bottom is from  a DRAGON, the resulting BSaved image file will be called
> ROBOTELEPHDRAGO (5 characters from each Silly Thing's Name).
>
> During saving you will be given the opportunity to put a Data Disk into the
> drive and then you will be prompted to press [SPACEBAR] to save. The
> [RETURN] key and the [SPACEBAR] can be used interchangeably just as they are
> during game play.
>
> See the section below on Automatic File Naming and Data Disks for more
> details about saving.
>
> Differences between DOS 3.3 and ProDOS 8 Versions
>
> In DOS 3.3 "1000 Silly Things" is called SILLY.PRG and is BRUN from the
> HELLO program on Side A of the disk or from DOS 3.3. On Side B of the DOS
> 3.3 disk, the BSaved Image Viewer, ABINLOAD.PRG, is BRUN from the HELLO
> program or from DOS 3.3.
>
> In ProDOS 8 "1000 Silly Things" is called SILLY.SYSTEM and runs on startup
> on side A of the ProDOS disk. ABINLOAD.SYSTEM runs on startup on side B of
> the ProDOS disk, or either SYS program can be run directly from ProDOS.
>
> In either DOS 3.3 or ProDOS you do not need the ABINLOAD BSaved Image viewer
> to view the BSAVED images that "1000 Silly Things" creates. It is provided
> as a convenience. You can write your own in BASIC or  view these in any
> program that accepts a standard Apple II HIRES  BSaved Image.
>
> The ProDOS version of the ABINLOAD BSaved Image viewer wants a text file
> called "PICLIST" for the BSAVED images that are created by SILLY.SYSTEM.  So
> when SILLY.SYSTEM saves a BSaved Image it appends the image name to the
> PICLIST on the SILLYPROGRAM data disk. If the BSaved Image is already in the
> PICLIST a duplicate image name will not be added. If the PICLIST does not
> exist it will be created. If a BSaved Image file is on the disk but not
> listed in the PICLIST, and the filename is entered in ABINLOAD it will still
> be loaded,
>
> The reason that ABINLOAD in DOS 3.3 doesn't want a PICLIST is because it
> calls the DOS 3.3 Catalog routine directly to list disk contents. Other than
> that ABINLOAD.PRG in DOS 3.3 is the same program as ABINLOAD.SYSTEM in
> ProDOS 8.
>
> Since ProDOS has a 15 character file name rather than the 30 character
> filename in DOS 3.3 I have limited the automatic naming that is used by
> SILLY.SYSTEM to 15 characters when saving.
>
> On the DOS 3.3 version, if a silly thing was called DRAGON.CARROT.ROBOT the
> ProDOS equivalent is DRAGOCARROROBOT which is descriptive enough considering
> the differences between the two systems. This is one difference between the
> two versions that was unavoidable.
>
> Automatic File Naming
>
> The filename is always in English regardless of language. In the case of
> recognizing the saved French files afterwards:
>
> DRAGON=DRAGON
> ROBOT=ROBOT
> CAROTTE=CARROT - CAROTTE will gain a second R.
> RHINOCEROS=RHINO - truncates to RHINO
> ELEPHANT=ELEPHANT
> CLOWN=CLOWN
> FEE=FAIRY - unrecognizable
> SOURIS=MOUSE - unrecognizable
> POISSON=FISH - unrecognizable
> LICORNE=UNICORN - somewhat recognizable
>
> While this compromises the French in 60% of the set this is a programming
> consideration to avoid a number of potential problems and to make
> programming easier:
>
> 1. The initial compressed image fragments require a relatively large amount
> of disk space despite the fact that they are compressed. It is not practical
> to add 60% more image fragment files (additional duplicates) that are named
> in French so that our loader uses a differently named file. It serves no
> purpose except that a French person looking at the disk would see the extra
> files in French. They would still see the English files, so doing this would
> serve no real purpose and also would add unnecessary code to the program
> without improving the user experience.
>
> 2. Adding 6 files would increase the number of combinations from 10 x 10 x
> 10 = 1000 to 16 x 16 x 16 = 4096 and would also result in potential
> duplicates of 3096 files if the program was flipped between English and
> French.  And "4096 Silly Things" does not have the same "ring" to a child's
> ear as "1000 Silly Things".
>
> A potential elegant workaround for most of this would be to rename the
> initial compressed files "on the fly" every time the language is changed.
> However there are a couple of reasons why this would not be a good idea:
>
> 1. If a program was flipped back and forth between English and French
> duplicate output files could still occur. The potential for this happening
> can't be ignored and since the user experience would not be improved because
> the filename never appears on screen anyway. If the same program is shared
> between users this might be more likely to happen.
>
> 2. Whenever disk level commands are done, there is both a risk of corruption
> and error checking code must be added. When loading or saving error checking
> is simple and already in place. Yes the program does depend on the initial
> image fragments all being available to read and there is a risk that this
> may not be the case, but the program will still work with some files missing
> the way I have programmed it, and I distributed a functional disk image with
> everything in place, and loading files is a read operation, not a write
> operation.
>
> If I start renaming things, it's like saving a file. Except when a file save
> goes bad it's because the disk is full or corrupt or because the volume
> label (ProDOS) has changed from that of the program disk (Program and Data
> Disks require the same name in ProDOS).
>
> I don't see the benefit in renaming warranting all the extra code that I
> would need to write, and also to base the architecture on a rename command
> (a write operation) would unnecessarily complicate the program logic,
> complicate testing, and all associated code. It's just not a clean solution
> and having explained enough of my reasons that you might understand, 'nuff
> said.
>
> Data Disks
>
> When saving in ProDOS the volume name on the DATA disks must be the same as
> the volume name on the program disk. The ProDOS volume on the disks that I
> have provided is SILLYPROGRAM.
>
> In either the DOS 3.3 or ProDOS versions, when you are prompted to put the
> data disk in the drive you can skip this step and save directly to the
> program disk but you will clutter-up your program disk and it will soon
> fill-up since 1000 different Silly Things are possible.
>
> If you are running SILLY.SYSTEM in ProDOS from a hard drive, just put the
> contents of both disks together and skip the changing of disks when
> prompted.
>
> Since 1000 Silly Things are possible your data disk will fill-up quickly.
> Each BSaved Silly Thing is 8K (8192 bytes) in size.
>
> You will need several clean copies of the Silly Things data disk (with
> PICLIST and BSaved Images removed) or considerable space on your hard drive
> if you are doing a lot of saving. On a hard drive, the PICLIST will grow
> quite large and you may find it more practical to run from a floppy disk and
> let the disk fill-up. When the disk is full, the program will still work
> except that it won't be able to save to the full disk.
>
> You will have several options when the data disk fills-up and you can no
> longer save and some of these are listed below:
>
> 1. Ignore the problem. The program will still work well otherwise.
> 2. Use a fresh data disk with PICLIST and BSaved Images removed.
> 3. Remove unwanted BSaved Images from the data disk and PICLIST
>
> The PICLIST (a text file) can be edited manually to remove or add images to
> but this option may be too much work for you.
>
> The APPLEVU Slide Show program can also be used with the PICLIST.
>
> Licence Agreement
>
> All my work is copyrighted and belongs to me. I wrote this program from
> scratch. However this program is a derivative work in pretty much every way.
>
> That notwithstanding this is also a programming demo for an obsolete
> computer and a vanished market. The original Copyright remains in place and
> is displayed on the title screen when the program loads.
>
> I herewith grant you a non-exclusive and conditional licence to use this
> program, the source code and the output files it produces for whatever use
> you deem fit provided you do not take credit for my work, and that you leave
> the copyright notices intact in all of it.
>
> If you augment or otherwise use my work you must always also include your
> own personal copyright notice but it may never be a GNU public licence or
> anything else that resembles fascism or totalitarianism and world-domination
> or a commercial or educational licence either. You can use my stuff
> commercially or for GNU with my conditions intact if they let you (they
> should since copyright is for authors and the public and I belong to both
> groups) but you must never copyright my work with any company copyright
> whatsoever; just your own personal copyright like mine and leave mine in
> place. That is the way copyright is intended to work and that is the way
> that it will work with my stuff unless I selectively decide otherwise.
>
> In addition you must agree that I am not liable in any way shape or form for
> any damage from the use of any of this in any way whatsoever.
>
> If you do not agree with all of the aforementioned conditions of use then
> remove all of this from your computer now.
>
> Bill Buckels
> bbuck...@mts.net
> May 2008

Thank you so much Bill.

The main three reasons of my coming back to the Apple II(gs) world
are:
- cracking
- programming
- eduware/learning software for my children.

They are now able to play such programs en français ;-)

Antoine