The Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC compiler!

The problem seems to be that the zxb.py in the root directory effectively imports itself on import zxb. Looks like either the script or the same-named package needs to be renamed? Or, you could just remove the script and let the package do its work.

To reproduce:

$ python3 setup.py develop --prefix ~/.local
$ zxb
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/kosarev/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 2451, in resolve
    return functools.reduce(getattr, self.attrs, module)
AttributeError: module 'zxb' has no attribute 'main'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/kosarev/.local/bin/zxb", line 11, in <module>
    load_entry_point('zxbasic', 'console_scripts', 'zxb')()
  File "/home/kosarev/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 489, in load_entry_point
    return get_distribution(dist).load_entry_point(group, name)
  File "/home/kosarev/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 2852, in load_entry_point
    return ep.load()
  File "/home/kosarev/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 2443, in load
    return self.resolve()
  File "/home/kosarev/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 2453, in resolve
    raise ImportError(str(exc))
ImportError: module 'zxb' has no attribute 'main'

The INPUT command generates a flashing cursor but is otherwise unresponsive. Tested with the example file:

#include <input.bas>

print at 10, 5; "Type something: ";
a$ = input(20)
print
print "You typed: "; a$

Using Nextbuildv7, ZXbasic ver : 1.15.2

The problem appears to be line 42 of input.bas: DO LOOP UNTIL LastK <> 0 The program gets stuck in this loop and pressing a key doesn't exit it, proven by inserting a BEEP command into the loop.

Using labels and GOTO commands to replace both the DO...LOOPS in the INPUT function, I was able to create a ersatz version which works. Not sure if this is a bug or if I'm missing something obvious

Thanks.

The following code compiles without an error but what happens is e is loaded with lsb of memory address ._c and d lsb of memory address ._c

c=10
b=20
ASM 
 ld e,(._c)
 ld d,(._b)
END ASM 

While this works correctly

c=10
b=20
ASM 
 ld de,(._c)  ; ._c and ._b are store as a byte next to each other
END ASM 

This in theory should work :

#DEFINE SETREG(REG,VAL)\
		LD A,REG \
		LD BC,VAL \
		OUT (C),A


ASM 
	STA:
		LD C,7
	REP:
		LD A,C
		SETREG(A,254)
		DJNZ REP
		LD C,7
		JP STA
END ASM

In the same way this does :

#DEFINE SETREG(REG,VAL)\
	ASM \
		LD A,REG \
		LD BC,254 \
		OUT (C),A \
	END ASM

SETREG(6,254)
END

@boriel Please see attached. The script merely loads the specified tape file and keeps the machine running until a breakpoint hit, which we expect at PC=0, provided the test source itself is amended as shown in the diff. Please let me know if there's something else needed. Thanks.

use_zx_to_run_tests.zip.txt

Hi,

Thanks for Boriel, but is there anyway I can help with documentation?

For example, I go to information about the Screen command at:

https://zxbasic.readthedocs.io/en/latest/screen/

At the bottom of the page there are links to:

At the bottom of the page there is:

See also CSRLIN POS AT

None of these seem to work. I have the same with:

https://zxbasic.readthedocs.io/en/lates ... er/attr.md

If you have any rough notes, I'm happy to type them up for you in Git Flavoured MarkDown.

Best wishes

Peter

This causes an error:

string:
			 ; at 21 , 31
			 defb 22,21,31,"!"

and has to be seperated like this:

string:
			 ; at 21 , 31
			 defb 22,21,31
                         defb "!"

Thanks!

I'm not sure how to even describe this strange issue. Here is some example code to expose it:

DIM temp$ AS STRING = "-20"
DIM intResult AS INTEGER

CLS
PRINT temp$
PRINT VAL(temp$)
PRINT INT(-20)
PRINT INT(VAL(temp$))
intResult=INT(VAL(temp$))
PRINT intResult

I would expect this to print -20 for each step (as confirmed in Sinclair BASIC), but far from it - the compiled code displays:

-20
-20
-20
-65516
20

I presume the 4th result is a variable type issue? (EDIT, confirmed - this matches the 5th result if using a CAST to Integer). But I don't understand how the sign is being lost after the INT function in the 5th example. Examples 1-3 show that in isolation all the component parts of this work fine, but putting them together is breaking my project. I see that the result of a VAL is a float, but converting that to an integer shouldn't affect the sign of the number as far as I understand.

Even PRINT CAST(FLOAT,INT(VAL(temp$))) results in 20 not -20

@boriel,

I experienced that ZXB produces an invalid ASM output (--asm), provided the code's heap size is zero. Here is a very concise example:

PRINT 12345

As you can see in the attached file (Faulty.asm.txt), at its bottom is generates these labels:

ZXBASIC_USER_DATA:
    ; Defines DATA END --> HEAP size is 0
ZXBASIC_USER_DATA_END EQU ZXBASIC_MEM_HEAP
    ; Defines USER DATA Length in bytes
ZXBASIC_USER_DATA_LEN EQU ZXBASIC_USER_DATA_END - ZXBASIC_USER_DATA

Unfortunately, the ZXBASIC_MEM_HEAP symbol is undefined in the assembly output file.

Should I use a program with non-zero heap size (Correct.asm.txt):

PRINT 12345
PRINT "HELLO"

It generates all the necessary symbols. At the beginning of the code:

    org 32768
    ; Defines HEAP SIZE
ZXBASIC_HEAP_SIZE EQU 4096
   ; ...

And at the end of the code:

ZXBASIC_USER_DATA:
ZXBASIC_MEM_HEAP:
    ; Defines DATA END
ZXBASIC_USER_DATA_END EQU ZXBASIC_MEM_HEAP + ZXBASIC_HEAP_SIZE
    ; Defines USER DATA Length in bytes
ZXBASIC_USER_DATA_LEN EQU ZXBASIC_USER_DATA_END - ZXBASIC_USER_DATA

I hope, you can fix this error soon.

Istvan

Correct.asm.txt Faulty.asm.txt

@boriel,

While I was integrating ZX BASIC into SpectNetIDE, this simple code provided an assembly output that does not compile:

print "Hello"

I attached the .asm file this simple code generates with the --asm command line switch.

The .asm file references five symbols that do not exist in the file:

• __SET_ATTR2
• INVERSE_TMP
• OVER_TMP
• BOLD_TMP
• ITALIC_TMP

Program.asm.txt

GetFileSize("c:\\RBC.uue") should according to the docs send "c:\RBC.uue" as a string to the sub GetFileSize but it sends c:\.BC.uue

Should escape chars even be processed when not working with a print string?

Say I wanted to remove the inline IF functionality, particularly through commenting out lines 1381-1389 in src/zxbc/zxbparser.py. How would I do this or something with the same effect without making Python throw errors like crazy?

In Docs » Reserved Words:

WARNING: Using RETURN in global scope without a GOSUB will mostly crash your program.
Use --stack-check if you suspect you have this bug, to detect it.

That option doesn't exist (yet).

Does the compiler work on ZX Spectrum only? Does it support ZX80, ZX81 BASIC? if it's not, is there future projects to add compatibility for those machines?

And maybe in the future do some basic game :D But, I wonder, is there out there a repo of ZX basic ? That is, magazine games, book games, etc I am interested in software testing, fuzzy testing, etc. A compiler is a nice example, so. If someone has some pointers, I could try some testing. Other idea is testing it against repo of random generated basic programs, and seeing what it does 🗡️ Saludos, y genial tu charla en el canal de Javi!