Hello all. I’ll probably say something stupid.
I’ve just recently ordered a PicoCalc for my grandnephew to fulfill my vintage TRS-80 dreams vicariously. Some MMBASIC program examples are in order, so I’m wondering:
Q1) Is there a PicoCalc (or PicoMite) emulator I can run on a PC to test my MMBASIC demos?
I’ll ask this over at TheBackshed, but maybe someone here will know:
Q2) Will MMEdit work with the PicoCalc?
Thanks for reading.
As far as I know there is no emulators like you are asking for. Personally, I’d just go buy a Raspberry Pi Pico and flash it with PicoMite Basic. Your second option is to get MMBasic for Windows or for Linux and install that. As long as you are not trying to use the GPIO, those will give you a close enough approximation.
PicoMite has MMEdit built into it.
I hope that helps.
No it doesn’t Chris 
.
All MMBasic implementations have a reasonable EDITor built in … well you could argue that MMB4L’s default editor isn’t truly built-in (it’s nano but it’s integrated in a way that looks built in).
However “MMEdit” is a separate IDE by Jim Hiley that runs on Windows and Linux: Geoff's Projects - MMEdit. This is capable of automatically transmitting programs (not sure if it uses XMODEM, AUTOSAVE, or a combination thereof) to the Colour Maximite 2, PicoMite, or presumably a properly configured PicoCalc.
@grawlix, I’d argue that the PicoCalc might not be the best 'mite to “fulfill your vintage TRS-80 dreams” … wouldn’t you want a desktop model like the Colour Maximite 2, PicoMiteVGA or PicoMiteHDMI ?
Best wishes,
Tom
Okay, I stand corrected. I always thought of the built in edit function as MMEdit, but that must have been my advanced age fuzzing my brain out. I did not know MMEdit was a separate program, when developing on my desktop, I use either Emacs or VS Code, depending on my pain tolerance on the given day, then I use xmodem to transfer it over with minicom.
Much appreciated. I have taken a look at MMBasic for DOS/Windows and it is text mode only.
I may well pick up a Colo[u]r Maximite 2 for my own edification, but the PicoCalc is for a youngish grandnephew. The PicoCalc is very spy-gadgety; the Maximite is not.
The MMBasic for Windows situation is confusing. What most people (including yourself I think) find is the legacy MMBasic for DOS from Geoff’s website, this indeed has no graphics support.
Peter Mather created a more capable MMBasic for Windows which is an approximate simulation of the Colour Maximite 2 including graphics, however it has never had a proper release. This may or may not be the latest version: https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/uploads/matherp/2023-01-14_015534_MMBasic.zip . Note that Peter seems to have lost interest in this after the initial challenge of getting it to work and the source is not available from a public git repository.
MMBasic for Linux (MMB4L) GitHub - thwill1000/mmb4l: Port of Geoff Graham's MMBasic interpreter to the Linux platform and its derivatives. is my baby and is in active, if erratic, development. It can (roughly) simulate the capabilities of the Colour Maximite 2, PicoMiteVGA and Game*Mite. It is my intention to add PicoCalc simulation, but don’t hold your breath as I have a lot of things going on at the moment.
Best wishes,
Tom
The Colour Maximite is a fun little machine. I have both the original and the Colour Maximite 2. They are getting harder to find, although it does looks like Rictech has a couple in stock. They are a good company, I have done business with them a couple of times and had no problems with them.
One less in stock now. Thx again.
Thanks for that. The Windows version posted is 4.07.03b15 for reference.
I’m having difficulty with the “MMBasic for Windows,” provided above. I’ll look around for a more current version. It appears to have difficulty parsing the syntax of my commands.
CIRCLE (100, 100), 50, RED gets “No closing bracket” and
LINE (20, 20)-(40, 50) gets an “Argument count” error.
After a MODE 3 gets executed, fancy keyboard moves will often result in a crash.
There’s no installation that I need to be making, I guess, and it’s saving my BAS file for me. There’s some hardware on order, so I’ll just tinker a bit while I wait. Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi @grawlix,
Where are you getting your syntax from?
CIRCLE 100, 100, 50, 1, 1, RGB(RED)
and
LINE 20, 20, 40, 50
Use the Colour Maximite 2 manual from here: Geoff's Projects - Colour Maximite 2
Not sure about your MODE 3 question, care to provide some explicit instructions ?
Best wishes,
Tom
I’ve found a link to an even more recent release of MMBasic for Windows: 5.07.03-b24
I’m pretty certain this is the latest/last one.
Tom
Ah! I was using an MMBasic 4.5 Language Reference Manual.
Previously when I was trying to get some graphic fun with the Windows/DOS version of MMBasic, I tried both syntaxes then, but did not try it in Mather’s build. Thanks for that.
MMBasic refactored its syntax from version 4 to version 5?
As for the editor in MODE 3, it’s not as responsive as I would expect and it makes typing in it a little flakey. Going back to MODE 1 or MODE 2 might be better for the editor–I’ll try that.
At the very least, I’ll put some time in before I come back here moaning.