Subject: GSoft BASIC Ships
From: [email-masked] (MikeW50)
Date: 29 Jul 1998 04:06:58 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2

The Byte Works, famous in the Apple II world for its line of programming
products and commitment to the Apple II community, is pleased to announce the
release of GSoft BASIC, a new programming language for the Apple IIGS.  It’s a
great choice for anyone who knows Applesoft but wants to go beyond its limits,
as well as any programmer who wants a fast, easy to use language for creating
text, graphics or desktop applications on the Apple IIGS.
    Here’s a few early comments from some Apple II luminaries who have used
GSoft BASIC:

------------

    GSoft BASIC feels like home to anyone who knows Applesoft, but its also an
escalator that carries you up past anything that BASIC could do on a GS before.
Larger, more elegant programs, Super Hi-Res graphics, more accurate
calculations, Toolbox programming, Desktop programs, and even the Internet.
Wherever you want to go today, you can go with GSoft.

-- Gareth Jones

    FOR X%=$00 to $FF

   PRINT "It's hard to believe that GSoft is an interpreter, especially when
comparing it to some of the BASIC Compilers that were written for the GS.  It's
fast and very easy to use.  GSoft seamlessly incorporates GS/OS and the
Toolbox, giving it the power of a compiler when developing Desktop
applications!"

   NEXT X%

   It's also the only basic that let's you use Hexadecimal in a FOR/NEXT loop! 
:)

-- Richard Cain 

    I've been waiting for an improved BASIC programming language for  my IIGS
for years and GSoft BASIC is it.  Easy to learn and use, near Applesoft
compatibility (but with none of the limitations), all the benefits of modern
structured BASICs, full access to GS/OS and the IIGS Toolbox routines as well
as the ability to add assembly language routines through user tools.  GSoft
BASIC has all of it and more.  No more Applesoft for me!

-- Jeff Blakeney

------------

    GSoft BASIC is available for immediate shipment.  If you act now, you save
$10 off of the cover price!  For all orders received before August 31st, 1998,
you get GSoft BASIC for just $50, a $10 savings from the retail price of just
$60.  Include $5 for shipping in the U.S. and Canada; contact the publisher for
shipping rates to other countries.
    Incidentally, our shipping rate of $5 is per order, not per product. Save
even more by ordering from our list of over 80 Apple II programs!  If you don’t
have a list, just e-mail a request.  We can send a price list by e-mail, or a
printed catalog by snail-mail.
    Here’s a detailed description of this exciting new package, as well as
contact information for the publisher:

--- technical information ---

 GSoft BASIC
 A BASIC Interpreter for the Apple IIGS
 ========================================================

 GS-25  GSoft BASIC 1.0  $60

 Includes: 329 page spiral bound manual, index, table of contents; 2 800K
ProDOS disks.

 System Requirements:
     Apple IIGS
     System 6.0 or better
     1.125M RAM (2M recommended)
     3.5 Floppy Disk Drive
     Additional 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive or a hard drive

 Companion Products:
     GS-12  Talking Tools
     GS-11  ORCA/Debugger
 
 Contact:

 Byte Works, Inc.
 8000 Wagon Mound Dr. NW
 Albuquerque, NM  87120

 Phone      505-898-8183
 Fax        505-898-4092
 AOL        MikeW50
 GEnie      ByteWorks
 Internet   [email-masked]

   GSoft BASIC is the long-awaited answer to the Applesoft programmer who wants
to move to GS/OS, or the programmer who needs a quick way to create a program
without the hassle of a full compiler.  You can choose between an extended
Applesoft-like environment that will feel comfortable to any Applesoft
programmer, but that includes extensions like RENUMBER and a full screen
editor; or a version that runs from any ORCA compatible shell.  (The ORCA shell
is not included.)  Either way, you can turn finished programs into applications
that launch from the Finder using a simple utility that adds a run-time module
to your BASIC program.
   GSoft BASIC has all of the extensions you’d expect from a modern BASIC, like
optional line numbers, PRINT USING, LINE INPUT (no comma problems!), structured
statements and true subroutines and functions.  It can use all of your
available memory, so you can write huge programs that use lots of variable
space.  Strings can be up to 32767 characters long, double precision
floating-point is available, and GSoft uses integer math for speed, supporting
both short and long integers.
   Unlike any other Apple IIGS BASIC, GSoft BASIC truly supports toolbox
programming.  Toolbox programming requires the use of pointers and records,
something other BASICs don’t have.  GSoft BASIC has both.
   While GSoft BASIC is an interpreter, and doesn’t link directly with compiled
and assembled programs, it still supports many of the popular ORCA programming
tools.  The Applesoft-like shell that comes with GSoft BASIC can use any ORCA
compatible editor; you get a version of GSoft BASIC that will work from any
ORCA compatible shell; GSoft BASIC works with ORCA/Debugger and Splat!, as well
as any other ORCA compatible debugger; and GSoft BASIC supports user tools for
adding subroutines written in other languages.  There are even samples of user
tools written in assembly language.
   So whether you are an experienced programmer looking for an environment for
quick prototyping or a BASIC programmer from way back who wants a familiar
language with all of the features you need to take advantage of the Apple IIGS,
GSoft BASIC is a program you’ll want to have for your Apple IIGS.
   Here are just some of the major features you'll find in GSoft BASIC:

Language Features

 *   Full access to the Apple IIGS Tools.
 *   Write desktop programs, text programs or graphics programs that use
QuickDraw without using the entire toolbox.
 *   Define and access your own libraries using User Tools.
 *   No fixed limit on program or variable space.
 *   Optional line numbers.
 *   Modern control statements, including:
        IF-THEN-ELSE
        DO-LOOP
        WHILE-WEND
        SELECT CASE
 *   PRINT USING
 *   LINE INPUT (For reading text with imbedded commas.)
 *   Named subroutines and functions with passed parameters and local
variables.
 *   Disk I/O commands.
 *   Data types include SINGLE, INTEGER, LONG, DOUBLE, BYTE and STRING. 
Strings can be up to 32767 characters.
 *   Create types with names for easier to read programs.
 *   Supports records and pointers.
 *   Dynamic memory commands, including ALLOCATE, DISPOSE and SIZEOF.
 *   Loads Applesoft programs.  Incompatible lines are flagged for manual
change.
 *   Full toolbox support, including support for GS/OS, the ORCA shell and
Talking Tools.
 *   Access to other languages via user tools.
 *   Includes two User Tools Libraries, with source code:
        Game Paddle for accessing the game paddle ports.
        Time and Date for reading the system clock.