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Chapter 1 Development Environment
Developing a BASIC program for the mobile computers is as simple as counting 1-2-3.
There are three steps:
Step 1 – Download the BASIC Run-time to the target mobile computer.
Step 2 – Edit and compile the BASIC program.
Step 3 – Download the BASIC object file to the target mobile computer.
1.3.1 DOWNLOAD RUNTIME ENGINE
The BASIC Run-time Engines are programs being loaded on the mobile computers to
execute the BASIC object files. They must exist in the mobile computers before the
BASIC object files are downloaded. To download the Run-time Engine (and/ or any other
programs), the target mobile computer needs to be set to the “Download Mode” first to
receive the new program.
There are two ways to enter the “Download Mode” – one is via System Menu, and the
other via Kernel Menu. For details of how to download a program, please refer to the
reference manual for each series of mobile computers.
Note: After re-installing the battery pack, press the following key combination to enter
Kernel Menu – [1], [7] and the [POWER] key.
After the target mobile computer is set to the “Download Mode” and the connection to
the host PC is properly established, the user can run the download utility on the host PC
to download the BASIC Run-time or any other .shx files to the mobile computer. When
the Run-time Engine is downloaded successfully, the message “Ready for BASIC
Download” will be displayed on the mobile screen.
1.3.2 EDIT/COMPILE BASIC PROGRAMS
The BASIC Compiler, bc.exe, comes with a text editor where users can edit their BASIC
programs. Please refer to the next chapter for general information of the operation.
By default, the text being edited with the editor would be saved as a BASIC source file
(.bas). The system settings defined in the Configuration Menu, including “Target
Machine”, COM port settings, transaction file settings, DBF settings and barcode settings,
would be saved as a system initialization file (.ini) with the same name when the .bas file
is saved. The .ini file should be treated as part of the BASIC program, and should be
included when the BASIC program is distributed.
If the BASIC program compiles without any errors, a BASIC object file (.syn) with the
same name is generated. The .ini file and the .syn file are the two files to be downloaded
to the mobile computer. The .ini file contains the system settings, while the .syn file
contains the BASIC object code.
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