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About SidBace
FAQ
History of updates
About Source release
 


 

What's SidBace?

Ever heard of SidFind? SidFind is the net version of a search-tool where you can find sid-songs on keywords in Title, Author or Copyright fields (Maybe even STIL) SidFind is not the only online search-tool that enables some strong search capabilities.
You can consider SidBace as a local version of an online search-tool like SidFind, but it existed earlier before most sid-related search-tools got online and does a lot more.

SidBace enables you to manage your collections of Commodore 64 music files on PC currently known as PSID files. You can search for songtitles, authors, copyright data and you can even search STIL and BUG entries if your collection supports it. SidBace supports the HVSC collection since it's huge and song information is treated with great respect. SidBace also serves as a front-end for SidPlay and has an implemented playlist feature with a time-recorder. SidBace exists in two flavours of which the win32 version is the most extended one having everything that is described above: 

The last DOS version (V2.51) is obsolete, it doesn't support STIL info and has a serious bug.
It is capable of porting your sidfiles to SidPlay under Windows when you found your beloved title or author or copyright.
In most other things it's quite simple. It works in DOS and Win'95/'98. 

The Win32 version is much more powerfull and has extended STIL support (includes buglist viewer).


There is no Linux port YET but the application is written in Xbasic of which a Linux / Unix variant exist so the source is portable.

To supply the possibility to make a linux port, the source version of the Normal edition of SidBace32 is been released under GPL terms.

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FAQ

Question: (PGUP/PGDWN to shift through pages)
 Is SidBace freeware?

Answer:
 100% (For both Normal and Plus edition)

 

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Question:
 May i distribute SidBace on my site/disks/cdroms?

Answer:
 If you don't ask any fee for the application itself! (Neither Normal OR Plus!)
 The only fee allowed to ask are the costs which where unavoidable to make
 to arrange the distribution media. (material, printing/storage costs etc.)

 

 

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Question:
 I downloaded the latest version but it still says version 2.001x...
 What's wrong?

Answer:
 Try running "SidBace32.exe" instead of "SidBase32.exe"


 

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Question:
 What's the difference between the "Normal" and the "Plus" edition of
 SidBace?

Answer:
 The ripper feature is included in the Plus-edition.

 

 

 

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Question:
 Why do the contents smear up when i drag the window outside the desktop
 borders?

Answer:
 This is problem that has nothing to do with Xbasic.
 This problem implies if you have the PLUS-option installed in your desktop
 settings. (Note:NOT the PLUS edition of SidBace but the Windows Plus update!)
 If you have the PLUS package in your desktop settings you can set a switch:
 "show window contents while dragging". Disable this option and you are rid
 of the problem.

 

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Question:
 When i search on STIL entries for music done by e.g. "Sting" i get a lot
 of matches but i could only find one serious match. Is this a bug?

Answer:
 No, if you do an "ANY match insensitive" it will search for parts of phrases
 but if the key matches a part of a word (e.g.:intre"sting") it will also
 count this as a match.

 If you want truely a band or artist match try to add a "artist: " before your
 key e.g. "artist: sting" or "artist: michael jackson".
 The turn side is that it won't find the artist name in co-op productions like
 "Eric Clapton & Sting", but you can always try "& sting" or something.
 There are a dozen tricks you can use to get more specific to what you want
 to search for and that's the hidden power of this search engine.

 

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Question:
 Why is searching on title/author/copyright thousand times faster than
 searching STIL when using Matchlist option?

Answer:
 The title, author and copyright fields summon an equal byterate of 100
 bytes per record. Also these objects are stored in an array that contain
 the pointers which tell which file is attached to it.
 During STIL search a lot of background is done to match your key:
 When searching with the STIL option, not only a path match has to be made
 to synchronise the right filepointer to the right sidfile that is related
 to the STIL entry, you phrase has to match any of the contents inside the
 STIL entry which can include:title, artist and comment or even multiple
 instances. Don't forget that the BUG-list is being searched as well!
 As soon as a phrase matches your searchkey the rest of the STIL entry is
 skipped.
 Notice that the more occurences contain your key, the longer it will
 take before it is done searching in

the STIL file. Keys like "artist:"
 will for sure supply you -teen minutes of waiting pleasure since STIL
 file is full of it.

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Question:
 When i select a file to play in SidPlay, SidPlay starts moaning
 about it cannot find the file...

Answer:
 Your sid-collection path is not correctly filled in (in the configuration
 menu [F10]) if you changed this location during playsessions in the playlist
 it has an instant effect on what path it will pass to SidPlay.
 If you don't have a database builded yet, it tries to port a default included
 sidfile of mine to the player. This will go wrong if you added the location
 of your sidcollection but did not (re)builded the database yet.

 

 

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Question:
 I noticed i can just pick out any zipfile for the update, is that harmfull?

Answer:
 No, it is not harmfull if you supply a random zipfile to SidBace that is NOT
 a HVSC update, however IF this file contains sidfiles, the database WON'T get
 updated. Simply because: if "update\update.hvs" is not found it will not
 install. The updater is based on a HVSC update and nothing else.
 Though you can push the "Rebuild" button after unzip, it will add any of the
 new added sids, but it would not be wise to do so, files are located in the
 Update directory where all HVSC updates will end up in.
 It's one of the few ways to mess up your HVSC collection.

 

 

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Question:
 Why is the WHOLE zip archive unzipped to the HVSC-drive twice? (the 4MB
 zipfile and that zipfile unzipped), when i have less than 9MB i get into
 trouble.

Answer:
 I have not been able to use the UnzipToMemory function of the DLL in an
 efficient way, I figured that it's a good warning when your drive is
 running low on drivespace. You want to install later updates wouldn't you?
 So minimum free drivespace requirements therefor is 9MB, the unzip library
 will supply you the info whether it could unzip the whole library or not.
 Wait until the SidBace source becomes GPL released, then you can change
 things the way you want it.

 

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Question:
 Does the playlist facility also supports SidPlay playlists?

Answer:
 Yeps it does but it does NOT export to SidPlay playlists.
 A More important is, the HVSC main directory has to be the same. It will
 mostly work on your own playlists.
 Advise is also to import your own SidPlay playlists and then saving them
 to SidBace playlists.

 

 

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Question:
 Are SidBace playlists exchangable?

Answer:
 Advantage above Sidplay playlists is that SidBace playlists are exchangable.
 The exchangability limits itself ofcourse among HVSC-owners and their
 corresponding version or SidBace users that maintain their own private data-
 base in an agreed structure amongst eachother.
 There is an integrity-check on the HVSC version that is being installed,
 if possible info will be updated and unfound files will be disabled from the
 playlist.

 

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Question:
 When busy in SidBace and i selected a song it gets suddenly interrupted
 after a while with another song, what's that shit?

Answer:
 Though, i disabled the possibility to play songs from SidBace main
 window when playing songs in the playlist on timed events, i cannot
 prevent you from manually loading songs into the sidplayer itself;

 You set the playlist timer in play-mode but did not turned it off.
 The fact that you can close the playlist-window will not automaticly
 involve disabling of the time-player. The timer is not oriented on
 what song is currently played in Sidplay but what the song was that
 is being sent to sidplay and what it's song-length was.
 Since SidPlay is not an internal part of SidBace you can easily load
 another song but the timer will continue to the next song in it's
 list as soon as the song-length of it's initial pass-on is due.
 The timer event in SidBace will not be updated if you load the next song of
 the SidBace playlist manually in SidPlay.
 Just go back to the playlist and manually disable the time player
 by pressing the play-button or use the playlist [next]/[previous] buttons.

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Question:
 Why do i have to manually set the song-time, can't you detect the songlength
 from it's patterns or something?

Answer:
 I have seen this question passing along the HVSC mailinglist a few times
 and also some possible answers but the general answer is:no.
 Sid-files don't have structures like a module has (.IT, .MOD, .XM, etc.)
 You should see the raw structure of the sid in this way:
                         Music-routine;
                         The music data.

***********RRRIP
Here was standing a chapter explaining how hard it is to detect songlengths.
But as a matter of fact, Michael Schwendt was able to create a Sid checker
that runs through it a couple of times and figures out how play-routines start
and end. It is not perfect but it does an approximate calculation of sonlength
play. In some cases it is pretty precise, in some cases it is aproximate one or
two seconds too long and in some cases the song loops a couple of times
unnoticeably to the routine so it calculated minutes too much in songlength
But 40% approximate times and 40% nearly perfect lengths are better than
nothing.
If you use HVSC or PSID files from HVSC, chances are likely that it's
songlength is in the database that comes with SidBace.
If your PSID file is not in HVSC, it will probably not supply you it's
songplay time. So in case of the HVSC collection:you don't necessarily have
to manually set it's time as long as the song is supported by the songlength
database. SidBace supports this feature as of 2002.
 

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Question:
 So you can't calculate times in sid-files because of the binary differences
 among musicroutines, how do you think to code something like sidtracker and
 will this one have a general format?

Answer:
 SidTracker will be based on a music-routine i know and i know it's offsets
 from. A general format will be automaticly accepted if many people will use
 it and the format is made pubicly known.
 The advance of sidtracker will be the space i have to create an easy GUI
 around the routine. I have one small problem which is that i have to use a
 musicroutine which is not written by me and the person also who wrote it i
 still could not have contact with to get permission to use his routine.
 This fact delays the execution of my project and initiation of the
 implementation-phase. I will have enough time to develop on SidBace since
 parts of the SidBace plus edition will be a base of the SidTracker.
 If i'm done with that i might be able to implement other musicroutines from
 persons that do grant me permission to use it. I have a small knowledge about
 C64 assembly and Turbo assembler which is enough to make sidtracker but i
 don't have the knowledge to write my own musicplayer.

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Question:
 The timer isn't so precise when running in the background.

Answer:
 Ofcourse, it's a priority level, if i would have oriented the timer on
 seconds instead of milliseconds it would be much less noticable since
 the interval will be larger between the moment a song truely ends and
 the moment the timer will interrupt songplay in SidPlay while the
 processing checks this moment in smaller intervals.
 The timer is a tool to shift songs from it's approximate ending.
 When running in the foreground it will be quite precise and also precise
 configurable.

 

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Question:
 When loading or deleting while recording/playing with the timer the timer
 is being disabled. Why?

Answer:
 The timer event is a core routine within the application, there are various
 processes linked to this routine which will mess up your actions and may even
 crash the application if you could do certain actions while the timer runs.
 It has actually nothing to do with the timer itself but the orientation
 the application takes as soon as you initiate one of the timer events.
 So i just had to build in some "traffic light" priority routines and
 interrupts.

 

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Question:
 You said SidPlay playlists were importable but i get "File not found" records
 all over the place, what am i missing?

Answer:
 You configured the C64Music dir in the config menu in SidBace (the first
 option). This one does not match the general main dir of your SidPlay
 playlist. example-record from the SidPlay playlist:
 [1]
 filename = C:\C64MUSIC\VARIOUS\A-F\4-Mat\Hawk.sid
 subsong = 1
 time = 223

 If your config dir locates your main sid-dir here:
 C:\HVSIDS-3.3\ Then "C:\C64MUSIC\" <> "C:\HVSIDS-3.3\"
 The easiest way is to temporary change the main root-dir in the SidBace
 configuration and then import the playlist, save it to a SidBace playlist and
 then set back the original root-path in the config menu.
 This problem may occur when attempting to convert a SidPlay Playlist from
 someone who has his root-path named differently than yours. That's why
 converting your own to .SBP format FIRST before exchanging works best.
 If you have multiple sid-file locations in multiple paths you're out of luck.

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Question:
 I can import Sidplay playlists but i can't export them, why did you do that?

Answer:
 The SidBace playlist is based on it's internal stored root dir that contains
 your sidfiles or HVSC collection.
 This root-dir is not being stored with the file-location in the .SBP;
 Since Sidplay just stores the complete path into the playlist it makes the
 playlist hardly exchangable without needing to change things.
 Though, it is possible to convert the .SBP to .SPL if you insist, read the
 "SPBBIN.INF" for details.
 SidPlay playlists allow you to play your sidfiles from all over your harddisk
 while SidBace requires a central starting-location. This is intended to keep
 the playlists general exchangable.

 

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Question:
 I use sidplayer xxx but it doesn't play subsongs when ported by SidBace...

Answer:
 I don't know how many sidplayers there are for PC windows / DOS but i
 mainly focus on SidPlay for windows by Michael Schwendt (player and Sid chip
 Emulator) and Adam Lorentzon (interface and port for Windows)
 It's to my opinion the best player that can do the job and is available
 on more platforms. I have no doubt there will be players that will accept
 songs by SidBace to play them but subsong support might differ highly.
 Read the extra SID.NFO for contact addresses and sites.

 

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Question:
 When do you release SidTracker?

Answer:
 When i find time to complete it. I don't have enough time at this moment.

 

 

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Question:
 Why is your application so slow?

Answer:
 Because i am probably a very lame coder.
 Fortunately i'm better in music.
 Though there is light, i learn new tricks everyday and improve my slow
 routines to faster ones.

 

 

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Question:
 HEy!, you added an update tool but it rebuilds the database from scratch
 anyway, why is that??

Answer:
 That's because of the intensive vagueness of the update##.hvs format.
 I was far enough to be capable of doing pretty as much the same as the
 update.exe did file-technically but when it came up to updating the
 database contents i had to make routines to figure out wether e.g.:
 -a "REPLACE" of each file really meanted a "REPLACE" or an add-on
 -a "MOVE" was an add-on, rename or just a real movement.
 Specially these last routines that should update the databases eat up more
 time when trying to figure out all that while rebuilding from scratch takes
 way less time instead.
 The fact that i can't assure my updater itself remain 100% reliable made
 me decide to remain use of the original update.exe itself to do the update
 job.

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Question:
 What is the purpose of the rippertool and why is it disabled?

Answer:
 The rippertool is for those persons who know pretty well what they are
 doing. If you have no experience in altering C64 binary data and C64
 assembly code you have no benefits with this module.
 
 Please before using the Plus edition's features do this:
 make a backup of your archives or copy those sidfiles you want to mess with
 to a safe location (where there are no other sidfiles or programs you can
 mess up).

 I still need people who know more shit about C64 assembly than I myself
 already know.
          

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Question:
 I downloaded the ripper tool, played a bit with it and i fucked up one or
 more sidfiles, how can i recover?

Answer:
 I warned you about the Plus edition but you didn't read carefully enough if
 you are in this situation, In case of fucked up HVSC sids:
 You can hope that the last update you downloaded contains the sidfile(s)
 that you messed with and replace them manually in other cases:download
 the WHOLE archive again :(
 
 In case of own sid-collection:your luck is even worse unless the HVSC
 collection has one of the songs in your collection. If those sids are
 primary your own and not published anywhere you have to try to figure out
 a way to fix it in a C64 emulator and if you really lost parts of codes:
 It's lost forever.

 Let me give you a tip (once more):make a backup of your archives or copy
 those sidfiles you want to mess with to a safe location.

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History of changes last update:

SidBace




##################  13th-October.-2002 Minor upgrade V2.0027(Beta): #####################
Current Updates
_______________
SidBace release:
        - Sort of PSIDv2NG support. (Not tested!)
        - Patch for HVSC update-database file-links changed by HVSC update-tool.

SidCenter plugin:
        - none.

Odd behaviour:
V(current version)
-Picture configurator window blurs up when moving them to the edge of the screen or behind top
 most windows.
 This is normal, the window is refreshed if you release the mousebutton after dragging.
-The picture configurator window is also trailing when it is moved it even has to follow the
 mousepointer :).
 Yeps, this is because the frames are gone and a none-regular method is used to move the window.
 Routines are used that normally are being used to move windows from one spot to another in a
 blink and i just dislocate them on-the-fly each mouse-move frame.
 
 The XBasic movement routines for windows are fixed on the old Win'95 method. The Plus update
 for Win'95 and the later versions allow life update, XBasic cannot really handle these problems.
 It is possible to implement a fix that updates these windows on each movement frame but that
 would make the application slower.
 
Fixed Bugs:
V2.0026
 - none.

Current bugs
        -don't know yet.


Additions to do:
SAP-file support (ASMA collection)
MUS-support (Compute Gazette Collection)
Change subsong support to alter the sidfile's default subsong rather than supplying a subsong argument to the player.



##################  27th-January.-2002 Minor upgrade V2.0026: #####################
Some minory adjustments to the SidBace application, not really big time changes, only bugfixes, some new bugs were there because of
non earlier existing situation, some old bugs were just sneaky crawling around for a long time i didn't noticed them..
I was not happy supporting the AUTHOR field, i overlooked it constantly because AUTHOR and ARTIST are similar.
If Sidbace notices an AUTHOR entry, it will replaced it by a COMMENT and the remark "subsong composer:" will be pasted in front of the name.
Only SidCenter plugin got a few visual changes which are worth mentioning: The main window is resizable and i have included the
low and high case fontsets from the Freaky Fonts site (by CKrule), i have renamed them as i don't freaky fonts but i do mind freaky
font-names things like "cbm diskdrive font" or "cbm seq-file fontset" are just stupid.

Just copy the fonts to your fonts-folder of your windows directory and see if it works out okay.

I wanted to release a major sid-center update but some bugs in SidBace required fixing the XBasic runtime library rather than SidBace.
I could work around them by using an older fixed version of XBasic everytime i compiled SidBace but this time i needed a class-object
that i previously didn't use, so i could not circumvent this situation anymore.

I decided to settle that for once and for all and took care i can also adapt future versions of XBasic easily for the task.

The time is coming that the major revision will shift up from V2 to V3. A lot of performance optimisation issues and code efficiency will be
involved. You'll see soon enough what that involves.


Current Updates
_______________
SidBace release:
        - none.


SidCenter plugin:
 - CBM64 font-support and fontsets added (From CkRules at FreakyFonts.com) (use CAPS-LOCK or RMB to switch between lower / upper case)
 - Dump monitor is now resizable

Fixed Bugs:
V2.0025
 - Sidcenter crashed SidBace when no sidplayer was configured or sidsong was parsed
 - Recreating a new database causes FILE NONEEXISTANT error when browsing for a collection directory without hitting the [enter] key in the field
 - Tab in the database center didn't responded properly in the database-name field (XBasic bugfix!).
 - Sidplay playlists did not load properly at all in sidbace! (not even the old ones!) -> I forgot to restore this after my great disaster recovery.
 - Recreating a new database causes FILE NONEEXISTANT error when browsing for a collection directory without hitting the [enter] key in the field
 - Tab in the database center fucks up again in the database-name field.
 - AUTHOR: field in STIL is not recognised, in some cases it will not reveal that information in the comment when more data is involved in the entry



##################  11th-January.-2002 Major upgrade V2.0025: #####################

Okay, another major release having the most nasty bugs expelled.

[Multiple database support]
Some of you might be happy with it:multiple (and lockable!) database support.
With the extension of this item you are now able to build small databases that build from e.g. the latest HVSC update.
So you can in that case browse through the latest additions and changes.

[MD5 Songlength database support]
Yes i finally implemented that goddamn songlength database support.
Don't ask me what i have done and don't ask me why you can't use any of the HVSC songlength database files from the
SidPlay home-page:just don't download them specially for SidBace, you waste your download time.
When the next update comes, i'll take care you find out what you need on the download site.

[Minory add-ons]
Also a right-mouse button context-menu has been smudged into Sidbace inside the database list.
If context-menu's consist of buttons, hover your mouse across it to view the hint-string / tip-tool for the hot-key combination.
Not that it is not in the documentation but you don't need to scan the docco's all the time for it.

Have fun,

Vv.


Current Updates (Normal release):
 - Context menu's in database list
 - Multiple database handling added (F5, reloading current database is now ALT-F5)
 - Songlength database support
 
(Plus edition (resumed):)
 - No updates yet
   

Odd behaviour:
V(current version)
-Picture configurator window blurs up when moving them to the edge of the screen or behind top
 most windows.
 This is normal, the window is refreshed if you release the mousebutton after dragging.

 
-The picture configurator window is also trailing when it is moved it even has to follow the
 mousepointer :).
 Yeps, this is because the frames are gone and a none-regular method is used to move the window.
 Routines are used that normally are being used to move windows from one spot to another in a
 blink and i just dislocate them on-the-fly each mouse-move frame.

 The XBasic movement routines for windows are fixed on the old Win'95 method. The Plus update
 for Win'95 and the later versions allow life update, XBasic cannot really handle these problems.
 It is possible to implement a fix that updates these windows on each movement frame but that
 would make the application slower.
 
Fixed Bugs:
V2.0024
 - SidCenter selection from menubar fixed (application crashed with an error)
 - Fixed filepath parsing to sidplayers (paths with spaces where seen as parameters by sidplay)
 - Subsong in subsong STIL entries now properly displayed (see Bards tale, Moscow Summit, Army Moves, etc.)
 - Error message dialogs don't hide when hitting "Return", problem seems vanished after fixing / improving some routines.
 - When aborting search for all-match lists, application crashed out when selecting a record.
 
Current bugs
 - No serious stuff found at this moment



##################  16-MArch.-2001 Major upgrade V2.0024: #####################
Well, Sidbace itself did not went under mayor changes but the Plus-version has been revived from
the dead where it was long time....

The Plus edition now goes under a .DLL construction (for those who would like to know:yes anyone
else may also use the .DLL into their own applications when needed)

Currently the involved sidedit.dll in the normal distribution is just a dummy file but the
SidBace engine functionality IS in that .DLL file so it does not run without it.
If you replace the sidedit.dll with the version coming from the Plus distribution you will have
the Plus functionality under the F4 button. Or if you select the sidcenter from the menu.

Have fun,

Vv.


Current Updates (Normal release):
 - Some background code-improvements applied.
 - Portal to sidedit.dll added. This made the EXE smaller but the slimmed part has now been put
   in the sidedit.dll
 
(Plus edition (resumed):)
 - Recovered 95% of the Plus edition the way it works in V2.0019!. (Undocumented OPCODE is not included)
   

Fixed Bugs:
V2.0023
 - Wheelmouse functions fucked up again (thanks to internal XBasic routines) -> Xbasic fixed
   


 

SidEdit (Plus plugin)
 

##################  20-Mar.-2001 Minor upgrade V1.2001: #####################

Current Updates:
 - Direct test on "Enter" given in the Sid header argument field:.
   File is instantly tested when you hit Enter in either of the value
   fields in the Header editor.
 - Console window replaced by Status window (console is only for internal debugging).
   

Fixed Bugs:
V1.2
 - Wrong display of two byte OPCODE symbols, last value was missing.
 - Search of multiple single byte ranges didn't functioned properly
   
 

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Why do I add the source code of the Win32 version?

The source-code of the normal version is added to motivate porting of the routines to other platforms xbasic runs on and to improve routines I wrote badly or inefficiently.

Please inform me at vvacme@worldonline.nl if you want to have a link to a port placed on this site or you want to supply improved code, you are encouraged to do so. Do explain what you changed and why it's more efficient or better than my work (I want to learn something from it too you know?)

Why do I add the source code of the DOS version?

because I don't have time or the willpower to update the DOS version anymore. A lot of routines are very lame and I wrote it in QuickBasic which is too limited in memory. 

If you as QuickBasic programmer think you can still do something worth your while, it is yours for the taken.
Some titles, authors or copyright boxes contain unsupport chars on which the proggy collapse but like I said, I don't have time to remove all that.

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