Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!tamsun.tamu.edu!ftg0673
From: ftg0673@tamsun.tamu.edu (Rick Grevelle)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: 48 Errors
Message-ID: <15360@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Date: 26 Apr 91 01:43:28 GMT
References: <11898@jarthur.Claremont.EDU>
Sender: usenet@helios.TAMU.EDU
Organization: Texas A&M University
Lines: 60

In article <11898@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> sburke@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Scott Burke) writes:
>
>Can anyone give me the SYSEVAL to force storage of a token name for the 
>purposes of providing an exactly correct error message, as in:
>
>"ROUTINE" # _____h SYSEVAL              @ store the token name ROUTINE
>514 DOERR                               @ show "ROUTINE Error:
>                                                Bad Argument Value"
>
>Does this make sense?  I want to control what the first line of the error
>message says.
>

Yes, this makes sense; but you can't do it via keyword programming, and what's
more it can only be done from a library!  Besides, SYSEVALing is an extremely
poor method for accessing entry points in the 48's ROM because it's slower, it
uses more memory, and it's quite, quite limited.  This is because many of the
most useful entry points can *not* be SYSEVALed, and require the individual to
be familiar with the internal trappings of SYSTEM RPL.  The address for which
you've asked is one such example, and is considerably more complex than you've
imagined.

This is most often a problem with many user language programmers, and it seems
to be worsening with the massive amounts on misinformation that so frequently
finds it way to this news group.  Those who are familiar with Wickes' lectures
are well aware of his emphasis on the complexity of the RPL operating system.
Unfortunately, knowing how to program using only keywords provides very little
insight as to this complexity, and often leads individuals to falsely believe
they are in fact experts; results of which are a deluge of less than wholesome
software that's so frequently posted here.

Personally, there are few individuals posting to this group whose software I'd
trust to use without first inspecting.  Furthermore, I would never purchase a
piece of software written in user language for it would assuredly be pig slow,
and severely limited.  If an ISV is serious enough about a commercial venture
into the 48 software market, then they should be prepared to pay the price and
make the necessary investments.  Anything less constitutes a ripoff, and it's
sad that most consumers are completely unaware of the caliber of software they
are purchasing.

Hewlett-Packard's Equation Library Card is an example of quality software, for
it fully utilizes the resources available internally.  Those ISVs who have no
access to these resources should be required to make this disclosure on all of
the software they might be trying to sell.  Because the Equation Library uses
much of the same SYSTEM RPL as the ROM, it really could be considered to be an
extension of the ROM.  The difference in the performance of programs written
in user language and SYSTEM RPL is day and night.  Given both the choice along
with the knowledge to make the distinction, most users would more than likely
spend their money more eclectically.

My extensive proselytizing was not intended to flame anyone, nor to promote an
antidote; but rather to make the people reading this news group more aware of
the enormous complexity of the RPL operating system.  Outside of HP, there are
very few who have spent the time reverse engineering the 48 and thought of as
truly knowledgeable in regards to its operating system.  Personally the longer
I delve into the internals, the more ignorant I realize I really am about it.
So please, let's all be a bit more careful in posting articles, and attempt to
alleviate the misinformation.

Rick Grevelle