LIBRARIES PUBLIC DOCUMENT BTM

NestorBeTeMes 1.01, by Konami Man, 2-2001

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WHAT IS THIS?

NestorBeTeMes is a set of BTM files (BAT loaded in memory) intended to make Hitech-C compiler use easier, by allowing to make compilation and library management operations with subdirectory support, which is not possible with Hitech-C alone. For example it is possible to do:

C:\COMS>c2x A:\SOURCES\TEST

and TEST.C file located at A:\SOURCES will be compiled into TEST.COM file and placed into C:\COMS. The compiler itself may be located in any other directory, for example D:\HITECHC.

NestorBeTeMes requieres of course the complete HITECH-C package (at least the files C.COM, CGEN.COM, CPP.COM, LIBR.COM, LINK.COM, OBJTOHEX.COM, OPTIM.COM, P1.COM, ZAS.COM, CREF.COM, LIBC.LIB and CRT.O), as well as the MSX-DOS 2 operating system and the command interpreter COMMAND 2.4x developped by Fokke Post, aka CPU.

INSTALLATION

Before using NestorBeTeMes you must perform the following operations:

1) Create a directory for the compiler, for example A:\HIC

2) Copy to the new directory all the Hitech-C files (see list in previous section), all the libraries you will use (.LIB files), all the header files (.H files) and all the BTM files which compose NestorBeTeMes.

3) Modify AUTOEXEC.BAT so the following environment variables, needed for NestorBeTeMes operation, are properly SET (command SET variable=value):

- HICPATH. Indicates the directory where Hitech-C is placed, for example SET HICPATH = A:\HIC. None of the BTMs can work if this variable is not set.

- PATH variable must be modified so it includes also the Hitech-C directory. For example, before setting HICPATH variable you can do SET PATH = %PATH%;%HICPATH%

- CECHO. If ON, the execution of the BTMs will be verbose, that is, every single instruction of the BTM being executed will be prompted at the screen before its execution. If OFF, execution will not be verbose. If CECHO is not set up, the execution will be verbose or not depending on ECHO.

- HICDEFL. Indicates the libraries which will be always scanned for object files when compiling+linkg source files (with C2X.BTM) or when only linking object files (with O2X.BTM), in abbreviated format (XXX for LIBXXX.LIB), separed by semicolons (";"). For example, SET HICDEFL = f;gfx;snd will cause libraries LIBF.LIB, LIBGFX.LIB and LIBSND.LIB to be always scanned. It is not necessary to specify LIBC.LIB since this is the Hitech-C standard library so it will be always scanned. This variable is optional.

- HICLIB. This variable is used by the library management BTMs (O2L.BTM, C2L.BTM, A2L.BTM, DL.BTM, VL.BTM, EL.BTM and XL.BTM), it specifies the library to which the operation refers when no library name is specified (in abbreviated format, XXX for LIBXXX.LIB). This variable is optional, but if it does not exist, the library name must be always explicity given when executing the BTM.

4) Execute the new AUTOEXEC.BAT or reset your machine, so the variables are set up.

From that moment you can use NestorBeTemes to compile, assemble and link files placed at any directory; only the compiler, the libraries and the headers must be placed in the same directory (the one specified in HICPATH).

BTMs DESCRIPTION

I tried to choose short but at the same time clear names for the BTMs. a2b.BTM means "convert an 'a' type file into a 'b' type file", where a and b are: C (C source file), A (assembler source file), X (COM executable file), O (object file) and L (library file, in this case the meaning is not "convert to" but "insert into"). aL.BTM means "perform the operation 'a' on the library", where a is L (list file), X (extract file), D (delete file) or E (relocate file at the end of the library). EDH.BTM means "Edit .H file".

If you don't like these names you can rename the BTMs as you want. The only one you can't modify is COMUN.BTM, which is directly referred in the other BTMs (if you change its name, search for "comun.btm" string in all the BTMs and replace it by the new name).

A detailed description of each BTM follows:

2X

This BTM compiles a C source file and links it with the appropriate libraries, generating a .COM executable file. Its syntax is:

C2X [path]file[.ext] [options for C.COM]

The source file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified), and the target file will be generated in the current directory. If no extension is given, .C is assumed.

The libraries scanned for the link process will be LIBC.LIB, the ones specified in the HICDEFL variable as explained in the previous section, and the ones specified as -LXXX (for LIBXXX.LIB) as a part of [options for C.COM].

Besides of library files it is also possible to specify object files to be linked, just specifying its name as a part of [options for C.COM], but note that these files must then be placed in the Hitech-C directory.

Examples:

C:\COMS>SET HICDEFL=
C:\COMS>c2x A:\SOURCES\TEST

Generates TEST.COM file in C:\COMS, taking TEST.C placed in A:\SOURCES as source. Only LIBC.LIB will be scanned for linking.

C:\COMS>SET HICDEFL=
C:\COMS>c2x A:\SOURCES\TEST -Lgfx

Same as before, but now LIBC.LIB and LIBGFX.LIB are scanned for linking.

C:\COMS>SET HICDEFL=f;snd
C:\COMS>c2x A:\SOURCES\TEST

Same as before, but now LIBC.LIB, LIBF.LIB and LIBSND.LIB are scanned for linking.

C:\COMS>SET HICDEFL=snd
C:\COMS>c2x A:\SOURCES\TEST -Lgfx

Same as before, but now LIBC.LIB, LIBSND.LIB and LIBGFX.LIB are scanned for linking.

O2X

This BTM links an object file with the appropriate libraries, generating a .COM executable file. Its syntax is:

O2X [path]file[.ext] [options for LINK.COM]

The source file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified), and the target file will be generated in the current directory. If no extension is given, .O is assumed.

The libraries scanned for the link process will be LIBC.LIB, the ones specified in the HICDEFL variable as explained in the previous section, and the ones specified as -LXXX (for LIBXXX.LIB) as a part of [options for LINK.COM].

Examples: see the ones for C2X, assuming now that the specified file is TEST.O

C2O

This BTM compiles a C source file but does not link it, so it just returns an object file. Its syntax is:

C2O [path]file[.ext] [options for C.COM]

The source file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified), and the target file will be generated in the current directory. If no extension is given, .C is assumed.

Example:

C:\OBJS>c2o A:\SOURCES\TEST

Genartes TEST.O file at C:\OBJS, taking file TEST.C placed in A:\SOURCES as source.

A2O

This BTM assembles an assembler source file, returning an object file. Its syntax is:

A2O [path]file[.ext] [options for C.COM]

The source file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified), and the target file will be generated in the current directory. If no extension is given, .AS is assumed.

Example:

C:\OBJS>a2o A:\SOURCES\TEST

Generates TEST.O file at C:\OBJS, taking file TEST.AS placed in A:\SOURCES as source.

C2L

This BTM compiles a C source file but does not link it; an object file is generated and inserted into the appropriate library file. Its syntax is:

C2L [path]file[.ext] [library]

The source file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified). If no extension is given, .C is assumed.

[library] specifies, in abbreviated format (XXX for LIBXXX.LIB), the library file into which the generated object file will be inserted. If there is not any library file with the given name in the directory specified by HICPATH, a new one will be created. If no [library] is specified, the value of HICLIB variable will be taken. If neither [library] nor HICLIB exist, an error message is prompted.

Examples:

C:\COMS>SET HICLIBL=def
C:\COMS>c2l A:\SOURCES\TEST

Generates object file TEST.O taking source file TEST.C, placed at A:\SOURCES, as source; and inserts it into LIBDEF.LIB library file.

C:\COMS>SET HICLIB=def
C:\COMS>c2l A:\SOURCES\TEST mine

Same as before, but now the library file used is LIBMINE.LIB.

C:\COMS>SET HICLIB=
C:\COMS>c2l A:\SOURCES\TEST mine

Same as before: the library file used is LIBMINE.LIB.

C:\COMS>SET HICLIB=
C:\COMS>c2l A:\SOURCES\TEST

The following message is prompted:

*** Error: library name was not specified and HICLIB does not exist

A2L

This BTM assembles an assembler source file, generating an object file which is inserted into the appropriate library file. Its syntax is:

A2L [path]file[.ext] [library]

The source file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified). If no extension is given, .AS is assumed.

Meaning of [library] and examples: see C2L.BTM description.

O2L

This BTM just inserts an already existing object file into the appropriate library. Its syntax is:

O2L [path]file[.ext] [library]

The object file will be searched in the specified path (the current directory if no path is specified). If no extension is given, .O is assumed.

Meaning of [library] and examples: see C2L.BTM description.

VL

This BTM scans a library file searching for an object file, prompts its name if it is found, and optionally shows all the symbols defined and used in the found file. Its syntax is:

VL [@]file[.ext] [library]
VL [@]* [librer¡a]

The library specification is done explicity or via HICLIB variable, in the same way as for C2L.BTM

The specified file is searched into the library file (if no extension is given, .O is assumed). If found, simply its name is prompted; if not found, nothing is prompted. If "@" is added as a prefix to the file name, all the symbols defined and used in the specified file are shown, besides of its name, if it is found.

If "@" is specified instead of a file name, a list of all the object files contained in the library is shown. "@*" shows all the symbols for all the files.

Examples:

A:\>SET HICLIB=def
A:\>vl myobject

If MYOBJECT.O exists into LIBDEF.LIB, the name MYOBJECT.O is prompted in the screen; otherwise nothing is prompted.

A:\>vl * mine

Shows a list of all the object files contained into LIBMINE.LIB

A:\>vl @myobject mine

If MYOBJECT.O exists into LIBMINE.LIB, all its defined and used symbols are shown; otherwise nothing is shown.

DL

This BTM deletes an object file from a library file. Its syntax is:

VL file[.ext] [library]

The library specification is done explicity or via HICLIB variable, in the same way as for C2L.BTM. If no extension is given, .O is assumed.

Examples:

A:\>SET HICLIB=def
A:\>dl myobject

Deletes MYOBJECT.O file from LIBDEF.LIB

A:\>dl myobject mine

Deletes MYOBJECT.O file from LIBMINE.LIB

XL

This file extracts and object file from a library, without deleting it. Its syntax is:

XL fichero[.ext] [librer¡a]

The file is copied into the current directory. The library specification is done explicity or via HICLIB variable, in the same way as for C2L.BTM. If no extension is given, .O is assumed.

Examples:

A:\OBJS>SET HICLIB=def
A:\OBJS>xl myobject

Copies file MYOBJECT.O from LIBDEF.LIB into A:\OBJS

A:\OBJS>xl myobject mine

Copies file MYOBJECT.O from LIBMINE.LIB into A:\OBJS

EL

This BTM searches for an object file contained into a library file, and relocates it the end of the library. Its syntax is:

EL fichero[.ext] [librer¡a]

The library specification is done explicity or via HICLIB variable, in the same way as for C2L.BTM. If no extension is given, .O is assumed.

This operation is necessary when we obtain a "undefined symbol" error when compiling but the object file in which that symbol is defined is actually contained in one of the libraries specified for linking. Relocating that object file at the end of its library, the problem is solved.

Example:

A:\>SET HICLIB=def
A:\>vl *

first.o
second.o
third.o

A:\>el first
A:\>vl *

second.o
third.o
first.o

EDH

Changes to the Hitech-C directory and loads TED with the specified header file. It syntax is:

EDH file[.ext]

If no header is specified, .H is assumed.

This BTM is only useful for editing header files without having to change to Hitech-C directory nor specify the complete file path in the TED command line. Since the Hitech-C directory is actually the current directory while TED is being executed, you can load any other header file by just typing its name in the disk menu. When exiting TED, the previous directory is restored.

If you want to use any other text editor instead of TED, search for the string "ted" into EDH.BTM file, and change it by the name of your text editor.

Example:

A:\SOURCES>edh miheader

Changes to the Hitech-C directory and executes TED MIHEADER.H. When exiting TED, restores A:\SOURCES as the current directory.

COMUN

COMUN.BTM contains common instructions for all the BTMs, the file is called from all of them. It is not intended to be executed alone, except for executing it without parameters, in this case it erases all the temporary variables previously created by another BTM. (All the BTMs erase its temporary variables when finishing the process, so there will remain residual temporary variables in the system only if a BTM process is aborted before it finishes).

COMUN.BTM can't be renamed, since it is directly referred from all the other BTM files.

NOTES

Aborting the execution of a BTM program (due for example to compilation errors) may cause problems if execution was inside a conditional block. There is a small troubleshooting:

• If after aborting a BTM the command interprete does not accept any command, execute ELSE.

• If after aborting a BTM you see that you are placed in the Hitech-C directory, you can return to your original directory by simply executing POPD (you may have to execute it twice).

• If during the BTM execution you obtain "Too many parameters" messages, execute ENDIFF a few times or go BASIC and return DOS, before executing it again.

• After aborting a BTM program execution, execute COMUN without parameters (or any other BTM file without parameters) in order to clear residual temporary variables.

THE USUAL BULLSHIT

NestorBeTeMes is freeware, so distribute it as you want, but please distribute only the complete package (the explained BTMs plus NESBTM.TXT and NESBTME.TXT) and if you do any modification please explain it in a separate text file.

If you want to kick me or congratulate me or blah, blah... contact me at konamimanand visit my home page at http://www.konamiman.com

Remember that COMMAND 2.4x is not freeware, please buy it to the author because he did a great job and besides it is a cheap stuff. At the time of writing this, the only way to buying it is contacting directly with Fokke Post (direccion), and the price is 15.88 euro.

And Kyoko rules.

VERSION INFORMATION

• 1.01 (14-2-2001): Faster EDH.BTM version, this one does not call COMUN.BTM

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