v2.2.1
The 2.0+ versions of the Basic Dignified Suite is slightly incompatible with the previous versions so old Dignified code must be updated accordingly. A list of incompatibilities is available here.
Basic Dignified is a way for programming classic 8bit computer Basics on a modern, friendly paradigm. MSX and CoCo Basics are supported but more can be added through modules.
With Basic Dignified you can program for the included systems on a modern environment using Sublime Text or Visual Studio Code with syntax highlight, build systems, snippets and more.
Basic Dignified improves and adds to the classic Basic, keeping the syntax as close as possible to the original, making the learning curve almost inexistent (the only requirement is the use of labels instead of line numbers), while adding a lot of quality of life improvements that can be used or not. The output is converted to the classic Basics and can run automatically on an emulator.
Dignified Basic is written without line numbers, can be indented and have lines broken, can use variables with long names, have macros defined and external files included, has a kind of function construct, can use Unicode special characters analogues to the original character set, as well as rem toggles, true and false statements, compound arithmetic operators and much more. The conversion is customizable with controls for line numbers, spaces, code cleanup and more.
The suite is designed to be very modular, implementing any flavor of Basic through modules that describe their unique characteristics. The modules are programmed independently and loaded as needed.
External tools like tokenizers and emulators to run and debug the code can be easily added through individual modules inside each system ecosystem.
The module and tools can add their own commands and directives to the overall control of Basic Dignified.
The suite can be used directly from the terminal, through command line arguments, but it is best experienced inside IDEs and code editors like Sublime Text, VSCode and others.
By default, the suite comes with two modules, one for MSX Basic and one for Color Computer Basic and YOU can make the next module. ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64, anyone?
The included modules contains the Basic language description, control for included tokenizers, the ability run the code on emulators and support for Visual Studio Code and Sublime Text with build system, syntax highlight for the Dignified and Classic Basic versions as well as themes, snippets, completions and more.
Beyond the Dignified code, Basic Dignified can open classic ASCII code to tokenize, execute, monitor and more.
On openMSX on the Mac or Linux, the code can be monitored during execution and errors are reported back to the correct line in the Dignified code.
On MSX, to help kickstart you on the Dignified thing, try MSX Basic DignifieR to convert a classic Basic to the Dignified format.
Support Tools: MSX Basic Tokenizer, MSX DignifieR and CoCo to CAS
Basic Dignified runs on Python 3.8+.
No external dependencies are needed.
Basic Dignified is constantly evolving so please report any misbehavior.
As always, Basic Dignified is offered as is, with no guaranties whatsoever. Use at your own discretion.
Having said that, enjoy and send feedback.
Thanks.
