<QUOTE>
A MODEST PROPOSAL
Brandon Sterner, author of PuzzPack, Symbolic, and so much more, made the following proposition on #tcpa: "I'd like to see some sort of romcall documenting database where many people can come together and add things." Since TI hasn't released all of this information, it is mostly spread out across the Internet. If a member of our community could create such a database, assembly programming would become easier for all. Brandon also points out that "there would need to be some sort of moderators, keeping everything in line or else it would get spammed." I personally would love to see something like this set up, so let's see what we can do!
</QUOTE>

I can set something like that up on my site. I can make it so that anyone can submit, but only certain people can commit, and all sorts of stuff. Anybody that wants to help plan, look for me on AIM AndySoft00Ltd (zeros), ICQ 61051061, MSN andysoft_ldt@hotmail.com, Y! andysoft_ltd, or IRC Dal.Net #VBProgramming or QuakeNet #VB.

As someone said above, a forum in the same place would be nice. I can do that too. Click URL link above.

For IRC, I have a Java chat applet on my site (but you have to register). http://andysoft.codenamenetwork .com/common/chat.php

http://andysoft.codenamenetwork.com/ forum/index.php?act=ST&f=20&t=77

I like the idea of a rom call database where people can discuss various doucmentations and reverse-engineerings.

So how would it be different from ti's own documentation which is very extensive? I know that the documentation for the ti89/92+ leaves a lot of gaps (filled by tigcc), but does the ti83+ documentation also have as many gaps? (Aside from being a massive .pdf *ugh*)

For the ti89 there is tigcc, and there is plenty of discussion on the tigcc message board about new rom calls.

Well, I'm not so sure about gaps being a problem, but as you mentioned, the 83+ is in a PDF. A database would probably be easier to search and use. And you can have all the calcs in one place.

The main point would be to uncover romcalls that few people know about. Do you know about the mouse romcall on the 83+ and 73? Probably not, because it's undocumented by TI.

I have done a large amount of reverse engineering the ti89. And I am credited for some of it in tigcc documentation and some I'm not. Don't thow 83+ factoids in my face, like I'm some sort of newbie.

But I do find that interesting.

As far as documentation goes I only plan to get mine from tigcc. If I want to discuss any dis-assembling I do for new rom calls I will use the tigcc message board. If the 83+ programmers don't already have anything like the tigcc documentation then I think that is the way this rom call database should go.



-The One and Only Cheerio: A status that nobody else could ever achieve.

I think he was making a good point. There are huge holes in the documentation. The tigcc message boards are quite impressive, but they lack the ability to remove the gibberish and compactly organize the data. We all wish the 83+ os was written in C like the 89, unfortunately its several hundred kilobytes of spagetti code. Organizing scraps of information will be key to understanding the rom.

Giberish on the tigcc message boards? Obviously you've never talked to the admins :) Even so, Giberish gets left on the boards while the intelligent stuff gets put into tigcc.

I can understand how dis-assembling spagetti code written in assembly spread across multiple 16k pages can be harder than dis-assembling structured c code, compiled by an almost retarded compiler that is spread linearly across 1.3 megs.

But it depends on what you are looking for. For example the method in which ti89 combines low power mode and keyboard scanning is rather involved: It is spread across 2 interupts and 1 rom routine, they interoperate through a couple of global variables and rely on hardware ports having been set up in a specific fashion by each other.

To clarify parigraph 1 of above post. I consider someone telling me what I do and do not know to be rude.

He said that most people woln't know it.

He didn't say that there was no person who would know it...

Yeah... I wasn't trying to insult you. In fact, I wasn't even attempting to address you, but rather the generic "you". My apologies if I offended you. Nonetheless I was just merely pointing out that there are a lot of things that are useful but that few people know about because they are undocumented, and this is where the RCDB could come in handy.

My mistake and my Apologies.

Even the One and Only Cheerio isn't perfect.



-Samuel S, The distinguished Cheerio.