In this issue:
API Corner: Password Textbox - By Alyce Watson
Tip Corner: Character Replacement
LB Isam Library - By Richard Peeters
Beginning Games Programming 2 - By Richard Ryles
Rubber Band Objects - by Tom Nally
WMLiberty Primer - from the Forum by Brent Thorne
LB Browser - By Doyle Whisenant
Beginning Programming - Part 5 - By Brad Moore
INPUTTO Demo - By Brad Moore
Chase Button - LB Fun by David Drake
Questionaire Wizard - A demo by Brad Moore
MIDI Output: Some thoughts - by Midi_boink
MIDI-Tunes - Some fun MIDI music by John Richardson
Play MIDI DLL - A DLL for playing MIDI files by Brad Moore
Directory Search Function - By Brad Moore
Syntax Error: (Notes from the Editor)
As I continue to write the Liberty Basic Beginner series I think about the struggles that I have had over the years coming up to speed as a programmer (and I am by no means a stellar programmer). It has been a long journey, but a rich and rewarding one. I think about the people who are just starting out. Wow! What a scary and exciting and challenging world to come to age in programming.
I was lucky. Computers were simple when I started out. No graphics to speak of. Now windows and dialog boxes and font pickers. There was a kid who sat in the back of my programming class in high school and picked something else, but this is about programming and not noses!
It occurs to me that what we need is a guide or a map. It was while I was thinking these thoughts that I ran across this month's quote. How appropriate I thought and how funny. But I have felt like I am trying to find my way with this very map many times. I hope that if you are a lonesome traveler learning your way through Liberty Basic, that this issue and all the subsequent issues are helpful, and meaningful sign post along the way. Let us know what you think. Post your comments, ideas and suggestions on the Liberty Basic forum: [http://libertybasic.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=feedback]
We have a lot of material this month. Some really neat stuff to offer. Richard comes to us with part two of his games tutorial. I also have part five of the Beginners Series which is very games oriented this time around. Alyce is responding to user feedback (that stuff is important - it lets us know what you are looking for and how well the material fits the readership) with yet another fine API examples and companion articles. Tom Nally is also online to amaze us with an article and a couple demos about creating and manipulating rubber band objects - it is great stuff.
I can not possibly cover it all here - you are going to have to explore and enjoy yourself to see it all. There are some exciting and fun topics covered (I only hope I don't leave something out), like MIDI and MIDI concepts, ISAM indexing using Liberty Basic, Using the WMLiberty DLL to extend Liberty Basic and capture windows messages. Doyle has graciously let me republish his LB Browser which was suppose to be in the issue 107, but I spaced out and forgot to include it.
Thanks so much. Enjoy!
Brad
News from the Contests Forum:
Well - here it is. The next Liberty Basic programming contest. This is a true contest and will feature prizes for winners. More on that in a minute.
The official announcement went out at the conforums site at: http://libertybasic.conforums.com - here is what it said:
The contest is a game development contest. Any form of game qualifies - puzzles, action, arcade, Roll Playing, adventure - you name it. To qualify in the contest you game must pertain to the winter season in some way, whether that be snow, or snowflakes or a winter scene or a seasonal twist around your favorite holiday. Keep it clean and presentable to people of many ideologies (no "Grandma got ran over by a raindeer" games please).
Programming begins now. Get you thoughts together and start working on your game. You will have until October 22nd to complete you game and submit it.
To submit your game please upload it to the FTP area at http://babek.info/libertybasicfiles/lbf_upload.php. When you upload your game please prefix the filename with "contest-". I will be posting the contest entries in an open area where they can be downloaded and played by our judges.
Your games must be submitted in the form of a BAS file. If you also want to include a TKN that is up to you. Do not upload the standard Liberty Basic support files (dlls and runtime engine). If you use graphics in your game (and imagine most of you will), then you should upload your entry in a zip file. Your game must include the following information at the top of your code:
The following are the official dates regarding this contest:
Begins: June 22, 2003
All Programs due by: October 22, 2003
Open Judging (by poll) begins: November 1, 2003
Polls close: November 30, 2003
Winners announced: December 1, 2003
Judging will be done by the community. To participate, download the contest entries and try them out. Make a note of your favorite and go to the poll site (to be announced later) and cast your vote. You will only be permitted to vote once.
Prizes: This contest will have three winners. All three winners will receive a copy of GameWorkshop by Alyce Watson, graciously donated by Alyce for this contest. GameWorkshop is an awesome tool for bringing sprite based games to reality quickly and easily. I highly recommend it. Check it out at Alyces Restaurant. The first place winner will also receive a prize package of game related books which I have procured to this contest. The second place winner will get a book of game source code for earlier PCs from the annuals of Creative Computing - something to make the creative juices flow!
Please consider joining in. It will be a fun and richly rewarding contest!
Thanks. Brad Moore
Several of the great submissions this month are accompanied by addition files not available unless you download the monthly newsletter package as a zip file. You will find the following in the archive:
SUBMISSIONS
The Liberty BASIC Newsletter encourages all LB programmers to submit articles for publication. Everyone has something valuable to say, from beginners to veteran LBers. Consider sharing a code routine, with explanation. Perhaps you can review a favorite LB website, or program, or coding tool? Why not submit a list of questions that have been nagging at you? How about sharing your favorite algorithm?
The Publishing Team:
Alyce Watson: alycewatson@charter.net
Brad Moore: brad.moore@weyerhaeuser.com
Tom Nally: SteelWeaver52@aol.com
Carl Gundel: carlg@libertybasic.com
Bill Jennings: bbjen@bigfoot.com