[aprssig] APRS DOS a time for change?

[Mark Sproul]

I have been programming computers for over 30 years, switching from 
command line program style to windoid (Mac Windows X-Windows) style 
is a MAJOR MAJOR paradigm switch. For the most part it is IMPOSSIBLE 
to take dos, or unix CLI (Command Line Interface) code and convert it 
to Windows, Mac, or X-Windows.  The overall style is COMPLETELY 
different.  Yes of course some of the routines such as parsing can be 
switched over, but.....

The language that Bob used for APRSdos is not a language that is used 
in windoid style programming on any platform.

Programming on Windows, MacOS, and X-Windows is pretty much identical 
from overall view point. I know this for a fact because MacAPRS, 
WinAPRS and X-APRS is the exact same code base including menu 
handlers, dialog box handlers, etc.  I have never released X-APRS 
cause I could not get it to reliably load on machines other than the 
build machine.

Keith and I have tried to implement as much as what Bob has asked for 
over the years as we could, some of the display issues are 
fundamentally different in a GUI environment as opposed to a CLI 
environment.

WinAPRS is not dead, just slowed down a lot. My next major 
improvement will be utilizing the new map data format from the census 
bureau that replaces the current TIGER line format.


Mark Sproul



At 2:37 PM -0500 1/11/08, Robert Bruninga wrote:
>  > why after all these years... has APRS DOS
>>  not been ported over so that it could be
>>  run properly within a windows environment?
>
>Because I don't know how.  So I released the source code years
>ago with the hope that someone more talented than I in something
>other than QBasic could do it.

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Mark Sproul                              |
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