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Welcome to the M2000 Environment wiki!

Source for M2000 Interpreter/Environment need Visual Basic 6 is required (written using the Enterprise Edition, although no special features are used from that edition).

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Before opening the source, m2000.vbp, prepare IDE for Greek font (text in vb files are in ANSI form, as expected). We run the source from the IDE and this produces the dll so we run M2000.exe which uses this dll. To run Greek commands from the ide we have to turn support for non Unicode programs (the VB6 IDE), to Greek. If we didn't the program will run but won't understand Greek statements, only the English statements. The M2000.exe removed from the Code sp you have to compile it from mexe.vbp. Remeber when we run m2000.dll from IDE we can put breakpoints. We can run twice the M2000.exe when we have the M2000.dll running from IDE.

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Dependencies: Windows XP and later. Optional Access2007 runtime. System language can be anything, the final program, the M2000 Environment, is Unicode aware. There is no use of VB6 controls (the application use PictureBox, WEbBrowser, and user controls). Dialogues and User Forms (GUI) constructed with one user control capable of creating buttons, textboxes, lists, comboboxes, and Editboxes. Layout for all controls is the same in the OS used. Also the Environment is dpi aware (play in any dpi setting), and multi monitor setting. Version 12 have some user controls, to be used at will, and can use external controls.

The Environment can be run many times (theoretically 50 times). So we can run a m2000.exe with a program and we can use another m2000.exe to edit a new program. Programs are modules and each environment can load many modules. To run a module we simply use its name (there is no Run statement). Use End to exit from environment. A program may run by clicking if we set the m2000.exe to open it. When a program includes the run statement (the name of the module) we start it without showing the console environment unless we use it by statements (perhaps we use GUI or we want silent execution). We can use the Show statement in out code to open the console at out will. Running m2000.exe always open the console in a magenta background and yellow text. We can change this using Settings statement which open dialogue Settings.

To install binaries to be able to use M2000 interpreter (and environment) is very simple: get the latest release from this git.

When you install it you get two pdf files, a GreekManual.pdf and M2000paper.pdf (also you can found these in master in github). The help file now is a dat file (it is a text file, utf-8 encoded). You can use any old help2000.mdb using from M2000 console the command Switch "+mdb", and you have to copy the Help2000.mdb from master in github to appdir$ (you can open explorer from M2000 console using win appdir$).

Also in installation file there is the info.gsb file (Also a utf-8 text file) with many modules (programs in M2000). To use it do the following commands. This info shown information to allow you to use the language.

dir appdir$

load info

(press F1 to save it to user folder, also this set automatic the current folder to user folder)

When I want to edit/insert key/data to help file, I use the mdb file, using a program from Info file CHANGEHELP. Then another program MAKEHELP (From same Info file) create the new dat file. There are two programs: EXPORTHELP and EXPORTHELPNEW, the first one use the mdb file, the second one use the dat file, and we can select the Greek or the English records to written in a text file. Greek records are 595 and the EXPORTHELPNEW save and open the greekhelpfile.doc. Word 365 ask for encoding, it is UTF-8. This file has data for 266 pages A4. The English export has data for 298 pages A4.

February 1, 2023

George Karras

Kalithea Greece

See code here: Rosseta Code

Thanks mr Peter Swinkels, member of vbForums for his help on grammar problems for this text.