VolksForth/msdos

VolksForth MS-DOS README

• How to meta-compile a new kernel
• creating a minimal system with a simple editor
• creating a full VolksForth system from the minimal kernel
• creating a version of VolksForth that works with emu2

How to meta-compile a new kernel

After making changes the the Forth kernel source in kernel.fb, restart volksforth.com to have a clean system and compile a new "minimal" kernel with include kernel.fb. This will create a new FORTH.COM executable.

creating a minimal system with a simple editor

Execute forth.com include minimal.sys to generate the file minimal.com which contains a minimal VolksForth system with the Retro-Forth editor https://fossil.forth-ev.de/volksforth/wiki?name=Atari8bit-retrofortheditor

This system can be used to edit the file volksforth.sys or other Forth source block files needed to create a full VolksForth system.

creating a full VolksForth system from the minimal kernel

Execute forth.com include volks4th.sys to create a new fully equipped VolksForth executable volks4th.com.

creating a version of VolksForth that works with emu2

EMU2 is a nice PC Emulator that can run MS-DOS console applications as Linux/MacOS/Windows console applications. EMU2 can be found at https://github.com/dmsc/emu2

The standard Keyboard-Interface of VolksForth (BDOS) does not work with EMU2, however it is possible to switch to the simpler BIOS keyboard interface. For that, comment out the blocks #114 and #115 by placing \\ at the beginning of the first row of these blocks and comment in block #116 by changing the \\ in the first row to \. (\ is "skip to end of line" comment, while \\ is the "skip to end of current block" commend).

The downside of this change is that the VolksForth full screen editor does not work anymore, as the BIOS interface does not support special keys like cursor or function keys. As a replacement, the Retro-Forth Editor rfe.fb or some other Forth Editor can be used.