Updated July 12

Programming colorForth

Getting started

Easiest way to start an application (which I use) is to pick the closest example. Copy its main block to a new block. Rip out the garbage.

First put up a display, blank screen is fine. Then define the keypad, with null keys. Gradually build the display and add functional keys. Keys are displayed from their icon index packed 4/word. Icon editor provides the index.

Save after you've typed more than you care to lose.

Take advantage of the continually refreshed display. It's there to provide motion. If you look at a dump of graphic registers, some are changing. Neat!

If you exceed a half-dozen blocks of code, think about factoring. If the application has several phases, they can overload one-another. Compile time is imperceptable.

Words

There are some useful words buried in the kernel. I'll describe them here. Till I do, you can see them in COLOR.ASM. But they're not documented.