Introduction

At last... After hours of thinking, trying, compressing, inhaling, transpiring and experimenting it's been done. The ATOMIC WINDOWS ROM is finished. The result is a ROM in which there is a number of commands to create so-called dialogue windows in CLEAR 4. These windows are used to interact with the user.
It has now become very easy to select between several options, to select or deselect an option, to enter text, or to place an icon. Pulldown menus or icon menus can be made as well.
All this can be done with or without a mouse, in an original ATOM, a software ATOM emulator or the Atom-in-PC (a hardware Atom emulator). The possibilities are unlimited, well... limited to the programmer's imagination.

What is Atomic Windows?

Atomic Windows (AW) is a ROM with which the programmer can build a graphical interface by placing objects in order to achieve interaction with the user. One can use icons and push buttons to execute parts of a program. One can use text-input areas. One can create a selection list. The whole building of the screen (which would normally occupy a large part of the programs size) has become a lot easier, when using AW-commands. Most of the objects are also known in Microsoft Windows.

System requirements

To get AW to work, the ROM is required at A000h. There is no further hardware required. The software inside the ROM can be used to control the hardware mouse.

Atomic Windows Commands

The commands in the ROM can be split into three divisions: General commands, Active objects, and Passive commands. In their turn, active objects can be split into two groups, namely Active-Exit and Active-Loop objects.

General commands

AW

Shows version number of the ROM.

DLGBASE <Address>

With this command a memory block from <address> to <address+06FFh> is reserved for a FontDataTable and an IconDataTable; From <address+0700h> onwards, there is space for object parameters.

address	:	address+02FFh	FontDataTable
address+0300h	:	address+06FFh	IconDataTable
address+0700h	:	...	WindowsEventTable

DLGCLS

Fills the entire screen with a raster pattern.

DLGCREATE <ExitVar>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>,<w>,<h>

Defines a Window on position <x>,<y> with width <w> and height <h>, titled <Text$>.
Whenever a selection is made, and the interaction mode is exited the selection (ExitCode) is transferred to <ExitVar>.
<Style> allows the following options for <Text$> (which by the way applies to all other objects as well):

bit 7 : Place a CANCEL button (DLGCREATE only),
bit 6 : Place an OK button (DLGCREATE only),
bit 5 : Double height,
bit 4 : Greyscale, selectable objects are then no longer selectable,
bit 3 : Invert,
bit 2 : Underline,
bit 1 : Italic,
bit 0 : Bold.

Combinations of several bits are allowed. If, for example, you'd like a bold, inverted text, select Style = 1 + 8 = 9.

DLGEND

Goes to interaction mode. The <COPY> key selects the next object; the <DELETE> key the previous object. The <ESCAPE> key exits the interaction mode. The <SPACEBAR> is used to execute an action. If you're using a mouse, the left mouse button has the same effect as the <SPACEBAR>.

DLGPOINTER <number>

Assigns mouse pointer <number>. There are 32 predefined mouse cursors available.

bit 7 :	0=Pointer on, 1=Pointer off.
bits 0-4 :	Mouse cursor number.

Active-Exit objects

Active-Exit objects are objects then exit the interaction mode, when they are selected. When the interaction mode is exited, the object's ExitCode is transferred to the ExitVar, defined with DLGCREATE. The commands to place such an objects are the following:

DLGPUSHBUTTON <ExitCode>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>

Places a push button at position <x>,<y>, with header <Text$> and is selectable.

DLGOPTION <ExitCode>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>

Places <Text$> at position <x>,<y> and is selectable.

DLGICON <ExitCode>,<IconNr>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>

Places an icon [0..31] at position <x>,<y>, with subscript <Text$> and is selectable.

DLGHOTSPOT <ExitCode>,<x>,<y>,<w>,<h>,<VarX>,<VarY>

Marks a rectangle at position <x>,<y> with width <w> and height <h>, in which any point can be clicked.
The relative x- and y-values of this point are stored into <VarX> and <VarY>.

DLGLISTBOX <ExitCode>,<Var>,<x>,<y>,<w>,<h>,<MaxRec>,<Pointer>

Places a rectangle at position <x>,<y> with width <w> and height <h>, and attached to it a scrollbar.
In the rectangle strings, defined in the array <Var>, are placed.
The format of the array is as follows:

Selected string + 0Dh,
1 byte with number of strings in array,
1 byte with stringnumber of first string in window,
1 byte with stringnumber of selected string,
First string in array + 0Dh,
Second string in array + 0Dh,
....
MaxRec string in array + 0Dh.

Whenever the [up-arrow] in the scrollbar is clicked, all strings are scrolled down one position, and vice versa for the [down-arrow].
If one clicks on a string inside the rectangle, it will be selected and transferred to the selected string.
<Var> therefore always holds the latest selected string.

Active-Loop objects

Active-Loop objects change a variable, but do not exit the interaction mode.
The commands are the following:

DLGRADIOBUTTON <Var>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>

Places a radio button at position <x>,<y> with behind it <Text$> which is selectable.
The first radio button is bit 0 of <Var>, the second radio button is bit 1 of <Var>, etc.
Thus, there is a maximum of eight radio buttons per <Var>, of which only one can be selected.

DLGCHECKBOX <Var>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>

Places a check box at position <x>,<y> with behind it <Text$> which is selectable.
If the check box is empty, <Var> will be 0. If the check box is selected, <Var> is not 0.

DLGTEXT <StringVar>,<Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>,<w>

Places <Text$> at position <x>,<y> with behind an input area with width <w>.
As default, this input area contains $<StringVar>.
On leaving the input area with the <RETURN> key, $<StringVar> is adjusted.
On leaving the input area with the <ESCAPE> key, $<StringVar> is not adjusted.

Passive objects

Passive objects are objects, that are not selectable. The commands to place such an object are the following:

DLGFRAME <Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>,<w>,<h>

Places a rectangle at position <x>,<y> with width <w> and height <h> and is not selectable.
<Text$> is placed right above the rectangle and is centred horizontally.

DLGLABEL <Text$>,<Style>,<x>,<y>

Places <Text$> at position <x>,<y> and is not selectable.

Remark

All <x> and <y> coordinates (except DLGCREATE) are relative, i.e. (0,0) is the upper left hand corner of the DLGCREATE window, undepending on the position of the window on the screen.

How to use AW

1. Assign a memory range for storage of data (DLGBASE).
2. Create a window, in which the object are to be placed (DLTGREATE).
3. Place several objects in the window, by using the AW commands.
4. Go to interaction mode (DLGEND).
5. Whenever the interaction mode is exited, take action depending on the value of ExitVar.
6. Repeat this procedure from point 2 until the program is ended.

Memory usage

AW uses the following memory:

0080h - 0090h : Workspace hardware dependend routines,
00C0h - 00D0h : Workspace command routines,
0140h - 017Fh : Buffer area and storage global variables,
A000h - AFFFh : AW-ROM,
BFE0h - BFE2h : Hardware mouse.

The ROM is divided into three parts, namely:

Interpreter,
Command routines,
Data storage AW-characters (ASCII 0-31).

The workspace for the hardware dependend routines (80h-90h) and for the commands (C0h-D0h) is temporary.
The usage of the buffer area (0140h-017Fh) is temporary as well, except for DlgBaseAddress (016Dh-016Eh) and DlgBasePointer (016Fh-0170h).

The Data storage area is assigned by DLGBASE, and can be split into three parts, namely: