The Sinclair QL Forum

An update of Per Witte's Themes utility is now available to download from http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/gd2/index.html

This is version 0.05, which fixes a couple of bugs in the software. On the page, scroll down to "themes05.zip" to download the package as a zipped file.

The Themes package consists of a small collection of, possibly, useful programs, scripts and code snippets to showcase the use of Themes in general and the new Theme File Format, THB, in particular.

In his README.TXT intro to the package, Per says: "This piece is only relevant to users of SMSQ/E and/or Wman2. (The rest of
you might want to check out what youre missing )"

Thanks for the mention, Dilwyn. In all modesty I should perhaps add that this is a very
minor update to a minor set of utilities! However, interested parties will be able to
follow the bread crumbs to more fulsome information.

Hi Per,

I have had a look at the Themes v5 package. I could not get the QLiberated executable SiThVi.obj to run. It crashed at line 620. Executing the SBasic source from within QD also crashed with the error Line 620 4 Invalid name. Looking at the line the statement ERT -12 is the problem. SBASIC will run if this instruction is REMed out. I am puzzled as this construct and actual statement is used elsewhere in the code without the same problem.

Duncan

That program actually seems to want a filename (of a theme file) as a command line argument (like in "EX SiThVi.obj; Themefile_thm") . You most probably have supplied none, which the program found to be a "BAD NAME". So, all fine, works as designed.

Tobias

Hi Tobias,

You are correct. I have tried it again and it works.
I was certain that I had supplied a file on the command line, but now that I have tried again it works so somehow the filename was not there previously or it was wrong.

Duncan

It is a rather simple program. It doesnt have all the tests and error checking of a fully fledged commercial offering. Its a "hacker's" tool.

The meaning of that error in that place is that no valid _thb file was found. So either a file name was given but the file was wrong (not a 114b THB file) or no name was supplied at all. I think Tobias probably nailed it.

The program accepts two kinds of file: THM or THB, eg theme_thm, or theme_thb. SiThVi has no user interface apart from its display, so file input is done via the command line, thus:

EX <program path>SiThVi_obj; '<data path>theme_thm'
or
EX <program path>SiThVi_obj; '<data path>theme_thb'

I hope you get it to work now! Or let me know.

Hi Per,

I understood that when I first tried the programs but must have somehow not supplied the file name correctly as I did not bother to link it to FI2 and did not EX from SBASIC.

BTW thanks for the pointers to the meaning of the contents of the theme file in your previous posts.

Duncan