Sinclair QL 

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Having mastered how to use your favourite software, the biggest challenge facing any computer user is learning to program their own code. Hundreds of people have learnt how to create small programs easily in SuperBASIC on the Sinclair QL, and once compiled, these programs can often rival the type of software emerging from the likes of Microsoft.

RWAP Software can provide various accessories to assist with the task of programming the Sinclair QL and compatibles, not least of which are in-depth reference guides to the language and various keywords available to the ordinary user, as well as background information on the hardware available, compatibility issues and using the hardware interfaces.

There are various other languages available for the Sinclair QL, mainly as freeware, including Forth, Fortran, Pascal and C (Sinclair QL Homepage).

Our own programming utilities detailed below are now also available as freeware.

 

	SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual (1000+ page loose leaf book) Review: QL Today Vol 3, Iss 6, Quanta Jul 2000 -- Now provided on CD-ROM in Adobe Acrobat format- This is the definitive guide to SuperBASIC programming across the range of QLs and compatible operating systems. It is a mammoth book (1000+ pages) presented in two A4 ring binders, to make for easy updating. This forms a complete programmer's aid to BASIC on the QL, with details of all of the keywords supported on the various QL implementations plus DIY Toolkit, Hotkey System II and lots of Public Domain toolkits. Problems on the various versions of the QL and where you can crash the system, together with details of the various hardware options available to the QL user are also supplied, together with how to make programs compatible across the QL range of computers and emulators. There is a computer based index (Q-Index) and two other disks containing the examples contained in the book and the latest versions of the public domain toolkits (excluding the source codes and original texts) referred to in the book. The index disk now contains a list of keywords added by the more common commercial toolkits not covered in the Manual itself. The full toolkit sources are available from us separately. If you are not certain which Release of the Reference Manual you own - look at the following: Rel 0 - Page 2 of the Contents is dated 10/1/98 Rel 1 - Page 2 of the Contents is dated 1/1/99 Rel 2 and onwards have the Revision Number at the bottom of the Foreward page. An extract from the SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual is available from here You can also access the QL Community online version of the SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual - this is the full reference manual, and has been reformatted by Norman Dunbar. A description of how the reformatting was achieved can be read here.  If you want to help improve the manual further, then you can do so through the SBASIC / SuperBASIC Reference Manual project page - or read the notes on the community overview The community edition of the manual was released by us as freeware in recognition of the 30th Anniversary of the Sinclair QL.
	Q-Index (SuperBASIC Topics Index Program) Review: QL Today Vol 3 Iss 6, Quanta Jul 2000 This is the index program (disk 1) released with the SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual, but is now available separately by demand. Q-Index allows you to enter the name of a topic upon which you need help (such as screen display) and will then list all other relevent topics, plus any commands which relate to that topic and which Appendices of the SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual to look in. If you have installed Q-Help as a resident procedure, clicking on a keyword name will call up the help file available through Q-Help. Simple to use, with a history and search topics function, Q-Index is a welcome addition to any programmer's armoury.
	Q-Help (SBASIC Keyword Help Program) Review: QL Today Vol 4 Iss 3, Quanta May 2000 This is a small utility which can be called from the interpreter or from within other programs (including QD) to give you syntax and a short description on the use of the most common SuperBASIC keywords (excluding commercial toolkits). Much enhanced over the original HyperHelp sold by Jochen Merz, but with the same ability to add extra help files easily. If you are an owner of Q-Index, available separately, or supplied with the SBASIC/SuperBASIC Reference Manual, all you have to do is select the topic you are interested in, using Q-Index, and then click on the appropriate keyword to get full details of its syntax... Q-Help automatically creates its own cross-reference from any text files included in its index file and also allows you to place any line from within the help files into the Hotkey stuffer buffer - with the help files provided (keyword descriptions), this allows you to copy the syntax of a keyword directly into your program. As a result, Q-Help is not limited to being used for keyword help and you can create your own help files for any programs which you are developing and use Q-Help to cross-reference and present those help files for viewing. Q-Help can be called as an executable job, supplying information on all SuprBASIC keywords, otherwise it can be installed as a resident procedure, enabling you to type, for example: Q_HELP 'PRINT' to get details about the PRINT command.