[EM] How to run opl on Psion 3a?

MIKE OSSIPOFF nkklrp at hotmail.com
Sat Apr 7 19:35:29 PDT 2001


>Well, the closest I could get to information was
>http://www.org2.com/opl-ref/

Thanks for the reference. I'll check it out.

>which tells me that OPL is a BASIC type language.

What? I haven't seen the latest versions of BASIC, but OPL little
resembles the BASIC versions that I've used. Since I don't know what
the newest BASICs are like, I of course can't comment on what is or
isn't like them.

Of course it wasn't my purpose to make an issue about what OPL is
like, and since I didn't really choose it there's no reason why I
should be defensive about it. Nevertheless I'd like to comment.

OPL has a few things in common with BASIC. ":" can separate statements in a 
line. ";" can suppress linefeed after a print. OPL, like BASIC,
isn't fancy and doesn't have astounding features that distinguish it.

There are differences too (with the BASIC versions that I've used):
OPL is procedure-based, block-structured. Everything is in a procedure.
Procedures are called by name. BASIC's nearest thing to a callable
procedure is its "gosub", which is called by line-number rather than
by name. OPL procedures can have input paramters; BASIC gosubs can't.

OPL has the modern loop & if structures, has macros, and its procedures
can be called by the use of a string, which has some practical uses.
OPL doesn't number the lines. OPL arrays are only 1-dimensional.

Those are some of the differences. I don't recognize OPL as being a
BASIC. But then, as I said, I haven't seen the latest BASICS, and so
I can't claim to say what is or isn't like them.

Mike Ossipoff


If that's so, I may be
>able to help on some of the details. But probably not on starting up.
>
>On Fri, 6 Apr 2001, MIKE OSSIPOFF wrote:
>
> >
> > The new computer that I've been trying to run a program on is a
> > Psion 3a. It has a built-in programming language called OPL.
> >
> > If you've ever written OPL programs for a Psion 3a, or even for
> > another Psion, and run them, then: How is it done?
> >
> > The run OPL icon at the system screen? How do you make it appear?
> >
> > The "run" selection at the program menu? How do you get past the
> > dialog box that doesn't seem to respond to any keypress?
> >
> > The install dialog box? Same problem.
> >
> > Or is there another way to run an OPL program on the Psion 3a?
> >
> > Mike Ossipoff
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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