Problems compiling to executables on Linux

[dchr]

Dear all,

recently, I experienced an issue that may or may not be related to another recent thread on this forum ("QB64 v1.2 on Linux and OS/X has big problems!").

I noticed this on a fresh install of QB64 (latest stable version) on the latest release of Linux Mint as well a few days ago - both the QB64 executable itself, as well as the compiled executables themselves, could not be executed by double-clicking them in the file manager (although, in my case at least, the compilation itself worked), because they were misidentified as "shared libraries" instead of executables (all permissions are set correctly). Running them from the terminal window works fine, though.

I am not entirely sure myself what the root of the issue is, but gcc, by default, compiled them as shared libraries instead of executables:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shared-mime-info/+bug/1639531

I have since managed to fix the problem for the QB64 executable by adding the -no-pie compiler switch to the setup script, following a suggestion in this thread:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45329372/ubuntu-recognizes-executable-as-shared-library-and-wont-run-it-by-clicking

But obviously this has the side effect of the executable not being position-independent any more. If the fix does indeed have something to do with setting compiler / linker switches, this might require some adjustments to the QB64 code to restore the default behaviour on certain Linux distros. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Hello, QB64 community, by the way! Pleased to meet you.

[Fifi]

Hi dchr,

I've a similar problem on many Ubuntu (14.04.5, 16.04.5, 18.04.2) and Mint (17.3, 18, 19) releases with the two last stable (20180202/85 and 20180228/86) builts as well as with the last dev built.

The amazing part of this problem is that it doesn't affect GUI apps such as Inform or vWATCH64.

However, vWATCH64 can't fire the console (e.g. my loan.bas program is rebuilt as loan.vwatch.bas and the executable
loan.vwach is created but vWACTH64 can't fire it).

So, is there a specific reason why console apps can't be fired anymore but only via the command line ?

I'll try later with previous releases of Ubuntu (12.04.5 and 14.04.1) just in case.

Question to all the community : does anyone has a QB64 for Linux built prior to 20180202/85 ?

TIA
Fifi

[Fifi]

Another point about this problem: it doesn't occur with very small program such as a simple PRINT "Hello Word!" but only with larger codes.

However, my loan.bas sample has only 332 lines of code.

I've no explanation about the crritical size of the .bas and will investigate this further today.

[Fifi]

Hi all again,

Just reinstalled Ubuntu 1.04.1 64 (Trusty) into a VM with an old QB64 release 1.0 and the problem was already there !

QB64 can create the executable but, with my loan.bas sample, can't fire it!

I also installed QB64 v1.2 but without any success to solve this problem.

Since I've been out of the QB64 scope for a while, in fact, I guess nobody ever tested QB64 on a Linux box (bare-metal or VM) with even a medium sized .bas source file doing outputs to a terminal session.

Once again, even with QB64 v1.0 on Trusty, the executable is created but can't be fired by QB64.

However, the executable can be fired via the simple command line; ./loan.

So, it's a very old problem nobody ever noticed.

Once again, below is my loan.bas code to test:

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. '
2. ' Program name: loan.bas
3. '
4. ' Program that computes for a client the montly payments, interest, principal
5. ' and balance for a certain amount with a certain fixed interest rate and for
6. ' a certain number of years and prints the amortization table.
7. '
8. ' The executable can be launched with four parameters : name of the client,
9. ' amount, interest and term.
10. '
11. ' The parameters must be entered using a command line arguments in a string of
12. ' the form: "&name=abcd&amount=xxx&rate=rr.rr&term=zz"
13. ' where name is the client name (a string without space)
14. ' xxx is the amount (a long)
15. ' rr.rr is the rate (a float) - maximum 20
16. ' and zz is the number of years (an int) - maximun 99
17. ' e.g. loan &name=John&amount=12000&rate=2.57&term=5
18. '
19. ' NOTE:
20. ' Space(s) can be included between arguments but not between the argument
21. ' and the sign "=" nor between the sign "=" and the argument value such as:
22. ' e.g. loan & name=John & amount=12000 & rate=2.57 & term=5
23. '
24. ' NOTE:
25. ' Only the dot sign "." is allowed in float to separate the integer part from
26. ' its decimal part (no comma sign "," anywhere in a float).
27. '
28. ' NOTE:
29. ' If no parameters are set, the program ask you the values.
30. ' If there is no value entered (just hit the Enter key), the program computes
31. ' the default values (Client, 10000.00, 3.5% and 5 years).
32. '
33. $SCREENHIDE
34. $CONSOLE
35. _DEST _CONSOLE
36. '
37. ' title of the windows when used in a console
38. '
39. _TITLE "Loan calculator"
40. '
41. ' miscelaneous variables initialisation
42. '
43. Arg$ = ""
44. NbArg% = 0
45. DIM ArrayArg$(4)
46. lastPayment# = 1.00
47. Year% = 1
48. '
49. ' Get the Arguments of the command line
50. '
51. LineArg$ = COMMAND$
52. '
53. ' force parameters if the argument line is empty.
54. '
55. IF LEN(LineArg$) = 0 THEN
56.     '    LineArg$ = "& name=- & amount=10000.00 & rate=3.5 & term=1"
57.     PRINT "Please enter your name (any name, may be empty but no space):     ";
58.     INPUT yourname$
59.     PRINT "Amount to borrow (long, decimal characters) e.g. 1000000:         ";
60.     INPUT amount$
61.     PRINT "Rate of the loan (float, decimal characters with .) e.g. 1.65 :   ";
62.     INPUT rate$
63.     PRINT "Number of year of the loan (integer, decimal characters) e.g. 12: ";
64.     INPUT term$
65.     LineArg$ = "& name=" + yourname$ + " & amount=" + amount$ + " & rate=" + rate$ + " & term=" + term$
66. END IF
67. '
68. ' store the execution start time
69. '
70. timeStart# = TIMER(0.001)
71. '
72. ' check if the expected arguments names and argument values are the right ones and if so get their relevant values
73. ' if one argument name or argument type isn't what is expected, use the default argument values.
74. '
75. WHILE NbArg% < 4
76.     IF LEN(LineArg$) > 0 THEN
77.         FOR i% = 1 TO LEN(LineArg$ + " ")
78.             GetChar$ = MID$(LineArg$, i%, 1)
79.             IF (GetChar$ <> "" AND GetChar$ <> " " AND GetChar$ <> "&") THEN
80.                 Arg$ = Arg$ + GetChar$
81.             ELSE
82.                 IF Arg$ <> "" THEN
83.                     SELECT CASE NbArg%
84.                         CASE 0
85.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 5) <> "name=" THEN
86.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "first argument naming that should be name= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 5) + CHR$(34)
87.                                 EXIT WHILE
88.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 6), "str") = 0 THEN
89.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of name= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 6) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid string!"
90.                                 EXIT WHILE
91.                             ELSE
92.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 6)
93.                             END IF
94.                         CASE 1
95.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 7) <> "amount=" THEN
96.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "second argument naming that should be amount= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 7) + CHR$(34)
97.                                 EXIT WHILE
98.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 8), "flt") = 0 THEN
99.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of amount= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 8) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid float!"
100.                                 EXIT WHILE
101.                             ELSE
102.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 8)
103.                             END IF
104.                         CASE 2
105.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 5) <> "rate=" THEN
106.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "third argument naming that should be rate= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 5) + CHR$(34)
107.                                 EXIT WHILE
108.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 6), "flt") = 0 THEN
109.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of rate= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 6) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid float!"
110.                                 EXIT WHILE
111.                             ELSE
112.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 6)
113.                             END IF
114.                         CASE 3
115.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 5) <> "term=" THEN
116.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "last argument naming that should be term= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 5) + CHR$(34)
117.                                 EXIT WHILE
118.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 6), "int") = 0 THEN
119.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of rate= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 6) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid integer!"
120.                                 EXIT WHILE
121.                             ELSE
122.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 6)
123.                             END IF
124.                     END SELECT
125.                     ArrayArg$(NbArg%) = Arg$
126.                     Arg$ = ""
127.                     NbArg% = NbArg% + 1
128.                 END IF
129.             END IF
130.         NEXT i%
131.     END IF
132. WEND
133. '
134. ' Default arguments
135. '
136. IF ArrayArg$(0) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(0) <> " " AND ArrayArg$(0) <> "-" THEN
137.     name$ = ArrayArg$(0)
138. ELSEIF yourname$ = "" THEN
139.     name$ = "Client" ' default name
140. ELSE
141.     name$ = yourname$
142. END IF
143. IF ArrayArg$(1) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(0) <> " " AND VAL(ArrayArg$(1)) > 1 THEN
144.     Amount# = VAL(ArrayArg$(1))
145. ELSEIF amount$ = "" THEN
146.     Amount# = 10000.00 ' default amount
147. ELSE
148.     Amount# = VAL(amount$)
149. END IF
150. IF ArrayArg$(2) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(2) <> " " AND VAL(ArrayArg$(2)) > 0 THEN
151.     Rate# = VAL(ArrayArg$(2)) / 100
152. ELSEIF rate$ = "" THEN
153.     Rate# = 3.5 / 100 ' default rate
154. ELSE
155.     Rate# = VAL(rate$)
156. END IF
157. IF Rate# > 20 THEN
158.     Rate# = 20.00 ' default maximum rate
159. END IF
160. IF ArrayArg$(3) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(3) <> " " AND VAL(ArrayArg$(3)) > 0 THEN
161.     Term# = _ROUND(VAL(ArrayArg$(3)))
162. ELSEIF term$ = "" THEN
163.     Term# = 5 ' default term
164. ELSE
165.     Term# = VAL(term$)
166. END IF
167. IF Term# > 99 THEN
168.     Term# = 99 ' default maximum term
169. END IF
170. '
171. ' start the main routines of the program
172. '
173. '
174. ' computation formulas of the monthly payment and global cost
175. '
176. Payment# = Amount# * Rate# / 12 * ((1 + Rate# / 12) ^ (Term# * 12)) / ((1 + Rate# / 12) ^ (Term# * 12) - 1)
177. Cost# = (Term# * 12 * Payment#) - Amount#
178. '
179. ' prepare the first result$ string for output.
180. '
181. result$ = CHR$(13) + CHR$(10) + "Dear " + name$ + ", the requested loan goes as follows:" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
182. Ratio# = 100 / (Amount# / Cost#)
183. '
184. ' add the next statements
185. '
186. result$ = result$ + "Loan" + CHR$(9) + "details" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
187. result$ = result$ + "Amount" + CHR$(9) + printUsing$(Amount#) + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
188. result$ = result$ + "Rate" + CHR$(9) + printUsing$(Rate# * 100) + "%" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
189. result$ = result$ + "Term" + CHR$(9) + LTRIM$(STR$(Term#)) + " year(s)" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
190. result$ = result$ + "Cost" + CHR$(9) + printUsing$(Cost#) + " (" + printUsing$(Ratio#) + "%)" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
191. '
192. ' add the monthly computations
193. '
194. FOR i% = 1 TO Term#
195.     '
196.     ' add the next statements
197.     '
198.     result$ = result$ + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10) + "YEAR" + STR$(Year%) + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
199.     result$ = result$ + "month" + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9) + "payment" + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9) + "interest" + CHR$(9) + "principal" + CHR$(9) + "balance" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
200.     '
201.     ' Call the compute sub routine
202.     '
203.     CALL compute(Month%, Amount#, Rate#, Interest#, Payment#, Principal#, lastPayment#, result$)
204.     IF Month% = 12 THEN
205.         IF Amount# > 0 THEN
206.             Month% = 0
207.             Year% = Year% + 1
208.         END IF
209.     END IF
210. NEXT i%
211. '
212. ' add the elapsed time to execute the program
213. '
214. timeEnd# = TIMER(0.001)
215. '
216. ' add the last statements
217. '
218. result$ = result$ + "This table was generated in " + printUsing$(((timeEnd# - timeStart#) * 1000)) + " ms. "
219. result$ = result$ + "(on a 3GHz CPU 1 ms = 3,000,000 cycles)"
220. '
221. ' option: unrem to create the .txt files
222. '
223. 'CALL createFile("loan-calculator.txt", result$)
224. '
225. ' print the result into the console
226. '
227. PRINT result$
228. '
229. ' wait for an input
230. '
231. 'INPUT (a)
232. '
233. ' end of the program and exit from the console with a 200 return
234. '
235. 'SYSTEM 200
236. '
237. ' sub routine to create the loan-bas.html and loan-bas.txt files
238. '
239. SUB createFile (fileName$, result$)
240. '
241. ' delete the old fileName$ file
242. '
243. IF _FILEEXISTS(fileName$) THEN
244.     KILL fileName$
245. END IF
246. '
247. ' create the fileName$ file
248. '
249. IF existFile%(fileName$) = 0 THEN
250.     OPEN fileName$ FOR APPEND AS #1
251.     PRINT #1, result$
252.     CLOSE #1
253. END IF
254. END SUB
255. '
256. ' sub routine to compute and print the monthly elements
257. '
258. SUB compute (Month%, Amount#, Rate#, Interest#, Payment#, Principal#, lastPayment#, result$)
259.     SHARED Month%, _
260.            Amount#, _
261.            Rate#, _
262.            Interest#, _
263.            Payment#, _
264.            Principal#, _
265.            lastPayment#, _
266.            formatNumber$, _
267.            result$
268. DIM monthList$(11)
269. monthList$(0) = "January"
270. monthList$(1) = "February"
271. monthList$(2) = "March"
272. monthList$(3) = "April"
273. monthList$(4) = "May "
274. monthList$(5) = "June"
275. monthList$(6) = "July"
276. monthList$(7) = "August"
277. monthList$(8) = "September"
278. monthList$(9) = "October"
279. monthList$(10) = "November"
280. monthList$(11) = "December"
281. interest$ = "Interest: "
282. payment$ = "Payment: "
283. principal$ = "Principal: "
284. FOR Month% = 0 TO 11
285.     Interest# = (Amount# * Rate#) / 12
286.     IF Amount# > Payment# THEN
287.         Amount# = (Amount# - Payment#) + Interest#
288.         Principal# = Payment# - Interest#
289.     ELSE
290.         IF lastPayment# > 0 THEN
291.             lastPayment# = 0
292.             Payment# = Amount#
293.             Principal# = Amount# - Interest#
294.             Amount# = 0
295.         ELSE
296.             Amount# = 0
297.             Payment# = 0
298.             Interest# = 0
299.             Principal# = 0
300.         END IF
301.     END IF
302.     '
303.     ' add the next statements
304.     '
305.     IF monthList$(Month%) = "February" OR monthList$(Month%) = "September" OR monthList$(Month%) = "November" OR monthList$(Month%) = "December" THEN
306.         result$ = result$ + monthList$(Month%) + CHR$(9)
307.     ELSE
308.         result$ = result$ + monthList$(Month%) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
309.     END IF
310.     IF LEN(printUsing$(Payment#)) > 7 THEN
311.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Payment#) + CHR$(9)
312.     ELSE
313.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Payment#) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
314.     END IF
315.     IF LEN(printUsing$(Interest#)) > 7 THEN
316.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Interest#) + CHR$(9)
317.     ELSE
318.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Interest#) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
319.     END IF
320.     IF LEN(printUsing$(Principal#)) > 7 THEN
321.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Principal#) + CHR$(9)
322.     ELSE
323.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Principal#) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
324.     END IF
325.     result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Amount#) + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
326. NEXT
327. result$ = result$ + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
328. END SUB
329. '
330. ' function to check if an argument is a valid string to be processed by this loan.bas program
331. '
332. FUNCTION isValidArg% (arg$, type$)
333. isValidArg% = 0
334. isStr% = 0
335. type$ = LCASE$(type$)
336. SELECT CASE (type$)
337.     CASE "str"
338.         t$ = LCASE$(arg$)
339.         base$ = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-"
340.     CASE "flt"
341.         base$ = ".1234567890"
342.         IF LEN(arg$) = 1 AND arg$ = "." THEN
343.             isValidArg% = 0
344.             EXIT FUNCTION
345.         END IF
346.     CASE "int"
347.         base$ = "1234567890"
348.     CASE ELSE
349.         arg$ = ""
350.         type$ = ""
351.         isValidArg% = 0
352.         EXIT FUNCTION
353. END SELECT
354. isValidArg% = 0
355. isStr% = 0
356. t$ = LCASE$(arg$)
357. FOR i = 1 TO LEN(arg$)
358.     argChar$ = MID$(t$, i, 1)
359.     FOR j = 1 TO LEN(base$)
360.         baseChar$ = MID$(base$, j, 1)
361.         IF baseChar$ = argChar$ THEN
362.             isValidArg% = isValidArg% + 1
363.             isStr% = 1
364.             EXIT FOR
365.         ELSE
366.             isStr% = 0
367.             IF (j = LEN(base$)) THEN
368.                 isStr% = 0
369.                 EXIT FOR
370.             END IF
371.         END IF
372.     NEXT j
373.     IF isStr% = 0 THEN
374.         isValidArg% = 0
375.         EXIT FOR
376.     END IF
377. NEXT i
378. END FUNCTION
379. '
380. '
381. '
382. FUNCTION existFile% (fileName$)
383. f% = FREEFILE
384. OPEN fileName$ FOR APPEND AS #f%
385. IF LOF(f%) THEN
386.     existFile% = 1
387.     CLOSE #f%
388. ELSE
389.     existFile% = 0
390.     CLOSE #f%
391.     KILL fileName$
392. END IF
393. END FUNCTION
394. '
395. ' function to format the integer part of a float and round its decimal part
396. '
397. FUNCTION printUsing$ (nb#)
398. printUsing$ = intPart$(nb#) + decPart$(nb#)
399. END FUNCTION
400. '
401. ' function to format and round the decimal part of a float
402. '
403. FUNCTION decPart$ (nb#)
404. dot$ = "."
405. dotPos% = INSTR(LTRIM$(STR$(nb#)), dot$)
406. IF dotPos% = 0 THEN
407.     partdec$ = ".00"
408. ELSE
409.     partdec$ = MID$(LTRIM$(STR$(nb#)), dotPos%)
410.     strlen% = LEN(partdec$)
411. END IF
412. IF strlen% = 1 THEN
413.     partdec$ = ".00"
414. ELSE
415.     SELECT CASE strlen%
416.         CASE 2
417.             partdec$ = partdec$ + "0"
418.         CASE IS > 3
419.             IF VAL(MID$(partdec$, 4, 1)) >= 5 THEN
420.                 MID$(partdec$, 3, 1) = LTRIM$(STR$(VAL(MID$(partdec$, 3, 1)) + 1))
421.             END IF
422.             partdec$ = LEFT$(partdec$, 3)
423.     END SELECT
424. END IF
425. decPart$ = partdec$
426. END FUNCTION
427. '
428. ' function to format the integer part of a float
429. '
430. FUNCTION intPart$ (nb#)
431. i$ = LTRIM$(RTRIM$(STR$(FIX(nb#))))
432. IF nb# < 0 THEN
433.     i$ = MID$(i$, 2)
434. END IF
435. lenI = LEN(i$)
436. IF lenI > 3 THEN
437.     m3 = lenI MOD 3
438.     IF m3 <> 0 THEN
439.         i$ = LEFT$(i$, m3) + "," + MID$(i$, m3 + 1)
440.     END IF
441.     idx = m3 + 4 + (m3 = 0)
442.     WHILE idx < LEN(i$)
443.         i$ = LEFT$(i$, idx) + "," + MID$(i$, idx + 1)
444.         idx = idx + 4
445.     WEND
446. ELSEIF lenI = 0 THEN
447.     i$ = "0"
448. END IF
449. IF nb# < 0 AND lenI > 0 THEN
450.     i$ = "-" + i$
451. END IF
452. intPart$ = i$
453.  
454. END FUNCTION

Please tell me where I may be wrong (nobody's perfect).

Cheers.
Fifi

[SMcNeill]

Have you tried setting the -no-pie switch and then compiling?  It seemed to work for the OP.

[Fifi]

Hi SMcNeill

Have you tried setting the -no-pie switch and then compiling?  It seemed to work for the OP.

No, I didn't do since I don't see in what file I should do that !

Any hint will be appreciated.

Cheers.
Fifi

[Fifi]

Hi all,

I found an old VM I saved on a spare disk running Ubuntu Trusty 14.04.1 64-bit and QB64 v1,0

Unfortunately, the problem described above was already there.

To sum up, on Linux, QB64 can compile and fire tiny source files, the executables been able to be fired with a double left mouse click.

However, it can only compile even medium sized source file but is not be able to fire it from the IDE, the executable been then only able to be fired by the command line and not with the mouse action.

And the amazing thing is this problem occurs only with terminal programs (such as the loan sample I already gave) and not with GUI apps made with InForm.

So, as a matter of fact, this problem exists for a while and never ever was fixed since, I guess, there are very few QB64 coders on Linux.

Meanwhile, I'd like to test the -no-pie switch but I've no clue where and how to do so and I'd appreciate an explanation how to do this.

T.I.A.
Fifi

Below is a new version of this loan program that fits into a regular 80x25 terminal. T.I.A. to test it on your system (windows, Linux and OS/X) and please tell me how it works for you when fired from the IDE or with a left double click.

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. '
2. ' Program name: loan.bas
3. '
4. ' Program that computes for a client the montly payments, interest, principal
5. ' and balance for a certain amount with a certain fixed interest rate and for
6. ' a certain number of years and prints the amortization table.
7. '
8. ' The executable can be launched with four parameters : name of the client,
9. ' amount, interest and term.
10. '
11. ' The parameters must be entered using a command line arguments in a string of
12. ' the form: "&name=abcd&amount=xxx&rate=rr.rr&term=zz"
13. ' where name is the client name (a string without space)
14. ' xxx is the amount (a long)
15. ' rr.rr is the rate (a float) - maximum 20
16. ' and zz is the number of years (an int) - maximun 99
17. ' e.g. loan &name=John&amount=12000&rate=2.57&term=5
18. '
19. ' NOTE:
20. ' Space(s) can be included between arguments but not between the argument
21. ' and the sign "=" nor between the sign "=" and the argument value such as:
22. ' e.g. loan & name=John & amount=12000 & rate=2.57 & term=5
23. '
24. ' NOTE:
25. ' Only the dot sign "." is allowed in float to separate the integer part from
26. ' its decimal part (no comma sign "," anywhere in a float).
27. '
28. ' NOTE:
29. ' If no parameters are set, the program ask you the values.
30. ' If there is no value entered (just hit the Enter key), the program computes
31. ' the default values (Client, 10000.00, 3.5% and 5 years).
32. '
33. $SCREENHIDE
34. $CONSOLE
35. _DEST _CONSOLE
36. '
37. ' title of the windows when used in a console
38. '
39. _TITLE "Loan calculator"
40. '
41. ' miscelaneous variables initialisation
42. '
43. Arg$ = ""
44. NbArg% = 0
45. DIM ArrayArg$(4)
46. lastPayment# = 1.00
47. Year% = 1
48. '
49. ' Get the Arguments of the command line
50. '
51. LineArg$ = COMMAND$
52. '
53. ' force parameters if the argument line is empty.
54. '
55. IF LEN(LineArg$) = 0 THEN
56.     '    LineArg$ = "& name=- & amount=10000.00 & rate=3.5 & term=1"
57.     PRINT "Please enter your name (any name, may be empty but no space):     ";
58.     INPUT yourname$
59.     PRINT "Amount to borrow (long, decimal characters) e.g. 1000000:         ";
60.     INPUT amount$
61.     PRINT "Rate of the loan (float, decimal characters with .) e.g. 1.65 :   ";
62.     INPUT rate$
63.     PRINT "Number of year of the loan (integer, decimal characters) e.g. 12: ";
64.     INPUT term$
65.     LineArg$ = "& name=" + yourname$ + " & amount=" + amount$ + " & rate=" + rate$ + " & term=" + term$
66. END IF
67. '
68. ' store the execution start time
69. '
70. timeStart# = TIMER(0.001)
71. '
72. ' check if the expected arguments names and argument values are the right ones and if so get their relevant values
73. ' if one argument name or argument type isn't what is expected, use the default argument values.
74. '
75. WHILE NbArg% < 4
76.     IF LEN(LineArg$) > 0 THEN
77.         FOR i% = 1 TO LEN(LineArg$ + " ")
78.             GetChar$ = MID$(LineArg$, i%, 1)
79.             IF (GetChar$ <> "" AND GetChar$ <> " " AND GetChar$ <> "&") THEN
80.                 Arg$ = Arg$ + GetChar$
81.             ELSE
82.                 IF Arg$ <> "" THEN
83.                     SELECT CASE NbArg%
84.                         CASE 0
85.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 5) <> "name=" THEN
86.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "first argument naming that should be name= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 5) + CHR$(34)
87.                                 EXIT WHILE
88.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 6), "str") = 0 THEN
89.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of name= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 6) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid string!"
90.                                 EXIT WHILE
91.                             ELSE
92.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 6)
93.                             END IF
94.                         CASE 1
95.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 7) <> "amount=" THEN
96.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "second argument naming that should be amount= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 7) + CHR$(34)
97.                                 EXIT WHILE
98.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 8), "flt") = 0 THEN
99.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of amount= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 8) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid float!"
100.                                 EXIT WHILE
101.                             ELSE
102.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 8)
103.                             END IF
104.                         CASE 2
105.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 5) <> "rate=" THEN
106.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "third argument naming that should be rate= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 5) + CHR$(34)
107.                                 EXIT WHILE
108.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 6), "flt") = 0 THEN
109.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of rate= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 6) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid float!"
110.                                 EXIT WHILE
111.                             ELSE
112.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 6)
113.                             END IF
114.                         CASE 3
115.                             IF LEFT$(Arg$, 5) <> "term=" THEN
116.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the " + CHR$(34) + "last argument naming that should be term= but is: " + CHR$(34) + LEFT$(Arg$, 5) + CHR$(34)
117.                                 EXIT WHILE
118.                             ELSEIF isValidArg%(MID$(Arg$, 6), "int") = 0 THEN
119.                                 '    PRINT "problem with the content of rate= that is: " + CHR$(34) + MID$(Arg$, 6) + CHR$(34) + " and isn't a valid integer!"
120.                                 EXIT WHILE
121.                             ELSE
122.                                 Arg$ = MID$(Arg$, 6)
123.                             END IF
124.                     END SELECT
125.                     ArrayArg$(NbArg%) = Arg$
126.                     Arg$ = ""
127.                     NbArg% = NbArg% + 1
128.                 END IF
129.             END IF
130.         NEXT i%
131.     END IF
132. WEND
133. '
134. ' Default arguments
135. '
136. IF ArrayArg$(0) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(0) <> " " AND ArrayArg$(0) <> "-" THEN
137.     name$ = ArrayArg$(0)
138. ELSEIF yourname$ = "" THEN
139.     name$ = "Client" ' default name
140. ELSE
141.     name$ = yourname$
142. END IF
143. IF ArrayArg$(1) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(0) <> " " AND VAL(ArrayArg$(1)) > 1 THEN
144.     Amount# = VAL(ArrayArg$(1))
145. ELSEIF amount$ = "" THEN
146.     Amount# = 10000.00 ' default amount
147. ELSE
148.     Amount# = VAL(amount$)
149. END IF
150. IF ArrayArg$(2) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(2) <> " " AND VAL(ArrayArg$(2)) > 0 THEN
151.     Rate# = VAL(ArrayArg$(2)) / 100
152. ELSEIF rate$ = "" THEN
153.     Rate# = 3.5 / 100 ' default rate
154. ELSE
155.     Rate# = VAL(rate$)
156. END IF
157. IF Rate# > 20 THEN
158.     Rate# = 20.00 ' default maximum rate
159. END IF
160. IF ArrayArg$(3) <> "" AND ArrayArg$(3) <> " " AND VAL(ArrayArg$(3)) > 0 THEN
161.     Term# = _ROUND(VAL(ArrayArg$(3)))
162. ELSEIF term$ = "" THEN
163.     Term# = 5 ' default term
164. ELSE
165.     Term# = VAL(term$)
166. END IF
167. IF Term# > 99 THEN
168.     Term# = 99 ' default maximum term
169. END IF
170. '
171. ' start the main routines of the program
172. '
173. '
174. ' computation formulas of the monthly payment and global cost
175. '
176. Payment# = Amount# * Rate# / 12 * ((1 + Rate# / 12) ^ (Term# * 12)) / ((1 + Rate# / 12) ^ (Term# * 12) - 1)
177. Cost# = (Term# * 12 * Payment#) - Amount#
178. '
179. ' prepare the first result$ string for output.
180. '
181. result$ = CHR$(13) + CHR$(10) + "Dear " + name$ + ", the requested loan goes as follows:" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
182. Ratio# = 100 / (Amount# / Cost#)
183. '
184. ' add the next statements
185. '
186. result$ = result$ + "Loan" + CHR$(9) + "details" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
187. result$ = result$ + "Amount" + CHR$(9) + printUsing$(Amount#) + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
188. result$ = result$ + "Rate" + CHR$(9) + printUsing$(Rate# * 100) + "%" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
189. result$ = result$ + "Term" + CHR$(9) + LTRIM$(STR$(Term#)) + " year(s)" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
190. result$ = result$ + "Cost" + CHR$(9) + printUsing$(Cost#) + " (" + printUsing$(Ratio#) + "%)" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
191. '
192. ' add the monthly computations
193. '
194. FOR i% = 1 TO Term#
195.     '
196.     ' add the next statements
197.     '
198.     result$ = result$ + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10) + "YEAR" + STR$(Year%) + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
199.     result$ = result$ + "month" + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9) + "payment" + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9) + "interest" + CHR$(9) + "principal" + CHR$(9) + "balance" + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
200.     '
201.     ' Call the compute sub routine
202.     '
203.     CALL compute(Month%, Amount#, Rate#, Interest#, Payment#, Principal#, lastPayment#, result$)
204.     IF Month% = 12 THEN
205.         IF Amount# > 0 THEN
206.             Month% = 0
207.             Year% = Year% + 1
208.         END IF
209.     END IF
210. NEXT i%
211. '
212. ' add the elapsed time to execute the program
213. '
214. timeEnd# = TIMER(0.001)
215. '
216. ' add the last statements
217. '
218. result$ = result$ + "This table was generated in " + printUsing$(((timeEnd# - timeStart#) * 1000)) + " ms. "
219. result$ = result$ + "(on a 3GHz CPU 1 ms = 3,000,000 cycles)"
220. '
221. ' option: unrem to create the .txt files
222. '
223. 'CALL createFile("loan-calculator.txt", result$)
224. '
225. ' print the result into the console
226. '
227. PRINT result$
228. '
229. ' wait for an input
230. '
231. 'INPUT (a)
232. '
233. ' end of the program and exit from the console with a 200 return
234. '
235. 'SYSTEM 200
236. '
237. ' sub routine to create the loan-bas.html and loan-bas.txt files
238. '
239. SUB createFile (fileName$, result$)
240. '
241. ' delete the old fileName$ file
242. '
243. IF _FILEEXISTS(fileName$) THEN
244.     KILL fileName$
245. END IF
246. '
247. ' create the fileName$ file
248. '
249. IF existFile%(fileName$) = 0 THEN
250.     OPEN fileName$ FOR APPEND AS #1
251.     PRINT #1, result$
252.     CLOSE #1
253. END IF
254. END SUB
255. '
256. ' sub routine to compute and print the monthly elements
257. '
258. SUB compute (Month%, Amount#, Rate#, Interest#, Payment#, Principal#, lastPayment#, result$)
259.     SHARED Month%, _
260.            Amount#, _
261.            Rate#, _
262.            Interest#, _
263.            Payment#, _
264.            Principal#, _
265.            lastPayment#, _
266.            formatNumber$, _
267.            result$
268. DIM monthList$(11)
269. monthList$(0) = "January"
270. monthList$(1) = "February"
271. monthList$(2) = "March"
272. monthList$(3) = "April"
273. monthList$(4) = "May "
274. monthList$(5) = "June"
275. monthList$(6) = "July"
276. monthList$(7) = "August"
277. monthList$(8) = "September"
278. monthList$(9) = "October"
279. monthList$(10) = "November"
280. monthList$(11) = "December"
281. interest$ = "Interest: "
282. payment$ = "Payment: "
283. principal$ = "Principal: "
284. FOR Month% = 0 TO 11
285.     Interest# = (Amount# * Rate#) / 12
286.     IF Amount# > Payment# THEN
287.         Amount# = (Amount# - Payment#) + Interest#
288.         Principal# = Payment# - Interest#
289.     ELSE
290.         IF lastPayment# > 0 THEN
291.             lastPayment# = 0
292.             Payment# = Amount#
293.             Principal# = Amount# - Interest#
294.             Amount# = 0
295.         ELSE
296.             Amount# = 0
297.             Payment# = 0
298.             Interest# = 0
299.             Principal# = 0
300.         END IF
301.     END IF
302.     '
303.     ' add the next statements
304.     '
305.     IF monthList$(Month%) = "February" OR monthList$(Month%) = "September" OR monthList$(Month%) = "November" OR monthList$(Month%) = "December" THEN
306.         result$ = result$ + monthList$(Month%) + CHR$(9)
307.     ELSE
308.         result$ = result$ + monthList$(Month%) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
309.     END IF
310.     IF LEN(printUsing$(Payment#)) > 7 THEN
311.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Payment#) + CHR$(9)
312.     ELSE
313.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Payment#) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
314.     END IF
315.     IF LEN(printUsing$(Interest#)) > 7 THEN
316.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Interest#) + CHR$(9)
317.     ELSE
318.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Interest#) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
319.     END IF
320.     IF LEN(printUsing$(Principal#)) > 7 THEN
321.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Principal#) + CHR$(9)
322.     ELSE
323.         result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Principal#) + CHR$(9) + CHR$(9)
324.     END IF
325.     result$ = result$ + printUsing$(Amount#) + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
326. NEXT
327. result$ = result$ + CHR$(13) + CHR$(10)
328. END SUB
329. '
330. ' function to check if an argument is a valid string to be processed by this loan.bas program
331. '
332. FUNCTION isValidArg% (arg$, type$)
333. isValidArg% = 0
334. isStr% = 0
335. type$ = LCASE$(type$)
336. SELECT CASE (type$)
337.     CASE "str"
338.         t$ = LCASE$(arg$)
339.         base$ = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-"
340.     CASE "flt"
341.         base$ = ".1234567890"
342.         IF LEN(arg$) = 1 AND arg$ = "." THEN
343.             isValidArg% = 0
344.             EXIT FUNCTION
345.         END IF
346.     CASE "int"
347.         base$ = "1234567890"
348.     CASE ELSE
349.         arg$ = ""
350.         type$ = ""
351.         isValidArg% = 0
352.         EXIT FUNCTION
353. END SELECT
354. isValidArg% = 0
355. isStr% = 0
356. t$ = LCASE$(arg$)
357. FOR i = 1 TO LEN(arg$)
358.     argChar$ = MID$(t$, i, 1)
359.     FOR j = 1 TO LEN(base$)
360.         baseChar$ = MID$(base$, j, 1)
361.         IF baseChar$ = argChar$ THEN
362.             isValidArg% = isValidArg% + 1
363.             isStr% = 1
364.             EXIT FOR
365.         ELSE
366.             isStr% = 0
367.             IF (j = LEN(base$)) THEN
368.                 isStr% = 0
369.                 EXIT FOR
370.             END IF
371.         END IF
372.     NEXT j
373.     IF isStr% = 0 THEN
374.         isValidArg% = 0
375.         EXIT FOR
376.     END IF
377. NEXT i
378. END FUNCTION
379. '
380. '
381. '
382. FUNCTION existFile% (fileName$)
383. f% = FREEFILE
384. OPEN fileName$ FOR APPEND AS #f%
385. IF LOF(f%) THEN
386.     existFile% = 1
387.     CLOSE #f%
388. ELSE
389.     existFile% = 0
390.     CLOSE #f%
391.     KILL fileName$
392. END IF
393. END FUNCTION
394. '
395. ' function to format the integer part of a float and round its decimal part
396. '
397. FUNCTION printUsing$ (nb#)
398. printUsing$ = intPart$(nb#) + decPart$(nb#)
399. END FUNCTION
400. '
401. ' function to format and round the decimal part of a float
402. '
403. FUNCTION decPart$ (nb#)
404. dot$ = "."
405. dotPos% = INSTR(LTRIM$(STR$(nb#)), dot$)
406. IF dotPos% = 0 THEN
407.     partdec$ = ".00"
408. ELSE
409.     partdec$ = MID$(LTRIM$(STR$(nb#)), dotPos%)
410.     strlen% = LEN(partdec$)
411. END IF
412. IF strlen% = 1 THEN
413.     partdec$ = ".00"
414. ELSE
415.     SELECT CASE strlen%
416.         CASE 2
417.             partdec$ = partdec$ + "0"
418.         CASE IS > 3
419.             IF VAL(MID$(partdec$, 4, 1)) >= 5 THEN
420.                 MID$(partdec$, 3, 1) = LTRIM$(STR$(VAL(MID$(partdec$, 3, 1)) + 1))
421.             END IF
422.             partdec$ = LEFT$(partdec$, 3)
423.     END SELECT
424. END IF
425. decPart$ = partdec$
426. END FUNCTION
427. '
428. ' function to format the integer part of a float
429. '
430. FUNCTION intPart$ (nb#)
431. i$ = LTRIM$(RTRIM$(STR$(FIX(nb#))))
432. IF nb# < 0 THEN
433.     i$ = MID$(i$, 2)
434. END IF
435. lenI = LEN(i$)
436. IF lenI > 3 THEN
437.     m3 = lenI MOD 3
438.     IF m3 <> 0 THEN
439.         i$ = LEFT$(i$, m3) + "," + MID$(i$, m3 + 1)
440.     END IF
441.     idx = m3 + 4 + (m3 = 0)
442.     WHILE idx < LEN(i$)
443.         i$ = LEFT$(i$, idx) + "," + MID$(i$, idx + 1)
444.         idx = idx + 4
445.     WEND
446. ELSEIF lenI = 0 THEN
447.     i$ = "0"
448. END IF
449. IF nb# < 0 AND lenI > 0 THEN
450.     i$ = "-" + i$
451. END IF
452. intPart$ = i$
453. END FUNCTION
454.  

[SMcNeill]

Internal/c/makeline_lnx.txt holds the compiler switches for Linux.

[Fifi]

Hi SMcNeil,

Internal/c/makeline_lnx.txt holds the compiler switches for Linux.

Thanx for this tip.

So, I did the modification, and it's better since executable can now be fired with a double left click, but still not for program in a console.

Further, when doing so and recompiling QB64 with this option within it's source location makes QB64 not launchable (error message saying : cannot locate the 'internal' folder.)

So as said by dchr, now the executable isn't anymore position independant.

So, there are two real problems :

1) even medium programs such as my loan.bas using the console can't be fired from the IDE, and that's a very old problem for vWATCH64 (hello fellippe).

2) the option "Output executable in the source folder" doesn't work anymore since the created executable can't be fired at all.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.
Fifi