Just to let you know that I am still working on the PIC 18F course
and will be putting up some new content tomorrow. There's been
a lot going on lately.

Loading up  forth files has become a pain so I have created a
program to load up sets of files with the push of one button. It
also issues the 'empty' command so you can easily get complete
programs into the PIC.

I have also been creating the do loop command which is not
available in FF ( Now it is for you ).  This is for three reasons
The first is that it is similar in action to the C forth loop and
coding is far easier if you have got similar constructs to work
with.  The second reason is that it is in the ANS93 standard
whereas for ... next is not. The third reason is that it is easier
to translate existing code using the same words. 

One difficult element is the way that changes have been made
in moving from FIG-79 to FIG-83 to ANS93 and getting your
head around postpone and immediate can be a problem. But
the plus point is that you can create your own commands which
is a unique feature in Forth.  

In fact Charles Moore created a complete BASIC interpreter
using forth which I think is quite amazing. 

So the topic for the following sessions will be about enhancing
Forth so you can create your own commands to better understand
and use the language.

Looking ahead we will be adding possibly GBytes of memory using
SDHC (older ones up to4GByte) to provide configuration and
initialisation of the Forth system. As well as providing program
space it will allow data storage for anyting. 

Note that these will not be doing FAT 16 or 32 as I don't see the
point of carrying around a load of bloat code that allows access just
because a PC can do it.  Far better to strip out bloat and use the
nearly original system employed by very early versions of forth 
(although we will be using a better editor as I have always hated the
line editor for blocks). To access the code from a PC would be a
matter of communicating over the RS232 or USB with a simple receiver
program at the PC.

One of the problems with the current system is initialisation and if
you look at the module where I talked about the Leo Brodie pile
calculator you'll see I said the implementation is flawed - and it is
but only if you are Not using a system that "loads" the file.  The 
SDHC storage would allow such loading.

The other thing we will be adding is a graphical LCD display 
starting off with a modest one of 128x64 bits which will allow 
useful operation without much cost.

Along with the keyboard this will allow the system to be completely 
stand alone if needed.

Best Regards John Main