[Coco] VCC and the Rainbow IDE

[Roger Taylor]

Good news, guys...

Since VCC allows command-line launching of CoCo .BIN files and .ROM 
images, I plan to go ahead and try to crank out version 1.6 of the 
Rainbow IDE with support for VCC.  Rainbow 1.5 was one of those 
missing-in-action releases that may or may not be available across 
the web.  I stepped back to 1.4 for some reason, which is recognized 
as the last official release.  I'll pick back up at Rainbow 1.6 for 
obvious reasons.

What this means for VCC users who use the Rainbow IDE to develop CoCo software:

1) Those who despise the M.E.S.S. emulator won't have to deal with it 
(it'll be optional)
2) No .DSK imaging is needed for projects that build a single .BIN 
file to be run in the VCC CoCo emulator
3) The same seamless interaction will be used, meaning you can go 
about your normal programming habits

The ability for VCC to automatically (I assume) build an internal 
.dsk image containing the .BIN file, or if it LOADM's it from thin 
air, is a great feature.  For the IDE, it's good for projects that 
yield a single self-contained app or game .BIN file with no external 
file requirements at the time of emulation/testing.

An example:

An IDE user has a file loaded called hello.asm.  It uses the Color 
BASIC ROM to print to the CoCo screen, etc.  He clicks the GO button 
(build) and instantly VCC pops up, boots into BASIC like you are 
turning the CoCo on, and the hello.bin file is automatically LOADM'ed 
in the background and run.  If you then want the hello.bin file to be 
sent off to a .dsk image, you can just select that option from a 
single drop-down listbox in the left side panel.  Now when you click 
GO, a .dsk image is created, hello.bin is copied onto the .dsk, the 
.dsk is mounted (VCC doesn't do this as of tonight), and you can type 
DIR from the CoCo prompt to see the file and LOADM it yourself, etc.