R.E.X. IDE C3 Special Build

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R.E.X. IDE for SNES Development

SMWCentral C3 (May '09) Special Build

Not much of an IDE, yet. But here's a development snapshot of my work.

As you can see from this screenshot:

R.E.X. IDE "editing" a SMW ROM file on Mac OS X
It currently has the functionality of a simple hex editor but can show offsets in SNES mode.

However, despite having very few features, the foundation is in place, so by next C3 R.E.X. IDE should be a fairly sophisticated app:

Originally posted by fyarball

Features planned:

Hex editor (codename "Rexadexcimal")<--Current Work is being done HERE.
ROM Manager
ASM Editor and Xkas GUI
Bitstream GFX Editor (Codename "Reptile")
Plugin Interface

These features are still planned to be implemented, and most of them should be by the next C3, with no promises.

Also, using the wxWidgets framework, R.E.X. IDE was designed from line 0 to be cross platform, and that is in itself a feature. Special SMWCentral C3 binaries are provided for you to play around with, for both Windows and Mac OS X:
Windows (Unicode) [Zip file]
For Windows 2000/XP/Vista. Given "unicows.dll" it MAY work on 98/ME.
Mac OS X (Intel-only) [BZip2ed Tar Archive]
For an Intel based Macintosh. Works on Leopard (10.5), but *should* also work on Tiger (10.4).

Users of Linux, BSD and PowerPC Mac OS Xs should be able to compile the Vanilla (Non-C3) REX IDE sources from here. Also, anything you want from these Vanilla sources you can put into your own tool(the SNES<->PC conversion code comes to mind), provided you follow the license found with the code.

Donut's and Do's

Don't ask for 'GIMME NEW FEATURES NOW', I will just say back, 'Go To Hell, and, Oh, Get a new keyboard, I think your Caps Lock key is broken'. If you want features other than those above, you can ask nicely, but don't expect anything.

Don't ask why the logo isn't Rex from SMW, yes, that was the initial idea until I decided against it for various reasons. Besides, Rex from SMW looks like it has serious mental issues.

On the other hand, if you find a bug, please do tell so I can kill it with OVER 9000 EPIC LAZERS. *shot*

Now, I have to end this stupid thing, so...
^C
Process Terminated.
fyarball@my-computer:~$

Your layout has been removed.

C3 booth the 29th

I was running between booths and grabbing the IPS patches. Each of the last ten booths gave me a new SMW hack, either a final release or a demo. Now I stop. This booth is different.

I do not give much attention to software tools around SMWcentral, because they tend to require Microsoft Windows, which I do not have. This booth is different because the sign says that I can also use Mac OS X, Linux, or BSD to run this tool.

There it is. "Users of Linux, BSD and PowerPC Mac OS Xs should be able to compile the Vanilla (Non-C3) REX IDE sources..." I am a BSD user, so I can try this. I check my OpenBSD system, which already seems to have wxWidgets and the other stuff that I would need for the compile.

OpenBSD systems require environment variables to select which autoconf and automake to use. I check the installed packages and pick the latest versions:

Code

$ export AUTOCONF_VERSION=2.62
$ export AUTOMAKE_VERSION=1.9
$ autoconf --version
autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.62
...
$ automake --version
automake (GNU automake) 1.9.6
...

After that OpenBSD-specific setup, now I can follow the directions in the README:

Code

$ make -f Makefile.cvs
$ ./configure
$ make

The executable is not at src/snesrextools or src/snesrextools as the README would suggest, but it is at src/rex-ide instead.

Code

$ src/rex-ide

I try to open my ROM image called "find40th.sfc", but REX does not know the ".sfc" extension, so I tell the dialog box to show all files. I might want to rename this ROM to ".smc" or ".fig". I am able to view ROM as hex, with the correct addresses. The other feature of REX is that I can hex-edit the ROM.

When I want sixteen bytes per row, I resize the window, and that happens.

(Edit: here is a screenshot of REX from my computer.)

REX has practically no other features. There is no ability to copy or paste any hexadecimal code. I cannot expect much from a new program like REX, but I can say that this program works with OpenBSD.

For me, this is a happy end to C3. I know that there are entire sections of the convention floor that I missed, and there is more room in my bag, but I lack the stamina to finish my tour of the convention. I turn my head to the exit and prepare to leave the convention. There are already plans for the third biannual C3 in Fall 2009, but I might not want to repeat this exercise in six months. C3 might be too big, too much for me. If I rest now, then I might be ready tomorrow to play further through any of the 19 new games in my C3 bag.

Maybe I can glimpse a few more booths on my way out...

Hacking Super Mario World since 28 February 2009

Sorry about that outdated readme file (It's 3 months old, and in this case, 3 months = ancient). Since then, the name of the project has changed from SNES REX Tools to REX IDE for SNES Development.

*Checks out REX-IDE from SourceForge.net*
*Opens up README in a text editor*
*Fixes errors*
*Commits the new REX-IDE to SourceForge.net*

Thanks Kernigh, for reporting the issues regarding the README, and for confirming that REX-IDE works under OpenBSD.
That makes the list of confirmed working platforms:
Windows(i586 MinGW32-GCC), Mac OS X (i386 Apple-GCC), Linux (i386 GCC, amd64 GCC), OpenBSD (???).

QUOTE
There is no ability to copy or paste any hexadecimal code
ENDQUOTE
That's high on my priority list. Due to the way REX was designed, adding new features such as this one will be an easy task.

QUOTE
I try to open my ROM image called "find40th.sfc", but REX does not know the ".sfc" extension, so I tell the dialog box to show all files. I might want to rename this ROM to ".smc" or ".fig". I am able to view ROM as hex, with the correct addresses. The other feature of REX is that I can hex-edit the ROM.
ENDQUOTE
It will take only one line of code to add ".sfc" as a SNES ROM.

Inside the code is experimental support for SDI (Single Document Interface), instead of the default MDI (Multiple Document Interface). Currently, to enable SDI, you can use this to configure:
CPPFLAGS="-DSNESREX_USE_MDI=0" path/to/configure
And each file will open in a separate window, although still controlled by the main window. There are a few bugs with SDI, though, such as the huge size of the main window (it still expects to have something inside of it).

Also, the precompiled REX for windows should work in Wine on Unix.

Your layout has been removed.

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