PeterJ wrote: ↑Sat Mar 31, 2018 1:01 pm
Thanks Fred, can I ask what phantom typist is?
It’s a feature that types the appropriate load commands for each file type/computer model. E.g., if you load a file of the type BYTES, Fuse will reset the machine, then type LOAD ""CODE for you. If it’s a +3, it’ll reset the machine, then select the +3 BASIC menu, then type LOAD "t:", etc.
Previous versions of Fuse, used a series of snapshots with these commands already “typed in,” as it were. That eliminated the wait time associated with the Spectrum performing a reset and the typing. However, snapshots were deemed problematic (because of the number of possible configurations that needed to be stored), so the phantom typist feature was introduced.
This, however, also came with its set of problems, the biggest being the wait times. For developers, who often need to load several versions of their programs in quick succession, this was a real deal breaker, because the amount of time to make a minor change of, say, a parameter in your code and its subsequent assembly was infinitesimally small, compared to the time it took Fuse to reset the machine and type the load command.
As a compromise, Fuse now runs as fast as it can on your computer during reseting+phantom typing.
P.S. I haven’t tested this new version yet, but when phantom typist was first introduced, I had to roll back to the previous version, as my development process virtually ground to a halt (okay, it’s a hyperbole, but you can imagine the frustration).
I’m not sure if the phantom typist can be disabled completely now, as I think the Fuse team abandoned the use of snapshots for good now (don’t quote me on that, though). If that’s the case, it’s too bad—I loved the snappiness of Fuse for development.