BASIC Statements

The following BASIC statements are presented:

! Statement	Indicates that the text following the ! is a comment.
* Statement	Indicates that the text following the * is a comment.
$chain Statement	Continues FlashBASIC or BASIC compilation in a different source item.
$include Statement	Inserts FlashBASIC or BASIC code from a separate item (known as an include item) to be compiled as part of the object module of the current program or subroutine.
$options Statement	Sets compatibility options for the FlashBASIC or BASIC compiler.
abort Statement	Immediately stops program execution and unconditionally returns to the TCL command prompt.
aux Statement	Enables or disables spooling to the auxiliary port.
begin case Statement	Starts a case construct.
begin work Statement	Starts a transaction.
break Statement	Enables or disables the BREAK key.
call Statement	Transfers control to an external FlashBASIC or BASIC subroutine and optionally passes a list of arguments to it.
case Statement	Delineates a conditional case construct.
casing Statement	Toggles case sensitivity relative to input data and string comparisons in the current program and any called subroutines.
cfunction Statement	Provides access to C libraries from BASIC.
chain Statement	Transfers processing control to TCL, which interprets and executes the statement defined in the expression.
clear Statement	Sets all local and common variables to 0 in a main program.
cleardata Statement	Clears the data stack.
clearfile Statement	Deletes all items in the specified file variable previously opened with an open statement.
clearselect Statement	Clears the active select-list specified by the list variable and releases all overflow associated with that list.
close Statement	Closes the file identified by the file variable.
commit work Statement	Commits a transaction.
common Statement	Declares data elements to share among different FlashBASIC or BASIC modules.
compare Statement	Compares two dynamic arrays.
continue Statement	Restarts a loop that is under for...next or loop...repeat control.
convert Statement	Searches a given variable and replaces each occurrence of a character by another.
crt Statement	Outputs unconditionally to the terminal display, regardless of whether or not the printer on condition is in effect.
data Statement	Queues responses for use by subsequent input requests initiated from chain, enter, execute, or input statements.
debug Statement	Temporarily suspends execution of a FlashBASIC or BASIC program and invokes the FlashBASIC or BASIC debugger.
del Statement	Provides an alternate to the delete() function for deleting a location from a dynamic array.
delete Statement	Removes a specific item from a file.
dimension Statement	establishes a specific number of storage locations for a matrix of variables.
echo Statement	Toggles terminal echo on or off.
end Statement	Indicates both the end of a series of statements executed conditionally from a then or else condition or the physical end of the program.
end Case Statement	Terminates case construct.
enter Statement	Transfers control to another cataloged FlashBASIC or BASIC program.
equate Statement	A compiler directive that declares a constant at compile time or a synonym of another variable or array element.
error Statement	Displays the error message from the messages file and continues execution of the program.
execute Statement	Temporarily pushes a level and performs any valid TCL expression, then continues execution of the FlashBASIC or BASIC program.
execute Statement (UNIX)	Executes a UNIX command from within a FlashBASIC or BASIC program.
exit Statement	Forces an early exit from a loop that is under for...next or loop...repeat control.
file Statement	A compiler directive that allows the use of attribute definition items in the file’s dictionary while compiling a program.
filelock Statement	Sets an exclusive lock on an entire file.
fileunlock Statement	Releases an exclusive lock set by the filelock statement on an entire file.
footing Statement	Designates a text string composed of literals and special options to output at the bottom of each page.
for...next Statement	An iterative, incremental loop statement used to repeat a sequence of statements for a specific number of occurrences.
get Statement	Gets raw characters from the specified port.
getx Statement	Receives input from an attached line in ASCII hexadecimal format and returns an exploded ASCII hexadecimal string that allows binary data to contain a decimal 255 (x’ff’).
gosub Statement	Transfers control to a local subroutine identified by a statement label within the program.
goto Statement	Transfers control to the location in the FlashBASIC or BASIC program that begins with the given statement label.
heading Statement	Designates a text string composed of literals and special options to output at the top of each page.
if Statement	Tests the result of a logical expression. Depending on whether the expression evaluates to either true or false, the statements following the then or else clauses respectively are executed.
ifr Statement	Tests the result of a logical expression.
in Statement	Accepts a single raw character of input from the keyboard, without displaying a prompt character or requiring pressing ENTER following the input.
input Statement	Temporarily suspends execution of the program until a response is provided from the keyboard and assigns that response to a specified variable.
inputclear Statement	Clears the keyboard type-ahead buffer.
inputctrl Statement	Toggles on and off the ability to enter control characters on succeeding BASIC input statements.
inputerr Statement	Displays a message on the status (bottom) line of the terminal. it meant to be used with the input@ statement.
inputerr Statement (Windows)	Displays a dialog box (allowing the user to specify the title, text, and buttons), then waits for input. Upon return, the system(0) function returns a numeric code indicating the user choice.
inputnull Statement	Used with the input @ statement to define the character used to indicate a null input on subsequent input statements.
inputparity Statement	Enables or disables the extended character set (xcs) for the current process.
inputtrap...gosub Statement	Sets up an automatic computed gosub based on the next input @ statement data.
inputtrap...goto Statement	Sets up an automatic computed goto based on the next input @ statement’s data.
inputtrap off Statement	Cancels the previous inputtrap statement.
ins Statement	An alternative to the insert() function for inserting a string expression into a dynamic array.
key Statement	Locates an item using a B-tree index key, and returns the item in a variable, providing the ability to sequentially search the items in the file based on the index.
let Statement	Assigns the value of an expression to a variable.
locate Statement	Searches for the location of a specific string expression and returns the location in the position variable.
lock Statement	Sets one of 64 execution locks, in the range from 0 through 63.
loop Statement	Repetitively executes (loops) until an ending condition is met.
mat Statement	Assigns data to each element of a dimensioned array variable to a specific value in one operation.
matbuild Statement	Converts a dimensioned array into a dynamic array.
matparse Statement	Converts a dynamic array into a dimensioned array.
matread Statement	Reads the specified item from the optionally specified file variable or, if not specified, the default file variable, and stores one attribute per element in the dimensioned array.
matreadu Statement	Tests if an item is already locked and locks the item if it is not.
matwrite Statement	Writes an item into the specified file variable.
matwriteu Statement	Identical to the matwrite statement, except the item remains locked.
next Statement	Occurs at the end of a for...next construct and causes the iteration counter to increment and branches to the corresponding for statement to decide whether to terminate.
null Statement	Performs no operation, other than to provide an instruction where one is required. This is usually used for program readability.
on...gosub Statement	Transfers control to a local subroutine designated by a specific statement label according to the positional value returned by the expression.
on...goto Statement	Transfers control to the line within the FlashBASIC or BASIC program that begins with the specified statement label, according to the positional value of the expression referenced by the expression.
open Statement	Opens a specified file name and associates the file with the optional file variable.
out Statement	Outputs a single ASCII character derived from a numeric expression in the range of 0 through 255, which indicates its corresponding position in the ASCII table.
page Statement	Terminates the current page of output, prints the optional footing, positions to the top of the form, and prints the optional heading.
precision Statement	Defines the number of fractional decimal places that a numerical value can hold.
print Statement	Directs output of an expression to the current output device.
print on Statement	Directs output to one of 32,767 open print files.
printchar Statement	Prints the first character of the string expression to the screen or to the printer.
printer Statement	Controls the output from subsequent print, heading, footing, or page statements.
procread Statement	Reads the calling Proc’s primary input buffer and assigns its contents to a specified variable.
procwrite Statement	Writes a string expression variable to the calling Proc’s primary input buffer.
program Statement	Optionally used on the first line of a program to indicate that this is a program.
prompt Statement	Indicates the single character to display during subsequent input statements that prompt for input from the keyboard.
read Statement	Reads an item as a dynamic array and stores the item as a string.
readnext Statement	Retrieves the next item-ID from an active list and assigns it to a specified variable.
readt Statement	Reads a tape record and assigns the value returned to a specified variable.
readtx Statement	Reads a tape record converts the tape record to hexadecimal and assigns the resulting hexadecimal value to a specified variable.
readv Statement	Reads an item from the optionally-specified file variable and assigns the value contained in the attribute number referenced in the attribute expression to the specified variable.
release Statement	Clears locks on items locked with a previous matreadu, readu, or readvu statement.
rem Statement	Designates that all text that follows the statement on the same line is ignored by the compiler.
remove Statement	Retrieves a substring delimited by a system delimiter from a dynamic array.
repeat Statement	Defines the end of a loop. See loop Statement for more information.
replace Statement	Maintains referential integrity between items that contain bidirectional bridges used by the Update Processor by eliminating duplicate item-IDs.
return Statement	Terminates an internal or external subroutine and returns execution control to the statement following the invoking call or gosub statement.
rewind Statement	Rewinds the currently attached magnetic tape unit to the beginning of the tape.
rollback work Statement	Rolls back (or undoes) a transaction.
root Statement	Provides an interface to the B-tree indexes for subsequent references with the key statement.
rqm Statement	Suspends processing for a specific number of seconds, or until a specific time.
select Statement	Creates an active list of item-IDs, allowing sequential access to each item in the file by use of the readnext statement.
send Statement	Sends output to a specified port.
sendx Statement	Converts the exploded ASCII hexadecimal string results of a specified string expression to its binary equivalent and then transmits it to the specified port.
sleep Statement	Places a process to sleep for a specific number of seconds, or, until a specific time.
spoolq Statement	Enables or disables the spooler entry number message.
stop Statement	Stops program execution and returns to the invoking the process.
subroutine Statement	Defines a program as an external subroutine.
ta Statement	Toggles or resets the type-ahead buffer.
tcl Statement	Executes any valid TCL command as a subroutine.
tclread Statement	Loads the TCL command used to activate the program into a variable.
transaction Statement	Enables or disables participation in a transaction.
transaction abort Statement	Aborts a transaction.
transaction cache Statement	Enables or disables the transaction read cache.
transaction commit Statement	Commits a transaction.
transaction flush Statement	Enables or disables the transaction flush mechanism.
transaction rollback Statement	Rolls back a transaction.
transaction start Statement	Starts a transaction.
unlock Statement	Resets an execution lock, in the range 0 to 63, previously set with a lock statement.
weof Statement	Writes an eof (end of file) mark to the currently attached magnetic media.
write Statement	Writes the item specified in the dynamic array variable into the specified file, using the item-ID specified in the ID expression.
writet Statement	Writes a tape record to the attached magnetic media from the specified variable.
writeu Statement	Writes a dynamic array into the specified file variable and keeps items locked that were locked by a previous readu or readvu statement.
writev Statement	Writes the value of an expression into the attribute designated in the attribute expression parameter, using the item-ID specified in the ID expression.
writevu Statement	Identical to writev, except that the item remains locked.
writex Statement	Writes the item specified in the dynamic array variable into the specified file, using the item-ID specified in the ID expression.