Talk:Microsoft BASICA

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I have moved this page from "BASICA programming language" to "Microsoft BASICA interpreter" because it is not a programming language, it is strictly speaking an interpreter for a dialect of the BASIC programming language. cprompt 00:04 Mar 27, 2003 (UTC)

[edit] About Rom Basic

What's about Rom Basic?

I bought an IBM PC in 1986 and I found Basica on DOS 2.1 diskette. But does it need a rom basic to run Basica?

Demetano

Yes, I clearly remember that the BASICA from PC DOS required the CBASIC (Cassette BASIC) in ROM and would not work on clones. I think it relied on a number of software interrupts being installed in the Interrupt vector table at boot time. Try running it in a console window on Windows, preferably with "START /LOW" given how DOS programs hogs the CPU. I can run any GW-BASIC version fine, because it does not check the DOS version, unlike other DOS components, but am too lazy to locate the DOS 2.1 diskette Adam Mirowski 15:53, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] accurate

Is the "Example session" accurate? I don't remember "Ready." reposnses and ">" prompts after entering each program line. The screen shot doesn't show them, either. -- Mikeblas 13:13, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't think the most recent edits helped make it more accurate. -- Mikeblas 05:03, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

It is not accurate indeed. This is easy to check with any version of GW-BASIC.EXE: there is no "Ready" prompt, and the blanks do not quite match either. Given how the screen-oriented editor works, the Ready prompt would have no sense anyway, as it would destroy a line which the user is free to modify and accept as new while it is still visible on screen just by pressing Enter over it. I used BASICA for a few weeks a great many years ago and do not remember GW-BASIC being very different. Adam Mirowski 15:53, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I've removed it, then. Let's post something more accurate. -- Mikeblas 17:31, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Heh... Now, the screenshot is not BASICA either. The BASICA I used on PC DOS had IBM name and the word "Advanced" in the copyright message. Maybe this is plain BASIC.EXE, as there were 2 disk BASIC versions in PC DOS, in addition to ROM CBASIC. I forgot what exactly the diff was, maybe BASIC.EXE had less features and less memory requirements. I think that later, one of these binaires just loaded the other one. Adam Mirowski 18:19, 15 October 2006 (UTC)