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tbcom.doc
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1995-04-22
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If you've been wondering about
TURBO-BASIC, but don't know whether
you want to spend all those $$$
downloading it, READ ON.....
THANKS!! TO THE WESTERN NEW YORK
ATARI USERS GROUP (DAVE AND LAURA)
WHO'VE MADE THE FILES AND DOCS
AVAILABLE!!!
TURBO BASIC is a Public Domain
program that has turned up from (talk
about a World Wide Community) Holland.
It is a new version of Basic designed
to run ONLY on the XL/XE Ataris. So
what???
PHASE ONE
This sucker is FAST! Since it is
'upwardly compatible' with Atari Basic
(AB), you can boot up TB, then LOAD
one of your old game files and STAND
BACK. After all these years of
squeezing every speed trick out of AB,
I discovered that the first thing I
had to do with my old files was SLOW
'EM DOWN! *whew*
For this reason, if no other, I think
you might want to try it. For those
who don't feel committed enough to pop
for the <MASSIVE> DOW time required
for TURBOI and TURBOC (the Compleat
Turbo Basic) I've uploaded TBCOM.XMO.
This is the Turbo Basic interpreter.
Rename to AUTORUN.SYS, then boot your
XL or XE holding down the OPTION key
to disable the internal Basic.
In addition, grab TBHLP.TXT This is a
READable text file (in case you want
to look before you DOW) that contains
a short summary of new TB commands (if
nothing else, you're gonna wanna know
about the PAUSE command!) These two
files will get you started.
From this point, you can just
continue programming using your
familiar AB syntax (you do have to
watch out for new Basic keywords like
DIR,MOVE,etc.), and have the programs
execute as normal except for a big
increase in speed. You can also use TB
programs written by others that you
run across.
PHASE TWO
There's another side to TB, too. And
here, alas, the picture ain't quite so
bright. As noted, there are a TON of
new commands. Unfortunately, the
documentation is at present Real
Sparse. (And a lot of it is in German,
which means that anyone willing to do
a translation job will win Thousands
of Instant New Friends.)
Experimenting with the new
programming style is only for those
who can't resist a challenge. Kind of
like a Big Adventure Game. Note again:
you don't have to. But there's some
REAL interesting stuff here.
For instance:
IF-ELSE-ENDIF, WHILE-WEND,
REPEAT-UNTIL, and other sorts of 'new'
loops. Structured programming commands
like PROCEDURE and EXEC (Execute
procedure). Some useful extensions to
AB like DPEEK and DPOKE to handle
lo-byte, hi-byte 'words', new GRAPHICS
commands (like FILL), built in
DOS-type commands (DIR). Plus lots of
little conveniences like CLS (Clear
Screen), SOUND (with no parameters
turns off all sound channels), and
others too numerous to mention.
If you feel like you want to get down
and do some serious programming, I
guarantee that you'll be in for some
frustration. That lack of DOCs again.
(I would KILL for a memory map!)
Welcome to the difference between PD
and Commercial programs. Comme Il Dit,
you get what you pay for.
But if you're a Basic hacker at
heart, there's fun to be had here.
Nothing quite like when your off the
wall program works, right?
What we REALLY need is hundreds of
busy little hands exploring and
sharing discoveries. We'll be looking
for your demos.
--uncle don
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