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!BasicProg/!Help

This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.

Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.

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Back to Basics: Learning to Program in Basic
By Mark Moxon

Run this option to open a directory containing the example Basic program from the seventh part of the series on learning to program in Basic.

Listing1 provides a very simple word processor. Run the program  and the screen will clear. At the bottom of the screen is a dashed line: below this is the editing areas. Above the line is the actual document.

Use the keys A and Z to move the star up and down the left-hand side: this star is the cursor showing the current line. At any time, press E to enter edit mode. A question mark will appear at the bottom of the screen, and you can type in any text you want, up to a maximum of 75 characters. When you press RETURN, this text appears on screen. If you want to right-justify some text, simply position the cursor on that line, and press R; if you want to centre a line, position the cursor and press C; finally, to left-justify a line, press L.

For more information, see the article on page 105 in the magazine.

� Copyright Acorn User 1994
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00000060  63 6f 6e 74 61 69 6e 69  6e 67 20 74 68 65 20 65  |containing the e|
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000000d0  6e 67 31 20 70 72 6f 76  69 64 65 73 20 61 20 76  |ng1 provides a v|
000000e0  65 72 79 20 73 69 6d 70  6c 65 20 77 6f 72 64 20  |ery simple word |
000000f0  70 72 6f 63 65 73 73 6f  72 2e 20 52 75 6e 20 74  |processor. Run t|
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000001a0  65 20 74 68 65 20 6b 65  79 73 20 41 20 61 6e 64  |e the keys A and|
000001b0  20 5a 20 74 6f 20 6d 6f  76 65 20 74 68 65 20 73  | Z to move the s|
000001c0  74 61 72 20 75 70 20 61  6e 64 20 64 6f 77 6e 20  |tar up and down |
000001d0  74 68 65 20 6c 65 66 74  2d 68 61 6e 64 20 73 69  |the left-hand si|
000001e0  64 65 3a 20 74 68 69 73  20 73 74 61 72 20 69 73  |de: this star is|
000001f0  20 74 68 65 20 63 75 72  73 6f 72 20 73 68 6f 77  | the cursor show|
00000200  69 6e 67 20 74 68 65 20  63 75 72 72 65 6e 74 20  |ing the current |
00000210  6c 69 6e 65 2e 20 41 74  20 61 6e 79 20 74 69 6d  |line. At any tim|
00000220  65 2c 20 70 72 65 73 73  20 45 20 74 6f 20 65 6e  |e, press E to en|
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00000240  20 71 75 65 73 74 69 6f  6e 20 6d 61 72 6b 20 77  | question mark w|
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00000270  73 63 72 65 65 6e 2c 20  61 6e 64 20 79 6f 75 20  |screen, and you |
00000280  63 61 6e 20 74 79 70 65  20 69 6e 20 61 6e 79 20  |can type in any |
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000002b0  66 20 37 35 20 63 68 61  72 61 63 74 65 72 73 2e  |f 75 characters.|
000002c0  20 57 68 65 6e 20 79 6f  75 20 70 72 65 73 73 20  | When you press |
000002d0  52 45 54 55 52 4e 2c 20  74 68 69 73 20 74 65 78  |RETURN, this tex|
000002e0  74 20 61 70 70 65 61 72  73 20 6f 6e 20 73 63 72  |t appears on scr|
000002f0  65 65 6e 2e 20 49 66 20  79 6f 75 20 77 61 6e 74  |een. If you want|
00000300  20 74 6f 20 72 69 67 68  74 2d 6a 75 73 74 69 66  | to right-justif|
00000310  79 20 73 6f 6d 65 20 74  65 78 74 2c 20 73 69 6d  |y some text, sim|
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00000330  20 63 75 72 73 6f 72 20  6f 6e 20 74 68 61 74 20  | cursor on that |
00000340  6c 69 6e 65 2c 20 61 6e  64 20 70 72 65 73 73 20  |line, and press |
00000350  52 3b 20 69 66 20 79 6f  75 20 77 61 6e 74 20 74  |R; if you want t|
00000360  6f 20 63 65 6e 74 72 65  20 61 20 6c 69 6e 65 2c  |o centre a line,|
00000370  20 70 6f 73 69 74 69 6f  6e 20 74 68 65 20 63 75  | position the cu|
00000380  72 73 6f 72 20 61 6e 64  20 70 72 65 73 73 20 43  |rsor and press C|
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000003a0  66 74 2d 6a 75 73 74 69  66 79 20 61 20 6c 69 6e  |ft-justify a lin|
000003b0  65 2c 20 70 72 65 73 73  20 4c 2e 0a 0a 46 6f 72  |e, press L...For|
000003c0  20 6d 6f 72 65 20 69 6e  66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 6f  | more informatio|
000003d0  6e 2c 20 73 65 65 20 74  68 65 20 61 72 74 69 63  |n, see the artic|
000003e0  6c 65 20 6f 6e 20 70 61  67 65 20 31 30 35 20 69  |le on page 105 i|
000003f0  6e 20 74 68 65 20 6d 61  67 61 7a 69 6e 65 2e 0a  |n the magazine..|
00000400  0a a9 20 43 6f 70 79 72  69 67 68 74 20 41 63 6f  |.. Copyright Aco|
00000410  72 6e 20 55 73 65 72 20  31 39 39 34 0a           |rn User 1994.|
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