path: root/bwbasic.doc

                    Bywater BASIC Interpreter, version 3.20
                 ---------------------------------------------

                  Copyright (c) 1993, Ted A. Campbell
                  for bwBASIC version 2.10, 11 October 1993

                  Copyright (c) 2014-2015, Howatd Wulf, AF5NE
                  for bwBASIC version 3.00, 12 May 2015

                  Copyright (c) 2015-2016, Howatd Wulf, AF5NE
                  for bwBASIC version 3.10, 27 July 2016

                  Copyright (c) 2016-2017, Howatd Wulf, AF5NE
                  for bwBASIC version 3.20, 4 June 2017

CONTENTS:


   1. DESCRIPTION
   2. TERMS OF USE
   3. QUICK REFERENCE LIST OF COMMANDS, FUNCTIONS AND OPERATORS
   4. GENERAL NOTES ON USAGE
   5. PREDEFINED VARIABLES
   6. UNIMPLEMENTED COMMANDS AND FUNCTIONS
      and AGENDA FOR DEVELOPMENT
   7. THE STORY OF Bywater BASIC
   8. COMMUNICATIONS
   9. EXPANDED REFERENCE FOR COMMANDS, FUNCTIONS AND OPERATORS

   The author wishes to express his thanks to Mr. David MacKenzie, 
   who assisted in the development Unix installation and configuration
   for this version.

1. DESCRIPTION


   The Bywater BASIC Interpreter (bwBASIC) implements a large superset 
   of the ANSI Standard for Minimal BASIC (X3.60-1978) and a significant 
   subset of the ANSI Standard for Full BASIC (X3.113-1987), and many 
   classic BASIC dialects in C.  

   bwBASIC can be configured to enable commands, functions, operators 
   and punctuation characters available in many classic dialects of BASIC; 
   these are controlled by various OPTION commands.  bwBASIC does not attempt 
   bug-level compatibility with any particular BASIC dialect nor does it 
   currently support graphics.  bwBASIC seeks to be as portable as possible.

   The interpreter is fairly slow.  Whenever faced with a choice
   between conceptual clarity and speed, I have consistently chosen the 
   former.  The interpreter is the simplest design available, and 
   utilizes no system of intermediate code, which could speed up 
   considerably its operation.  As it is, each line has only one 
   command.  Multi-statement lines are internally broken into distinct 
   lines as they are loaded.


2. TERMS OF USE:


   This version of Bywater BASIC is released under the terms of the 
   GNU General Public License (GPL), which is distributed with this 
   software in the file "COPYING".  The GPL specifies the terms under 
   which users may copy and use the software in this distribution.

   A separate license is available for commercial distribution,
   for information on which you should contact the author.


3. QUICK REFERENCE LIST OF COMMANDS, FUNCTIONS AND OPERATORS

   
   The complete list of over 500 commands, functions and operators is 
   in the file "ALL.txt" in the DOCS directory.  Documentation for each 
   BASIC dialect is in the other text files in the DOCS directory.  

   A BASIC dialect is a selection of commands, functions, operators,
   punctuation characters and other behaviors.  The OPTION VERSION 
   command is used to choose a specific BASIC dialect.  Additional 
   OPTION commands are available to fine-tune the behavior.

   In bwBASIC, any function can be executed as a command.  For example, 
   the function "OUT(X, Y)" can be executed as the command "OUT X, Y". 
   You can overload functions by parameter signature (the number
   and types of parameters), and user defined functions can replace
   any instrinsic function, including INP, OUT, PEEK, POKE, and WAIT.
   

4. GENERAL NOTES ON USAGE:


   4.a. Interactive Environment


   An interactive environment is provided if the flag INTERACTIVE
   is defined as TRUE in bwBASIC.h, so that a line with a
   line number can be entered at the bwBASIC prompt and it will be
   added to the program in memory.

   Line numbers are not strictly required, but are useful if the
   interactive enviroment is used for programming.  For longer
   program entry one might prefer to use an ASCII text editor, and
   in this case lines can be entered without numbers.  See also the
   documentation below for the pseudo-command EDIT, in section 5.


   4.b. Naming Conventions


   Command, function, label, and variable names are not case sensitive,
   so that "Run" and "RUN" and "run" are equivalent. 

   The characters allowed in variable names depends upon the specific
   BASIC dialect selected with the OPTION VERSION command.  Usually,
   variable names can use any alphabetic characters, the period
   and underscore characters and decimal digits (but not in the
   first position) and they can be terminated with the various numeric 
   type characters (!,@,#,%,&,~) or the string type character ($).
   

   4.c. Numerical Constants


   Numerical constants may begin with a digit 0-9 (decimal), with
   the "&H" or "&h" (hexadecimal) or the "&o" or "&O" (octal).
   Numerical constants may include 'E' or 'e' followed by an 
   exponent number to denote exponential notation.  Numerical 
   constants may also be terminated by the various numeric type 
   characters (!,@,#,%,&,~).


   4.d. Command-Line Execution


   A filename can be specified on the command line and will be
   loaded and executed immediately, so that the command line

      bwBASIC prog.bas

   will load and execute "prog.bas".  If a program is executed
   from the command line, control is returned to the operating 
   system when the program terminates.


   4.e. Program Storage


   All programs are stored as ASCII text files.  


   4.f. TRUE and FALSE


   TRUE is defined as -1 and FALSE is defined as 0 in the default
   distribution of bwBASIC.  Alhtough these definitions can be changed 
   by those compiling bwBASIC (see file bwBASIC.h), any other values
   are not supported.


   4.g. Assignments


   Assignment must be made to variables.  This differs from some
   implementations of BASIC where assignment can be made to a
   function.  Implication: "INSTR( 3, x$, y$ ) = z$" will not
   work under bwBASIC.  The command "MID$(X$,...) = ..." is 
   implemented and should be used instead.
   
   Some BASIC dialects allow the multiple variable assignments,
   such as:
      100 LET A = B = C = 0
   In bwBASIC, only the first '=' is considered an assignment.
   All other '=' are considered comparison operators.  To resolve
   this issue, use commas to seperate the variables, such as:
      100 LET A, B, C = 0
   If these statements are only used to initialize the variable
   values, then they may not needed in bwBASIC, since all numeric
   variables are initialized to zero (0) and all string variables 
   are initialized to the empty string ("").


   4.h. Operators and Precedence


   The available operators are determined by the OPTION VERSION
   setting.  bwBASIC recognizes many operators, with their level of 
   precedence fixed.  The precedence levels chosen for the various 
   operators in bwBASIC were selected to be compatible with many 
   dialects of BASIC.  If your application requires a specific order 
   of evaluation, then use parentheses.
   
   The collating sequence (ASCII, EBCDIC, and so on) is determined 
   by the C compiler.  As a consequenece, the results of string
   comparisons may vary.  A simple check for collating sequence is
   shown in the following example:
   
      100 REM Purpose: Verify collating sequence (sort order)
      110 REM  Author: Howard Wulf, AF5NE
      120 REM    Date: 2015-11-28
      130 REM
      200 IF "1" < "A" THEN 300
      210 PRINT "EBCDIC"
      220 GOTO 999
      300 PRINT "ASCII"
      999 END


   4.i. Numerical Precision (NOT)


   bwBASIC utilizes numbers with only one level of precision.
   All numbers are internally represented using a C double.
   
   The various numeric type suffix characters (!,@,#,%,&,~), 
   just like the string type suffix character ($), are part 
   of the variable name.
     
   This version also supports type declarations, such as:
      100 DIM X AS INTEGER
      110 FUNCTION ABC( X AS INTEGER ) AS INTEGER
      120   LET ABC = X * 2
      130 END FUNCTION

   For each type character there is an equivalent type declaration.
      Type   Equivalent
      Char   declaration
      ====   ===========
      $      STRING
      #      DOUBLE
      !      SINGLE
      @      CURRENCY
      &      LONG
      %      INTEGER
      ~      BYTE

   However, combining both a type suffix character and a type 
   declaration in the same statement is not supported.
      100 DIM A$ AS INTEGER ' this is not supported
   
   The type of a variable is used to range-check the values.  
   This allows many programs to run correctly, but does not 
   handle all possible cases.  The current implementation is not 
   complete for all possible uses of numeric type declarations.

   In the current version, the type of numeric values is used
   to select the appropriate operation.  As a consequence, 
   integer division is used when dividing two integer values.
   The MOD and \ operators use the rounded integer values of
   their parameters and return a rounded integer result.
   
   Within an expression, the result of an operation is promoted
   to the greater of:
      the type of the left parameter,
      the type of the right parameter, and
      the type required to hold the result.

   In bwBASIC, numeric constants are DOUBLE by default.  If you
   wish to coerce a numeric constant, then add the appropriate
   numeric type character immediately after the numeric digits.
   Many BASIC dialects that allow numeric constants to have a
   numeric type character adopt this convention. 
   

   4.j. OPTION VERSION and so on

   
   OPTION commands change how a BASIC program is parsed.  All OPTION commands 
   should be in "profile.bas" so they are effective when a BASIC program
   is loaded.  The first OPTION command should be OPTION VERSION to select a
   specific BASIC dialect.  Additional OPTION commands fine-tune the available 
   commands, functions, operators, punctuation characters and so on to support 
   programs written in many different BASIC dialects.  All other OPTION commands 
   must follow the OPTION VERSION command.  Conflicting and pathological OPTION 
   combinations are not supported.

   The OPTION VERSION command selects a specific BASIC dialect.
      OPTION VERSION "BYWATER"        ' Bywater BASIC 3
      OPTION VERSION "BYWATER-2"      ' Bywater BASIC 2
      OPTION VERSION "CALL/360"       ' SBC CALL/360 Mainframe BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "CBASIC-II"      ' CBASIC-II for CP/M
      OPTION VERSION "DARTMOUTH"      ' Dartmouth DTSS BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "ECMA-55"        ' ANSI Minimal BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "ECMA-116"       ' ANSI Full BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "GCOS"           ' GE 600 Mainframe BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "HAARDT"         ' bas 2.4 by Michael Haardt
      OPTION VERSION "HANDBOOK1"      ' The BASIC Handbook, 1st Edition
      OPTION VERSION "HANDBOOK2"      ' The BASIC Handbook, 2nd Edition
      OPTION VERSION "HEATH"          ' Heath Benton Harbor BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "MARK-I"         ' GE 265 Mainframe BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "MARK-II"        ' GE 435 Mainframe BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "MBASIC"         ' Microsoft BASIC-80 for Xenix
      OPTION VERSION "PDP-8"          ' DEC PDP-8 BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "PDP-11"         ' DEC PDP-11 BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "RBASIC"         ' Micronics RBASIC for 6809 FLEX
      OPTION VERSION "RSTS-11"        ' DEC RSTS-11 BASIC-PLUS
      OPTION VERSION "SYSTEM/360"     ' IBM System/360 Mainframe BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "SYSTEM/370"     ' IBM System/370 Mainframe BASIC
      OPTION VERSION "TRS-80"         ' TRS-80 Model I/III/4 LBASIC
      OPTION VERSION "VINTAGE"        ' Vintage BASIC 1.0.1
      OPTION VERSION "XBASIC"         ' TSC XBASIC for 6800 FLEX

   For example, MOD is a function in OPTION VERSION "ECMA-116",
   MOD is an operator in OPTION VERSION "MBASIC", and
   MOD is a valid variable name in OPTION VERSION "CALL/360".  
   
   The OPTION VERSION command also sets the following OPTION commands:
        OPTION STRICT        ON | OFF
        OPTION ANGLE    DEGREES | RADIANS | GRADIANS
        OPTION BUGS          ON | OFF
        OPTION LABELS        ON | OFF
        OPTION COMPARE   BINARY | DATABASE | TEXT
        OPTION BASE          integer
        OPTION RECLEN        integer
        OPTION COVERAGE      ON | OFF
        OPTION TRACE         ON | OFF
        OPTION ERROR       GOTO | GOSUB
        OPTION DATE          "format"
        OPTION TIME          "format"
        OPTION PUNCT COMMENT   "char"
        OPTION PUNCT STATEMENT "char"
        OPTION PUNCT PRINT     "char"
        OPTION PUNCT IMAGE     "char"
        OPTION PUNCT INPUT     "char"
        OPTION USING DIGIT     "char"
        OPTION USING COMMA     "char"
        OPTION USING PERIOD    "char"
        OPTION USING PLUS      "char"
        OPTION USING MINUS     "char"
        OPTION USING EXRAD     "char"
        OPTION USING DOLLAR    "char"
        OPTION USING FILLER    "char"
        OPTION USING LITERAL   "char"
        OPTION USING FIRST     "char"
        OPTION USING ALL       "char"
        OPTION USING LENGTH    "char"
        OPTION PUNCT QUOTE     "char"
        OPTION PUNCT STRING    "char"
        OPTION PUNCT DOUBLE    "char"
        OPTION PUNCT SINGLE    "char"
        OPTION PUNCT CURRENCY  "char"
        OPTION PUNCT LONG      "char"
        OPTION PUNCT INTEGER   "char"
        OPTION PUNCT BYTE      "char"
        OPTION PUNCT LPAREN    "char"
        OPTION PUNCT RPAREN    "char"
        OPTION PUNCT FILENUM   "char"
        OPTION PUNCT AT        "char"

   The commands, functions, operators and settings for each BASIC dialect 
   is documented in the text files in the DOCS directory.  
   
   OPTION DISABLE COMMAND
   Disable a specific command.
   
   OPTION DISABLE FUNCTION
   Disable a specific function.
   
   OPTION DISABLE OPERATOR
   Disable a specific operator.
      
   OPTION ENABLE COMMAND
   Enable a specific command.

   OPTION ENABLE FUNCTION 
   Enable a specific function.

   OPTION ENABLE OPERATOR
   Enable a specific operator.
   
   OPTION ERROR GOSUB
   The program will GOSUB to the error handler.
   The error handler exits with the RETURN command.
   
   OPTION ERROR GOTO
   The program will GOTO to the error handler.
   The error handler exits with the RESUME command.
      
   OPTION LABELS OFF
   Disables textual labels.
   
   OPTION LABELS ON
   Enables textual labels.
      
   Regardless of the OPTION LABELS setting, statements of the form 
      IF x THEN label
   are not allowed, instead use the form 
      IF x THEN GOTO label
   The reason for this rule is because 
      IF x THEN y
   is considered to be the same as
       IF x THEN
         y
       END IF
   where "y" is a command, function, or subroutine.  Many BASIC dialects
   that allow textual labels adopt this convention.
   
   OPTION ROUND controls how floating point values are converted to
   whole number values.  OPTION ROUNG MATH rounds toward the nearest
   whole number, with halves rounding up to the next larger whole number,
   as commonly expected by many scientific applications.  OPTION ROUND 
   BANK rounds halves to the even whole numbers, as commonly expected 
   by many financial applications.  OPTION ROUND TRUNCATE truncates to 
   the next smaller whole number, as commonly expected by many 
   applications written for an integer BASIC.  The selected rounding 
   method is used whenever a whole number is required, including:
   a) selection value for ON ... GOTO and ON ... GOSUB
   b) any function parameter requiring a whole number
   c) array subscripts and dimensions
   d) string positions and lengths
   e) CINT() and similar
   The OPTION ROUND command does not change the results of INT() or FIX().
   The default rounding method is OPTION ROUND BANK.

   A comparison of the different OPTION ROUND settings upon the results of CINT()
   
                                                BANK           MATH           TRUNCATE
   X              int(X)         fix(X)         cint(X)        cint(X)        cint(X)
   -2.0           -2             -2             -2             -2             -2 
   -1.6           -2             -1             -2             -2             -1 
   -1.5           -2             -1             -2             -2             -1 
   -1.4           -2             -1             -1             -1             -1 
   -1.0           -1             -1             -1             -1             -1 
   -0.6           -1              0             -1             -1              0 
   -0.5           -1              0              0             -1              0 
   -0.4           -1              0              0              0              0 
    0.0            0              0              0              0              0 
    0.4            0              0              0              0              0 
    0.5            0              0              0              1              0 
    0.6            0              0              1              1              0 
    1.0            1              1              1              1              1 
    1.4            1              1              1              1              1 
    1.5            1              1              2              2              1 
    1.6            1              1              2              2              1 
    2.0            2              2              2              2              2 

   The OPTION BUGS command determines the behavior of a number of BASIC keywords.  
   BASIC programs which rely on these behaviors are non-portable and non-standard. 
   I have considered several different names for this command, but have not yet 
   thought of a better short name.
      
   OPTION BUGS ON disables the ANSI/ECMA/ISO standard behavior:
   
   FOR ...        ' values are evaluated left-to-right
   GOTO X OF ...  ' an invalid value for X falls thru without ERROR
   GOSUB X OF ... ' an invalid value for X falls thru without ERROR
   ON X GOTO  ... ' an invalid value for X falls thru without ERROR
   ON X GOSUB ... ' an invalid value for X falls thru without ERROR
   X = VAL("X")   ' returns zero without ERROR
   INPUT X        ' empty string returns zero without ERROR
   INPUT X$       ' empty string returns ""   without ERROR
   INPUT X$       ' allows unquoted character strings
   variable names ' period and underscore are allowed
   variable types ' the type characters #!@&% are allowed
   PRINT "a" X    ' string concatenation is implied
   1.2% is 1      ' the type characters #!@&% are allowed
   1D1 is ERROR   ' 'D' is not allowed as exponent seperator
   
   OPTION BUGS OFF enables the ANSI/ECMA/ISO standard behavior:

   FOR ...        ' values are evaluated according to standard
   GOTO X OF ...  ' an invalid value for X is an ERROR
   GOSUB X OF ... ' an invalid value for X is an ERROR
   ON X GOTO  ... ' an invalid value for X is an ERROR
   ON X GOSUB ... ' an invalid value for X is an ERROR
   X = VAL("X")   ' raises an illegal function call (ERROR 5)
   INPUT X        ' empty string retries input
   INPUT X$       ' empty string retries input
   INPUT X$       ' unquoted character strings retries input
   variable names ' period and underscore are not allowed
   variable types ' the type characters #!@&% are not allowed
   PRINT "a";X    ' string concatenation is not implied
   1.2% is ERROR  ' the type characters #!@&% are not allowed
   1D1 is ERROR   ' 'D' is not allowed as exponent seperator


   4.k. ERROR handling

   
   bwBASIC implements a simplified error handling strategy.
   Errors are seperated into two categories:

   a) Fatal errors.  These errors include:
      - Unknown command
      - FOR without NEXT
      - NEXT without FOR
      - WHILE without WEND
      - WEND without WHILE
      - and so on.
   The program is scanned prior to running and if any of these errors is
   detected, then the program is not allowed to run.  If these errors 
   occur as the result of a DELETE or MERGE in a running program, then the 
   program is terminated.
    
   b) Non-fatal errors.  If an error handler exists, then it is executed, 
   otherwise the default behaivor is performed.  The correct action to 
   take in an error handler depends upon the specific application.  
      - Overflow (ERROR 6)
         - the default behavior is to display a warning message.
      - Division by zero (ERROR 11)
         - the default behavior is to display a warning message.
      - String too long (ERROR 15)
         - the default behavior is to display a warning message.
      - All other non-fatal errors
         - the default behavior is to terminate the program.
   
   bwBASIC 2.61 used ON ERROR GOSUB for error trapping.
   This version defaults to ON ERROR GOTO instead.


   4.l.  Implementation rules for functions and commands

   
   In many BASIC dialects, keywords are seperated into three distinct groups:
   Commands, Statements, and Functions.  In bwBASIC, keywords are seperated 
   into only two groups:  Commands and Functions.  A keyword documented as a  
   Command or Statament in a specific BASIC dialect may have been implemented 
   in bwBASIC as a Function.  This is merely an implementation decision, which
   may change in the future.  Each keyword should only be used as described in 
   the reference document.  The following rules are considered when deciding
   whether a BASIC keyword is implemented as a command or a function:
   
      a) If the keyword requires significant parsing,
      then it is implemented as a command.  An example is "PRINT".
      
      b) If the keyword requires access to variables BYREF,
      then it is implemented as a command.  An example is "SWAP".
      
      c) If the keyword changes the flow of control,
      then it is implemented as a command.  An example is "GOTO".
      
      d) A function may be used as though it were a command, 
      but a command cannot be used as though it were a function.
      
      e) The BASIC program can redefine a function, 
      but the BASIC program cannot redefine a command.  
      
      f) The BASIC program can overload a function, 
      but the BASIC program cannot overload a command.  
      
      g) Other than semantics, there is no practical difference
      between a BASIC function and a BASIC subroutine.  The
      return value of a BASIC subroutine, when called as a
      function, is zero.  Calling a BASIC function as if it
      were a subroutine simply discards the return value.
   
   These rules were chosen to maintain compatibility with 
   many BASIC dialects.
   
   An example of the results of the above rules is "OUT".  
   Since "OUT" is implemented as a function, you may:
      a) call it as a subroutine like this:
         100 OUT X, Y
      b) call it as a function like this:
         100 LET N = OUT( X, Y ) ' N = 0
      c) redefine it as a subroutine like this:
         SUB OUT( X, Y )
             REM ...
         END SUB
      d) redefine it as a function like this:
         FUNCTION OUT( X, Y )
             REM ...
         END FUNCTION
      e) overload it using subroutines like these:
         SUB OUT( X, Y )
             REM ...
         END SUB
         SUB OUT( X, A$ )
             REM ...
         END SUB
         SUB OUT( A$, X )
             REM ...
         END SUB 
         SUB OUT( A$, B$ )
             REM ...
         END SUB 
      f) overload it using functions like these:
         FUNCTION OUT( X, Y )
             REM ...
         END FUNCTION
         FUNCTION OUT( X, A$ )
             REM ...
         END FUNCTION
         FUNCTION OUT( A$, X )
             REM ...
         END FUNCTION 
         FUNCTION OUT( A$, B$ )
             REM ...
         END FUNCTION
   

   4.m.  Reference documentation


   bwBASIC is preconfigured to support a number of specific BASIC dialects which were 
   implemented using the following references, however bwBASIC does not attempt to be 
   bug-level compatible and does not implement non-portable design choices.  A manual
   for each dialect is in the DOCS directory to make you aware that a specific keyword
   is implemented, however you should refer to the reference document for a proper 
   understanding of how to use each keyword.  There are many other good books which 
   describe these BASIC dialects in detail.  

   OPTION VERSION "BYWATER"        ' Bywater BASIC 3
      MANUAL:
         BYWATER.TXT

   OPTION VERSION "BYWATER-2"      ' Bywater BASIC 2
      MANUAL:
         BYWATER-2.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         DO NUM, DO UNNUM
      NOTES:
         SUB MAIN is not automatically called.
         CALL requires parentheses around the function/subroutine parameters, 
         so instead of 
            CALL abc 1, 2, 3
         use 
            CALL abc( 1, 2, 3 )

   OPTION VERSION "CALL/360"       ' SBC CALL/360 Mainframe BASIC
      MANUAL:
         CALL-360.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         MAT PRINT USING.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.

   OPTION VERSION "CBASIC-II"      ' CBASIC-II for CP/M
      MANUAL:
         CBASIC-II.TXT
      ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:         
         "CBASIC Language Reference Manual, 2nd Edition"
         by Diigital Research
         (c) 1982, Diigital Research
         http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/digitalResearch/cb80/
         CBASIC_Language_Reference_Manual_Oct82.pdf
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         CONSTAT%, CONCHAR% and compiler directives.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The %INCLUDE directive is implemented, but only supports literal
         unquoted filesnames without drive or directory, such as:
            %INCLUDE LIBRARY.BAS            
         Note that the %INCLUDE directive is executed as a file is being loaded, 
         and as a result the %INCLUDE does not appear in the resulting listing.
         Machine language functions and commands are not supported.
         The parsing of command line parameters is implementation defined.
         The specification of an array in a COMMON statement is the same as 
         the specification in a DIM statement.
         The SIZE() function assumes 1024 bytes and does not support wild-cards; 
         if the file does not exist then SIZE() returns zero, otherwise SIZE() 
         returns the number of 1024 bytes blocks required to contain the file;
         an existing file of zero bytes returns a value of 1.

   OPTION VERSION "DARTMOUTH"      ' Dartmouth DTSS BASIC
      MANUAL:
         DARTMOUTH.TXT
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         Sections 4.2 and 4.3 are implementation specific and are not supported.
         Lines containing data to be READ must have a line number and a DATA command.
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         Card punch codes are not supported, use a comma or semicolon instead.

   OPTION VERSION "ECMA-55"        ' ANSI Minimal BASIC
      MANUAL:
         ECMA-55.TXT
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         DIM is an executed statement in bwBASIC.  
         This is a design decision to support the following example.
            100 INPUT "How many?"; N
            110 DIM A$(N)

   OPTION VERSION "ECMA-116"       ' ANSI Full BASIC
      MANUAL:
         ECMA-116.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         Graphic commands, chapters 11 thru 15.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         WORK-IN-PROGRESS.

   OPTION VERSION "GCOS"           ' GE 600 Mainframe BASIC
      MANUAL:
         GCOS.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         HPS, LIN, RESTORE*, RESTORE$, VPS and binary files.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         Local variables in a multiline DEF are declared using DIM.
         Line numbers are not written to, nor read from, data files.
         FILES does not support passwords.
         Literal values for file names are not supported, use string values instead.
         This is a design decision to support the following:
            100 INPUT "Which files?"; A$, B$, C$
            110 FILES A$, B$, C$

   OPTION VERSION "HAARDT"         ' bas 2.4 by Michael Haardt
      MANUAL:
         HAARDT.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         BBC syntax, use ANSI syntax instead.
         ON ERROR statement(s) is not supported, use ON ERROR GOTO instead.
         ON ERROR OFF, use ON ERROR GOTO 0 instead.
         MAT REDIM, OPTION RUN, OPTION STOP, TRUNCATE, UNNUM and XREF.
         DEC$(X,A$), ENVIRON$(X), FIND$(A$[,X]) and INSTR(A$,B$,X,Y).
      NOTES:
         POS and TAB are 1-based instead of 0-based.
         ON ERROR GOTO 0 does not cause any error to occur, instead
         ON ERROR GOTO 0 removes the current error handler and clears
         ERL, ERR and ERROR$.
         
   OPTION VERSION "HANDBOOK1"      ' The BASIC Handbook, 1st Edition
      MANUAL:
         HANDBOOK1.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         Abbreviated commands (such as A.) and graphic commands.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.

   OPTION VERSION "HANDBOOK2"      ' The BASIC Handbook, 2nd Edition
      MANUAL:
         HANDBOOK2.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         Abbreviated commands (such as A.) and graphic commands.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.

   OPTION VERSION "HEATH"          ' Heath Benton Harbor BASIC
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         FREEZE, UNFREEZE, LOCK, UNLOCK, STEP
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         PRINT #-1 is sent to the printer.
         INPUT #-1 is an ERROR.

   OPTION VERSION "MARK-I"         ' GE 265 Mainframe BASIC
      MANUAL:
         MARK-I.TXT
      ADDITIONAL REFERENCE:            
         "Time-Sharing Service BASIC LANGUAGE EXTENSIONS Reference Manual"      
         by Time-Sharing Service, Information Service Department, General Electric
         (c) 1968, General Electric Company and Trustees of Dartmouth College
         http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ge/MarkI_Timesharing/
         802207A_Time-SharingServiceBASICLanguageExtensionsReferenceManual_Feb1968.pdf
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         A series of variables seperated by equal signs is not supported, 
         use a series of variables seperated by commas instead.
         Literal values for file names are not supported, use string values instead.
         This is a design decision to support the following:
            100 INPUT "Which files?"; A$, B$, C$
            110 FILES A$, B$, C$
         CALL, to execute another compiled program, is not supported, use SHELL instead.

   OPTION VERSION "MARK-II"        ' GE 435 Mainframe BASIC
      MANUAL:
         MARK-II.TXT
      ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:         
         "Basic Software Library" (Volumes 1 to 8)
         by R. W. Brown
         (c) 1977, Scientific Research Inst.
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         HPS, LIN, RESTORE*, RESTORE$, VPS and binary files.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         Local variables in a multiline DEF are declared using DIM.
         Line numbers are not written to, nor read from, data files.
         Literal values for file names are not supported, use string values instead.
         This is a design decision to support the following:
            100 INPUT "Which files?"; A$, B$, C$
            110 FILES A$, B$, C$
         FILES does not support passwords.

   OPTION VERSION "MBASIC"         ' Microsoft BASIC-80 for Xenix
      MANUAL:
         MBASIC.TXT
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.
         Specifying "D" in the exponent is not supported, instead use "E".

   OPTION VERSION "PDP-8"          ' DEC PDP-8 BASIC
      MANUAL:
         PDP-8.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         NO RUBOUTS, RUBOUTS
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.

   OPTION VERSION "PDP-11"         ' DEC PDP-11 BASIC
      MANUAL:
         PDP-11.TXT
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.

   OPTION VERSION "RBASIC"         ' Micronics RBASIC for 6809 FLEX
       MANUAL:
         RBASIC.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         "+" command, COMPILE, CVT$, CVTF$, CVT$%, CVT$F
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.

   OPTION VERSION "RSTS-11"        ' DEC RSTS-11 BASIC-PLUS
      MANUAL:
         RSTS-11.TXT
      ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:         
         "BASIC-PLUS Language Manual : for use with RSTS-11 (PDP-11 Resource Time-Sharing System)"
         by Digital Equipment Corporation
         (c) 1972, Digital Equipment Corporation
         http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp11/rsts/V04/
         DEC-11-ORBPA-A-D_BASIC-PLUS_LangMan_Oct72.pdf
      ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:         
         "PDP-11 : BASIC-PLUS Language Manual"
         by Digital Equipment Corporation
         (c) 1975, Digital Equipment Corporation
         http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp11/rsts/V06/
         DEC-11-ORBPB-A-D_BASIC-PLUS_LangMan_Jul75.pdf
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         HELLO, RENAME, REPLACE, COMPILE, LENGTH, TAPE, KEY, ASSIGN, DEASSIGN.
         FOR ... WHILE, FOR ... UNTIL, statement modifiers.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.
         The statemnet NAME ... AS does not support the <protection> specifier.

   OPTION VERSION "SYSTEM/360"     ' IBM System/360 Mainframe BASIC
      MANUAL:
         SYSTEM-360.TXT
      ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
         "IBM System/360 0S(TS0) ITF:BASIC Terminal User's Guide"
         by International Business Machines Corporation
         (c) 1971, International Business Machines Corporation
         http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/os/tso/
         SC28-6840-0_TSO_ITF_BASIC_Terminal_UG_Apr71.pdf         
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         MAT PRINT USING.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.

   OPTION VERSION "SYSTEM/370"     ' IBM System/370 Mainframe BASIC
      MANUAL:
         SYSTEM-370.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         MAT PRINT USING.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDIXES are implementation specific and are not supported.

   OPTION VERSION "TRS-80"         ' TRS-80 Model I/III/4 LBASIC
      MANUAL:
         TRS-80.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         CMD, SET EOF, cassette I/O.
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.
         For the TRS-80 Model I   use "WIDTH 16,64" in "profile.bas".
         For the TRS-80 Model III use "WIDTH 16,64" in "profile.bas".
         For the TRS-80 Model 4   use "WIDTH 24,80" in "profile.bas".
         bwBASIC requires a space around all keywords, so the LINEINPUT 
         command must be written as LINE INPUT, and so on.
         PRINT #-1 is sent to the printer.
         INPUT #-1 is an ERROR.

   OPTION VERSION "VINTAGE"        ' Vintage BASIC 1.0.1
      MANUAL:
         VINTAGE.TXT
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.

   OPTION VERSION "XBASIC"         ' TSC XBASIC for 6800 FLEX
      MANUAL:
         XBASIC.TXT
      NOT IMPLEMENTED:
         "+" command, COMPILE, CVT$, CVTF$, CVT$%, CVT$F
      NOTES:
         The APPENDICES are implementation specific and are not supported.
         The ERR function returns different values.
         

5. PREDEFINED VARIABLES - no longer exist


   BWB.EDITOR$
   BWB.FILES$
   BWB.PROMPT$
   BWB.IMPLEMENTATION$

   These preset variables no longer exist in bwBASIC.  They have 
   been replaced with OPTION EDIT, OPTION FILES and OPTION PROMPT 
   commands.
   
   The commands EDIT and FILES are pseudo-commands that launch
   shell programs set by OPTION EDIT and OPTION FILES commands,
   respectively.  The default values for these commands can
   be changed in bwBASIC.h (DEF_EDITOR and DEF_FILES), and they
   can be changed on the fly by the user.  It is expected that
   the user will add the appropriate commands to "profile.bas" 
   for their specific implementation; OPTION FILES "ls -l" on Unix 
   systems and OPTION FILES "dir" on DOS systems.

   The command OPTION PROMPT can be used to set the prompt
   string for bwBASIC.  Again, it is suggested that a user-
   selected prompt can be set up in a "profile.bas" to be
   initialized each time bwBASIC starts.  Note that special
   characters can be added to the prompt string, e.g.,

      OPTION PROMPT "Ok"+CHR$(10)

   will give an "Ok" prompt followed by a linefeed.

   In previous versions, the preset variable BWB.IMPLEMENTATION$ 
   would return "TTY" (IMP_IDSTRING) for the bwx_tty implementation.  
   In previous versions of bwBASIC, the existance of the keywords CLS, 
   COLOR and LOCATE were determined at compile and BWB.IMPLEMENTATION$ 
   was used at runtime to determine whether these keywords existed.  
   In the current version, these keywords always exist and are now 
   controlled at runtime using the OPTION TERMINAL commands.  With 
   OPTION TERMINAL NONE these keywords output nothing.


6. UNIMPLEMENTED COMMANDS AND FUNCTIONS, and AGENDA FOR DEVELOPMENT


   There are some items not implemented that have been so long
   a part of some BASIC dialects that their absence may seem surprising.
   In each case, though, their implementation would require 
   operating-system-specific functions or terminal-specific functions
   that cannot be universally provided.  Some specific examples are
   detailed below.


   INP reads a value from a hardware port.  In the current version,
   using INP() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       FUNCTION INP( X )
           REM Return whatever value your application requires
           INP = 0
       END FUNCTION


   OUT writes a value to a hardware port.  In the current version,
   using OUT() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       SUB OUT( X, Y )
           REM do whatever your application requires
       END SUB


   PEEK reads a value from a memory location.  In the current version,
   using PEEK() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       FUNCTION PEEK( X )
           REM Return whatever value your application requires
           PEEK = 0
       END FUNCTION
         

   POKE writes a value to a memory location.  In the current version,
   using POKE() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       SUB POKE( X, Y )
           REM do whatever your application requires
       END SUB


   WAIT reads a value from a hardware port.  In the current version,
   using WAIT() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       SUB WAIT( X, Y )
           REM do whatever your application requires
       END SUB
       SUB WAIT( X, Y, Z )
           REM do whatever your application requires
       END SUB


   USR executes a machine code routine.  In the current version,
   using USR() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       FUNCTION USR( ... )
           REM Return whatever value your application requires
           USR = 0
       END FUNCTION
         

   VARPTR reads a value from a memory location.  In the current version,
   using VARPTR() will generate ERROR 73.  It is expected that you will 
   provide a suitable implementation for your specific application. 
   For example:
       FUNCTION VARPTR( ... )
           REM Return whatever value your application requires
           VARPTR = 0
       END FUNCTION         


   There are other commands, functions, and implementation details
   that I am working on, and which are on the agenda list for future
   versions of bwBASIC.  These agenda include:

      
   PARACT i.e., the ability to execute PARallel ACTions. This
     is described in ANSI BASIC, although I have not seen it
     implemented before.  It will offer a rough, non-preemptive 
     form of multitasking within the scope of a BASIC program.  
     Programmers will note that the global My pointer provides 
     one possible hook mechanism for PARACT in bwBASIC.  In the 
     interim, you might use the "ON TIMER" command to implement 
     a simple multitasking BASIC program.


   XMEM  PC-type computers usually are able to use extended
     memory.  If we could use extended memory for program
     lines, variables, and function defitions, we could
     write much longer programs.  This would entail,
     however, a fairly serious rewriting of the program
     to utilize memory handles for these storage features
     instead of direct memory pointers.  In the interim,
     you might use a "DOS Extender" which hooks calloc()
     and free() to enable transparent access to EMS or XMS 
     memory.


   Windows The addition of memory handles in addition to the
     non-preemptive execution of program lines (in a
     crude form, already present) will make it possible
     to develop implementations for Windows and perhaps
     for other graphical user interfaces.  But what form
     should this take?  I have in mind presently a BASIC
     that would run in the background, appearing only
     as an icon in the GUI space, with pop-up editors
     and output windows. Thus, the interpreted language
     would serve a purpose something like 'cron' (a task
     scheduler) under Unix systems. You may have some
     reflections that would help me in this.  


   Graphics  Here we face fairly critical differences in different
     styles and implementations of graphics, e.g., between
     GWBASIC, ANSI BASIC, VisualBASIC, etc. But it's
     possible that Graphics commands and functions could
     be added.  These would all be OPTION VERSION specific.
     In the interim, you might consider using ReGIS or Tektronix
     graphics (ESC codes) with xterm.


   The ANSI Standard for full BASIC does not specify which particular
   commands or functions must be implemented, and in fact the standard
   is very robust.  Perhaps no implementation of BASIC would ever
   include all of the items, but some ANSI commands and functions which
   remain unimplemented are:

   ACCESS
   AREA
   ARRAY
   ASK
   BSTR
   BVAL
   CELLS
   CLIP
   COLLATE
   CONNECT
   DATUM
   DEBUG
   DECLARE
   DEVICE
   DISCONNECT
   DISPLAY
   DOT
   DRAW
   ERASE
   EVENT
   EXCEPTION
   GRAPH
   HANDLER
   IMAGE
   KEY
   LINES
   MIX
   MULTIPOINT
   OUTIN
   OUTPUT
   PARACT
   PICTURE
   PIXEL
   PLOT
   POINTS
   RECEIVE
   RENUMBER
   REWRITE
   ROTATE
   SEIZE
   SEND
   SHIFT
   TIMEOUT
   TRACE
   TRANSFORM
   VIEWPORT
   WAIT
   VIEWPORT
   ZONEWIDTH


7. THE STORY OF Bywater BASIC


   This program was originally begun in 1982 by my grandmother, Mrs.
   Verda Spell of Beaumont, TX.  She was writing the program using
   an ANSI C compiler on an Osborne I CP/M computer and although my
   grandfather (Lockwood Spell) had bought an IBM PC with 256k of
   RAM my grandmother would not use it, paraphrasing George Herbert
   to the effect that "He who cannot in 64k program, cannot in 512k."
   She had used Microsoft BASIC and although she had nothing against
   it she said repeatedly that she didn't understand why Digital
   Research didn't "sue the socks off of Microsoft" for version 1.0
   of MSDOS and so I reckon that she hoped to undercut Microsoft's
   entire market and eventually build a new software empire on
   the North End of Beaumont. Her programming efforts were cut
   tragically short when she was thrown from a Beaumont to Port
   Arthur commuter train in the summer of 1986. I found the source
   code to bwBASIC on a single-density Osborne diskette in her knitting
   bag and eventually managed to have it all copied over to a PC
   diskette. I have revised it slightly prior to this release. You
   should know, though, that I myself am an historian, not a programmer.


8. COMMUNICATIONS:


   email:  tcamp@delphi.com


9. EXPANDED REFERENCE FOR COMMANDS, FUNCTIONS AND OPERATORS

   
   bwBASIC provides a simple "HELP" command to refresh your memory
   regarding the appropriate syntax for a specific command or function.
   In the DOCS directory are text files which provide brief descriptions 
   of every intrinsic command, function and operator available in BASIC
   dialect available in bwBASIC; these files are not intented to be an 
   authoritative or exhaustive reference.  Refer to the reference document 
   for each dialect for details regarding each keyword.


THE END