Liberty BASIC for Windows V4

Contents Liberty BASIC v4.0 Help Document Copyright 1992-2003 Shoptalk Systems - http://www.libertybasic.com/ "Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries." What's New! What's new in version 4. Overview An overview of Liberty BASIC. The Liberty BASIC Language Syntax and Usage for the Liberty BASIC Language. Gui Programming Creating and using Graphical User Interfaces. Command Reference Detailed Listing of Liberty BASIC Commands. API and DLL Making API and DLL calls in Liberty BASIC. Graphical Sprites Sprites for Games and Graphics. Port I/O Controlling Hardware Ports. File Operations Accessing Disk Files. Mathematics Mathematical Operators and Functions. Text Text Manipulation and Functions. Graphics Using Color and Drawing Commands. Troubleshooting Solving Problems. Registering Liberty BASIC Why and how to register Liberty BASIC. http://www.libertybasic.com/ The official Liberty BASIC web site. Installing Liberty BASIC Installing and uninstalling Liberty BASIC. What's New! What's new in Liberty BASIC 4 - additions and modifications that make Liberty BASIC 4 different from previous versions of Liberty BASIC. Improvements to DIM TAB( n ) Printing columns with commas Handle Variables Subs for Event Handlers Global Variables BYREF - Passing by reference MAPHANDLE - changing the handle of open devices Graphics window scrollbar changes EVAL(code$) EVAL$(code$) Breakpoints for debugging DO LOOP Printerfont$ Printer Graphics Now Scaled Debugger Improvements ON ERROR GOTO and RESUME ENABLE, DISABLE, SHOW AND HIDE Groupboxes Accept New Commands PLAYMIDI, MIDIPOS(), STOPMIDI Named Drawing Segments Joystick Support STYLEBITS New Sprite Commands centersprite removesprite spriteoffset spritetravelxy spritetofront spritetoback spriteround Glossary Glossary of General Computer and Programming Terms Alphanumeric Any letter of the alphabet or any digit from 0 to 9. Application A completed program that can be executed (the term program is often used). Application Programming Interface (API) A set of definitions of the ways in which one piece of software communicates with another. One of the primary purposes of an API is to provide a set of commonly-used functions. For more, see What are APIs. ASCII ASCII (pronounced as-key) is short for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a standard code that assigns a binary number to all the alphanumeric characters (upper and lower case), all the symbols on the keyboard, and some other symbols not on the keyboard (such as the cents symbol: ¢). It is also known as "plain text". Associated File A file type that has been identified as belonging to a certain program, such as .TXT with Notepad, .BMP with Paint, or .DOC with Word. Binary An alternative number system which works very well for computers. It is easiest for a computer to use only two digits (0 and 1) in its number system. A byte is a group of eight bits, and it is the standard unit by which data is stored. There are 256 different combinations of zeros and ones you can make with one byte, from 00000000 to 11111111. This is enough to cover all the ASCII characters. Binary Access The name given to the method of accessing the data in a file byte by byte. Bit The smallest amount of information that can be transmitted. Bit is short for binary digit. A bit can be a zero or a one. Bitmap An image stored in a disk file. Bitmaps must be loaded into memory from the disk before they can be displayed. Boot Starting your computer by turning on the power. Border The edge of a window is called the border. You can resize a window by clicking and dragging the border with the mouse. Branch A conditional jump or departure from the implicit or declared order in which instructions are being executed. Bug An error in a computer program. Byte Consists of eight binary digits. It is the smallest unit a computer works with at once. The bits of a byte can be individually modified, but a computer still works with at least one byte at a time. Click The act of pushing down and releasing the mouse button. Clipboard A temporary storage area inside the computer. It is used to copy or move data from one program to another, or from one area of a document to another. Close To close a program means to end a program. Click the X button in the top right corner of a window to close that program. When you close a program, it is no longer active. Command The programming term for an instruction to the computer. Computer Program A computer program tells a computer what the computer should do. It is a sequence of instructions to be executed in order. A computer program consists of a set of instructions that the computer understands. Controls Tools that appear on the user interface that let the user respond to the program, enter data, and view images and other kinds of output data. Buttons, textboxes and menus are examples of controls. Database An organized collection of information. Data Data is information. There are many types of data, including sound, graphics, and text. Most data on a computer is stored in files on the hard disk, which are made up of bytes. Computer programs are also data, though many people may use the word data to mean information stored on the computer by the end user. Data File A file that consists of data that has been created in a program, such as a text file typed in Notepad. Default The standard settings in a program. Desktop The opening screen in Windows that contains a few objects, the startbutton and the taskbar. This is what you see on your computer screen when you have no windows open. It may be a solid color, or it may be graphics. On the desktop, there will be icons, including one called "My Computer" and one called "The Recycle Bin." Dialog Box A special kind of window that asks you a question or presents controls that you can choose from. Directory The term "folder" has largely replaced this term. They mean the same thing. Disk The permanent storage area for your programs and documents. Disk Drive Hardware capable of reading and writing data stored on a disk. Document Any data you create with a program. DPI Dots Per Inch, a unit of measure describing printer resolution. Double-Click Pressing and releasing the left-mouse button two times in quick succession (without moving the mouse between clicks). Drag (mouse) Move the pointer on an item, hold down the left button, slide the pointer to a new location, and release the button. Drive Any data storage device. This includes your CD-ROM drive, floppy disk drive, and hard disk drive. Event An activity that occurs during an application's execution. The user normally triggers many events, such as keypresses, mouse clicks, or mouse movements. The Windows operating environment can also trigger events such as timer clicks and data transferred from other running programs. Event-Driven Programming The process of writing programs that respond to triggered events, as opposed to older text-based programs that were sequential in nature and followed a predetermined flow. Events can come from many sources, and your program must know which events to respond to and which to ignore. Explorer The Windows program that you can use to explore your disk. Expression A combination of variables, literals and functions that can be evaluated to a single string or numeric value. File A named collection of information stored on a disk. A file is a long sequence of bytes which represent data. Each file has a name and an extension which are separated by a dot (a period). The name identifies the file. The extension tells the computer what type of data is contained within the file. Filename The name assigned to a collection of data that is stored on a disk. Filename Extension The optional "period" and up to three characters at the end of a filename. Focus Only one of the items in a window can be accepting input from the keyboard at a time. The active item is said to be the item with the focus. Folder A folder can be thought of as a location on your hard disk or floppy disk. Folders used to be called directories/subdirectories. A folder contains files and can contain nested folders (subfolders). Folders and subfolders are used to organize your hard disk. Gigabyte Roughly a billion bytes or characters. Abbreviated G or GB. GUI Graphical User Interface, used to describe windows and controls that use pictures to help you interact with the computer. Hard Disk A large capacity storage area that offers fast access to information. Hardware The physical parts of your computer, as opposed to software. Highlight To select something by clicking or dragging with the mouse. Once selected, an item usually turns a different color or becomes outlined. Icon An icon is a tiny, clickable picture used to provide a startup link to a program or a file. Identifier A lexical unit that names a language object, such as a variable, array, record, label, or procedure. Literal A hard-coded text or numeric value that is written in programming source code. Maximize Button The button in the middle of three button at the right end of the titlebar which enlarges the window to its greatest possible size. MB Abbreviation for megabyte. One MB is approximately one million bytes. Menu A list of items from which you may choose. Menu Bar The bar located under the titlebar that list the available menus. Minimize Button A button located at the right side of the titlebar that you can click to reduce a window to a task button on the taskbar.

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