QB ON ACID
ISSUE #4                            December 21st, 1999
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            Beginner's Tutorials: Chapter 1 - Beginning Commands
                                      
    This is a set of tutorials that will come out 1 each issue of QBoA.
    They are aimed to teach you how to use QB from the beginning. I will
   assume you have QBasic and know your way around it. Today we will talk
   about the commands PRINT, CLS, and INPUT. I will also introduce you to
                                 variables.
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                                   PRINT
                                      
   The PRINT command does what it says, it PRINTs. What does it PRINT to
    you ask? Not the printer, but the screen. It simply PRINTs the words
   you specify to the screen. The syntax for PRINT is PRINT "". Put what
            you want to show up on the screen inside the quotes.
                                      
                                      
                            PRINT "Hello World!"
                                      
                                Example Code
                                      
                                    CLS
                                      
   What happens when you write a program, run it, then add some more code
   to it and run it again? You still see what was on the screen the last
      time you ran it. To fix this problem put the command CLS in your
    program. CLS stands for CLear Screen. It does what it stands for, it
     clears the entire screen. The syntax for this is, of course, CLS.
                                      
                                      
                                 VARIABLES
                                      
     Variables are used to store information in your computers memory.
    Think of them as storage boxes in your computer. Variables are VERY
      useful. They are almost ALWAYS used in a program. There are five
   different types of variables. They are string, integer, long integer,
     single precision, and double precision. Different symbols must be
   placed at the end of variable names so QB knows what type of variable
    it is working with. Strings use $, integers use %, long integers use
    &, single precision uses !, and double precision uses #. The type of
    variables you will use most often are strings and integers. Strings
     store words, integers store numbers. To declare a variable just do
   this: ExampleVariable$ = "hello". That is a string variable(notice the
      $) that is now storing the word "hello". When declaring a string
      variable make sure to put its value inside quotes. To declare an
     integer variable just do this: IntegerVariable = 8. Notice that I
    didn't have a % at the end of the variable name. That's because with
   integers you don't have to have one. If you don't put a symbol at the
         end of the variable name, QB makes it integer by default.
                                      
                                      
                               name$ = "Bob"
                              score% = "1500"
                                 age = "15"
                                      
                                Example Code
                                      
                                   INPUT
                                      
    Programs are no good if you can't accept input from the user, right?
   Well that is what this command does. Judging by its name, you probably
              knew that already. The syntax for INPUT is this:
    INPUT; "What is your name" (, or ;) variable. Lets break this down.
    First, you have the command. Next is a semicolon, which is optional.
     The semicolon right after INPUT keeps the cursor on the same line
   after the user presses enter. Next is prompt string. It is what shows
        up when the INPUT code executes. Next is either a comma or a
    semicolon. If you put a semicolon then a question mark appears after
   the prompt string. If you put a comma, then no question mark appears.
   Last is the variable you want to store the users input in. Now, about
   the Prompt String, some might not understand it, so I will talk about
   it. If your prompt string is "What is your name" then the words "What
   is your name" will appear on the screen and the program will wait for
                       the user to input the answer.
                                      
                                      
                INPUT "Hello. What is your name"; usersname$
                   INPUT "Enter your Zip Code: ", zipcode
                       INPUT; "Enter your age: ", age
                                      
                                Example Code
                                      
                             PRINTING VARIABLES
                                      
   So, you used the input command and stored some data from the user in a
   variable, but what good is the data if you can't display it? Well you
   can using the PRINT command. It's VERY simple, heres the syntax: PRINT
     variable. You just type PRINT then the variable name, easy stuff.
             Don't forget to include the variable type symbol.
                                      
                                      
                             PRINT playername$
                                 PRINT age
                                PRINT score%
                              PRINT enemyname$
                                      
                                Example Code
                                      
                               YOUR HOMEWORK
                                      
    Your homework is to make a program that clears the screen, asks the
     user for his/her name, stores it in a variable, and prints out put
              his/her name on the screen. See you next issue!
                                      
                                      
                 Written By: Nova - brandon@nssoft.cjb.net