start

^{XBasic quick-start}

maxreason@gmail.com

max reason

XBasic web-pages

XBasic overview - features, capabilities, screenshots.
XBasic newsbits - the latest news and views of XBasic.
XBasic freeware - download & installation instructions.
XBasic questions - frequently asked questions -- FAQs.
XBasic quick-start - begin programming XBasic quickly.
QuickBasic to XBasic - translate QuickBasic to XBasic.
QuickBasic keywords - QuickBasic to XBasic keywords.
XBasic documentation - complete HTML documentation online.
XBasic keywords/operators/scopes/types - language reference.
XBasic projects - enhance & extend applications & documentation.
XBasic e-links - other web-sites with XBasic samples and information.
XBasic forum - mail-list forum for all XBasic programmers - questions, answers, advice, samples, etc.

comments, suggestions, corrections

XBasic quick-start

The XBasic program development environment is loaded with capabilities, features and documentation. That's good, but it means mastering the basics can seem like an overwhelming task. Not because any aspect is difficult, but because you need to know "what are the basics" - out of that huge pile of goodies. Perform the steps described in this FAQ as you read them and you'll know the basics in short order. Once you wire the basics, you can experiment with all those capabilities and features one at a time.

step 0 : download XBasic, install XBasic, create XBasic desktop shortcut icon.
If you haven't downloaded or installed XBasic, follow the instructions on the XBasic freeware page.

step 1 : start the XBasic program development environment (abbreviated PDE).
Double-click the XBasic icon on your desktop. The XBasic main window will appear in the lower-right corner of your display, and the default console window will appear in the upper-left corner.

step 2 : familiarize yourself with the XBasic main window.
Look at the XBasic main window, and notice the keyboard insert cursor in the lower-text-area. Press the escape-key a few times and notice how this toggles the keyboard insert cursor back and forth between the upper-text-area and lower-text-area. You'll find this escape-key toggle feature very useful, because programs are displayed in the lower-text-area and you'll be entering zillions of keyboard commands in the upper-text-area during program development.

step 3 : familiarize yourself with XBasic instant help
See the note about "instant help" in the upper-text-area? It says you can point the mouse cursor at any grid and click the right mouse button to get help. What's a grid? Any GUI element or control or widget. GUI components like labels, buttons, menus, scroll-bars and text-areas are all grids. Which means you can point the mouse cursor at any GUI component and click the right mouse button to learn about it. Cool.

Point the mouse cursor at the upper-text-area and click the right mouse button. This will make the InstantHelp window appear with information about the upper-text-area. Drag the lower right corner of the InstantHelp window with the mouse to make the InstantHelp window much bigger, then read about the upper-text-area grid for awhile. When you're done, click Cancel on the InstantHelp window to hide it.

step 4 : clear the upper-text-area
Place the mouse-cursor after the .c in the upper-text-area and press the enter-key. This dot-command clears the clutter from the upper-text-area. You'll find entering dot-commands into the upper-text-area is a quick and efficient way to accomplish common tasks. Most dot-commands are equivalents of the commands in the main pulldown menu. These dot-commands are easy to remember, because the characters in the dot-commands are the first characters of the words in the menubar, pulldown-menus, dialogs, etc. For example, .fl ademo.x means File Load ademo.x, where ademo.x is an XBasic program on disk.

step 5 : create an empty XBasic program
Okay, let's create a simple XBasic program. Enter .fn p in the upper-text-area. This is the dot-command equivalent of selecting "File New Program" on the menubar, pulldown-menu, and dialog.

XBasic creates the framework of a new console-style program - as opposed to a GUI-program or text-file, and displays an empty Entry() function in the lower-text-area. To make the program do something, add PRINT "hello world" to the Entry() function. The entry function should look like this:

'
'
' ######################
' ##### Entry () #####
' ######################
'
' Programs contain:
' 1. A PROLOG with type/function/constant declarations.
' 2. This Entry() function where execution begins.
' 3. Zero or more additional functions.
'
FUNCTION Entry ()

PRINT "hello world"
END FUNCTION

step 6 : run your first XBasic program
To run your program, enter a .rs dot-command in the upper-text-area.

Did it work? Check the XBasic console-window for hello world.

step 7 : add to your XBasic program
Add PRINT "hello galaxy" and PRINT "hello universe" to your Entry() function to get:

step 8 : single step through your XBasic program
Find the button between the upper and lower text areas with F6 and a single footprint, and click it. XBasic will compile your program and single step to the first executable line, which is PRINT "hello world". You can tell execution stopped here because XBasic displays a > pause marker at the beginning of the line where execution pauses. Monitor the > pause-marker and console-window as you slowly click the F6 button three times. Each time you click the F6 button, XBasic executes one line, which prints to the console-window and moves the > pause-marker to the next line.

step 9 : XBasic
next step.

step 10 : XBasic
next step.

step 11 : XBasic
next step.

step 12 : XBasic
next step.