Mnemonics "B"

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Latest revision as of 03:38, 17 January 2010

(BCC)

Email Mnemonic: (BCC=string-argument)

Discussion: The (BCC) mnemonic may be used to specify "blind carbon copy" recipients of your email message.

 
Example: OPEN (1) "LEH" PRINT (1) (BCC="brian@@signature.net") 

(Begin Metafile)

Mnemonic: (BeginMetafile = FileName)

Discussion: Initiates the collecting of GDI functions into a virtual memory block (Metafile) that is passed to COSW in a single write rather than one function at a time enhancing performance. If FileName is non-blank the file can be saved to disk and recalled at a later time (see #ExecuteMetafile).

Read about other Email Mnemonics

(BeginWaitCursor)

Mnemonic: (BeginWaitCursor)

Discussion: This mnemonic turns on the hourglass cursor. See #(EndWaitCursor) and #(RestoreWaitCursor).

 
Example: 
   Print (BeginWaitCursor) . . .  
   Print (EndWaitCursor) 

(BF)

Mnemonic: (BF) Hex equivalent: "@0406@"

Discussion: Blank fill. The (BF) control code replaces all characters from the cursor position to the end of the line with blanks. The current mode -- foreground, background, or invisible (suppressed background) -- determines the type of blank. When this control is complete, the cursor is positioned at the beginning of the next line (or the next available foreground position on the screen).

This control code may also include a positioning statement to start the fill operation from a specific point on the screen.

Example:
a. 100 FORMAT (SB);(BF),@(10,0) 
  .
   PRINT (0,100)
b. PRINT (0) (SB);(BF),@(10,0) 

This example sets the video mode to background (SB), and then blank fills the top row of the screen (i.e., row 0) from position 10 to the end of the line.

(BIOS Mouse On)

Mnemonic: (BIOS Mouse On) Hex equivalent: "@0E0905@"

Discussion: This control opens the BIOS mouse driver (if possible). Also see #(Mouse On) and #(Enhanced Mouse On).

 
Example: 
a. 100 FORMAT (BIOS Mouse On) 
  .
      PRINT (0,100
b. PRINT (0) (BIOS Mouse On 

(BM)

Mnemonic: (BM) Hex equivalent: "@0405@"

Discussion: Blind mode. The (BM) control code establishes "blind mode" -- an attribute where characters entered from the keyboard do not appear on the screen. Up to 32 characters can be entered with the video device in blind mode. This control code is typically used for entering invisible passwords.

Example:
a. LENGTH 32 & LOCAL PASSWORD$ 
  100 FORMAT (BM)
  .
  PRINT (0,100)
  INPUT (0) PASSWORD$
b. LENGTH 32 & LOCAL PASSWORD$ 
  .
  PRINT (0) (BM)
  INPUT (0) PASSWORD$

This example shows how to set the blind mode input buffer. The (BM) control code is written and the data is entered into the variable named PASSWORD$. This data will not be visible on the screen as it is entered.

(Blink)

Note: As of Comet version 504, this mnemonic is no longer supported.

Mnemonic: (Blink) Hex equivalent: "@0E0001@"

Discussion: This mnemonic displays blinking characters on the Comet console.
Blinking works only on "bright" characters that are defined as the "background color" of a field (i.e., the first character in the color definition).
Blinking works on all of the "bright" characters on the screen, including foreground fields, background fields, invisible fields, and data entry fields.
To blink all "bright" characters on the screen, use the following instruction:

PRINT (0) (Blink)

To display "bright" characters, and stop the blinking, use the following instruction:

PRINT (0) (Bright)

The 16 VGA colors are shown below, with the "bright" characters shown at the right-hand side:

Regular colors         Bright colors (blinking works here)
==========================================================
0  black               8    gray
1  blue                9    light blue
2  green               A    light green
3  cyan                B    light cyan
4  red                 C    light red
5  magenta             D    light magenta
6  brown               E    yellow
7  white               F    bright white
Examples:
Color   Definition                              Will it blink?
==============================================================
17      blue background, white characters                 no
97      light blue background, white characters           yes
1F      blue background, bright white characters          no
9F      light blue background, bright white characters    yes

Example: a. 100 FORMAT (Blink)

 .
 PRINT (0,100)

b. PRINT (0) (Blink)

(Bright)

Note: As of Comet version 504, this mnemonic is no longer supported.

Mnemonic: (Bright) Hex equivalent: "@0E0002@"

Discussion: This mnemonic displays bright characters on the Comet console.
Bright characters that are defined as the "background color" of a field (i.e., the first character in the color definition).
To display "bright" characters, use the following instruction:

PRINT (0) (Bright)

Note: The (Bright) mnemonic also turns off blinking fields that have been previously set with the (Blink) mnemonic.

The 16 VGA colors are shown below, with the "bright" characters shown at the right-hand side:

Regular colors         Bright colors
=========================================
0  black               8    gray
1  blue                9    light blue
2  green               A    light green
3  cyan                B    light cyan
4  red                 C    light red
5  magenta             D    light magenta
6  brown               E    yellow
7  white               F    bright white

Example: a. 100 FORMAT (Bright)

 .
 PRINT (0,100)

b. PRINT (0) (Bright)