QBASIC notes

 

 Introduction of QBASIC  

QBASIC is a high level programming language. The full form  of QBASIC is Quick Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction code. It is simple and easy to learn. In 1964, John G.kemeny and Thomas E-kurtz designed the original  BASIC language at Dartmouth college.Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed the programming language.

Features of Qbasic 

1) It is a user friendly language.

2) It user simple syntax to write program.

3) It provides windows based platform. 

4) Debugging can be easily done. 

Character sets of Qbasic

1) Alphabets 

   A to Z or a to z 

2) Numbers 

    0 to 9 

3) special symbols

    ? ; : $ ! # etc.

Operators

Operator is a symbol which performs arithmetical and logical operations.

Such as 

Addition, subtraction, Division etc.

Starting Qbasic in window 7,8,or 10

Since, the Qbasic is an old programming language, you cannot directly open this version of Qbasic like in window XP. You need to install an emulator program like Dosbox.

Use the following sets to run Qbasic using Dosbox

1) Download Dosbox from https://www.dosbox.com .

2) Intall dosbox by simply double clicking on the installation file.

3) After the installation of dosbox, its shortcut icon appears on the desktop.

4) Open the Qbasic folder and select the file QB.EXE.

5) Drag and drop on the icon of DOSBOx on your desktop. 

6)QBASIC opens inside DOSBOx.

QBASIC IDE

IDE is an editor. It checks the code you write to find if there is any error. It is a menu drive interface, which provides you with a window having the following features:

1) Title Bar

   It contains the current filename.

2) Menu Bar

It has 6 menus-file, Edit, View, Search, Run and Option. Each menu has a sub-menu with several options.

3)  Status Bar 

  It shows the current line and column of curson.

QBASIC Interface

1) The file menu 

The File Menu is used for different file operations such as New, Open, Save,Save As, and Exit.

1) click on file menu

Keyboard shortcut 

1) press an ALT + F to select File Menu.

2) A drop-down menu appears with several options.

3) In each sub-menu, one letter is highlighted in white color. This letter (hotkey) is shortcut to select the option. 

2)  opening a new file

This option of file menu is used to write a new program. 

click on File Menu > New

Keyboard shotcut

1) Press on ALT + F  to select file menu, and press on N for New option.

3) Opening an existing file 

This option of file menu is used to open a program file, which you have already created before.

Click on file menu > Open

Keyboard shortcut

1)  Press on ALT + F to select File Menu, and press on O for Open option. 

An open dialog box appears

Select the required filename. 

Click on Ok button.

4) Saving your program

Save option in file menu allows you to save your program file in the secondary storage like hard disk. 

Click on file menu > Save 

Keyboard shortcut

1) press on ALT + F to select File Menu, and press on S for Save option. 

A Save As dialog box appears. 

Type the filename with the extension .bas.

Click on Ok button. 

5) Save As Option 

This option is used to save an already file with another name in same place or in other location.

6) Exit from QB64

Exit option in file menu allows you to exit from QBASIC. 

Click on File Menu > Exit 

Keyboard shortcut 

Press on ALT + F to select File Menu, and press on X for Exit option. 

7) The Run Menu

The Run Menu allows you to run or execute your QBASIC program. 

Click on Run Menu > Start 

Note: Before executing your program, the QB64 creates an exe (executable) file. The executable file (have extension .exe) is an independent file which you can run in any computer without QB64. 

Keyboard shortcut 

Press on F5 key to run your program. 

8) The Help Menu 

The Help Menu guides you to use a particular keyword or command in QBASIC. 

Click on Help Menu > View

Keyboard shortcut 

1) press on ALT + H to select Help Menu, and press on V for View option.

2) press on F1.

Note: Press on Esc key to exit from help.

Shortcut keys:

Tasks                                                                               Shortcut keys

1) To select file menu                                                             ALT + F 

2) To open new file                                                                 ALT +F +N

3) To open an existing file                                                   ALT + F + O

4) To save your program file                                             ALT + F + S 

5) To exit from QBASIC                                                       ALT + F+ X

6) To run program                                                                    F5

7) To get help                                                                        ALT + H + V or F1

8) To exit from help                                                                Esc