INPUT

The INPUT provides a standard way of entering information into one or more variables. There are two possible formats for this instruction.

The first require that the programmer enters a list of variables directly as a list. Each variable must be separated by a comma. A question mark will be automatically displayed at the current cursor position.

The second needs a string as the first parameter. The string will be used as a prompt before entering information. When a semicolon (;) is used after the text output to the user, a question mark (?) is added to the output. When a comma (,) is used, no question mark is added.

When you execute one of these commands, ugBASIC will wait to enter the required information from the keyboard. Each variable must be matched by a single value from the user. These values must be of the same type as the original variables, and they should be separated by commas.

If a string is specified (e.g., name$), anything the user enters before pressing the 'return' key will be accepted. If a numeric variable (e.g., 'age') is specified, the user must enter a number. If any non-numeric key is entered, the value 0 will be returned.

The optional semi-colon ; at the end the variables list specifies that the text cursor will not be affected by the INPUT instruction, and it will retain its original position after the data has been entered, instead of moving to the next line, following the enter key.

Note that the separator character can be changed by using the DEFINE INPUT SEPARATOR command, by giving the ASCII code value to use instead of the default (comma). Moreover, the size of the input buffer can be changed using the DEFINE INPUT SIZE instruction. Finally, the character used as cursor can be changed using the DEFINE INPUT CURSOR instruction.

EXAMPLE

 INPUT age
 INPUT "what is your name"; name$
 INPUT "digit a number [0-9]:", number

Used in:
USING SELECT CASE