How many of you guys use this?

Why do you use it if you do?

To me, its a weird but maybe compile side reasons reducing bloat. But if thats not the reason then WHY as to me it just adds a whole extra layer on a language that's supposed to be basic! And as an example...

OPTION _EXPLICIT



      kb$ =inkeys$

declare somesilly library



SUB Nothing



end declare

I'd like to learn more tricks that I can do with QBPE since I enjoy writing action games. I've got a pretty good handle on most things now after hanging out here for a few years, but I don't really have much of a clue as to how to use _MAPTRIANGLE to good effect. If someone with the knowledge could post a few examples of simple things to do with that command I'd be thankful.

I know @Magdha you've posted a few 3D progs recently, so maybe you'd be interested in dumbing down a couple little ditties for me, or maybe @bplus or @SMcNeill. I would be a most appreciative primate.  

Ted

An over-engineered routine which tells you if a string is a number. 
It also then tells you why it's not a number, if it's not a number.
It then also tells you exactly what type of numbers the number might be, if it's a number.

Screen _NewImage(550, 600, 32)

For i = 0 To 255

    i$ = Chr$(i)

    o$ = i$ + "="

    If IsUpper(i$) Then Print o$ + "Upper",

    If IsLower(i$) Then Print o$ + "lower",

    If IsAlpha(i$) Then Print o$ + "alpha",

Next



Sleep

Cls



Const limit = 17



Dim test(limit) As String



Data "123a.3","-123.456","--234","1.23E15","123","dogfood","678.965","54678","-987134","1E15"

Data "&HFF","&B1001111","&O17","&HFF&&","&B12000222","1.E-12","1.F3000"



For i = 1 To limit

    Read test(i)

Next





For i = 1 To limit

    Print "TEST #"; i; ": "; test(i) + " "

    result = NumType(test(i))

    If result = 0 Then Print "INVALID: "; NumErr$ Else Print "IS A NUMBER: ";

    If result And 1 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Bit.  ";

    If result And 2 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Byte.  ";

    If result And 4 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Integer.  ";

    If result And 8 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Long.  ";

    If result And 16 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Integer64.  ";

    If result And 32 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Bit.  ";

    If result And 64 Then Print "Valid Signed Byte.  ";

    If result And 128 Then Print "Valid Signed Integer.  ";

    If result And 256 Then Print "Valid Signed Long.  ";

    If result And 512 Then Print "Valid Signed Integer64.  ";

    If result And 1024 Then Print "Valid Single.  ";

    If result And 2048 Then Print "Valid Double.  ";

    If result And 4096 Then Print "Valid Float.  ";

    If result And 8192 Then Print "Valid Unsigned Offset.  ";

    If result And 16384 Then Print "Valid Signed Offset.  ";

    Print

    Sleep

Next



Function IsUpper (s As String * 1)

    If Asc(s) = _Clamp(Asc(s), 65, 90) Then IsUpper = _TRUE

End Function



Function IsLower (s As String * 1)

    If Asc(s) = _Clamp(Asc(s), 97, 122) Then IsLower = _TRUE

End Function



Function IsAlpha (s As String * 1)

    If (Asc(s) Or 32) = _Clamp(Asc(s) Or 32, 97, 122) Then IsAlpha = _TRUE

End Function



Function NumType~% (text$)

    Shared NumErr$

    Dim TempNum As Integer

    temp$ = UCase$(_Trim$(text$))

    NumErr$ = "": TempNum = 0



    'First look for manually assigned types

    r1$ = Right$(temp$, 1): r = 1

    r2$ = Left$(Right$(temp$, 2), 1)

    Select Case r1$

        Case "`"

            TestFor = 1 'bit

        Case "%"

            If r2$ = "%" Then

                r = 2

                TestFor = 2 'byte

            Else

                TestFor = 3 'integer

            End If

        Case "&" 'long, int64, offset

            If r2$ = "&" Then

                r = 2

                TestFor = 5 'int64

            ElseIf r2$ = "%" Then

                r = 2

                TestFor = 9 'offset

            Else

                TestFor = 4 'long

            End If

        Case "!" 'single

            TestFor = 6

        Case "#" 'double, float

            If r2$ = "#" Then

                r = 2

                TestFor = 8 'float

            Else

                TestFor = 7 'double

            End If

        Case Else 'there's no set type

            TestFor = 0

            r = 0

    End Select





    temp$ = Left$(temp$, Len(temp$) - r) 'strip off the type symbol

    Select Case TestFor

        Case 1 To 5, 9

            r$ = Right$(temp$, 1)

            If r$ = "~" Then Unsigned = -1: temp$ = Left$(temp$, Len(temp$) - 1)

    End Select



    'check for valid prefixes



    l$ = Left$(temp$, 2)

    Select Case l$

        Case "&H"

            temp$ = Mid$(temp$, 3)

            For i = 1 To Len(temp$)

                t$ = Mid$(temp$, i, 1)

                Select Case t$

                    Case "0" To "9", "A" To "F" 'valid

                    Case Else

                        NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Invalid Character (" + t$ + ") encountered.  "

                End Select

            Next

            If NumErr$ <> "" Then Exit Function

            GoTo evaluateintegers

        Case "&B"

            temp$ = Mid$(temp$, 3)

            For i = 1 To Len(temp$)

                t$ = Mid$(temp$, i, 1)

                Select Case t$

                    Case "0", "1" 'only valid bit characters

                    Case Else

                        NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Invalid Character (" + t$ + ") encountered.  "

                End Select

            Next

            If NumErr$ <> "" Then Exit Function

            GoTo evaluateintegers

        Case "&O"

            temp$ = Mid$(temp$, 3)

            For i = 1 To Len(temp$)

                t$ = Mid$(temp$, i, 1)

                Select Case t$

                    Case "0" To "7" 'only valid oct characters

                    Case Else

                        NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Invalid Character (" + t$ + ") encountered.  "

                End Select

            Next

            If NumErr$ <> "" Then Exit Function

            GoTo evaluateintegers

    End Select





    'Test for easy integers

    'First check for positive/negative values; flag for invalid cases of multiple negation.

    If Mid$(temp$, 1, 1) = "-" Then

        negative = -1: temp$ = Mid$(temp$, 2) 'strip off the initial negative

    ElseIf Mid$(temp$, 1, 1) = "+" Then

        temp$ = Mid$(temp$, 2) 'strip off the initial positive

    End If



    For i = 1 To Len(temp$)

        If Mid$(temp$, i, 1) = "-" Then minus = minus + 1

        If Mid$(temp$, i, 1) = "+" Then plus = plus + 1

        If Mid$(temp$, i, 1) = "." Then period = period + 1 'Go ahead and check for multiple periods while we're at it.

        If Mid$(temp$, i, 1) = "E" Or Mid$(temp$, i, 1) = "D" Then

            Exponent = Exponent + 1

            If Mid$(temp$, i + 1, 1) = "-" Or Mid$(temp$, i + 1, 1) = "+1" Then ExponentSign = -1

        End If

    Next



    If period = 0 And Exponent = 0 Then 'we should only have integers to process

        For i = 1 To Len(temp$)

            t$ = Mid$(temp$, i, 1)

            If t$ < "0" Or t$ > "9" Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Invalid Character (" + t$ + ") encountered.  ": Exit Function

        Next

        GoTo evaluateintegers

    End If



    'At this point forward, we should only have REAL numbers to process



    If Exponent > 1 Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Multiple E/D exponent characters in string.  ": Exit Function



    If ExponentSign = 0 Then

        If minus Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Multiple negative signs (-) encountered.  ": Exit Function

        If plus Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Multiple negative signs (-) encountered.  ": Exit Function

    Else

        If minus > 1 Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Multiple negative signs (-) encountered.  ": Exit Function

        If plus > 1 Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Multiple negative signs (-) encountered.  ": Exit Function

    End If



    If period > 1 Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Multiple decimal points (.) encountered.  ": Exit Function



    If Exponent And period Then

        e = InStr(temp$, "E")

        If e = 0 Then e = InStr(temp$, "D")

        If e = 0 Then e = InStr(temp$, "F")

        p = InStr(temp$, ".")

        If p > e Then NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Decimal points (.) AFTER E/D/F exponent encountered.  ": Exit Function

    End If





    For i = 1 To Len(temp$)

        t$ = Mid$(temp$, i, 1)

        Select Case t$

            Case "0" To "9", "-", "+", ".", "D", "E", "F" 'we should have validated all these characters earlier

            Case Else 'so anything else is invalid

                NumErr$ = NumErr$ + "Invalid Character (" + t$ + ") encountered.  ": Exit Function

        End Select

    Next



    If NumErr$ <> "" Then Exit Function





    'We should've passed all the error checking by this point -- I think...





    evaluateintegers:

    t## = Val(text$)



    'first compare for all types

    If Int(t##) = t## Then

        If t## = -1 Or t## = 0 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 32 'signed bit

        If t## >= -128 And t## <= 127 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 64 'signed byte

        If t## >= -32768 And t## <= 32767 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 128 'signed integer

        If t## >= -2147483648 And t## <= 2147483647 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 256 'signed long

        If t## >= -9223372036854775808 And t## <= 9223372036854775807 Then

            TempNum = TempNum Or 512 'signed integer64

            TempNum = TempNum Or 16384 'signed offset

        End If

        If t## = 1 Or t## = 0 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 1 'unsigned bit

        If t## >= 0 And t## <= 255 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 2 'unsigned byte

        If t## >= 0 And t## <= 65535 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 4 'unsigned integer

        If t## >= 0 And t## <= 4294967295 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 8 'unsigned long

        If t## >= 0 And t## <= 18446744073709551615 Then

            TempNum = TempNum Or 16 'unsigned integer64

            TempNum = TempNum Or 8192 'unsigned offset

        End If

    End If



    If t## >= -2.802597F45 And t## <= 3.402823F+38 Then

        TempNum = TempNum Or 1024 'single

    End If

    If t## >= -4.490656458412465F324 And t## <= 1.797693134862310F+308 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 2048 'double

    If t## >= -1.18F4932 And t## <= 1.18F+4932 Then TempNum = TempNum Or 4096 'float



    If r Then 'we have specific suffix; only decide if the value is valid for it

        TempNum = 0

        If Not Unsigned Then 'unsigned

            Select Case TestFor

                Case 1

                    If t## = -1 Or t## = 0 Then TempNum = 32 'signed bit

                Case 2

                    If t## >= -128 And t## <= 127 Then TempNum = 64 'signed byte

                Case 3

                    If t## >= -32768 And t## <= 32767 Then TempNum = 128 'signed integer

                Case 4

                    If t## >= -2147483648 And t## <= 2147483647 Then TempNum = 256 'signed long

                Case 5, 9

                    If t## >= -9223372036854775808 And t## <= 9223372036854775807 Then

                        If TestFor = 5 Then

                            TempNum = 512 'signed integer64

                        Else

                            TempNum = 16384 'signed offset

                        End If

                    End If

                Case 6

                    If t## >= -2.802597F-45 And t## <= 3.402823F+38 Then TempNum = 1024 'single

                Case 7

                    If t## >= -4.490656458412465F-324 And t## <= 1.797693134862310F+308 Then TempNum = 2048 'double

                Case 9

                    If t## >= -1.18F-4932 And t## <= 1.18F+4932 Then TempNum = 4096 'float

            End Select

        Else

            Select Case TestFor

                Case 1

                    If t## = 0 Or t## = 1 Then TempNum = 1 'unsigned bit

                Case 2

                    If t## >= 0 And t## <= 255 Then TempNum = 2 'unsigned byte

                Case 3

                    If t## >= 0 And t## <= 65535 Then TempNum = 4 'unsigned integer

                Case 4

                    If t## >= 0 And t## <= 4294967295 Then TempNum = 8 'unsigned long

                Case 5, 9

                    If t## >= 0 And t## <= 18446744073709551615 Then

                        If TestFor = 5 Then

                            TempNum = 16 'unsigned integer64

                        Else

                            TempNum = 8192 'unsigned offset

                        End If

                    End If

            End Select

        End If

        If TempNum = 0 Then NumErr$ = "Invalid Suffix.  "

    End If

    NumType = TempNum

End Function

I know, I know. The problem is ME; I'm a complete idiot trying to understand hardware images... 
Why isn't something as simple as this working? What on earth am I doing wrong? My apologies to everyone, and thank you for your patience

Option _Explicit

Randomize Timer



Dim As Long hardwareScreen, workScreen, Nave, Fondo, i



Screen _NewImage(1920, 1080, 32)

_FullScreen , _Smooth



workScreen = _NewImage(1920, 1080, 32)

Fondo = _LoadImage("C:\STRC\Espacio\3.jpg")

Nave = _LoadImage("C:\STRC\Naves\Constitution2\nave.png")



_PutImage (0, 0)-Step(1920, 1080), Fondo, workScreen



For i = 1 To 100

    _PutImage (Rnd * 1920, Rnd * 1080), Nave, workScreen

Next



hardwareScreen = _CopyImage(workScreen, 33)



_Dest 0

_DisplayOrder _Hardware



_PutImage (0, 0), hardwareScreen

_Display

End

Do we have the equivalents of the IsAlpha, IsUpper, IsLower, and IsNum in QBPE? I have searched but could only find them in C++.
If not, could they be easily implemented? It seems to me that it would be fairly simple, and would be quite useful.

Regarding converting string segments to numbers: Strings in numbers

I've looked at it again, and it only really gets complicated when dealing with two-digit numbers. I also tried passing the data to a procedure – the data transfer isn't the problem, only the result. 

The program works as long as you don't go beyond the single-digit range. Maybe this will give someone some ideas.

'ABCDEFGHIJ und 1234567890 tauschen die Plaetze: BCD und 234 -- 26. Dez. 2025

'Erweitert flexible Eingaben - 17. Jan. 2026



Option _Explicit



Dim As String strBuchstaben, strZahlen, strTeilbuchstaben, strTeilzahlen

Dim As String strNeuBuchstaben, strNeuZahlen

Dim As Integer position, bereich



strBuchstaben = "ABCDEFGHIJ"

strZahlen = "1234567890"



Locate 2, 3

Print "Buchstaben - Zahlentausch"

Locate 3, 3

Print "========================="



Locate 5, 3

Print strBuchstaben

Locate 6, 3

Print strZahlen



NeueEingabe:

'Position und Bereich des Austauschs flexibel

Locate 8, 3

Input "Position      : ", position

Locate 9, 3

Input "Bereich(max 3): ", bereich



'Eingabefehler abfangen

If position < 1 Or position > 10 Then



  Cls

  Beep: Print

  Print "Position zwischen 1 bis 10"

  Sleep 2

  GoTo NeueEingabe

End If



'Teilstring von beiden extrahieren. Von Position 2 an,

'3 Positionen. Also: BCD + 234

strTeilbuchstaben = Mid$(strBuchstaben, position, bereich)

Locate 11, 3

Print strTeilbuchstaben



strTeilzahlen = Mid$(strZahlen, position, bereich)

Locate 12, 3

Print strTeilzahlen



'In Buchstaben Zahlen einfuegen. Angabe der Position reicht!

strNeuBuchstaben = Left$(strBuchstaben, position) + strTeilzahlen + Mid$(strBuchstaben, 5)

Locate CsrLin + 2, 3

Print strNeuBuchstaben



'Umgekehrt: Buchstaben in Zahlen

strNeuZahlen = Left$(strZahlen, position) + strTeilbuchstaben + Mid$(strZahlen, 5)

Locate CsrLin + 1, 3

Print strNeuZahlen



End

@a740g @SMcNeill @RhoSigma

Hello the qb64pe devs' team.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I couldn't install qb64pe version 4.3.0 on my 27-inch iMac running macOS 10.13.6 because its setup_osx.command uses a newer version of gcc that isn't available with Xcode 10.1, making it unusable with this version of macOS (High Sierra). 

True and False!

What's False?

In fact, this version of qb64pe (4.3.0) could work under High Sierra as you can see on my High Sierra desktop' screen-shot below showing both the macOS and qb64pe "about" panels (above my personnal iMac Dev's wallpaper) !



But there's a trick to making it work! 

What's True? 

The failled install is due to a "setting" in the compilation method that calls the wrong compiler version. 

What's the trick?

Note:
My three 27-inch iMacs are well-configured with a 3.4 GHz i7 processor, 32 GB of RAM, and one SSD of varying capacities. My Mac Mini 2 Server, on the other hand, is equipped with a 2.4 GHz i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 2 TB SSD. These are older, inexpensive machines, all manufactured in 2012. Yet, they work perfectly, just like they did on day one, and that's precisely why I've only used Apple systems since my retirement: their reliability is undeniable! And noaday, you can find them used for between $250 and $500, depending on their CPU, GPU, RAM, and SSD configuration.

Since I'm real stubborn, and because of the numerous paid programs I've installed on macOS High Sierra (which is the reason I keep it as my OS of choice), I spent this last weekend downloading all versions of qb64pe from 3.0.0 to 4.3.0, then installing them all (each in a separate directory) and testing them all on my development 27-inch iMac (with its fast internal  Crucial 4Tb SDD), including version 4.2.0, which installed and works like a charm! 

So, I decided to compil the qb64pe.bas file located in the source directory of the version 4.3.0 directly from the IDE of the version 4.2.0 using the option "Output EXE to Source Folder" and lo and behold, not only the executable was created perfectly, but launched too! 

I then copied the 2 files (qb64pe and qb64pe_start.command,) which had been created in the "source" directory of qb64pe-4.3.0, into the main directory of this version (4.3.0), and now qb64pe-4.3.0 could work on macOS High Sierra if you can also solve the Second problem below

Therefore, I don't know which parameter(s) were modified, nor where they are located in the compilation method of this version 4.3.0 compared to that of qb64pe 4.2.0 (ending with a nice "Launching 'QB64-PE'), which causes the execution of the 4.3.0 bash installation script to end with a subset of the following error messages:

https://hackaday.com/2026/01/19/basic-on...tor-again/

It's only interesting not because:  1. Runs on an HP calculator 2. Runs via Python

Because it's Basic.  QB45 may have started way back when. QB64pe has taken a whole other leap forward.  IMHO, QB64pe is not an emulation of QB45 any more (Really was it ever ??), it's a whole other animal in it's own right.

QB45 will never be obsolete, neither will be QB64pe. We already lost one founding member of the Basic language.  What they created will live on.

Hello,

I've three little questions :

qb64pe translates its basic code (.bas) into C++ code (.cpp) witch then is compiled using GCC (or Mingw with windows).

1) what tool use qb64pe to translate the .bas code to the .cpp code (e.g. BaCon, NBCX, etc) ?

2) should I still use a specific parameter (-z) when I start qb64pe from the command line to save the .cpp translation ?

3) where (in what qb64pe sub directory) can I find the translated .ccp file to take a look at its C++ translation : i.e. hello.bas -> hello.cpp ?

TIA for your response.

Cheers.
Fifi