NOT

NOT is a boolean logical operator that will change a false statement to a true one and vice-versa.

Syntax

True = -1: False = NOT True

Description

• In QBasic, True = -1 and False = 0 in boolean logic and evaluation statements.
• NOT evaluates a value and returns the bitwise opposite, meaning that NOT 0 = -1.
• Often called a negative logic operator, it returns the opposite of a value as true or false.
• Values are changed by their bit values so that each bit is changed to the opposite of on or off. See example 3 below.

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Examples

Example 1: Alternating between two conditions in a program loop.

DO switch = NOT switch 'NOT changes value from -1 to 0 and vice-versa LOCATE 10, 38 IF switch THEN PRINT "True!" ELSE PRINT "False" SLEEP k$ = INKEY$ LOOP UNTIL k$ = CHR$(27) ' escape key quit

Example 2: Reading a file until it reaches the End Of File.

DO WHILE NOT EOF(1) INPUT #1, data1, data2, data3 LOOP

Explanation: EOF will return 0 until a file ends. NOT converts 0 to -1 so that the loop continues to run. When EOF becomes -1, NOT converts it to 0 to end the loop.

Example 3: So why does NOT 5 = -6? Because NOT changes every bit of a value into the opposite:

PRINT NOT 5 PRINT ReadBits 5 ReadBits -6 SUB ReadBits (n AS INTEGER) 'change type value and i bit reads for other whole type values FOR i = 15 TO 0 STEP -1 'see the 16 bit values IF n AND 2 ^ i THEN PRINT "1"; ELSE PRINT "0"; NEXT PRINT END SUB

-6 0000000000000101 1111111111111010

Explanation: The bit values of an INTEGER are 2 _BYTEs and each bit is an exponent of 2 from 15 to 0 (16 bits). Thus comparing the numerical value with those exponents using AND reveals the bit values as "1" for bits on or "0" for bits off as text.

QB64 can use &B to convert the above _BIT values back to INTEGER or _BYTE values as shown below:

'16 bit INTEGER values from -32768 to 32767 a% = &B0000000000000101 PRINT a% b% = &B1111111111111010 PRINT b% '8 bit BYTE values from -128 to 127 a%% = &B00000101 PRINT a%% b%% = &B11111010 PRINT b%%

See also

• _BIT, &B, _BYTE
• AND, XOR, OR
• Binary, Boolean
• Mathematical Operations

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