Where can I find a simple BASIC interface? I last used QBasic about 15 years ago. All I want is something simple that I can put in a few If…then and For…Next routines, and then run it to enable me to work out a few things. I don’t want to have to learn a new language, I don’t want to use a compiler, and I don’t want anything complicated. I tried downloading a copy of Qbasic, which would be great except there’s no way to type Ctrl-Break on my new laptop, and so I can’t break the program. I tried looking for something simple though Google, and it’s a minefield of complicated jargon I don’t understand.
An interface between what and what? Oh, you mean a BASIC interpreter. OK.
What kind of laptop do you have?
Well, here’s an online one written in Java. It lets you break via a menu.
Are you sure you can’t Ctrl-Pause on your laptop, even using a function key? That sounds like something only Dell would do with their minis…
That’s a version of basic that works through your browser. It’s early in development, but maybe it’ll do what you want
This is the basic I use. I downloaded FBIDE to help me program using it. It’s pretty easy.
I hope either of those helps.
Thanks, it’s better than nothing but I’d prefer something on my hard drive.
I have a Dell Inspiron 1525. If you can tell me where to find a Ctrl-Break equivalent on that that would be superb.
Already downloaded Freebasic, and deleted it because I couldn’t understand how to get the damn thing to work.
VICE has a complete C64/C16/VIC20 and more emulator which all include BASIC. But if you want something more generally useful on a windows machine (I’m just assuming stuff here) you may want to investigate Microsoft Visual Basic. There’s an up to date, free version of VB from Microsoft but I haven’t tried it.
Already downloaded Visual Basic, and deleted it because I couldn’t understand how to get the damn thing to work.
I still have QBASIC, sitting on my hard drive. Email me.
Edit: Oh, I see you tried that already. Call me crazy, but doesn’t CTRL-C break the program execution?
Edit 2: I’m not crazy. It does.
If your keyboard looks like this, push either CTRL-FN-INSERT or CTRL-FN-DELETE (both are in the upper right, and I’m not sure which one Qbasic likes). The light blue text means it’s activated with the Fn key.
Well, what is it you want it to do? I’m pretty sure you can get an old QBasic (or equivalent) variant to work in DOS.
Tried all 3 and nothing.
All I want to do is type a few simple lines of BASIC and get it to run a program.
If your program enters a nonterminating loop, you can still break execution by including a line such as:
IF INKEY$ = "X’ THEN STOP
somewhere in the loop logic. Then you just press “X” when you want to end it.
At the risk of stating the obvious, couldn’t you write your program so that you wouldn’t have to CTRL-Break it?
There probably is some way to type ctrl-break on your keyboard, probably ctrl-Fn-something, but I haven’t been able to find a good picture of it to tell.
If all else fails, you could plug in a USB keyboard.
Or use a keyboard remapping program, though I don’t know how well they work with control keys and such.
You could download AppleWin and write quick basic programs in the old Apple II. Simple interface, interpreted. Uses line numbers, though, so can be a pain to edit.
If you are not using Vista you can still use QBASIC. Screw compiling! It runs so freaking fast on modern processors that I’ve written programs that finished so fast that I thought they hadn’t run at all!
Redownload and install Freebasic
Then from the same website, download and install FBIDE
Run FBIDE. Tell FBIDE where Freebasic is installed
Now go to “File” then click “New”
Type this
while inkey$=""
print “Hello World”
wend
Then press F9
Save the file somewhere, and enjoy
From the pictures I found, it looks like Break is Fn+Delete on that laptop. However, Reply already suggested Ctrl+Fn+Delete, and apparently it didn’t work.