Index to BASIC, BASICA, GWBASIC, QBASIC, MBASIC programs
Most old BASIC programs can be converted to newer versions of BASIC such as QBasic without much
trouble.
The Wikipedia article about Qbasic has links
to some more modern BASIC interpreters that might be compatible with and less clunky than QBasic.
QBASIC Programs
QBasic was the last of Microsoft's old-style
BASIC interpreters. I've tested it successfully in Windows XP. QBasic is still available in
the "olddos.exe" package from
Microsoft. The
.exe is a self-extracting .zip archive. Copy only the QBASIC.EXE AND QBASIC.HLP files to where you
need them, and delete all the other files. None of them are of use except with Windows 95. Don't
run the included setup installation program.
| TIMER.BAS |
Simple QBASIC program that works like a cooking timer. Beeps through the
PC speaker when a specified time interval has elapsed. |
| STRGROW.BAS |
This program is connected to an article discussing why there appears to be a trend toward increasing complexity in systems undergoing
evolution. The explanation is that the first available building blocks are simple and small, and it takes time for them to
combine into bigger building blocks to build yet bigger and more complicated ones. A QBASIC
program demonstrates the concept using "evolving" string lengths. |
GWBASIC, BASICA, and MBASIC Programs
There are quite a few programs in ancient versions of BASIC on this site, including some that
generate color graphic displays (mostly fractals).
| GWBASIC / BASICA
Programs |
Originally for MSDOS on the Heathkit H-100 computer, and also usable on the IBM
PC, including modern ones, with some usually simple modifications to the code. |
| MBASIC Programs |
Originally for CP/M on the Heathkit H-89 computer. There is one utility program in a Heathkit dialect called Extended
Benton Harbor BASIC. |
Newer versions of Microsoft BASIC
| Microsoft Word WordBasic |
WordBasic was the language used for Microsoft Word 6.0 (Windows 3.1) macros. |
| Microsoft Word
Visual Basic |
When used for Microsoft Word 2003 macros, Visual Basic provides a way to call the old WordBasic methods, by prepending
"WordBasic." to the front of every command. All my Word VB macros are coded this way, so they don't provide much insight
into more modern Visual Basic document handling functions. |
| Microsoft Access
AccessBasic and Visual Basic
|
There is a lot of module and event handler code in my Microsoft Access
databases. Most of the databases are provided
in versions for both Access 2.0 (AccessBasic) and Access 2003 (Visual Basic), so it's possible to see how the coding is done in
both.
Modern Visual Basic is a large language into which all the methods from the earlier application-specific Basics were
combined, so you can use it with documents, databases, and spreadsheets. |
| Microsoft Excel
Visual Basic |
Some of my Excel worksheets have a small amount of Visual Basic code in them. |
|
