HP Forum Archive 16

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hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #1 Posted by oswaldo on 29 Nov 2006, 12:44 p.m. Hi Could anyone advise me about a program/software that may allow me to transfer the basic programs that run on the HP86/87 in order that they may run on MSDOS GWBASIC? It would be sufficient to know how I could do it - perhaps through WORD or another program that runs in WINDOWS XP,which is the platform that I mostly use now. I know that those computers/calculators are very old, but it is for personal reasons that I want it. Please answer to my e-mail: oswech@cantv.net Thank you for your help. Oswaldo (from Caracas, Venezuela)

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #2 Posted by Namir on 29 Nov 2006, 1:21 p.m., in response to message #1 by oswaldo Hi Oswaldo, As someone who worked with both HP-85/87 BASIC and FW-BASIC, I have to say that there are significant differences in handling matrices and strings. HP-BASIC uses intrinsics (predefined-functions) and constructs for strings that are fairly different from the intrinsics of GW-BASIC. When it comes to matrices the gap is even wider. GW-BASIC does not support advanced matrix commands. There are many other differences between the two flavors of BASIC, such as the absence of SUB routines in GW-BASIC, and multiline functions in GW-BASIC. Translating from BASIC dialect to another is a project by itself. Namir

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #3 Posted by Patrice on 29 Nov 2006, 2:29 p.m., in response to message #2 by Namir And you don't even speak about graphic commands :-)

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #4 Posted by Namir on 29 Nov 2006, 4:10 p.m., in response to message #3 by Patrice Good point!!! I also did not mention file I/O operations. The HP-BASIC and GW-BASIC dialects are quite different!! Namir Edited: 29 Nov 2006, 5:41 p.m.

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #5 Posted by Les Bell on 29 Nov 2006, 9:01 p.m., in response to message #4 by Namir Is gwbasic even available these days? There have got to be better languages, surely? Best, --- Les [http://www.lesbell.com.au] Edited: 29 Nov 2006, 9:02 p.m.

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #6 Posted by Namir on 29 Nov 2006, 10:28 p.m., in response to message #5 by Les Bell QBASIC is a worthy successor of GW-BASIC. I have QBASIC on my PCs and do use it for testing some algorithms. QBASIC is more structured than GW-BASIC. It has no mandatory line numbers, and can use Function and Sub routines. It also supports multi-line IF-THEN-ELSE and SELECT CASE decision-making statements, and Do-LOOP loops. In the early 90s I wrote a book about it, "Teach Yourself QBASIC in 21 Days", which was published by SAMS Publishing. Namir

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #7 Posted by Les Bell on 30 Nov 2006, 12:52 a.m., in response to message #6 by Namir Oh, that's right - I'd forgotten about QBASIC. Thanks, Namir. However, my question still stands, with slight amendment: I can't find QBASIC on my Win2K laptop, so is it still available? Or does one have to resort to a DOS 5 floppy to get it? Best, --- Les [http://www.lesbell.com.au] [And currently programming in Java, OCaml and Prolog, would you believe?]

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #8 Posted by Namir on 30 Nov 2006, 1:04 a.m., in response to message #7 by Les Bell Les, You can download an old DOS version (with QBASIC) at this link Namir

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #9 Posted by Les Bell on 30 Nov 2006, 1:24 a.m., in response to message #8 by Namir Aha! Thanks, Namir. Memories. . . Best, --- Les [http://www.lesbell.com.au]

Re: hp 86 and hp87 basic programming Message #10 Posted by oswaldo on 29 Nov 2006, 8:46 p.m., in response to message #1 by oswaldo Hi, I am deeply moved with the responses I have obtained. I am now more obliged to try to do a good project, which most probably shall be a totaly new one. Please rest assured that I will keep you informed of my progress (if any). My best to you all. Oswaldo

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