skywalk wrote:Yes, PowerBasic attempted to add every keyword from VB6.
But, still this is a narrow scope. I don't reject the feature request, I just have never used it.
PowerBasic is certainly not a clone of VB, and it's irrelevent that you think the Mid statement is of narrow scope.
The Mid statement has been an important feature of the BASIC language for over 35 years, and it's about time that PB got on board with all the others. Not having it is akin to not having a For/Next statement.
For ten years Caesar ruled with an iron hand, then with a wooden foot, and finally with a piece of string.
~ Spike Milligan
skywalk wrote:Yes, PowerBasic attempted to add every keyword from VB6.
Get your facts first, please:
PowerBasic is older than VisualBasic. And already the first PowerBasic versions for DOS had a Mid() statement.
This probably was added to PowerBasic, just because it's a typical Basic command (and it's useful).
skywalk wrote:Yes, PowerBasic attempted to add every keyword from VB6.
But, still this is a narrow scope. I don't reject the feature request, I just have never used it.
PowerBasic is certainly not a clone of VB, and it's irrelevent that you think the Mid statement is of narrow scope.
The Mid statement has been an important feature of the BASIC language for over 35 years, and it's about time that PB got on board with all the others. Not having it is akin to not having a For/Next statement.
Why the hyperbole? I have zero use of mid as a statement in any of my code. I cannot begin to count my for loops.
I never said PowerBasic was a clone, only that the syntax and keywords are intentionally microsoftesque to attract customers.
The nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from. ~ Andrew Tanenbaum
skywalk wrote:Yes, PowerBasic attempted to add every keyword from VB6.
Get your facts first, please:
PowerBasic is older than VisualBasic. And already the first PowerBasic versions for DOS had a Mid() statement.
This probably was added to PowerBasic, just because it's a typical Basic command (and it's useful).
Man this is turning sour quickly. As to the origins of PowerBasic, I believe it got a head start with Turbo Basic.
MS Basic -> QuickBasic -> VBx predates the Borland stuff.
What I am trying to say is I only see scarce examples of use and its existence in other basics is not a prerequisite for adoptance.
The nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from. ~ Andrew Tanenbaum
Why does this have to degenerate into an argument?
Some folks, including myself, could make good use of a Mid statement; that's why I originally suggested it.
Others can't see any use for it - that's fine too, so don't use it.
Reasonable discussions about the merits of a suggested new feature, how best to implement it, etc. are useful,
and provide Fred and company with good feedback from their users.
Extended arguments aren't very helpful, and may even discourage people from submitting suggestions, which would be a shame.
I'm sorry, this was certainly not my intention. I just would like everybody to stick with the facts.
BTW:
In this thread there are some procedures which do (almost or exactly? -- I didn't check it thoroughly.) the same as Basic's Mid() statement. This also shows some interest in this functionality. It additionally shows the amount of work we can save, when this statement would be built into the language, for usage on x86 and x64, on 3 platforms, in ASCII and Unicode mode.
It is basically a modification of the ReplaceString() function; as described it will replace a few PB calls. I think it sounds helpful. Game designers are unlikely to do heavy text operations, but there are a number of fields where text replacement is key.
As to the origins of PowerBasic, I believe it got a head start with Turbo Basic.
