Q21836: Length of Strings, String Descriptors in Compiler, Interpreter

Article: Q21836
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 1.00 1.01 1.02 2.00 2.01 3.00 4.00 4.00b 4.50
Operating System(s): MS-DOS
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | B_BasicCom B_GWBasicI | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 1-AUG-1990

String variables in QuickBASIC versions 1.00 through 4.50 and in
Microsoft BASIC Compiler versions 6.00 and 6.00b and in Microsoft
BASIC Professional Development System (PDS) versions 7.00 and 7.10 can
contain up to 32,767 characters (32K). Each variable-length string
variable has a 4-byte string descriptor, which is composed of a 2-byte
length followed by a 2-byte address.

Fixed-length strings (which were introduced in QuickBASIC versions
4.00 and later and in BASIC compiler 6.00 and later) do not have a
string descriptor.

For comparison, variable-length string variables in Microsoft GW-BASIC
(versions 3.20, 3.22, 3.23) and IBM BASICA Interpreters have 3-byte
string descriptors, with 1 byte of length followed by 2 bytes of
address. String variables may contain up to 255 characters in GW-BASIC
and IBM BASICA.

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