Q58733: BASIC 7.00 Can Assign an Array to an Array If in a TYPE

Article: Q58733
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 7.00 7.10 | 7.00 7.10
Operating System(s): MS-DOS | OS/2
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | SR# S900131-59 B_QuickBas | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 12-NOV-1990

Some languages, such as Pascal, allow you to assign one array directly
to another, which copies all the elements from one array to another.
Microsoft BASIC cannot do this, except in Microsoft BASIC Professional
Development System (PDS) versions 7.00 and 7.10 where you can now
directly assign one static array to another by defining the array in a
user-defined-TYPE variable and then assigning one variable of this
TYPE to another.

Using a variable of a TYPE that contains an array, you can also write
an entire array to a file using a single PUT# statement.

Note that in Microsoft QuickBASIC versions 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50 for
MS-DOS, in Microsoft BASIC Compiler versions 6.00 and 6.00b for MS-DOS
and MS OS/2, and in Microsoft BASIC PDS versions 7.00 and 7.10 for
MS-DOS and MS OS/2, you can directly assign variables of a
user-defined TYPE directly to one another if they are of the same
TYPE. (LSET can be used for assignment if the record variables differ
in TYPE.) The TYPEd variables are assigned in one simple statement,
and each and every element of the user-defined TYPE is automatically
copied.

Microsoft BASIC PDS version 7.00 for MS-DOS and MS OS/2 introduces
support for static arrays in user-defined TYPEs. In BASIC PDS 7.00 and
7.10, you can directly assign one static array to another by defining
the array in a user-defined-TYPE variable and then assigning one
variable of this TYPE to another, as shown in Example 1.

You can also write a whole array at once into a disk file, as shown in
Example 2.

Code Example 1
--------------

The following program can be used in BASIC PDS 7.00 and 7.10 to
demonstrate the assignment of the contents of one static array to
another. (Note that dynamic arrays cannot be placed in user-defined
TYPEs.)

   TYPE rec1
     array1(20) AS INTEGER
   END TYPE
   DIM var1 AS rec1, var2 AS rec1
   CLS
   FOR i = 1 TO 20      ' Fill the array in var1:
     var1.array1(i) = i
   NEXT
     var2 = var1          ' Make the assignment.
   FOR i = 1 TO 20      ' Confirm that the array was copied to var2:
     PRINT var2.array1(i)
   NEXT
   END

Code Example 2
--------------

The following example, compiled in BASIC PDS 7.00 or 7.10, shows how
to write a whole array to disk at once, using just one PUT# statement:

   TYPE rec1
     array1(20) AS INTEGER
   END TYPE
   DIM var1 AS rec1, var2 AS rec1
   CLS
   FOR i = 1 TO 20      ' Fill the array in var1:
     var1.array1(i) = i
   NEXT

   OPEN "test.dat" FOR RANDOM AS #1
   PUT #1, , var1         ' write whole array to disk all at once.
   CLOSE

   OPEN "test.dat" FOR RANDOM AS #1
   GET #1, , var2      ' Reads array all at once into var2.
   FOR i = 1 TO 20     ' Print the contents of array var2:
     PRINT var2.array1(i);
   NEXT
   CLOSE

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