TI Extended BASIC
Encyclopedia
TI Extended BASIC was a dialect of BASIC for the Texas Instruments
TI-99/4A home computer
.
that greatly enhanced the functionality accessible to TI BASIC
users. Sprites
could be generated and set up to move automatically with simple one-line commands
. Custom 'CALL' subprograms
, access to memory
expansion for larger programs, multiple statement lines (with the statement separator ::), boolean logic
in IF statements, assembly language
linkage, as well as the ability to display text at any location on the screen, were all added while largely retaining compatibility with TI BASIC.
from a predefined vocabulary as easily as writing text on-screen:
>CALL SAY("HELLO I AM A TEXAS INSTRUMENTS T I NINETY NINE FOUR A HOME COMPUTER")
...would cause the speech synthesizer to identify the computer. Using a word not included in the speech synthesizer's built-in vocabulary would cause it to slowly spell out the word. (TI's Terminal Emulator II cartridge provided text-to-speech functionality.)
TI Extended BASIC also provided raw access to the speech synthesizer, but very few developers had the resources to generate the speech data and this function was rarely used.
:
ACCEPT, DISPLAY, IMAGE, LINPUT, ON BREAK, ON ERROR, ON WARNING, SUB
, SUBEND, SUBEXIT
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
TI-99/4A home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
.
Functionality Provided
TI produced an Extended BASIC cartridgeROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
that greatly enhanced the functionality accessible to TI BASIC
TI BASIC (TI 99/4A)
TI BASIC was a dialect of BASIC for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A Home Computer , developed under contract to Microsoft by Bob Wallace and Bob Greenberg. A version supporting compiled code was also used as a commercial development language for the TI-990 range of minicomputers.TI BASIC was built...
users. Sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
could be generated and set up to move automatically with simple one-line commands
Command (computing)
In computing, a command is a directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task. Most commonly a command is a directive to some kind of command line interface, such as a shell....
. Custom 'CALL' subprograms
Subroutine
In computer science, a subroutine is a portion of code within a larger program that performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code....
, access to memory
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
expansion for larger programs, multiple statement lines (with the statement separator ::), boolean logic
Boolean logic
Boolean algebra is a logical calculus of truth values, developed by George Boole in the 1840s. It resembles the algebra of real numbers, but with the numeric operations of multiplication xy, addition x + y, and negation −x replaced by the respective logical operations of...
in IF statements, assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
linkage, as well as the ability to display text at any location on the screen, were all added while largely retaining compatibility with TI BASIC.
Speech Synthesis
When equipped with the TI Speech Synthesizer, TI Extended BASIC users could also generate speechSpeech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
from a predefined vocabulary as easily as writing text on-screen:
>CALL SAY("HELLO I AM A TEXAS INSTRUMENTS T I NINETY NINE FOUR A HOME COMPUTER")
...would cause the speech synthesizer to identify the computer. Using a word not included in the speech synthesizer's built-in vocabulary would cause it to slowly spell out the word. (TI's Terminal Emulator II cartridge provided text-to-speech functionality.)
TI Extended BASIC also provided raw access to the speech synthesizer, but very few developers had the resources to generate the speech data and this function was rarely used.
Statements
TI Extended BASIC has several statements not present in TI BASICTI BASIC (TI 99/4A)
TI BASIC was a dialect of BASIC for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A Home Computer , developed under contract to Microsoft by Bob Wallace and Bob Greenberg. A version supporting compiled code was also used as a commercial development language for the TI-990 range of minicomputers.TI BASIC was built...
:
ACCEPT, DISPLAY, IMAGE, LINPUT, ON BREAK, ON ERROR, ON WARNING, SUB
Subroutine
In computer science, a subroutine is a portion of code within a larger program that performs a specific task and is relatively independent of the remaining code....
, SUBEND, SUBEXIT