Commodore 128D - Clearing the Computers Memory-The NEW Command; Using Color in a Program

Clearing the Computer's Memory—The NEW Command
Anytime you want to start all over again or erase a BASIC program in i >
the computer's memory, just type NEW and press RETURN. This J
command clears out the computer's BASIC memory, the area where
programs are stored. \ j
Using Color in a Program > j
To select color within a program, you must include the color selec
tion information within a PRINT statement. For example, clear your —•
computer's memory by typing NEW and pressing RETURN, then Lj
type the following, being sure to leave space between each letter:
10 PRINT "SPECTRUM" III IMIlTT f {
LJ
Now type line 10 again but this time hold down the CTRL key and
press the 1 key directly after entering the first set of quote marks.
Release the CTRL key and type the "S" Now hold down the CTRL LJ
again and press the 2 key. Release the CTRL key and type the "P"
Next hold down the CTRL again and press the 3 key. Continue this ■ ■-.
process until you have typed all the letters in the word SPECTRUM s^J
and selected a color between each letter. Press the SHIFT and the 2
keys to type a set of closing quotation marks and press the RETURN - -
key. Now type RUN and press the RETURN key. The computer dis- Lj
plays the word SPECTRUM with each letter in a different color. Now
type LIST and press the RETURN key. Notice the graphic characters
that appear in the PRINT statement in line 10. These characters tell LJ
the computer what color you want for each printed letter. Note that
these graphic characters do not appear when the Commodore 128
PRINTS the word SPECTRUM in different colors. LJ
The color selection characters, known as control characters, in the —
PRINT statement in line 10 tell the Commodore 128 to change col- LJ
ors. The computer then prints the characters that follow in the new
color until another color selection character is encountered. While —
characters enclosed in quotation marks are usually PRINTed exactly Lj
as they appear, control characters are only displayed within a pro
gram LISTing. ~
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34 USING C128 MODE-Getting Started in BASIC
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