Commodore 1541 - Pattern Matching and Wild Cards

Can Be A String
Variable Or The
Name Inside Quotes
PATTERN MATCHING AND WILD CARDS
When using the tape deck, you can LOAD any program starting with certain let
ters just by leaving off any following letters. Thus, the command LOAD "T" will find
the
first program on the tape beginning with the letter T. And LOAD "HELLO" will
find the first program beginning with the letters HELLO, like "HELLO THERE.1'
When using the disk, this option is called pattern matching, and there is a special
character in the file name used to designate this. The asterisk {*) character
following any program name tells the drive you want to find any program start
ing with that name.
FORMAT FOR PATTERN MATCHING:
LOAD nameS +
In other words, if you want to LOAD the first program on Che disk starting with
the letter T, use the command LOAD "t*", 8,
If only the "• is used for the name, the lasl program accessed on the disk is the
one LOADed. If no program has yet been LOADed, the first one listed in the directory
is the one used.
You are probably familiar with the concept of wild cards in poker where one card
can replace any other card needed. On your 1541, the question mark (?) can be used as
a wild card on the disk. The program name on the disk is compared la the name in the
LOAD command, but any characters where there is a question mark in the name aren't
checked.
For instance, when the command LOAD "TINT", 8 is given, programs that
match include TINT, TENT, etc.
When LOADing the directory of the disk, pattern matching and wild cards can be
used GO check for a list of specific programs. If you gave the command LOAD
"SO:TEST", only the program TEST would appear in the directory {if present on the
disk). The command LOAD "S0:T*" would give you a directory- of all programs
beginning with the letter T. And LOAD "SOiTIST" would give you all the programs
with 4-letter names having the first letter of T and the third and fourth letters ST.
LOAD "$0:T?ST*" would give names of any length with the correct first, third, and
fourth letters.
II