January 5, 2004
Below are results of tests I did when attempting to migrate from a QBASIC/FirstBasic combination to QuickBASIC and/or PDS 7.1. FirstBasic compiles and executes the code fragment below without a problem: while both Microsoft products compile the fragment OK, either 'out of memory', 'out of string space', 'out of data space', or 'subscript out of range' messages appear at runtime, depending on whether QuickBASIC or PDS 7.1 is used, whether the /AH switch is used, whether PDS's 'far strings' is enabled, and how much memory you've attempted to obtain.
p.size% = 2000: p.cfgsize% = 25: d.max% = 21
inimodmax% = 100: inielemax% = 200
PRINT : PRINT "Begin.": PRINT
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "allocating p.size arrays:"
DIM infile$(p.size%), dirinfo$(p.size%), lst$(p.size%), tmp$(p.size%)
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "allocating p.cfgsize arrays.."
DIM cfg$(p.cfgsize%, 2), dosenvar$(p.cfgsize% * 2)
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "allocating menu, drawbox and alt arrays.."
DIM m.p$(d.max%), m.m$(d.max%), m.d$(d.max%), b.str$(d.max%), alt%(26)
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "allocating form arrays.."
DIM g.p$(d.max%), g.m$(d.max%), g.d$(d.max%), g.i$(d.max%), g.hide%(d.max%)
DIM g.l%(d.max%), g.lmax%(d.max%), g.c%(d.max%), g.f.x%(d.max%), g.f.y%(d.max%)
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "allocating INIMOD array.."
DIM inimod$(inimodmax%, inielemax%)
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "allocating INIELE array.."
DIM iniele$(inielemax%)
PRINT "free string:"; FRE(""); "bytes"; TAB(27);
PRINT " array:"; FRE(-1); "bytes"; TAB(49);
PRINT " stack:"; FRE(-2); "bytes"
PRINT : PRINT "All arrays allocated."
results for FirstBasic 1.0
Begin.
free string: 32750 bytes array: 495584 bytes stack: 522 bytes
allocating p.size arrays:
free string: 32750 bytes array: 479392 bytes stack: 522 bytes
allocating p.cfgsize arrays..
free string: 32750 bytes array: 479056 bytes stack: 522 bytes
allocating menu, drawbox and alt arrays..
free string: 32750 bytes array: 478736 bytes stack: 522 bytes
allocating form arrays..
free string: 32750 bytes array: 477936 bytes stack: 522 bytes
allocating INIMOD array..
free string: 32750 bytes array: 437296 bytes stack: 522 bytes
allocating INIELE array..
free string: 32750 bytes array: 436848 bytes stack: 522 bytes
All arrays allocated.
results for QuickBASIC 4.5
Begin.
free string: 56106 bytes array: 519978 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating p.size arrays:
free string: 24058 bytes array: 487930 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating p.cfgsize arrays..
free string: 23526 bytes array: 487398 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating menu, drawbox and alt arrays..
free string: 23142 bytes array: 486950 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating form arrays..
free string: 22758 bytes array: 486278 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating INIMOD array..
Subscript out of range in line 0 of module HELLO at address 0A97:073D
Hit any key to return to system
results for QuickBASIC 4.5 with /AH
Begin.
free string: 56106 bytes array: 537786 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating p.size arrays:
free string: 24058 bytes array: 505738 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating p.cfgsize arrays..
free string: 23526 bytes array: 505206 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating menu, drawbox and alt arrays..
free string: 23142 bytes array: 504758 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating form arrays..
free string: 22758 bytes array: 504086 bytes stack: 1552 bytes
allocating INIMOD array..
Subscript out of range in line 0 of module HELLO at address 062A:075B
Hit any key to return to system
results for PDS 7.1 with /AH and near strings
Begin.
free string: 55306 bytes array: 539466 bytes stack: 2564 bytes
allocating p.size arrays:
free string: 23258 bytes array: 507418 bytes stack: 2564 bytes
allocating p.cfgsize arrays..
free string: 22726 bytes array: 506886 bytes stack: 2564 bytes
allocating menu, drawbox and alt arrays..
free string: 22342 bytes array: 506438 bytes stack: 2564 bytes
allocating form arrays..
free string: 21958 bytes array: 505766 bytes stack: 2564 bytes
allocating INIMOD array..
Subscript out of range in line 0 of module HELLO at address 062A:073E
Hit any key to return to system
results for PDS 7.1 with /AH and far strings
Begin.
free string: 65430 bytes array: 533296 bytes stack: 2394 bytes
allocating p.size arrays:
free string: 65430 bytes array: 485264 bytes stack: 2352 bytes
allocating p.cfgsize arrays..
free string: 65430 bytes array: 484496 bytes stack: 2348 bytes
allocating menu, drawbox and alt arrays..
free string: 65430 bytes array: 483888 bytes stack: 2348 bytes
allocating form arrays..
free string: 65430 bytes array: 483072 bytes stack: 2348 bytes
allocating INIMOD array..
Subscript out of range in line 0 of module HELLO at address 062A:073E
Hit any key to return to system
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