Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!netcom!resnicks
From: resnicks@netcom.COM (Steve Resnick)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: basic to pascal (mks$ in particular)
Message-ID: <28081@netcom.COM>
Date: 13 Mar 91 17:53:59 GMT
References: <1991Mar12.203014.14472@csrd.uiuc.edu> <2065@gold.gvg.tek.com> <1991Mar13.051427.18507@csrd.uiuc.edu>
Organization: Me? Organized? You gotta be kidding!
Lines: 54

In article <1991Mar13.051427.18507@csrd.uiuc.edu> leung@sp17.csrd.uiuc.edu (Bruce Leung) writes:
>shaunc@gold.gvg.tek.com (Shaun Case) writes:
>>leung@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (Bruce Leung) writes:
>>>I'm trying to read a data file that was written using the mks$ function
>>>in Basic.  Actually, I assume it was written using that since the only
>>>code I have is a Basic program to read the file (shown below).
>>
>>Perhaps you could modify the code you have to read in the data, 
>>then print it back out as strings.  If so, then you can read it
>>in in C or Pascal and convert it that way, once.
>
>That would work but I don't want to convert the files.  I want to be able
>to read the files that are created by another program, possibly manipulate
>the data, and write it back.  Using Basic is not an option.
>
>The problem is that Turbo Pascal uses 6 bytes for the REAL type.  I tried
>using the SINGLE type that uses 4 bytes (yes, I have a coprocessor) but
>wasn't successful.  It is quite likely I was doing something wrong.  (Hence
>my request to the collective net wisdom.)
>
>>If you want to use C, take a look at fscanf(), or better yet, 
>>fgets() and sscanf().
>
>I'm familiar with C.  To tell you the truth, I haven't tried C yet (head
>hung in shame) since I do want to do this in Turbo Pascal.
>

No shame needed. As I pointed out to Bruce in a reply message, Microsoft
GW-BASIC, QuickBASIC V1-3, IBM BASIC, IBM BASICA and older IBM BASIC compilers
use the Microsoft Binary Format. (mbf). If you need to convert these numbers
using a non-Microsoft compiler, you need to "hand-convert" the numbers.
Most other compilers, (Borland, MSC, etc) use IEEE floating point format 
rather than Microsofts (for obvoius reasons (-:) 

Microsoft, does, however, provide the information to do the conversion to
IEEE format, or, alternatively, you can use Microsoft C V 5+ to do the
conversion (there is library support for this), just call 'em up and they
will send it to you ...


Cheers!
Steve



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