Compatibility of Compiled Basic with Microsoft Windows (21831)

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Windows 3.00 Compatibility

If you use Microsoft Windows version 3.00 with the special 386 enhanced mode, you can run a Basic program in a text window, which you could not do in earlier versions of Windows. In 386 enhanced mode, Basic programs can run as background processes in the text window. In earlier Windows releases, you could only run Basic programs as full-screen processes. However, in both Windows 3.00 and in earlier versions, you cannot run the QB.EXE or QBX.EXE editor in a window; you must instead run QB.EXE or QBX.EXE as a full-screen process.

In Windows 3.00 standard mode (WIN /r) and real mode (WIN /s), you can run a compiled program, QB.EXE, or QBX.EXE only as full-screen processes, which means that they won't run in the background. You cannot press the Windows key combinations CTRL+ESC or ALT+ESC to get out of the full-screen Basic program. Furthermore, other Windows processes will be stopped while you run the full-screen process. You must terminate the Basic program to return to Windows.

Windows 1.x, 2.x Compatibility

Compiled Basic programs, QB.EXE, and QBX.EXE run only as "bad applications" in Microsoft Windows versions 1.x and 2.x. "Bad applications" require you to create a PIF (Program Information File) using the Windows PIFEDIT.EXE program. When you make a PIF for QB.EXE, QBX.EXE, or Basic compiled programs, you need to specify that the program directly modifies the screen, the keyboard, COM1, COM2, and memory. QuickBasic version 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50 programs have been successfully tested under Microsoft Windows 1.x and 2.x.

The QB.PIF or QBX.PIF file provided on the QuickBasic 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50, Basic compiler 6.00 and 6.00b, or Basic PDS 7.00 and 7.10 release disks can be studied in PIFEDIT.EXE as a guideline for making your own PIF files for your compiled .EXE programs.

Neither QuickBasic version 3.00 and its earlier versions nor Microsoft Basic Compiler 5.36 or earlier versions have been tested under Microsoft Windows. Therefore, they may or may not run successfully as bad applications.