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Commodore Trivia 32
-------Commodore Trivia Edition #32 Questions and Answers Preface--------
Not to leave you in the dark for too long, here are the trivia
answers to the previous edition of Commodore Trivia. I am posting the
answers at this time, and will post the scores and winners in a few
days. This time frame is set up to allow time for any discussions on the
correctness of these answers. By this time, the newest edition of
trivia has been posted. I encourage you to enter it.
This edition of trivia answers has been posted to the USENET newsgroups:
comp.sys.cbm, alt.folklore.computers, and comp.sys.amiga.advocacy. It
has also been posted to the FidoNET CBM Echo.
Feel free to use these trivia answers in newsletters, magazines, and other
publications (please see disclaimer). If you use the trivia, I would
appreciate knowing where it has ended up. If you intend to use this
information, please wait a few days after the posting date to allow for
major errors to be corrected.
Please mail any new questions for upcoming trivia (with answers) to my
address.
This edition and previous editions the trivia can be obtained from my
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Each new edition of the trivia will be automatically mailed to you when
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I try to post the answers for the questions shortly after the monthly
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I may have made to be worked out before scoring the contest.
-------Commodore Trivia Edition #32 Questions and Answers (BEGIN)--------
The "BASIC Tokens" Trivia Set
The following questions refer to the way Commodore "crunched"
BASIC programs by substituting one of more bytes called "tokens"
for BASIC keywords in a BASIC program. The resulting code was
smaller, since multiple character keywords were internally replaced
with smaller length tokens.
(All the answers were taken from _Commodore Magazine_, April 1987,
pp 82-85.)
Q $1F0) Commodore BASIC tokens start at what number?
A $1F0) $80, or 128.
Q $1F1) BASIC 2.0 defines tokens without gaps up to $ca. What keyword
is represented by $cb?
A $1F1) GO.
Q $1F2) Why is the token for PI strange?
A $1F2) It is token $ff, or 255.
Q $1F3) All versions of Commodore BASIC contain at least a subset of
tokens. At what number does this subset end?
A $1F3) $ca.
Q $1F4) BASIC 4.0 defines tokens beyond $cb. What is the last token
included in BASIC 4.0?
A $1F4) $da.
Q $1F5) There was a BASIC 4.0+ included in the B series. It extends the
BASIC with some new commands not in 4.0. What token range are
these new commands at?
A $1F5) $db-$e8.
Q $1F6) When a user plugs a Super Expander into a Commodore 64, he or
she gains access to 25 new BASIC commands. The tokens for these
commands are defined differently from the previous tokens. What
is the difference?
A $1F6) They are two byte tokens of the form: $fe XX, where XX ranges from
$80 to $9e.
Q $1F7) When the Plus/4 and C-16 was developed, new commands were added
to BASIC. In addition, many commands from BASIC 4.0 were also
included. Unfortunately, the tokens for BASIC 4.0 commands included
in these new machines differed from those in the older BASIC 4.0.
If a user lists a program written in BASIC 4.0 on a Plus/4, what
will the BASIC 4.0 CONCAT command show up as?
A $1F7) CONCAT is $cc in BASIC 4.0, and is RGR in BASIC 3.5.
Q $1F8) What is the last token used in the Plus/4 line?
A $1F8) $fd.
Q $1F9) If you list a program written on the Plus/4 with the keyword
SCALE on a BASIC 4.0/4.0+ machine, what happens?
A $1F9) SCALE on BASIC 3.5 is token $e9, which is not in the BASIC 4.0(+)
list. The PET will crash. Interstingly, tokens above $e9 do not
crash the PET.
Q $1FA) When the C128 was released, it shared many tokens with the Plus/4.
However, at $ce, the 128 differs from the Plus/4. The Plus/4 token
$ce corresponds to RLUM, but the C128 uses the token another way.
What is peculiar about the C128 usage?
A $1FA) The C128 uses $ce as a prefix byte for a range of two-byte tokens
that range from $02 to $0a.
Q $1FB) The C128 shares many keywords with the Super Expander cartridge
for the C64. As with the Plus/4, though, keywords don't map to
the same token. To what token does the C128 keyword SPRITE
(token: $fe $07) correspond to on the Super Expander equipped 64?
A $1FB) $fe $93.
Q $1FC) What keyword was not included in BASIC v1, but was included in
BASIC v2?
A $1FC) GO, token $cb.
Q $1FD) The C128 defines all the tokens from $fe $02 to $fe $26, with the
exception of two tokens. Name one of them.
A $1FD) $fe $20 and $fe $22.
Q $1FE) The Plus/4 line had the ability to add keywords dynamically when
running cartridges. At what point in the token list do these
"added" keywords show up in the Plus/4 line?
A $1FE) They use $fe as a prefix byte for two-byte tokens.
Q $1FF) If a programmer want to write a single program to run on a
B128, a plus/4, and a C128, what version of BASIC is the lowest
common denominator?
A $1FF) Unfortunately, BASIC 2.0 is it.
The information in this between the lines marked by (BEGIN) and (END)
is copyright 1996 by Jim Brain. Provided that the information
between the (BEGIN) and (END) lines is not changed except to correct
typographical errors, the so marked copyrighted information may be
reproduced in its entirety on other networks or in other mediums. For
more information about using this file, please contact the address
shown below.
Jim Brain
j.brain@ieee.org
Some are easy, some are hard, try your hand at:
-------------Commodore Trivia Edition #32 Questions (END)---------------
The information in this between the lines marked by (BEGIN) and (END)
is copyright 1996 by Jim Brain. Provided that the information
between the (BEGIN) and (END) lines is not changed except to correct
typographical errors, the so marked copyrighted information may be
reproduced in its entirety on other networks or in other mediums. For
more information about using this file, please contact the address
shown below.
Jim Brain
brain@mail.msen.com
602 North Lemen
Fenton, MI 48430
(810) 737-7300 x8528
--------Commodore Trivia Edition #32 Questions and Answers (END)---------
