WIDTH¶

Implementation Note¶

Implemented for the screen. WIDTH n sets the line width of the screen. PRINT wraps at that width and measures TAB, SPC and the comma zones against it. POS(0) returns the cursor column. The default width is 80.

Range: 1 to 255. Another value gives "Illegal function call". Real MBASIC 5.21 also accepts 0.

Limitations: The "WIDTH LPRINT" syntax is NOT supported and will cause a parse error. The form WIDTH n, device sets the width and then gives "Syntax error", as MBASIC 5.21 does. A disk file always has a width of 255.

Historical Reference: The documentation below is preserved from the original MBASIC 5.21 manual for historical reference. The default width of real MBASIC 5.21 is 80 on the console.

Syntax¶

WIDTH <integer expression>

⚠️ UNSUPPORTED SYNTAX - Original MBASIC 5.21 also supported:

WIDTH LPRINT <integer expression>  ' ⚠️ NOT SUPPORTED - will cause parse error

Purpose¶

To set the printed line width in number of characters for the terminal or line printer.

Remarks¶

If the LPRINT option is omitted, the line width is set at the terminal. If LPRINT is included, the line width is set at the line printer.

<integer expression> must have a value in the range 15 to 255. The default width is 72 characters.

If <integer expression> is 255, the line width is "infinite," that is, BASIC never inserts a carriage return. However, the position of the cursor or the print head, as given by the POS or LPOS function, returns to zero after position 255.

Example¶

Note: The example below shows MBASIC 5.21 behavior. This implementation does the same for the screen.

Original MBASIC 5.21 behavior:

10 PRINT "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"

Output (default width):

RUN
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Ok

After setting width to 18:

WIDTH 18
Ok
RUN
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR
STUVWXYZ
Ok

This implementation: Output would be identical in both cases (WIDTH has no effect).