Q(uick)BASIC Function: POS

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POS

A device I/O function that returns the current horizontal position of the cursor

Worth knowing

Useful and cross-version information about the programming environments of QBasic and QuickBasic.

Syntax

LOCATE [row%] [,[column%] [,[cursor%] [,start% [,stop%]]]]
CSRLIN
POS(expression)

Description/Parameter(s)

row% and column%	The number of the row and column to which the cursor moves.
cursor%	Specifies whether the cursor is visible: 0 = invisible, 1 = visible
start% and stop%	Integer expressions in the range 0 through 31 that specify the first and last cursor scan lines. You can change the cursor size by changing the cursor scan lines.
expression	Any expression.

Example

CLS
LOCATE 5, 5
MyRow% = CSRLIN
MyCol% = POS(0)
PRINT "Position 1 (Press any key)"
DO
LOOP WHILE INKEY$ = ""
LOCATE (MyRow% + 2), (MyCol% + 2)
PRINT "Position 2"

Syntax

POS(0)

Description/Parameter(s)

The leftmost cursor position is numbered 1. To return the current vertical-line position of the cursor, use the CSRLIN function.

Example

This example uses POS to start a new line after every 40 characters.

CLS                       ' Clear screen
PRINT "This program starts a new line after every 40"
PRINT "characters you type. Press <CTRL-C> to end."
PRINT
DO
   DO WHILE POS(0) < 41   'Stay on same line until 40 characters
      DO                  'printed.
         Char$ = INKEY$
      LOOP WHILE Char$ = ""
      'If input is key combination CTRL-C then end; otherwise,
      'print the character.
      IF ASC(Char$) = 3 THEN END ELSE PRINT Char$;
   LOOP
   PRINT                  'Print a new line.
LOOP

Syntax

POS(numeric-expression)

Description/Parameter(s)

(numeric-expression)

Can be any numeric expression. While it passes no information, it is required to maintain consistent BASIC function syntax.

If the screen cursor is in the leftmost column, this function returns a value of 1.
To return the current vertical (screen row) position of the cursor, use the CSRLIN function.

Example

This example uses the POS function to start a new line after every 40 characters.

CLS                       'Clear screen.
PRINT "This program starts a new line after every 40"
PRINT "characters you type. Press <CTRL-C> to end."
PRINT
DO
   DO WHILE POS(0) < 41   'Stay on same line until 40 characters
      DO                  'printed.
         Char$ = INKEY$
      LOOP WHILE Char$ = ""
      'If input is key combination CTRL-C then end; otherwise,
      'print the character.
      IF ASC(Char$) = 3 THEN END ELSE PRINT Char$;
   LOOP
   PRINT                  'Print a new line.
LOOP