Q(uick)BASIC Statement: RETURN

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RETURN

A control flow statement that returns control from a subroutine

Worth knowing

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

Syntax
  • GOSUB line1
    ⋮
    RETURN [line2]
Description/Parameter(s)
line1 The label or line number of the first line of the subroutine.
line2 The label or line number where the subroutine returns.
  • If you don't supply a label or line number for RETURN, the program continues execution at the statement following the GOSUB (for subroutine calls) or where an event occurred (for event handling). See the ⮜ ON ⮞ keyword for information about event-handling statements.
  • SUB and CALL statements provide a better alternative to GOSUB subroutines.
Example
FOR i% = 1 TO 20 GOSUB Square NEXT i% END Square: PRINT i%, i% * i% RETURN

See also:

Syntax
  • RETURN [{linelabel | linenumber}]
Description/Parameter(s)
  • If the argument is omitted, RETURN continues execution where an event occurred (for event handling) or at the statement following the GOSUB (for subroutine calls)
  • linelabel or linenumber, if used, must identify a line in the module-level code to execute next

Without a line label, RETURN continues execution where an event occurred (for event handling), or at the statement following the GOSUB (for subroutine calls). GOSUB and RETURN without a line label can be used anywhere in a program, but the GOSUB and corresponding RETURN must be at the same level.

The linelabel or linenumber in the RETURN statement causes an unconditional return from a GOSUB subroutine to the specified line. RETURN with a line label or line number can only return control to a statement in the module-level code.

A RETURN statement cannot be used to return control to a calling program from a subprogram defined by SUB. Use EXIT SUB.

Note: BASIC's SUB procedures provide a better structured alternative to GOSUB subroutines.
Example

See the ⮜ GOSUB statement programming example ⮞, which uses the RETURN statement.

See also:

Syntax
  • RETURN [{linelabel | linenumber}]
Description/Parameter(s)
linelabel or linenumber Identifies a line in the module-level code to execute next.
If the argument is omitted, RETURN continues execution where an event occurred (for event handling) or at the statement following the GOSUB (for subroutine calls).

Usage Notes

  • Without a line label, RETURN continues execution where an event occurred (for event handling), or at the statement following the GOSUB (for subroutine calls). GOSUB and RETURN without a line label can be used anywhere in a program, but the GOSUB and corresponding RETURN must be at the same level.
  • The linelabel or linenumber in the RETURN statement causes an unconditional return from a GOSUB subroutine to the specified line. RETURN with a line label or line number can return control to a statement in the module-level code only, not procedure-level code.
  • A RETURN statement cannot be used to return control to a calling program from a procedure defined by GOSUB. Use EXIT SUB.
  • BASIC's SUB procedures provide a better-structured alternative to GOSUB subroutines.
Example

This example uses the GOSUB and RETURN statements to branch to and return from a subroutine with and without using linelabel statements.

CLS GOSUB PrintMessage PRINT "This message is in module-level code" GOSUB Sub1 PRINT "This line in module-level code should be skipped." Label1: PRINT "This message is back in module-level code" END PrintMessage: PRINT "This program illustrates use of the GOSUB and RETURN statements." PRINT RETURN Sub1: PRINT "This message is in Sub1." GOSUB Sub2 PRINT "This line in Sub1 should be skipped." Label2: PRINT "This message is back in Sub1." RETURN Label1 Sub2: PRINT "This message is in Sub2." RETURN Label2 'Cannot return from here to main program - only to SUB1.

See also: