System Functions

@( )

Print Location

Format

@(column [, line] [ , ERR=stmtref ] )

Where:

column

Column number. Integer value indicating a column position on a printer or terminal screen (0 to the number of columns available on the screen -1).

line

Optional line number. Integer value indicating a line position on a printer or terminal screen (0 to the number of lines available on the screen -1).

stmtref

Program line number or statement label to which to transfer control.

Returns

String, position code mapped to a location on an output device.

Description

The @( ) location function is used to print/display text at a specific position on a printer or terminal screen. This function can be used with directives wherever text is to be sent to an output device, most commonly via INPUT or PRINT statements.

Column 0 represents the column on the far left side of the screen/printer, and line 0 represents the top line. Output is positioned at the column specified on the current line only if the column number is provided. When used with a printer (or print file) and the line number is less than the current line, a new page is started.

Example

The following statement prints the date in the upper left hand corner of the screen with the time starting in column 75 of the top line:

print @(0,0),"Date: ",day,@(75),tim

This prompts for information on the left side, 5 lines from the top:

input @(0,5),"Enter favorite sport:",@(30),SPORT$,@(0,6),"Thanks"

This prints the date right justified in the upper right hand corner of the screen:

D$=dte(0:"%Dl %Ms %D")
print 'blue',@(80-len(D$),0),D$,