Making Screen MODE Such as CO40 Remain After Program Is Run (31428)

SUMMARY

Screen attributes set with the SHELL "MODE CO40" command do not remain changed upon exiting the environment or ending program execution because QuickBasic stores the original screen settings before the program executes. When execution terminates, all screen attributes are restored to their original conditions.

By using the ANSI.SYS escape codes, screen settings such as text colors and background colors can be changed. The following example demonstrates how to change to screen mode 40.

MORE INFORMATION

If the program is run while inside the QuickBasic Version 3.00 environment, the screen is restored to its initial condition, even if ANSI calls are made. QuickBasic Versions 4.00 and later keep the changes in or out of the environment if the screen mode is changed.

The following steps let you utilize ANSI control codes:

Put the statement DEVICE=ANSI.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS file on the root directory of the boot-up disk.
Reboot.
OPEN the CONsole as a device for output.
Redirect the OUTPUT to the CONsole device.
Send the ANSI codes to change the screen attributes.
CLOSE the CONsole when done.

The following code demonstrates this process:

CLS
escape$ = CHR$(27) + "["

screen0$ = "0h"  ' 40 X 25 - characters black and white
screen1$ = "1h"  ' 40 X 25 - characters color
screen2$ = "2h"  ' 80 X 25 - characters black and white
screen3$ = "3h"  ' 80 X 25 - characters color
screen4$ = "4h"  ' 320 X 200 - pixels   black and white
screen5$ = "5h"  ' 320 X 200 - pixels   black and white
screen6$ = "6h"  ' 640 X 200 - pixels   black and white
screen7$ = "?7h" ' wrap at end line ?

OPEN "CON" FOR OUTPUT AS 1
PRINT #1, escape$ + screen1$ + "Wow, 40 by 25"
CLOSE 1