PLAY "Illegal Function Call" for "B+","C-","E+", and "F-" (58043)

SYMPTOMS

The PLAY statement causes an "Illegal Function Call" error when given any of these notes: "B+", "C-", "E+", or "F-". These are valid notes (since they are the equivalent of natural notes) and should not cause the error.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in QuickBasic versions 1.00, 1.01, 1.02, 2.00, 2.01, 3.00, 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50; in Microsoft Basic Compiler versions 6.00 and 6.00b (buglist6.00, buglist6.00b); in Microsoft Basic Professional Development System (PDS) versions 7.00 and 7.10 for MS-DOS (buglist7.00, buglist7.10); and in Microsoft GW-Basic versions 3.23, 3.22, and 3.20 (buglist3.20, buglist3.22, buglist3.23). We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

To work around this problem, check for those notes and use their natural equivalents (listed below).

MORE INFORMATION

The following table lists the errant notes and their equivalents for the workaround:

   Errant Note  Equivalent
   -----------  ----------

       B+           C
       C-           B
       E+           F
       F-           E

By using the workaround listed above, the following statement would changed as follows:

   PLAY "B+C-E+F-"    'changed to PLAY "CBFE"