QuickBasicNews Issue 1: Programming the Mouse with QuickBasic

Published in

· 10 Jan 2020

 
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               ∫   Programming the Mouse with QuickBasic  ∫ 
               »ÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕº 
                    A QuickBasic specific article 
     
    Have you ever tried to figure out how to program the mouse within 
  your programs ?  First you will need QuickBasic.  Then there are 
  basically two ways.  First you can use what is often referred to as 
  a Third-Party Library.  This is often the easiest way because there 
  are many libraries available for downloading from local BBS systems. 
  Some libraries are free, some are shareware and still others are 
  public domain.  The other method would be through the use of interrupts. 
  Next month we will include an article on interrupts that will 
  explain how to use both libraries and interrupts.  Sample code will 
  be included.  Although using interrupts is considered an advance 
  subject, don't be alarmed.... There's not that much to it once you 
  understand how it's done. 
    
    The use of interrupts requires several files that are supplied 
  with QuickBasic.  They are QB.BI and QB.QLB 

    We will also include a very popular library next month so that 
  you can experiment using the library and or the interrupt calls. 
  In reality the library will probably be using interrupts to  
  control the mouse, however the way it does it is transparent to 
  the user and doesn't require a knowledge of interrupts.  

    The interrupt we will be looking at will be interrupt number 51 
  which has a number of functions available to it.  These functions 
  provide information and control of the mouse.  The interrupt  
  function might return information about the mouse location. Another 
  function might turn the mouse off, while another turns it on.  Still 
  another function can limit the horizontal range of the mouse to 
  a certain portion of the screen. Other functions control the mouse in 
  other ways.  There are only 256 different interrupts.  Many  
  interrupts have many functions associated with it. The end result 
  being that there are thousands of functions available by using 
  interrupts. The next article will cover a number of these functions 
  in an easy to understand manner.  Then you can have the control 
  you need to manipulate that little rodent ! 

    Although there are numerous mouse drivers, the Microsoft mouse driver 
 is generally acknowledged as the standard for MS-DOS based computers. 
 Since this driver is so universally accepted it is the driver that will 
 be the topic of future discussions.