Converting from Other Business BASICs

Introduction

The BXSND/BXRCV conversion utility set is provided to assist the Business BASIC programmer in moving application programs and data files from a variety of Business BASIC's to PRO/5.

You should have an understanding of asynchronous communications and have sufficient knowledge of BOTH the Business BASIC from which you are converting, and PRO/5.

This section describes the concept of converting compatible Business BASIC's to PRO/5. While the details of each conversion are unique, the philosophy of using the tools provided with PRO/5 remains the same. Those tools are documented below.

If you are unclear about how these tools work in your situation, consult a programmer experienced in conversions. Telephone your BASIS Sales Representative for references in your area.

Overview

There are two major considerations when converting applications from one language to another.

  • The physical program and data file structures must be moved from one environment to another. This typically involves outputting source data from one environment and rebuilding it in the new environment. The utility set will handle the physical moving of information without programmer intervention.

  • The semantics of the information must also be considered. Some programs may contain verbs and functions that may not exist in PRO/5 or that may not be interpreted the same way. Also, when converting from a BASIC that uses the upper-order ASCII (high bits turned on), the contents of many data files will have to be converted. The utility set will assist the programmer by automatically converting, when possible, program verbs and functions that have PRO/5 counterparts, and by pointing out areas that are not compatible, requiring the programmer to investigate them manually.

The operation of this utility set involves two programs; BXSND and BXRCV.

The BXSND utility is designed to execute under the Business BASIC from which the programs and data are being transferred. It will output the necessary information to rebuild the programs and data in PRO/5. BXRCV executes under PRO/5 and will rebuild the programs and data from the information sent from BXSND. The information is passed between the two programs either by disk file or by a communication port. If a disk file is used, BXSND is executed first to completion, then BXRCV is executed. When going port-to-port, both programs execute at the same time.

The BXSND programs for a number of Business BASIC language versions are provided with PRO/5 in files named LISTING.*. Among these are: BB3, BB7, BBM, BI, PRT, RX1, S10, SMC, and VS. See BXSND Technical Notes. These files contain listings of the BXSND programs for various BASICs. These are provided because it is not possible to provide executable files for all Business BASICs. The programmer should use a LISTING file if necessary to create the appropriate BXSND program. Each LISTING file contains lines of ASCII text terminated by linefeed "$0A$" characters.

There is only one BXRCV program that runs under PRO/5. This program is executable under all PRO/5 platforms, so no LISTING file is provided. If the application to convert is currently running under a BASIC not addressed here, a BXSND program is easily created from one of the existing LISTING files for that particular BASIC. This process is described in BXSND Technical Notes.

Converting Using Common Media

This section explains how to use the convert utility by passing a common file between BXSND and BXRCV. When using communications to do the transfer, first read this section, and then Communications. There are slight differences in the operation of this utility set when going port-to-port, but the general concept is the same.