CLEAR
Syntax |
CLEAR |
Location |
QL ROM |
This command forces all variables to be cleared meaning that the computer will no longer remember their values.
This does not affect SuperBASIC functions or resident keywords, for example, PRINT PI will always return 3.141593.
On non-SMS machines, if a variable is PRINTed, which has not yet been assigned a value, an asterisk appears on screen. If you try to use a variable which has not yet been assigned a value, then an error will occur (normally error in expression (-17)).
If Toolkit II is present (or you are using Minerva or a THOR XVI), any valid WHEN structures are also suspended by the CLEAR command.
Adding CLEAR before a program is run ensures that all variables used in a program will be defined properly. While developing a large program in BASIC it may sometimes be helpful to set an essential variable directly in the command line and not as a static statement in the listing.
Example
The following lines will produce a different output depending on whether they have been run before or not:
100 PRINT a
110 a=5
120 PRINT a
The first run shows… * 5 This is because the contents of a were not defined until line 110 was reached.
The second time, a was still set and so the output is slightly different… 5 5
NOTE
CLEAR may cause some problems on pre Minerva ROMs if it is issued after having deleted a PROCedure or a FuNction in a SuperBASIC program which appeared as the last thing in a program. This is fixed by Toolkit II.
SMS NOTE
Variables which have not been assigned a value on SMS will return 0 (zero) if a numeric variable or otherwise an empty string - an error will therefore not occur if you try to use such a variable.
On a machine fitted with SMS the example would therefore have printed 0 5 on the first run, and 5 5 on the second.
CROSS-REFERENCE