Commodore 128 Basic Commands

BASIC FUNCTIONS

COMMAND

EXAMPLES

Display the Disk Directory

CATALOG

CATALOG D0 [Ddrive number]

Display the contents of the Disk Directory

DIRECTORY

DIRECTORY D0

[Ddrive number -CTRL +S pauses display}

DIRECTORY "A*"

Lists all files starting with an "A" (using wildcard character "*")

Load a program

LOAD

LOAD "*",8 loads the first file

LOAD "$",8 loads the disk directory.

Load a program from the floppy disk

DLOAD

DLOAD "FILE1"

Switch to C64 mode (compatibility mode)

GO64

GO64

Set C128 CPU at 2 Mhz

FAST

FAST

Set C128 CPU at 1 Mhz

SLOW

SLOW

Enter C128 machine language monitor

MONITOR

MONITOR

Clear memory (RAM)

NEW

NEW

Same in C64

SCREEN MANAGEMENT

Clear the screen

SCNCLR

SCNCLR

Same as CLR in C64 Basic

Select text, bitmap, or split-screen display

GRAPHIC

GRAPHIC 2, 1

GRAPHIC <mode>

For the parameter Mode:

• 0 : Text mode with 40 characters per line.
• 1 : high resolution graphics (320×200 pixels)
• 2 : high resolution graphic mixed with text (split screen)
• 3 : multicolor graphic (160×200 pixels)
• 4 : Multicolor graphic mixed with text (split screen)
• 5 : Text mode with 80 characters per line

Display the current graphic mode

RGR

RGR (x)

X is the Graphic Mode as follows:

• ·         0: 40 column (VIC) text.
• ·         1: Standard bit map.
• ·         2: Split screen bit map.
• ·         3: Multicolor bit map.
• ·         4: Split screen multicolor bit map.
• ·         5: 80 column (VDC 8563) text.

Select colors for background, foreground, and characters

COLOR

COLOR X,C

X as follows:

·         0: background

·         1: foreground

·         2: multicolor 1

·         3: multicolor 2

·         4: border

C is the color (1-16):

·         Black 1

·         White 2

·         Red 3

·         Green 6

·         Blue 7

·         Yellow 8

·         Orange 9

FILE MANAGEMENT

Format a floppy disk

HEADER

HEADER "DISK",IGD,D0

Formats new disk in drive 0 of floppy device 8.

HEADER "DISK",D0

Quick header of an already formatted disk in drive 0 of floppy device 8.

Copy an entire floppy disk to another (dual drives)

BACKUP

BACKUP D0 TO D1

Copy files from one floppy drive to another (single/dual drives)

COPY

COPY D1 TO D0

Copy the whole disk in drive 1 to the disk in drive 0 (dual-drive)

COPY D0,"FILE 1" TO D1,"FILE 2"

Copy a file from drive 0 to drive 1 with new filename.

Rename a file on floppy disk

RENAME

RENAME D0, "NAME1" TO "NAME2" 

Change the name of the file from "NAME1" to "NAME2" in drive D0

Delete a file from a floppy disk

SCRATCH

SCRATCH "FILE1"

SCRATCH "FILE1, FILE2"

The first command deletes 1 file, the second 2 files

Open a file

OPEN

Close a file

CLOSE

Repair the file system of a floppy disk and free some space

COLLECT

COLLECT D1

On Drive 1

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Run a program

RUN

Load/Run a program in the form of a binary file

BOOT

BOOT "FILE1"

BOOT "FILE1", D0, U9

End a program

END

Break a program

STOP

Save a program

SAVE

Save a program to a floppy disk

DSAVE

Verify a saved program

VERIFY

VERIFY "FILE1"

Monitor the latest error number

IS

Monitor the error message of an error number

ERR$

SOUND MANAGEMENT

Set the sound volume between 0 and 15, where 15 is the maximum and 0 is off

VOL

VOL 15 

VOL 0

Set the speed of the music played

TEMPO

TEMPO t

where t is a digit between 0 and 255

Set the SID (sound chip) filter parameters

FILTER

FILTER cf, lp, bp, hp, res

Output musical notes & sound effects

SOUND

Defines an instrument envelope

ENVELOPE

Play musical notes

PLAY

PLAY "CDEFGAB"

This plays the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B in the piano envelope, which is envelope 0