Now I got a very interesting document from Werner: IS-BASIC v3.0 Specification

I know that we even had a description/specification of IS-BASIC 3.0. It was not preliminary like most of the other "official" IS papers. Unfortunately there are no sources for that and there is no sample eprom for it too.

It has 112 pages and looks really not like a paper that was made by a marketing guy. It is official IS and very detailed. I did not have the time to look after any differences to the existing 2.1 BASIC.

There is the task! Need to find the differences between the 2.1 and 3.0!
I already found some new instructions

On page 5-3 the manual nouns the EXOS variable "SPRITE".

On 5-56 It describes a RECORD statement to read data base files.

On page 6-3 an EOF() function is described.

I don't remember a POINTER() function(6-7).

The same with REC() on page 6-7.


I like it much more than the "commercial" manual.....!

Is it possible EP Plus basic cartridge was made on Basic 3.0?

ok I must put my hand up...having denied all knowledge of v3.0, I have to confess that, now I have seen it, I remember writing that document. In my defence it was nearly 30 years ago  - can you remember a document you wrote 30 years ago?  

I don't think I ever wrote the code though - the document was to form part of a future business contract (which is why it's so formal). I don't think I ever knew what that contract was for, but now we know! And as we also now know, IS didn't exist for all that much longer afterwards so I don't think the "extras" ever got implemented, at least not by me. But you know what my memory is like...

ok I must put my hand up...having denied all knowledge of v3.0, I have to confess that, now I have seen it, I remember writing that document. In my defence it was nearly 30 years ago  - can you remember a document you wrote 30 years ago?  

I guess no, I haven't written too much documents when I was 8 years old

Growing old is a waste of time.....

Bruce what do you think about these? Why planned these additions? Targeting the office business? But the dBase already running under IS-DOS...

Probably in the ANSI BASIC spec but no point on a cassette machine! But yes, sounds more business orientated, probably to go with that horrible Enterprise+ you have a picture of. I was asked to write the document without knowing why. I can't remember where the idea of adding database supports came from though.

Can you? Although it has not been a Basic 3.0, can be that we get some improvement in that 2.1C version Basic...

Imagine what can be inside those experimental Roms...