◄Summary►  ◄Details►  ◄Example►                ◄Contents►  ◄Index►  ◄Back►
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 [LINE] INPUT [;] ["prompt"{; | ,}] stringvariable$
 
 Usage Notes
   ■ References to the INPUT or LINE INPUT statement are not allowed with
     forms and cause Visual Basic to generate the error message, "Not
     available when forms are showing."
 
   ■ To use the INPUT or LINE INPUT statement with forms, you must first
     unload or hide any visible forms. See: ◄HIDE Method►  ◄UNLOAD Statement►
 
   ■ If the user is inputting only decimal integers, you can save between
     1.6K and 11K in a non-stand-alone .EXE file by linking with the stub
     file NOFLTIN.OBJ. This places the following restrictions on user input:
     • Decimal numbers only (no leading &H, &O, or &base specifiers)
     • No trailing type specifiers (%, &, !, #, @, and $)
     • No decimal point, E, or D (for example, 1.E2 cannot be used in place
       of the integer 100)
 
   ■ If the user is limited to using the Enter and Backspace keys for
     editing, you can reduce the size of the .EXE file by linking the stub
     file NOEDIT.OBJ.
 
   ■ The INPUT statement causes a running program to pause and wait for the
     user to enter data from the keyboard. The number and type of data items
     required from the user is determined by the structure of variablelist.
 
   ■ The number of entered data items must be the same as the number of
     variables in the list. The type of each entered data item must agree
     with the type of the variable. If either of these rules is violated, the
     program displays the prompt, "Redo from start" and input values are not
     assigned.
 
   ■ The INPUT statement determines the number of entered data items in a
     multiple-item list as follows:
     • The first character encountered after a comma that is not a space,
       carriage return, or linefeed is assumed to be the start of a new item.
     • If this first character is a quotation mark ("), the item is typed as
       string data and consists of all characters between the first quotation
       mark and the second.
     • Not all strings have to start with a quotation mark. If the first
       character of the string is not a quotation mark, it terminates on a
       comma, carriage return, or linefeed.
 
   ■ Input stored in a record must be entered as single elements. For
     example:
 
         TYPE Demograph
              FullName AS STRING * 25
              Age  AS INTEGER
         END TYPE
         DIM Person AS Demograph
         INPUT "Enter name and age: "; Person.FullName, Person.Age
 
   ■ You can suggest to the user various ways to edit a line of input before
     pressing Enter to submit the line to the program. The following key
     combinations move the cursor, delete text, and insert text on the input
     line:
 
         Keystrokes              Edit Function
         ════════════════════    ═══════════════════════════════════════════
         Ctrl+M or Enter         Store input line
         Ctrl+H or Backspace     Delete character to the left of the cursor,
                                 unless cursor is at the beginning of the
                                 input, in which case delete character at the
                                 cursor
         Ctrl+\ or Right Arrow   Move cursor one character to the right
         Ctrl+] or Left Arrow    Move cursor one character to the left
         Ctrl+F or
         Ctrl+Right Arrow        Move cursor one word to the right
         Ctrl+B or
         Ctrl+Left Arrow         Move cursor one word to the left
         Ctrl+K or Home          Move cursor to beginning of input line
         Ctrl+N or End           Move cursor to end of input line
         Ctrl+R or Ins           Toggle insert mode on and off
         Ctrl+I or Tab           Tab right and insert (insert mode on), or
                                 tab right and overwrite (insert mode off)
         Del                     Delete character at the cursor
         Ctrl+E or Ctrl+End      Delete to end of the line
         Ctrl+U or Esc           Delete entire line, regardless of cursor
                                 position
         Ctrl+T                  Toggle function-key label display on and off
                                 at bottom of screen
         Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Break    Terminate input (exit compiled program)
         ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
   ■ When you use INPUT with ISAM programs, Visual Basic performs a
     CHECKPOINT operation every 20 seconds during an INPUT polling loop.
     A CHECKPOINT writes open database buffers to disk.