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metatag-description=(Manual page for DATA)
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metatag-og:description=(Manual page for DATA)
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====== ugBASIC User Manual ======

===== DATA ✓ =====

===== SYNTAX =====
     DATA data1 [, data2 [, data3 ... ] ]
    DATA [AS data type] data1 [, data2 [, data3 ... ] ]
    DATA LOAD "filename" AS TEXT

==== PURPOSE ====


The ''DATA'' command is used to create a list of data that will be used 
in other parts of the program. It is like a container where values are 
stored that will then be "read" and used by other commands.

The ''DATA'' command is usually placed at the beginning of the program or in
a section dedicated to the definitions of data, but it is not mandatory.
The ''data1'', ''data2'', ... so on should be replaced witht he data you want to 
store inside the program. These can be numbers or text strings. To read the 
data contained in a ''DATA'' statement, you use the ''READ'' command. 
This command assigns the values contained in ''DATA'' to variables.

You can use multiple ''DATA'' statements to fill an array with a set of values.
Another usage is to create small tables of data, for example to represent 
menus or product lists. You can also store constants that are used frequently 
in the program.

The ''DATA'' values will be read from left to right, beginning with the first 
line containing a ''DATA'' statement. Each time a ''READ'' instruction is 
executed the saved ''DATA'' position of the last ''READ'' is advanced to the 
next value. Strings must be written in quotes, so characters 
like comma, space, colon, graphical ones or control characters has to be 
written inside double quotes like string constants. The ''RESTORE'' resets
the pointer of the current ''DATA'' position the program start so that 
next ''READ'' will read from the first ''DATA'' found from the beginning 
of the program.

The instruction ''DATA'' stores numeric data in an optimized way: so, if you enter a numeric
constant that can be represented by a single byte, it will be stored in the program
as a single byte. Floating point numbers are stored with default precision. 
Finally, strings are stored "as is". As a result, when you use the ''READ'' command, 
ugBASIC will implicitly perform the conversion if the same data type is not used,
and if it is posssible. It is possible to avoid this behavious by using the ''AS'' 
keyword, followed by the data type.

Separates the definition of data from its use, makes the code more readable 
and maintainable. You can change the data without having to change the 
logic of the program. Finally, the same data can be read multiple times 
in different parts of the program.

There is also a version of the syntax that allows you to load values from 
an external file. This syntax is currently limited to numeric data that must be
separated by a non-numeric separator.



==== EXAMPLE ====
    DATA 10, 20, "test"
    DATA AS INTEGER 10, 20, 30
    DATA LOAD "datas.txt" AS TEXT


See also the following example files:
  * ''[[https://github.com/spotlessmind1975/ugbasic/tree/main/examples/data_example_01.bas|data_example_01.bas]]''
  * ''[[https://github.com/spotlessmind1975/ugbasic/tree/main/examples/data_example_02.bas|data_example_02.bas]]''
  * ''[[https://github.com/spotlessmind1975/ugbasic/tree/main/examples/data_example_03.bas|data_example_03.bas]]''
  * ''[[https://github.com/spotlessmind1975/ugbasic/tree/main/examples/data_example_05.bas|data_example_05.bas]]''


==== ABBREVIATION ====
   Da


==== AVAILABLE ON ====


==== ANY PROBLEM? ====
If you have encountered a problem using this command, if you think there is a bug or the explanation is unclear, please [[https://github.com/spotlessmind1975/ugbasic/issues/new?title=ISSUE ON DATA|open an issue]] for this keyword on GitHub. Thank you!===== POWERED BY =====

[[:ugbasic:user:index|{{ :ugbasic:user:logo-ugbasic.png?nolink&600 |}}]]