Explanation of trailing character %

Question

In an ancient PowerBasic file, I found this in the code:

%AppendRec= 1% '^a    Write/Append Btrieve record to named file
%PrtBar= 2%    '^b    Print a Bar Code

My question deals with the numbers after the = sign. I assume the trailing % has a meaning, but I can't figure out what that meaning is.
I know that in QB, % denotes an Integer type but that normally leads the variable as shown at the beginning of the code lines. The trailing % has me confused.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 16 '15 at 02:28

3

It is used to specify the type of the constant, so you don't have e.g. "1" evaluate to a float and then have to be converted to an int.

This page shows you the defaults that PB uses if you don't explicitly specify the type of constants.

answered Jul 16 '15 at 02:28

Charles Boling

157
5

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 20 '16 at 22:36

2

Like Charles said it defines the type as int. Prefixing it with % like the variable on the left is defining a numeric equate/constant. The page link is old now though and their new help is at PowerBasicHelp

Look for Numeric Equates and Data Types.

answered Sep 20 '16 at 22:36

Roger Garstang

71
8

Explanation of trailing character %

2 Answers2