# IN

Tags: external input

# Description

The IN statement allows the program to receive raw data from the input device, which is normally the terminal keyboard, one character at a time. It takes the general form:

IN Var {FOR expression THEN|ELSE statements}

Where:

Var will be assigned the numeric value (0 - 255 decimal) of the next character received from the input device. The statement will normally wait indefinitely (block) for a character from the keyboard.
Specifying the FOR clause to the IN statement allows the statement to stop waiting for keyboard after a specified amount of time. The expression should evaluate to a positive numeric value, which will be taken as the number of deci-seconds (tenths of a second) to wait before abandoning the input, at which time it will take the ELSE clause.
If expression is 0 (zero) then input will wait indefinitely until something is entered. In D3 emulation, a value of 0 will automatically take the ELSE clause.

The FOR clause must have either or both of the THEN or ELSE clauses If a character is received from the input device before the time-out period then Var is assigned its numeric value and the THEN clause is executed (if present). If the input statement times out before a character is received then Var is unaltered and the ELSE clause is executed (if present).

An example of use is as:

 * Echoes the keystroke and its decimal equivalent
 *
PROMPT ""
doomsday = @FALSE
CRT "Stops if no input in 5 seconds."
LOOP UNTIL doomsday DO
    ECHO OFF
    IN chr FOR 50 ELSE ECHO ON; STOP
    ECHO ON
    IF chr >= 32 AND chr < 128 THEN CRT CHAR(chr) "#2" : ELSE CRT "  " :
    CRT chr "R#4"
REPEAT

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Sample output would be as follows:

Stops if no input in 5 seconds.
1   49
2   50
5   53
6   54
*   42
7   55
+   43
=   61
!   33
"   34
   163
|  124
\   92
/   47

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