1. ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
  2. ZBI Commands
  3. INPUT
  • ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
INPUT

INPUT

If the variable is numeric and the value entered cannot be converted to a number, it writes as 0. This operation scans the data from left to right, shifting any number into the variable. It ignores any non-numeric character except the return character, which terminates the input, or Ctrl-C (
^C
) which terminates the program. The variable can be in string or numeric form.
Format
INPUT [<CHANNEL>:] <A$> [,<B$>]*
INPUT [<CHANNEL>:] <A>[,<B>]*
If the
[<channel>:]
 is omitted, the default port, 0, will be used.
Parameters
<CHANNEL>
= read data from this port. Default = 0.
<A,B,...,N>
 = variables to write.
When using multiple variables as targets, a corresponding number of lines are read. String and numeric variables can be intermixed.
Example
This is an example of how to use the INPUT command:
10 OPEN #1: NAME "ZPL" 
20 PRINT #1: "~HS" 
30 FOR I = 1 TO 3 
40 INPUT #1: A$ 
50 PRINT A$ 
60 NEXT I
In this example, a host status prints to the console after submitting the host status request
~HS
 to the ZPL port. The Input/Output command of the ZBI interpreter is limited to the communications ports. File I/O is not supported.
INPUT
 ends processing a line with a
CR
 or
LF
. This leads to a tricky situation. There are many ways different systems end a line:
CR
,
CRLF
,
LF
. If the ZBI program only uses
INPUT
, the next execution of the
INPUT
 command will remove the extra
LF
 or
CR
, in case of
LFCR
. However, if the program instead uses
INBYTE
,
DATAREADY
 or the other commands, the extra
LF
 will show up on the port. Here’s a simple workaround to explicitly look for the
CRLF
 that is in use:
SEARCHTO(<PORT>,CHR$(13)&CHR$(10),<INSTRING$>)
Note: The
INPUT
 command does not accept control characters or the delete character. If these characters need to be processed, use the READ command.
Comments
This can be an interactive command that takes effect as soon as it is received by the printer, or a program command that is preceded by a line number.
If an invalid port is specified,
Error: Invalid port
 is returned.
Example
This shows the input command reading in multiple lines.
10 INPUT A$,B,C,D$,E$
Five lines would be read in: 3 strings and 2 numbers.