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QB2C - A BASIC compiler for Linux and UNIX
What is QB2C ?
QB2C is a translator program which makes possible execution of BASIC programs under most of the UNIX systems and under Microsoft Windows provided that a C compiler is available on the system. Notably it has been sucessfully tested under Linux, Solaris and Windows Xp + CYGWIN. It essentially consists of the BASIC-to-C translator (qb2c) which translates BASIC code into C code, graphics included. The BASIC syntax largely follows Microsoft's (R) QuickBASIC (C) syntax. Normal BASIC graphics is now output to X11 console, therefore if your program has graphics output then X1 server is needed, otherwise X11 server is not required. Additional possibility to mix BASIC and C code within the single program file makes QB2C more than just a translator: it can serve as a tool for easy C programming, especially of small programs and compiled substitutes for shell scripts.
Intrinsically qb2c understands only programs written in strict MS QuickBASIC (TM) syntax style (BASIC keywords in capital, proper spacing...), but 'bcpp' syntax preprocessor can translate a variety of BASIC styles into QB format thus making the whole thing much more flexible. However, currently there is no support (preprocessing) for Visual Basic command style (such as 'While'...).
Scripts 'brun' (to run directly BASIC programs) and 'bcc' (to compile BASIC program and produce an executable) are also provided in order to make life easier. Script 'run' may be used to run directly C programs. In either case user must supply *only* the bare name (i.e. without the extension .c) of a file to be run or compiled. User may change these to suit his/her needs or system specifics by editing the scripts.
From the version 3.0 and on, the X11-based graphics is quite powerfull but still retains simplicity which is expected from BASIC. Most of the graphics commands did not exist in QuickBASIC therefore they are an extension to it.
Bare QB2C BASIC -> C translator can run on any system which has ANSI C installed. To make the executable qb2c available, just compile qb2c.c .
The Looks
When working with graphics, the ordinary tty cohabitates with one or more (up to 16) graphics screens:
Availability
The QB2C BASIC for UNIX comes in two versions: a FREEWARE (evaluation-ware) version and a PAYWARE version. The latest FREE version qb2c-3.43.tgz can be downloaded from: here. This is made available for evaluation purpose.
(If you have problems with this link, then clicking it with the right mouse key (instead with the left) and choosing "Save target as" should work.)
Thanks to Brian (brian@aljex.com) there is a QB2C port compiled for SCO Open Server 5.0.6 is at http://www.aljex.com/bkw/sco/index.html#qb2c.
The latest pay version is 4.99t and is available NOW. It includes many improvements and additional features over the free version. To see the list of commands and what's new, you are invited to have a look at the newest manual. Bbackwards compatibility with code written for older versions of QB2C is fully kept, however many new things are added:
o Arays can now be declared dinamically, thus allowing arrays to be dimensioned during the program execution, resized and erased; Newly added comands to this end are: DIM [DYNAMIC], REDIM and ERASE;
o Newly added graphic commands: XTRAN, XROT, XSCAL, MRESET, XCLOSEDS, XLEN, make possible easy manipulation of graphis output without changing a single line of existing code, and more;
o window buffering and animation commands available only in QB2C BASIC: XBUF, XRMBUF, GET, PUT, XANIM
o Newly added other commands: LCASE$, UCASE$, ENVIRON$, DATA, READ, RESTORE, HEX$, OCT$, LOF, DEFSTR, DEFDBL, DEFINT and more;
o SAVEPS, SAVEPSL, SAVEEPS, SAVEGIF - save directly your graphics into Postscript, Encapsulated PostScript or GIF file format;
o GET #, PUT #, and LSEEK binary file I/O commands;
o commands for easy creation, management and deletion of
( simple buttons and input
fields ), from within graphics, that are available only in QB2C BASIC 
: XDefineButton, XButtonFocus, XDrawButton,
XDrawInputButton, XInputButton, XCheckButtons, XClickButton, XToggleButton,
XGetButtonState%, XDestroyButton
o INP and OUT port I/O commands on parallel port (under Linux and CYGWIN);
o Executable programs writtten in QB2C have access to individual (tokenized) input parameters not only to the whole input line (COMMAND$): when a program is started there is a special string array which contains tokenized input parameters;
o More detailed documentation in both ASCII (TXT) and HTML formats:
(manual.txt),
(manual.html);
o Most important X-fonts used with XTEXT command now have predefined names, so that programmer do not have any more to know the full name of a particular font. It is enough to specify a generic font name and size;
o More programming examples, especially for new graphics capabilities; (examples);
o Removed bugs and misfeatures from previous versions.
For the last point, I thank to numerous people around the world who have kindly sent me their bug reports and suggestions.
Prices & Shipping
The price of the newest version of QB2C is EUR 99.
For more information on how to pay please e-mail to: sales@random.com.hr
After payment, you will receive the QB2C package via e-mail. If there are problems with that, the transfer may be arranged differently.