---
title: "Byte Input in SuperBasic"
type: "article"
slug: "byte-input-in-superbasic"
url: "http://localhost/article/byte-input-in-superbasic/"
markdown_url: "http://localhost/article/byte-input-in-superbasic.md"
published_at: "2025-11-27T14:11:05+00:00"
modified_at: "2025-11-27T14:11:05+00:00"
featured_image:
  url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20230809-041332.jpg"
excerpt: "In the last QHJ, I mentioned that I could not get single byte input to work in SuperBasic for my QL to Z88 program. Peter Sulzer kindly wrote back and proved that I was wrong. Below is a short routine Peter sent that shows how standard SuperBasic can do byte input. - ED 100 OPEN_IN…"
category:
  - name: "QL Hacker's Journal"
    slug: "ql-hackers-journal"
    taxonomy: "category"
    url: "http://localhost/category/periodicals/ql-hackers-journal/"
post_tag:
  - name: "QL"
    slug: "ql"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/ql/"
  - name: "Superbasic (programming language)"
    slug: "superbasic-programming-language"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/superbasic-programming-language/"
  - name: "Type-in program"
    slug: "type-in-program"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/type-in-program/"
model:
  - name: "Sinclair QL"
    slug: "sinclair-ql"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/sinclair-ql/"
publication_r:
  id: 33686
  title: "QL Hacker’s Journal"
  type: "periodical"
  url: "http://localhost/periodical/ql-hackers-journal/"
authors: "Peter Sulzer"
issue: "13"
issues_articles:
  - id: 61549
    title: "QL Hacker’s Journal 13"
    type: "issue"
    url: "http://localhost/issue/ql-hackers-journal-13/"
pubdate: "April 1993"
archive_link: true
---

# Byte Input in SuperBasic

In the last QHJ, I mentioned that I could not get single byte input to work in SuperBasic for my QL to Z88 program. Peter Sulzer kindly wrote back and proved that I was wrong. Below is a short routine Peter sent that shows how standard SuperBasic can do byte input. – ED

```
100 OPEN_IN #4,'source':OPEN_NEW #5,'destination'
110 REPeat copy
120   IF NOT EOF(#4): a$=INKEY(#4,-1):ELSE EXIT copy
130   PRINT #5,a$;
140 END REPeat copy
150 CLOSE #4: CLOSE #5
```

With Turbo this is real fast, of course QLiberator is a bit slow for such “complicated” tasks. Of course you won’t reach the speed of the C function getc(fp) as C uses a buffer and must not access QDOS’ IO.FBYTE function for every byte – even an assembler prog using IO.FBYTE for every byte is most probably slower than a C prog using getc(fp)!