---
title: "POINT Function"
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published_at: "2022-10-07T12:28:19+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-07-27T00:19:42+00:00"
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excerpt: "I had never used the function POINT until entering the program that turns the screen upside down (RAMTOP Feb. 86). It made me curious, so I decided to learn more about it. On page 199 of the 2068 USER MANUAL is a very brief explanation, as follows: The function POINT is followed by two numbers…"
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---

# POINT Function

I had never used the function POINT until entering the program that turns the screen upside down (RAMTOP Feb. 86). It made me curious, so I decided to learn more about it.

On page 199 of the 2068 USER MANUAL is a very brief explanation, as follows: The function POINT is followed by two numbers (in parenthesis) separated by a comma. The numbers correspond to the PLOT position of the pixel in question.

POINT (x,y)=1 if the pixel specified is INK color. POINT (x,y)=0 if the pixel is PAPER color. Now, how do you use it?

The book, THE COMPLETE SPECTRUM, is a little more helpful. On page 99 there is an explanation of the function and a program using it.

Let’s try a few simple programs:

```
10 PLOT 50,50
20 PRINT POINT (50,50)
```

“1” will show on the screen. If you substitute any other values on line 10, then “0” will be displayed. You can use PRINT AT instead of PLOT, remembering the differences in the two systems. Try this:

```
10 PRINT AT 15,6;"\::"
20 PRINT POINT (50,50)
```

Since the pixel (50,50) is within the character block (15,6), “1” should be displayed.

The SPECTRUM book has a program using POINT, as follows:

```
10 PAPER 1: INK 6
20 CLS: CIRCLE 128, 88, 50
30 PLOT 128,88: LET x=0: LET k=1
40 PLOT INVERSE 1; 128+x,88: LET x=x+k
50 PLOT 128+x,88: IF POINT (128+x+k,88)=1 THEN LET k=-k
60 GO TO 40
```

Combining POINT, PLOT and PRINT AT in the same program takes a bit of study. If you PRINT AT 15,6;”::”, you can test the values of POINT which will produce POINT (a,b)=1. a and b can each be any number between 48 and 55 inclusive. Numbers smaller than 48 or larger than 55 will produce a 0. Try this:

```
10 PRINT AT 15,6;"\::"
20 PRINT POINT (a,b)
30 REM (a,b) as in the above paragraph
```

Here is another “bouncing ball” program.

```
10 REM bouncing balls
20 FOR a=1 TO 20
30 PRINT AT a,0;"\::";AT a,31;"\::"
40 NEXT a
50 FOR c=0 TO 31
60 PRINT AT 0,c;"\::";AT 21,c;"\::"
65 NEXT c
70 PLOT 100,80: LET b=0: LET x=1
80 LET d=0: LET y=1
90 PLOT INVERSE 1;100+b,80: LET b=b+x
100 PLOT INVERSE 1;100,80+d: LET d=d+y
110 PLOT 100+b,80: IF POINT (100+b+x,80)=1 THEN LET x=-x
120 PLOT 100,80+d: IF POINT (100,80+d+y)=1 THEN LET y=-y
130 GOTO 90.
```

I hope you have fun with this.