Atari 65XE User manual

ATARI 65XE
PERSONALCOMPUTER
OWNER'SMANUAL
TM

IMPORTANTINFORMATION
Likeanyelectricalappliance,thisATARI65XEComputerusesandproducesradio-
frequencyenergy.Ifitisnotinstalledandusedaccordingtotheinstructionsinthis
guide,theequipmentmaycauseinterferencewithyourradioortelevisionreception.
Ifyoubelievethatthisequipmentiscausinginterferencewithyourradioortelevision
reception,tryturningtheequipmentoffandon.Iftheinterferenceproblemstopswhen
theequipmentisturnedoff,thentheequipmentisprobablycausingtheinterference.
Withtheequipmentturnedon,youmaybeabletocorrecttheproblembytryingoneor
moreofthefollowingmeasures:
•Reorienttheradioortelevisionantenna.
•Repositiontheequipmentinrelationtotheradioortelevisionset.
•Movetheequipmentawayfromtheradioortelevision.
•Plugtheequipmentintoa differentwalloutletsothattheequipment
andtheradioortelevisionareondifferentbranchcircuits.
Ifnecessary,consultyourATARIComputerretaileroranexperiencedradioand
televisiontechnicianforadditionalsuggestions.
AnotherhelpfulresourceisHowtoIdentifyandResolveRadio-TVInterference
Problems,a bookletpreparedbytheFederalCommunicationsCommission.Thisbooklet
isavailablefromtheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice,Washington,DC20402,StockNo.
004-000-00345-4.
WARNING:Thisequipmenthasbeencertifiedtocomplywiththelimitsfora ClassB
computingdevice,pursuanttoSubpartJ ofPart15ofFCCRules.Theserulesare
designedtoprovidereasonableprotectionagainstsuchinterferencewhenthe
equipmentisusedina residentialsetting.However,thereisnoguaranteethat
interferencewillnotoccurina particularhomeorresidence.Onlyperipherals(computer
input/outputdevices,terminals,printers,etc.)thathavebeencertifiedtocomplywith
theClassB limitsmaybeattachedtothiscomputer.
Operationofnoncertifiedperipheralswiththiscomputerislikelytoresultininterference
withradioandTVreception.
Everyefforthasbeenmadetoensuretheaccuracyoftheproductdocumentationin
thismanual.However,becauseweareconstantlyimprovingandupdatingourcomputer
softwareandhardware,AtariCorp.isunabletoguaranteetheaccuracyofprinted
materialafterthedateofpublicationanddisclaimsliabilityforchanges,errors,and
omissions.
Noreproductionofthisdocumentoranyportionofitscontentsisallowedwithoutthe
specificwrittenpermissionofAtariCorp.,Sunnyvale,CA94086.
©1987AtariCorp.AllRightsReserved.
ATARI

ATARI 65XE
PERSONALCOMPUTER
TM

TheRightComputer
fortheTaskatHand
Welcometotheworldofhomecomputing.YournewATARI®65XE™
isoneofthemostpowerfulandversatilesmallcomputersyoucan
buyforyourhome.
Its64KRAMmemory,full-strokekeyboard,soundandgraphics
capabilities,andanarrayofcompatiblesoftwareprogramsandhard-
wareaccessoriesmaketheATARI65XEtheperfectcomputerfor
entertainment,educational,andbusinessuses.Andwiththebuilt-in
ATARIBASICprogramminglanguage,youcanbeginimmediatelyto
writeyourowncomputerprograms.
Thismanualisarrangedforeasyaccesstotheinformationyouneed,
whetheryouarea beginningoranadvancedprogrammer.Part1
showsyouhowtosetupyourATARI65XEComputer,checkwhether
it'sfunctioningproperly,usethekeyboard,loadsoftwarecartridges,
andexpandthesystembyaddingperipheraldevices.
Part2 isanintroductorylessoninBASICprogramming.Ifyoualready
knowhowtoprogram,youcangodirectlytothesampleprograms
andreferencematerialsinPart3.However,thebeginningprogrammer
shouldworkthroughthelessons.YourATARI65XEhasmanyapplica-
tions,andunderstandingitsbuilt-inlanguagewillmakeyourcomputer
morefunandmoreuseful.
OnceyouhavetheATARI65XEsetupandworking,lookatthe
Resourcessectionofthemanual.You'llfindthatthereareunlimited
resourcesfortheATARIComputerowner—frombooksandprograms
tousersgroupsandmagazines.Youwillfinda wholerealmofnew
activitiestodowithyourATARIComputer.

TableofContents
PART1:GETTINGSTARTED...................................................1
MeetingtheATARI65XE....................................................2
HookingItUp......................................................................5
CheckingItOut...................................................................9
UnderstandingYourKeyboard.............................................13
IntroducingATARIGraphics................................................17
AddinganInternationalCharacterSet................................19
ExploringATARIBASIC......................................................21
UsingSoftware....................................................................23
ExpandingYourSystem.....................................................25
PART2:PROGRAMMINGWITHATARIBASIC.....27
EditingwiththeATARI65XEKeyboard.................................29
Writinga SimpleBASICProgram:
NEW,LIST,PRINT,RUN................................................35
CreatinganInteractiveLoop:
GOTO,DIM,INPUT........................................................41
UsingRandomNumbersandMathematicalFunctions:
RND,+,-,*,/.............................................47
MakingDecisionsandSolvingProblems:
IF-THEN,FOR-NEXT.................................................55
ProducingSoundandGraphics:
SOUND,SETCOLOR,COLOR..................................65
PART3:APPENDICES....................................................77
A.SamplePrograms..........................................................79
B.BASICReservedWords.................................................93
C.ATASCIICharacterSet...................................................101
D.ErrorMessages.............................................................111
E.Troubleshooting............................................................115
F.Resources.....................................................................117
G.ATARI65XESpecifications...........................................119
INDEX....................................................................................121

Part1
GettingStarted
1

MeetingtheATARI65XE
Peripheral
ChannelPower
PeripheralPort
ControllerPorts
Connectsperipheralequipment,suchasdiskdrives,program
recorders,printers,andmodems.
CartridgeSlot
Allowstheuseofplug-incartridgesforquickandeasyprogram
loading.
MonitorJack
Providesaccesstoa monitor'ssuperiorresolution.
Selectschannel2 or3 fortheclearestpicture.
2
Cartridge Monitor
Television
TVChannelSelectSwitch

Providesa plugfortheconnectingcablefromtheTVSwitchBox.
TelevisionJack
Connectstouchtablets,numerickeypads,joysticks,andpaddle
controllers.
ControllerPorts
On/OffSwitch
ConnectsthecomputertotheACpowersupply.
PowerAdapterPlug
3

4

HookingItUp
WhenyouunpackyourATARI65XE,makesureyouhavethefollowing
items:
•ATARI65XEComputer
•ACPowerSupply
•TVSwitchBox(NOTFOREUROPEANCOUNTRY)
•ConnectingcablefromcomputertoTVSwitchBox
•65XEOwner'sManual
•Warranty/RegistrationCard
Ifyouaremissinganyoftheseitems,contactyourdealer.Another
goodideaistosavethepackingmaterialsincaseyouwantto
transportthecomputerorsenditinthemail.
SettingupyourATARIComputersystemiseasy.Allyouneedisa
televisionsetanda screwdriver;AtariCorp.providestherest.Your
ATARI65XEcanbeconnectedtoanordinaryblack-and-whiteorcolor
television,oryoucanbuya computermonitortousesolelyasa
displayscreen.
Toconnectthecomputertoa monitor,followtheinstallationinstruc-
tionsthatcomewiththemonitor.Youwillneeda connectingcable
(usuallysuppliedwiththemonitor)toattachthemonitortotheATARI
65XEMonitorjackonthebackofyourcomputer.
Ifyouaregoingtousea televisionasa displayscreen,locatetheTV
SwitchBoxandtheconnectingcable.TheSwitchBoxattachesdirectly
toyourtelevision,butitwillnotinterferewithnormaltelevisionrecep-
tion.WiththeslidingswitchintheCOMPUTERposition,yourtelevision
willdisplaysignalsfromyourATARI65XE.IntheTVposition,signals
comefromyourtelevisionantenna.
INSTALLINGTHETVSWITCHBOX
HowyouinstalltheSwitchBoxwilldependonthekindofantenna
connectionthatyouhave.Therearetwotypesofconnections:a
round,75-OHMconnectionanda flat,300-OHMtwin-leadconnection.
Followthestepsbelowforeithertypeofantennaconnection:
1.DisconnectyourpresentVHFantennaoryourcableTVlinefrom
theterminalsonthebackofyourtelevision.Iftheantennacableisthe
5

SwitchBox.
75-OHMroundvarietywitha screw-onconnector,attachittothe
threaded75-OHMconnectorlabeledANTENNAonthesideoftheTV
Iftheantennacableisa flattwin-lead300-OHMcable,attachittothe
300-OHMscrewterminalsonthesideoftheTVSwitchBox.
2.Ifyourtelevisionhasa threadedVHFconnection,attacha threaded
VHFadaptertothetwin-leadcablelabeledTVatthebottomofthe
SwitchBoxandattachittoyourtelevision.(Theadaptershouldbe
suppliedwithyourtelevision;ifnot,youcanbuyoneata videoor
televisionstore.)
6

IfyourtelevisionhastwoVHFscrewterminals,attachthetwin-lead
cablelabeledTVatthebottomoftheSwitchBoxdirectlytotheter-
minalsonyourtelevision.
Note:Iftheterminalconnectionsonyourtelevisionaredifferentfrom
thoseshown,refertothetelevisionmanualorcontacta servicecenter.
3.Removethecoverfromtheadhesivesquareonthebackofthe
SwitchBoxandsecuretheSwitchBoxtothebackofthetelevision.
CONNECTINGTHECOMPUTERTOTHETVSWITCHBOX
4.PlugoneendoftheconnectingcableintotheCOMPUTERconnec-
tionontheTVSwitchBoxandtheotherendintotheTelevisionjackon
yourcomputer.MovetheslidingswitchontheTVSwitchBoxtothe
COMPUTERposition.
7

5.Withthepowerswitchonthecomputerintheoffposition,insertthe
roundplugoftheACadapterintothePowerjackonyourcomputer.
Plugtheotherendintoanelectricaloutlet.
6.Turnonyourtelevisionandselectchannel2 or3,whicheveris
weakerinyourarea.SettheChannelswitchonthebackofyourcom-
putertothesamechannel.Turnonyourpowerswitchonthecom-
puter.Ina fewsecondsyouwillseethewordREADY.
TheReadyprompttellsyouthatATARIBASICisreadyforyourinstruc-
tionsandthatyourcomputerishookedupproperly.IftheReadyprompt
doesnotshowuponyourscreen,tryadjustingyourtelevisionpicture
controls.(Formoreinformation,seeAppendixE:Troubleshooting.)
Whenyouleaveyourcomputeronformorethannineminuteswithout
usingthekeyboard,thecomputerwillstartchangingcolorstoprotect
thetelevisionfrom"colorburn."Wheneveryouturnyourcomputer
off,waitthreetofivesecondsbeforeturningitonagain.
CARINGFORYOURATARI65XE
•Wipeoffdustwitha moist,lint-freecloth.
•Donotusehouseholdsolventsorcleansersonthecomputer.
•Keepliquidsawayfromtheworkarea.
•Avoidsmokingnearthecomputer.
•Don'tmovethecomputermorethanisnecessary.
8

CheckingItOut
WhenyouturnonyourATARI65XE,itautomaticallytestsitself.But
youcanrunthreeseparatetestsjusttoinsurethatyourcomputeris
workingproperly.Runningallthreetestsaftersettingupyourcom-
puterforthefirsttimeisrecommended.Torunthetests,turnthe
computeronwhileyouareholdingdownthekey.Youmay
alsogettothetestprogrambytypingBYEwhenATARIBASICgives
theReadyprompt.(Ifyouhavea diskdrivehookeduptoyourcom-
puter,makesureitisturnedoffwhenyouruntheSelfTest.)
ASelf-Testmenuwillappearonthescreen.Likea restaurantmenu,
thismenuoffersa choiceofselections:MEMORYTEST,AUDIO-
VISUALTEST,KEYBOARDTEST,andALLTESTS.Pressto
choosea test,thenpress. PresstoreturntotheSelf-Test
menu.WhenyouselectALLTESTS,thecomputerrunsallthreetests
foryou.Thetestsrepeatuntilyoupressthekey.Pressto
stopthetestsandreturntoATARIBASIC.
MEMORYTEST
ThistestchecksReadOnlyMemory(ROM)andRandomAccess
Memory(RAM).ROMisnoneraseablememorycontainingthecom-
puter'soperatingsystem.RAMisthememoryfortheprogramsthat
youuseorwriteyourself.
9

TheMemoryTestworksa littlelikea stoplight.Twobarsappearon
thescreenwhentheROMistested.Ifthebarsturngreen,theROMis
okay,andyoumayproceed.Redmeansstop;theROMisoutoforder,
andyoumustcontactyourATARIretailer.
DuringtheRAMtest,48squares—eachrepresentinga RAMsection-
aretested.Theremaining16KRAMisavailableonlywithcertainsoft-
wareprograms.Ifa squareturnswhite,thengreen,thecorresponding
sectionisgood.Ifnosquareturnsred,theRAMisokay.
Note:IfyouenterthetestprogrambytypingBYE,you'llget40
squaresduringtheMemoryTest,not48.
AUDIO-VISUALTEST
TheAudio-VisualTestchecksthefourprogrammablesoundvoices
andthecolorandgraphicscapabilities.A musicalstaffandtrebleclef
appearonthescreenabovethenumberofthevoicebeingtested.Six
notesareplayedanddisplayedonyourscreen.Thesixnotesrepeat
onceforeachofthefourvoices.
Ifa voicenumberappearsbutyoudon'thearmusic,thatvoiceisnot
workingproperly.Makesurethatthevolumeonyourtelevisionis
turnedup.
Thecolorsdisplayedonthescreenshouldbeconsistentduringeach
test.
10

THEKEYBOARDTEST
Whenyouselectthistest,youworkwithtwokeyboards—theone
underyourfingertipsanda facsimileonthescreen.Whenyoupressa
key,a correspondingkeyonthescreenflashesininversevideo(a
bluecharacterona whitebackground),anda notesounds.Thespace
barandspecial-functionkeysarealreadyininversevideo,sopressing
anyofthemchangesthematchingkeyonthescreentonormalvideo.
Ifnothinghappensonthescreenwhenyoupressa key,thekeyisnot
working.
Thekeysinthetoprowofthescreenkeyboardarelocatedonthetop
ofyourcomputerkeyboard.Disregardkeysnumbered1 to4.Reading
fromlefttoright,thekeysinthetoprowonthescreeninclude
,fournumberedkeys,, InverseVideo
and. Otherwise,thetwokeyboardshavethesamearrangement
ofkeys.
Theandkeysflashonlywhentheyarepressed
simultaneouslywithanotherkey.
Therearethreekeysthatdonotflashorsoundandthatterminatethe
testwhentheyarepressed:returnsyoutotheSelf-Testmenu;
returnsyoutoBASIC;andevokesnoresponse.The
keydoesnotfunctionintheSelfTest.
InadditiontotheoptionalSelfTest,yourATARI65XEautomatically
runstheMemoryTesteachtimeyouturnthecomputeron.Ifthecom-
puter'scircuitsfailthetest,yourscreenwilldisplaythewords
MEMORYTEST,alongwithredandgreensquaresandrectangles.As
longasyouexperiencetrouble-freeoperation,runningtheSelfTest
everyfewmonthsshouldbesufficient.
LOADINGSOFTWARECARTRIDGES
AfteryouhavetestedyourATARI65XE,youmaywanttoloada soft-
warecartridge.Toloada softwareprogram,makesurethatthecom-
puteristurnedoff,holdthecartridgesothatthelabelisfacingup,
11

pushthecartridgefirmlyintotheCartridgeslotonthebackofthe
computer,andturnonthecomputer.Ifyouhavealreadybeenusing
anothersoftwareprogram,turnoffthecomputer,removethefirstcar-
tridge,insertthenewcartridge,waitseveralseconds,andturnonthe
computeragain.(Formoreinformationaboutsoftwarecartridges,see
UsingSoftware.)
Ifyoudon'twanttouseATARIBASIC(theprogramminglanguagethat
isbuiltintoyourATARI65XE),youcantemporarilydisablethe
languageinseveralways:plugina softwarecartridge;holddownthe
keywhenyouturnonthecomputer;typeBYEtoexittothe
SelfTest;or,ifthecomputerisconnectedtoa diskdrive,typeDOSto
activatetheDiskOperatingSystem.(Formoredetails,seeExploring
ATARIBASIC.)
12

UnderstandingYourKeyboard
AlthoughtheATARI65XEkeyboardlooksandworksmuchlikea type-
writer,somespecialkeysallowyoutoreachintoa bagofspecial
editingtricks.Someofthekeys,likeandareusedin
combinationwithotherkeys.Thesedouble-keycombinationsprovide
extracommandsandfunctionswithoutincreasingthesizeofthe
keyboard.
Thefollowinggeneraldescriptionsexplainthespecialkeysandhow
theyareused.Becausethefunctionofa keymaychangefromone
programtoanother,itisimportanttoconsultthemanualthataccom-
panieseachprogramyouuse.Fora detaileddescriptionofhowthe
keyboardfunctionswithbuilt-inATARIBASIC,seethechapterEditing
withtheATARI65XEKeyboardinPart2:ProgrammingwithATARI
BASIC.
13

Variesfromprogramtoprogram
butisoftenusedtogo(escape)
fromonemenutoanother.
Inmostprogramminglanguages,
stopsa movingscreendisplay
whenyouwanttoviewa listing.
Pressagainto
continue.
14
Deletesthecharacterunder-
neaththecursorandshiftsthe
remainingcharactersonthe
linetocloseuptheempty
space.
Usuallyinterruptswhatever
functionthecomputerisdoing.
Refertoindividualprogramin-
structions.
TemporarilydisablesBASICwhen
pressedasthecomputeristurned
on.Insomeprograms,chooses
amongprogramvariations.
Givesyouinstructionsinsome
programswhenyouneedhelp.
Oftenusedtoselectoneof
severalapplicationswithina
program.Becauseitsfunction
varies,consultthesoftware
manual.
Usuallytellsthecomputerto
beginrunninga gameora pro-
gram.Consultthesoftware
manual.
Stopsthecomputerinthemiddle
ofanactivityandreturnsthepro-
gramtotheopeningscreen.
Pressingproducesthe
sameeffectasturningthecom-
puteroffandonagain—withtwo
exceptions.First,inmostpro-
gramswillnoterasethe
computer'sRAMmemory,where-
asturningthecomputeroffand
onwill.Andsecond,useofthe
keywillsavewearand
tearonthepowersupplyandthe
on/offswitch.

Alwaysusedinconjunctionwith
anotherkey.Printsspecialgra-
phicscharacterswhenusedwith
thealphabetkeysinATARIBASIC.
Inconjunctionwithotherkeys,
typesuppercasecharacters
withoutleavingthelowercase
mode.
Soundsthebuzzer.(TheTV
speakermustbeturnedupfor
thebuzzertobeheard.)
Insertsa spacebetweenchar-
actersinATARIBASIC,although
itsusevariesfromprogramto
program.
Inmostprograms,including
ATARIBASIC,deletes(erases)
thecharactertotheleftofthe
cursorandmovesthecursor
onespacetotheleft.Doesnot
closeupthespacecausedby
thedeletion.
Producesanend-of-file(EOF)
responsetoa programthatis
readinginputfromthekeyboard.
(Usedbymoreexperiencedpro-
grammers.)
Deletesa programlinefromthe
screen.Theprogramstatement
remainsinthecomputer'smemory.
Whenusedwiththekey,
thearrowkeysmovethecursor
up,down,left,andright.
Insertsa blanklineinATARI
BASIC.
10