BSAVE and BLOAD are commands in many varieties of the

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

programming language. BSAVE copies

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

to a

binary file A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. The term "binary file" is often used as a term meaning "non-text file". Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; for example, some computer document files ...

, and BLOAD copies the contents of the file to RAM. The term "BSAVE image" could mean any of various

raw image format A camera raw image file contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, a motion picture film scanner, or other image scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed, ...

s of

video display controller A video display controller (VDC), also called a display engine or display interface, is an integrated circuit which is the main component in a video-signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a TV video signal in a computing ...

s, or more generally any file containing the raw contents of a section of memory. Some platforms provided a BRUN command that, after loading the file into memory, would immediately attempt to

execute Execution, in capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), s ...

it as

machine code In computer programming, machine code is computer code consisting of machine language instructions, which are used to control a computer's central processing unit (CPU). For conventional binary computers, machine code is the binaryOn nonb ...

. There is no file compression, and therefore these files load very quickly and without much programming when displayed in native mode. BSAVE files were in general use as a file format when the

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...

was introduced. It was also in general use on the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

in the same time period. Although the commands were available on the Commodore PET line, they were removed from the later (and more popular) Commodore 64 and VIC-20 computers. In 1985 the Commodore 128 was released with Commodore BASIC version 6.9 which restored the BSAVE and BLOAD commands.

Origin

Some versions of BASIC for home computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s include the command BSAVE (for "Binary Save") and the complementary BLOAD ("Binary Load"). Using the BSAVE command, a block of memory at a given address with a specified length can be written to disk as a file. This file can then be reloaded into memory via BLOAD. Microsoft produced the BASIC interpreters that were bundled with the

(1977), Commodore PET (1977), and

(1981) which included BSAVE and BLOAD. A BSAVE command is also part of

ASCII ASCII ( ), an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for representing a particular set of 95 (English language focused) printable character, printable and 33 control character, control c ...

's ''MSX-DOS2 Tools'' for

MSX-DOS MSX-DOS is a discontinued disk operating system developed by Microsoft's Japan subsidiary for the 8-bit home computer standard MSX, and is a cross between MS-DOS v1.25 and CP/M-80 v2.2. MSX-DOS MSX-DOS and the extended BASIC with 3½-in ...

version 2.MSX-DOS2 Tools User's Manual by ASCII Corporation
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ColorBASIC

On the Color Computer's ColorBASIC, those were named SAVEM and LOADM instead, with the M referring to machine code, showing that the primary intent was to load programs rather than data; the use of the B prefix to refer to binary indicates a broader view of the possible uses of the command. ColorBASIC uses a different format than GWBASIC. LOADM supports multipart content to be loaded in different places in RAM, which some programs do use, even though SAVEM supports only saving one part. The cassette equivalents were called CLOADM and CSAVEM. In ColorBASIC, the BRUN command is called EXEC instead.

Video images

The BSAVED format is a device-dependent raster image format; the file header sometimes stores information about the display hardware address, and the size of the graphics data. The graphics data follows the header directly and is stored as raw data in the format of the native adapter's addressable memory. No additional information, such as screen resolution,

color depth Color depth, also known as bit depth, is either the number of bits used to indicate the color of a single pixel, or the number of bits used for each color component of a single pixel. When referring to a pixel, the concept can be defined as bit ...

and palette information, bit planes and so on, is stored.

References

Microsoft BASIC Manual BSAVE Command

Microsoft BASIC Manual BLOAD Command

Commodore 128 Personal Computer System Guide Commodore Business Machines, Ltd. 1985

External links

How to Save Color Registers After BSAVE of (PICEM) Graphics

Complete Instructions to BLOAD and BSAVE EGA and VGA Screens

How to BLOAD/BSAVE Multiple Screen Pages for EGA Screens 7–10

The Commodore 128: The Most Versatile 8-Bit Computer Ever Made
{{Graphics file formats Articles with example BASIC code Articles with example C code Graphics file formats ASCII art BASIC commands

Origin

ColorBASIC

Video images

See also

References

External links