Saving Programs On Tape

If I type in a program from a magazine or book, can I save it on a tape? Are there any restrictions on doing this? Do some programs look for a disk? If so, how can I tell the difference?

David King

You can save any program you type into your computer on tape simply by following the cassette SAVE instructions for your particular brand of computer. However, for various reasons, some programs will run properly only when used with a disk drive. Most programs published in COMPUTE! offer you a choice of tape or disk storage; whenever one or the other is mandatory, that will be clearly stated in the accompanying article.

As you become more familiar with the BASIC of your computer, you'll learn to recognize the commands for disk and tape access. In Commodore programs, look for a device number, the number following a LOAD or SAVE command, or the second number in an OPEN command. The number will be 8 for disk and 1 for tape. On the Atari, the characters D: or D2: before a filename specify disk, and C: is used for tape. IBM BASIC usually defaults to disk for OPEN statements. Almost all programs that use data storage on the Apple require a disk drive. Look for the characters DSK or CS for disk or cassette access on the TI-99/4A.