Classic Computer Magazine Archive COMPUTE! ISSUE 50 / JULY 1984 / PAGE 6

Relocating Commodore Programs

If I type in a VIC-20 program from your magazine on my 64 and save it on tape or disk, will the program run on my friend's VIC-20?

Ann Harrison

Yes, it will. Both the VIC-20 and the 64 have the ability to automatically relocate BASIC programs. There is only one restriction. You must LOAD them using this syntax:

LOAD "filename", number

where number is the device number (1 for tape, 8 for disk). It will not work if you load with the syntax:

LOAD "filename", number, 1

The extra, 1 after the device number tells the computer to load the program back into the exact area of memory from where it was originally SAVEd. This may cause your programs to run abnormally because the beginning of BASIC memory is different for the VIC and 64.