/ 
ZX81-Tape-0.006
/ README.md

NAME

ZX81::Tape - Create ZX81 tape image files

SYNOPSIS

use ZX81::Tape qw(make_p dump_p list_p);

make_p($basic_filename, $p_filename);
dump_p($p_filename[, $dump_filename]);
list_p($p_filename[, $bas_filename]);

DESCRIPTION

This module converts a BASIC source file to a ZX81 .p tape file.

FUNCTIONS

make_p

make_p($basic_filename, $p_filename);

Reads the given source BASIC file and builds a binary tape image file.p_filename with the given file name.

dump_p

dump_p($p_filename[, $dump_filename]);

Reads the given binary tape image file and dumps its contents to the standard output or a specified file with the given file name.

list_p

list_p($p_filename[, $bas_filename]);

Reads the given binary tape image file and generates a .bas text that can be compiled back to the same .p result.

BASIC SYNTAX

All ZX81 BASIC keywords are accepted. The escape sequences supported by https://freestuff.grok.co.uk/zxtext2p/index.html are also accepted.

Line numbers are optional and the source program is numbered before conversion to the tape format. The start line number is 10 by default and the increment between consecutive lines is also 10 by default. A line with a line number resets the numbering from there on. Line numbers from 0 to 9999 are accepted.

BASIC code can use numbers in hexadecimal with the notation $hh and 0xhh.

LABELS

Labels can be written before the BASIC statement as '@' NAME ':', and can be referenced as '@' NAME, e.g.

@LOOP: PRINT "HELLO"
       GOTO @LOOP

The address of the line can be referenced as '&' NAME, e.g.

@MCODE: REM \C9
        PRINT USR &MCODE

PRAGMAS

#AUTOSTART

#AUTOSTART=[0|1]

If set to 1, the BASIC program will start automatically when the tape is loaded.

#AUTOSTART_LINE

#AUTOSTART=[LINE_NUMBER]

If AUTOSTART_LINE is set, sets the line number where the BASIC program will start automatically when the tape is loaded, defaults to the first line of the BASIC program.

#INCREMENT

#INCREMENT=[INCREMENT]

If INCREMENT is set, specifies the line number increment between consecutive lines in the BASIC program, defaults to 10. Can be entered multiple times in the source file, and takes effect from the line where it is set.

#REMINVERT

#REMINVERT=[0|1]

If set to 1, inverts the REM statements in the BASIC program. Only applies to REM statements that do not contain binary data.

#FAST

#FAST=[0|1]

If set to 1, sets the computer in FAST mode.

#VARS

#VARS A=123
#VARS I=0,10,1,20
#VARS S$="HELLO"
#VARS M(2,3)=11,12,13,21,22,23
#VARS M$(2,3,2)="AA","AB","AC","BA","BB","BC"

Specifies the initial values of variables in the BASIC program. I in the example above is a loop variable with value 0, limit 10, step 1 and line number 20.

#DFILE

#DFILE="LINE 1"
#DFILE="LINE 2"
...

Defines the initial contents of the display file. Each line of the display file is defined by a separate #DFILE pragma.

#DFILE_COLLAPSED

#DFILE_COLLAPSED=[0|1]

Saves the display file in collapsed form.

#ASM

#ASM
start:
    ld bc, 1234
    ret
#ENDASM
    PRINT USR &start

The lines between #ASM and #ENDASM are collected and assembled with an ORG of 0x4082, and a 0 REM line is created with the binary image of the assembled code. BASIC can use ASM labels via '&' NAME.

SEE ALSO

ZX81 https://freestuff.grok.co.uk/zxtext2p/index.html

AUTHOR

Paulo Custodio

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2026 Paulo Custodio.

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.