"Illegal Number" Using -2147483648& in Long Integer Notation

BC.EXE, QB.EXE, and QBX.EXE do not allow the "&" character on the end of the smallest (negative) constant allowed for a long integer, -2147483648. To enter the smallest long integer constant in your source code, you must use either (-2147483647& - 1&) or -2147483648#.

This information applies to Microsoft QuickBasic Versions 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50 for MS-DOS, to Microsoft Basic Compiler Versions 6.00 and 6.00b for MS-DOS and MS OS/2, and to Microsoft Basic PDS Version 7.00 for MS-DOS and MS OS/2.

The BC.EXE compiler reports an "Illegal type character in numeric constant" error, and the QB.EXE and QBX.EXE editors report an "Illegal number" error for the following statement: The error may have surprised you since -2147483648& is within the allowed range for long integers (-2147483648& to +2147483647&).

However, this is not a software problem. Both the Basic compiler and the QB and QBX interpreters parse -2147483648& as follows: In other words, "take a large long integer and negate it." This means that the number is first parsed as a positive long integer and then it is negated before it is assigned to the number. However, the largest positive long integer is 2147483647 (one fewer than the largest negative number), making 2147483648& an illegal number, and therefore, causing an error.

You must use one of the following instead: or