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Xtal BASIC Compiler 5.10 Manual

Crystal's manual for the Xtal BASIC Compiler 5.10, XC and XR, 1987: compiling and running programs, how it works, and its error messages, with notes on the XSM 1.05 assembler.
Book
1987
Last Updated
October 16, 2026

About

The manual for the Xtal BASIC Compiler, "Compiler Package for the Xtal BASIC Interpreter", copyright 1983-87 A J Cornish, Crystal Electronics, printed and published by Crystal Research Ltd of Torquay.

It covers version 5.10, "the first version of the compiler to be produced, but it is designed to support version 5 of the Xtal BASIC interpreter". XC.COM compiles a saved .XBS program into an intermediate .XBI file in three passes, and XR.COM, the run-time system, runs it; the manual promises "a run-time speed improvement of 1.5 to 5 times". It explains each pass, what the compiler will not accept (EVAL and HOLD), and every error message.

A final sheet, "Improvements in XSM version 1.05, February 1987", covers the XSM assembler: integer division in expressions, a new warning code, fixes to conditional assembly, an MCAL opcode for the Einstein's MOS routines, and the extra instructions of the Hitachi HD64180.

The software is on the X-Master disc, and our Xtal BASIC course uses it in S33, Compiling The Game.

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Crystal Research
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