DEFtype Statements
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Action

 Set the default data type for variables,  DEF FN functions, and  FUNCTION
 procedures.


 Syntax

  DEFINT  letterrange -,  letterrange-...
  DEFLNG  letterrange-,  letterrange-...
  DEFSNG  letterrange-,  letterrange-...
  DEFDBL  letterrange-,  letterrange-...
  DEFCUR  letterrange-,  letterrange-...
  DEFSTR  letterrange -,  letterrange-...


 Remarks

 The  letterrange argument has the form.

  letter1 -- letter2-

 The arguments  letter1 and  letter2 are any of the uppercase or lowercase
 letters of the alphabet. Names beginning with the letters in  letterrange
 have the type specified by the last three letters of the statement. integer
 ( INT), long integer ( LNG), single precision ( SNG), double precision (
 DBL), currency ( CUR), or  string ( STR). For example, in the following
 program fragment,  Message is a string variable.

 DEFSTR A-Q
 .
 .
 .
 Message="Out of stack space."


 The case of the letters in  letterrange is not significant. These three
 statements are equivalent.

 DEFINT I-N
 DEFINT i-n
 DEFINT i-N

 A type-declaration character ( %,  &,  !,  #,  @, or  $) always takes
 precedence over a  DEF type statement.  DEF type statements do not affect
 record elements.


 Note

 I%, I&, I!, I#, I@, and I$ all are distinct variables, and each may hold a
 different value.


 BASICA

 BASICA handles default data types differently. BASICA scans each statement
 before executing it. If the statement contains a variable without an
 explicit type (indicated by  %,  &,  !,  #,  @, or  $), the interpreter uses
 the current default type.

 In contrast, BASIC scans the text once only and after a variable appears in
 a program line, its type cannot be changed.


 Example

 See the  ABS function programming example, which uses the  DEFDBL statement.