Altair 8800 escape codes

Every escape that can be typed in Altair 8800 source, and the byte it stores. Escapes are recognised in string literals, REM comments and DATA bodies. This is the shortest such table in the IDE, because the machine has the simplest character set: printable ASCII is itself, and every other byte is written in the raw {0xNN} form. There are no named escapes at all — no colour codes, no cursor controls and no block graphics — because there is no display to control. Filters can be prefilled with ?q= and ?cat= query parameters.

See also the Altair 8K BASIC reference and file formats.

		Description
{0xNN}	any	Any byte with no printable form, as two hex digits: the rest of the control codes 0x00-0x1F, and the whole of 0x80-0xFF. The console never displays the high range - BASIC masks its output to seven bits - but a string can still hold it, and ASC(CHR$(255)) really is 255. Recognised in strings, REM and DATA; a { that is not an escape is the literal 0x7B character.
{0x07}	0x07	Bell. On a Teletype ASR-33 this struck a physical gong, and 8K BASIC rings it when the console line buffer fills. Nothing is audible here - the machine has no audio path at all - but the console honours it as a control code rather than printing a glyph.
{0x08}	0x08	Backspace. A teletype could only move the carriage back a space, so this erases nothing and never climbs to the previous line. BASIC's own line editor rubs out the last character typed with 0x5F (underline) instead.
{0x0A}	0x0A	Line feed: down one row, leaving the column where it was. BASIC always sends a carriage return first, so the pair together start a new line.
{0x0D}	0x0D	Carriage return: back to column 0 of the same row, without advancing.
{0x7F}	0x7F	Rub out - all eight holes punched on paper tape, and what the teletype's RUB OUT key sends. Nothing is printed for it.

Showing 6 of 6 escape codes