Editing Locomotive BASIC (section)

=== BASIC 1.0 ===
Supplied with the Amstrad CPC464, it was a good release with only a single notable bug, being the <CODE>DEC$()</CODE> function (it provides <CODE>PRINT USING</CODE> style output but as a string rather than screen output). No time was available to fix this before the firmware had to go for ROM chip production. Consequently, the function was simply left un-documented and pre-fixed to force a syntax error when encountered. The curious programmer found the word <code>dec$</code> capitalised in their code indicating it was a recognised reserved word - inexplicable at the time, until the history of the bug and disassemblies of the BASIC ROM became available.
[[File:CPC464 dec$.png|300px|center|dec$ tokenization and error betrays reserved word origins]]
Exploration of the BASIC 1.0 ROM can find the remnants of the function and its crippled token table entry.