The [[LOCATE]] statement locates the screen text row and column positions for a [[PRINT]] or [[INPUT]] procedure.


{{PageSyntax}}
: [[LOCATE]] [{{Parameter|row%}}][, {{Parameter|column%}}] [, {{Parameter|cursor%}}][, {{Parameter|cursorStart%}}, {{Parameter|cursorStop%}}]


{{PageParameters}}
* optional text {{Parameter|row%}} [[INTEGER]] values are from 1 to 25, 43 or 50 in [[SCREEN]] 0 and  25 in most other legacy graphic screen modes, except screens 11 and 12 which can have 30 or 60 rows.  
* optional {{Parameter|column%}} [[INTEGER]] values are from 1 to 40 or 80 in [[SCREEN]] 0 and 80 in all other legacy screen modes.
* optional {{Parameter|cursor%}} value can be 0 to turn displaying the cursor off or 1 to turn it on.
* optional {{Parameter|cursorStart%}} and {{Parameter|cursorStop%}} values define the shape of the cursor by setting the start and stop scanline (values range from 0 to 31) for the cursor character.


{{PageDescription}}
* [[WIDTH]] statement can be used to determine the text width and height in [[SCREEN]] 0 and height of 30 or 60 in [[SCREEN]] 11 or 12.
* In [[_NEWIMAGE]] graphic screen the number of text ''rows'' are calculated as [[_HEIGHT]] \ 16 except when a [[_FONT]] is used. Use [[_FONTHEIGHT]] to calculate font rows.
* [[_NEWIMAGE]] graphic screen text ''columns'' are calculated as [[_WIDTH (function)|_WIDTH]] \ 8 except when a [[_FONT]] is used. Use [[_PRINTWIDTH]] to measure a line of font text.
* The text ''row'' position is not required if the [[PRINT]] is going to be on the next row. The [[comma]] and a ''column'' value are required to set the column.
* If only the ''row'' parameter is given, then the column position remains the same. '''Neither ''row'' or ''column'' parameter can be 0.'''
* When [[PRINT]]ing on the bottom 2 ''rows'', use a [[semicolon]] after the PRINT expression to avoid a screen roll.
* If the {{Parameter|cursorStart%}} line is given, the {{Parameter|cursorStop%}} line must also be given. A wider range between them produces a taller cursor.
* If you use LOCATE beyond the current number of rows in text mode, QB64 will try to adapt the screen instead of tossing an error.
* When writing to the console, only the ''row'' and ''column'' arguments are used, all others are ignored. Furthermore, on non-Windows systems LOCATE statements that do not give both a ''row'' and ''column'' will be ignored entirely.


{{PageExamples}}
''Example:'' Moving the cursor around (now you can finally create a Commodore 64 emulator!). '''Default SCREEN 0 only:'''
{{CodeStart}} '' ''
crx = 10
cry = 10
DO
  {{Cl|LOCATE}} cry, crx, 1, 0, 8
  a$ = {{Cl|INKEY$}}
  {{Cl|SELECT CASE}} a$
     {{Cl|CASE}} {{Cl|CHR$}}(0) + "H": {{Cl|IF...THEN|IF}} cry > 1 {{Cl|THEN}} cry = cry - 1 'up
     {{Cl|CASE}} {{Cl|CHR$}}(0) + "P": {{Cl|IF...THEN|IF}} cry &lt; 25 {{Cl|THEN}} cry = cry + 1 'down
     {{Cl|CASE}} {{Cl|CHR$}}(0) + "K": {{Cl|IF...THEN|IF}} crx > 1 {{Cl|THEN}} crx = crx - 1 'left
     {{Cl|CASE}} {{Cl|CHR$}}(0) + "M": {{Cl|IF...THEN|IF}} crx &lt; 80 {{Cl|THEN}} crx = crx + 1 'right
     {{Cl|CASE}} {{Cl|CHR$}}(27): {{Cl|END}}
  {{Cl|END SELECT}}
LOOP '' ''
{{CodeEnd}}

: Explanation: The CHR$(0) + "H", "P", "K", "M" represents the cursor arrow keys. start = 0, stop = 8 is the tallest cursor, experiment with the start and stop values for different effects (start = 8, stop = 8 is the default producing a _ cursor).



{{PageSeeAlso}}
* [[CSRLIN]], [[POS]] {{text|(cursor position)}}
* [[SCREEN]], [[PRINT]], [[COLOR]]
* [[INPUT]], [[LINE INPUT]], [[INPUT$]] {{text|(keyboard input)}}
* [[WIDTH]], [[INPUT$]], [[INKEY$]]


{{PageNavigation}}
