=====Large fonts and the text cursor=====

//by Richard Russell, December 2007//\\ \\  BBC BASIC for Windows normally displays a text cursor (//caret//), by default consisting of a flashing underscore, the main purpose of which is to indicate to the user where a character typed at the keyboard will appear (for example when entering information in response to an [[http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcwin/manual/bbcwin5.html#input|INPUT]] statement). The cursor can be disabled using the [[http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcwin/manual/bbcwin6.html#off|OFF]] statement, and it is automatically hidden in the [[http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcwin/manual/bbcwin8.html#vdu5|VDU 5]] (text at graphics cursor) mode.\\ \\  However, a text cursor is //not// displayed if you select a font size with a character height of more than about 32 pixels (corresponding to about 24 points at 96 DPI). If you need to display a cursor with large fonts you can still do so by selecting a full-height 'block' cursor as follows:

<code bb4w>
        *FONT Courier New,28
        VDU 23,0,10;0;0;0;
</code>

Alternatively you can select a 'vertical line' cursor (which is more suitable for a proportional-spaced font):

<code bb4w>
        *FONT Arial,28
        VDU 23,0,18,2,0;0;0;23,0,10;0;0;0;
</code>

Note: To permit satisfactory input editing when using a proportional-spaced font you should use the **FNpsinput** routine (which can be found [[http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcwin/manual/bbcwin8.html#font|here]]) rather than the **INPUT** statement.