Microsoft Binary Format
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This article relies on references to primary sources. (February 2010) |
In computing, Microsoft Binary Format (MBF) was a format for floating point numbers used in Microsoft's BASIC language products including MBASIC, QuickBasic and GW-BASIC.[1]
MBF double-precision numbers consist of a sign bit, an eight bit exponent and a 55 bit significand, providing slightly more precison than the IEEE 754 format, but less scale.[2][3]
By the time Visual Basic was released, the IEEE 754 standard had become widely adopted - for example, it was incorporated into Intel's 387 coprocessor and every x86 processor from the 486 on. Visual Basic uses the IEEE 754 format instead of MBF.
See also [edit]
Microsoft provides a 16 bit dynamic link library with C source code containing functions to convert MBF data to IEEE 754.
MBF to IEEE function written in Python
MBF to IEEE conversion functions in C/C++ borrowed from old Microsoft supported code.
See also [edit]
- Floating point
- IEEE 754 — Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic
- IBM Floating Point Architecture
Notes and references [edit]
- ^ "IEEE vs. Microsoft Binary Format; Rounding Issues (Complete)". Microsoft Support. November 21, 2006. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
- ^ "IEEE vs. Microsoft Binary Format; Rounding Issues (Complete)". Microsoft Support. November 21, 2006. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
- ^ "Need to access MBF (Microsoft Binary Format) data". Experts Exchange. December 11, 2001. Retrieved February 24, 2010.(subscription required)
