Microsoft Binary Format
In computing, Microsoft Binary Format (MBF) is a format for floating-point numbers which was used in Microsoft's BASIC language products, including MBASIC, GW-BASIC and QuickBASIC prior to version 4.00.

There are two main versions of the format. The original version was designed for memory-constrained systems and stored numbers in 32 bits (4 bytes), with a 23-bit mantissa, 1-bit sign, and an 8-bit exponent. Extended (12k) BASIC included a double-precision type with 64 bits.

During the period when it was being ported from the Intel 8080 platform to the MOS 6502 processor, computers were beginning to ship with more memory as a standard feature. This version was offered with the original 32-bit format or an optional expanded 40-bit (5-byte) format. The 40-bit format was used by most home computers of the 1970s and 1980s. These two versions are sometimes known as "6-digit" and "9-digit", respectively.

On PCs with x86 processor, QuickBASIC, prior to version 4, reintroduced the double-precision format using a 55-bit mantissa in a 64-bit (8-byte) format. MBF was abandoned during the move to QuickBASIC 4, which used the standard IEEE 754 format, introduced a few years earlier.
Q179310
computing
Concept
Q117879
floating-point
Concept
Q2283
Microsoft
ORG
Q42979
BASIC
Concept
Q623610
MBASIC
MEDIA
Q1049202
GW-BASIC
MEDIA
Q1056057
QuickBASIC
MEDIA
Q1096921
mantissa
Concept
Q33456
exponent
Concept
None
Extended (12k) BASIC
UNK
Q324610
Intel 8080
MISC
Q255528
MOS 6502
MISC
Q473708
home computer
Concept
Q16338
PC
Concept
Q182933
x86
Concept
Q1056057
QuickBASIC
MEDIA
Q828287
IEEE 754
Concept
Q6840087
Microsoft Binary Format
UNK
8080-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
8080
DATE
6502-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
6502
DATE
1970-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1970
DATE
1980-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1980
DATE
+4.00^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
4.00
NUMBER
+32^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
32
NUMBER
+4^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
4
NUMBER
+23^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
23
NUMBER
+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
NUMBER
+8^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
8
NUMBER
+12^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
12
NUMBER
+64^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
64
NUMBER
+32^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
32
NUMBER
+40^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
40
NUMBER
+5^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
5
NUMBER
+40^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
40
NUMBER
+6^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
6
NUMBER
+9^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
9
NUMBER
+86^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
86
NUMBER
+4^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
4
NUMBER
+55^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
55
NUMBER
+64^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
64
NUMBER
+8^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
8
NUMBER
+4^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
4
NUMBER
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