A feature of the interpretive BASIC languages supplied on most microcomputers is that codes from several "BASICS" may be combined in the same program. When the executed code is correct and the code foreign to the interpreter being used is bypassed, problems do not occur. Thus, BASIC programs can be prepared which run on several different .machines. A front-end menu query is utilized to identify the brand of microcomputer on which the program is running. The source code (see Appendix) displays a hybrid BASIC program that has been used to transfer both text and BASIC programs among ffiM-PC, Radio Shack TRS80 Model ill, and Apple lIe microcomputers. Lines 240360 are consistent with the syntax rules for all three computers and present the menu through which the computer brand is identified. The user answers a query about whether to send or receive a file, and names the file to be accessed for transmission or the file to be received and stored. Lines 70-200 handle communications to and from the TRS-80 microcomputer, lines 370-610 control communications to and from the ffiM-PC, and lines 620-820 govern communications to and from the Apple lIe. If a machine other than one of the three listed is used, it may trap certain types of errors; that is, lines of code which will not run under the machine's interpreter may not be enterable from the keyboard. Should this situation arise, the user simply bypasses that line and continues to enter the remaining lines of program code. This is not a problem when the program executes because the unenterable lines would not have been executed on the machine. Communications from the sending to the receiving microcomputers are handled using standard asynchronous (RS-232)procedures. Our approach is to fit the microcomputers' serial communications ports with the appropriate vendor's RS-232 cables and then connect these cables using a modem eliminator. If the necessary cables are not readily available from the computer manufacturers, then substitutes as well as a modem eliminator may be purchased from a retail computer store or outlet. The demonstration program shown in the Appendix utilizes timing delays, set within the program, to mediate