Bool

[LCD]

so one byte is 8 bits or 8 'switches'?

so how would you say read or write a 'switch' in a byte? say I wanted to read switch 4 and read switch 5

Yes.
Reading:

Code:

switch4=(byte>>4)&1

Code:

switch5=(byte>>5)&1

Writing:

Code:

poke address,(peek address)|(switch4<<4)

Code:

poke address,(peek address)|(switch5<<5)

Note, I used parenhisis because I noted that bit shifting has lower priority in ZXBC than binary AND opposed to FreeBASIC and other BASIC dialects

Code:

switch4=byte>>4&1

is not working as expected because Boriel is using C priority. See this:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.boriel.com/forum/post2064.html#p2064">post2064.html#p2064</a><!-- l -->
I found the english precedence table of Freebasic which shows that SHL and SHR have higher priority than +/- and binary AND, OR etc.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.freebasic.net/wiki/wikka.php?wakka=OpPrecedence">http://www.freebasic.net/wiki/wikka.php ... Precedence</a><!-- m -->