Your are correct. However, I think it is easier to just think of it as returning a number. So long as it IS a number, internally, the computer always treats it as binary. Decimal and Hex are merely convenient notations for people to use.

Notice that the maximum value returned is 0x80000000. This is 2,147,483,648. Sound familiar? The maximum/minumum values KiXtart can handle are 2,147,483,647 or -2,147,483,648. Because of this, it sounds like it might be easier to "&" the return value for testing.

I frequently use something like this for error codes. I create one error code value, then "|" it with a particular error code bit. It doesn't matter how many times that error occurs, it will only be set once. Then on exit, I can parse the bits in the error code to see which error bits were set.

New Mexico Mark