HP 50g Unallowed Names

[MNH]

Hello,

I would like to discuss the use of unallowed names. Please refer
to http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/docs/programm...dnames.txt. The
SYSEVAL # 05B15h works on my HP 50g. I created a variable named
'13952'. Why does ORDER return ORDER Error: Bad Argument Type
when '13952' is included in a list of variables? Would anyone
like to share their ideas about how they would use unallowed names
in their programs?

Regards,

Mark

[Jacob Wall]

I am not seeing any errors with a variable '13952' created and using the ORDER command. Is it possible that another variable is creating the error? Possible a variable in the list that doesn't exist? Perhaps some flag setting affecting it?

Also, besides the SYSEVAL, which I believe is the S~N command from the development library 256, you can rename variables in the File Manager to otherwise unallowed names like '13952' or '1A', etc.

[MNH]

Hello Jacob,

Nice to see you on this website! I have 3.14159 stored in variables PI and
13952. I open up braces, press the soft key below [PI], below [13952],
followed by [ENTER]. I now have {PI 13952.} on the stack. This is not
what happened before. Notice 13952. versus 13952. Naturally ORDER
generates an error.

Regards,

Mark

[Jacob Wall]

(06-14-2014 06:57 PM)MNH Wrote:  I open up braces, press the soft key below [PI], below [13952],
followed by [ENTER]. I now have {PI 13952.} on the stack. This is not
what happened before. Notice 13952. versus 13952. Naturally ORDER
generates an error.

Interesting. If you use the VARS command and then ORDER, everything is fine, if you select the variables in the file manager and then ORDER, everything is also fine, but when inserting the variable name into a list, it would appear the variable name gets converted to a number type, and loses its variable type. A variable named '1A' when inserted into a list becomes { 1 A }. First I thought it might be dependent on approx./exact mode but the approximate mode just makes it obvious what has happened. Cool find, no idea if this might be considered a bug, up to interpretation I suppose.

[DavidM]

(06-14-2014 06:57 PM)MNH Wrote:  Hello Jacob,

Nice to see you on this website! I have 3.14159 stored in variables PI and
13952. I open up braces, press the soft key below [PI], below [13952],
followed by [ENTER]. I now have {PI 13952.} on the stack. This is not
what happened before. Notice 13952. versus 13952. Naturally ORDER
generates an error.

Regards,

Mark

Could you simply use something like |3952 (first char: bar) or l3952 (first char: L)? I believe those names would give you less trouble in the long run. The bar looks a bit closer to a "1" than the "l" does, but there could be other places it shows up where you might choose one over the other.

Another potential issue to watch out for with ORDER is that you don't invoke it with a list that would end up attempting to move the same program that called it. In that case, you get a rather ambiguous "Syntax Error" message. While it makes sense that you can't move a running program, the message itself isn't particularly helpful in figuring out what went wrong.