42S statistics registers

[rprosperi]

(11-20-2019 09:03 AM)cdmackay Wrote:  It's a regular niggle to me, and I wondered: is there any reason why HP didn't make access to the cumulative statistics values any easier than semi-anonymous numbered registers?

I know that it was the same on e.g. the 15C, but that at least had them printed on the back. The 42S adds another 7 more. I don't use them often enough to remember which is which, so have to keep getting out my quick-ref card to check (other than R16 being n).

It wouldn't have killed HP to add a few more keys to the STAT menu and presented them by name?

I know I could easily enough do that myself, or there's William Solano's program, which looks quite good. I'm just wondering why HP didn't add it in the first place? Because the 41 didn't have it either?

I agree that adding STAT menu labels would have been a nice touch, but recall that where the Stat registers are located (which registers), can be changed by the user via the SREG command (S=Sigma char) and also that if linear mode is enabled (LINS command, again S=Sigma), only a subset of the registers are used at all. With all that flexibility, it probably doesn't make sense to do something like print them on the keyboard (as was done with several others models in the Pioneer line).