Plus42 Equations, Preview Release

[Thomas Okken]

(04-13-2022 10:38 AM)jonmoore Wrote:  [...] I believe the utility of the Equation solving techniques as outlined in "Step-by-Step - Technical applications for the HP-27S and HP-19B" would be streamlined if Plus42 had a proper alpha keyboard, instead of the HP-42s alpha keyboard. Entering equations can be a tedious affair (even with a proper alpha keyboard) but the workflow is at least eased with a dedicated alpha keyboard.

I don't believe you'd have to adulterate the 42S faceplate with alpha legends, but the skin could dynamically update when in alpha mode.

I agree. This is on my to-do list for 1.1.

I actually implemented support for the native on-screen keyboard in iOS and Android, so it slides up whenever ALPHA mode is activated. It was working fine in the iOS version, but I had problems with the Android version, where it worked fine in the Android Emulator, but didn't work at all on my Moto G5. I'll have to revisit that, but even if I can get it to work reliably, a DM42-style alpha keyboard may still be the better option, because the native keyboard isn't great for all the exotic characters in the HP-42S character set. And as you said, the alpha legends could be dynamically overlaid on the keyboard so they don't clutter it up when not in use.

(04-13-2022 10:38 AM)jonmoore Wrote:  On another note, I was really pleased to see ARM64 support (for Raspberry Pi's). Our kids are massively into classic calculator emulators (who'd of thought!), so the ability to get Plus42 onto their Pi's was a lovely bonus. Building Plus42 was a little gnarly the first time as some of the necessary packages weren't in the default Debian archives but that in itself was a useful learning exercise for our budding nerds.

You should only need to install libgtk-3-dev and libasound2-dev.

(04-13-2022 10:38 AM)jonmoore Wrote:  However, they each use 13" Arzopa portable monitors with their Pi'si which run at 'retina' resolution (the same as you get on 13" MacBook Pro's) so Plus42 is far too small in terms of its interface real-estate (luckily their young eyes are still able to see the tiny on-screen faceplate legends). I'm sure you've factored in greater pixel density screens in your mobile and macOS builds, so it would be good to have the same options on the Windows and Linux builds of Plus42. 'Retina' equivalent pixel density is commonplace on non-Apple/mobile hardware these days too.

I actually ported Free42 from GTK2 to GTK3 specifically to make it compatible with high-density screens (and Plus42 inherited that capability). If Plus42 doesn't notice the presence of a HiPDI screen, maybe you need to set GDK_SCALE=2, either globally or in whatever script or .desktop file is being used to launch the app.