HP-41: New HP-16C Emulator available

[Ángel Martin]

(05-20-2022 11:26 AM)jonmoore Wrote:  Ok, I've discovered the problem. The mass key assignments trigger functions (MKEYS and ZK?YN) for SandMath and 14Z exist in the main FAT. 16KEYS is in a lower FAT and can only be triggered via 16$. This inconsistency isn't ideal as a UX pattern as one would expect things to function as they do in your other modules.

I'm sure you've only done things this way as you ran out of room in the main FAT but maybe it would be better if one of the more esoteric 16c functions were swapped to a lower FAT so 16KEYS can exist at the upper level. I trigger all my mass key assignments via the CST feature on the DMC41x but this doesn't work with functions in lower FATs.

Yes, main FAT room was the limiting factor; it's always a struggle trying to fit so much functionality onto a reduced keyboard - not stepping on your toes or messing with the needed functions.

Well, we thought users wouldn't be using the direct key assignments much on this module because many of the functions on the overlay are really sub-functions, which cannot be assigned to the user keyboard. Thus we figured the preferred method would be using the 16C function launcher instead; this gives you access to both main and sub-functions equally and besides it doesn't mess with the actual key assignments in USER mode (only 16C needs to be assigned).

The flipside is you need one extra keystroke press, but that's (we thought) a small price to pay to rip the benefits of full function keyboard control...