Question, always on printing with plus42/free42

[nickapos]

(05-25-2022 12:55 PM)jonmoore Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:25 AM)nickapos Wrote:  This is very interesting, but this is for real calculators and printers. I wonder if there is a printout option in emu48 or iHP48. I did not see an option for it so I am not sure if I am missing anything.

Of the RPL calculators, only the HP28C/S have trace mode (AFAIK). However, it is worth bearing in mind that trace mode is actually intended for debugging programs and seriously impacts the interaction speeds on hardware calculators.

Emulations of classic calculators provide seamless feedback in trace mode but they bear little resemblance to working with hardware calculators and the HP IR Printer.

One of the settings that you can change on RPL calculators is the delay between IR data streams. This defaults to 1.8 seconds as the printer can't keep up with a constant stream of IR data when powered by batteries alone. Even when powered by a power adapter one would generally never reduce this delay lower than 1 second. And this is still the case with the Swiss Micros calculators that feature IR printing capabilities (a lot of the engineering for the IR printer dates back to the HP41 in the 80's).

When you go back to earlier HP calculators with printing capabilities such as the HP97, you didn't notice delays as the hardware ran at far slower speeds.

Modern emulators allow you to use the calculator much like you would a modern printing calculator such as those made by Cannon. But it it should be considered a 'nice to have' rather than a purposely designed emulation feature.

Hi Jon, thanks for the detailed reply. I understand that enabling trace print on a real device would probably stress the system and consume too many resources. It is convenient that we do not have such restrictions with the apps themselves.