Writing TI-59 mag cards.

[Dave Britten]

(10-12-2022 05:04 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  Hello!

(10-12-2022 04:49 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  ... hit 2nd CMs to clear the junk data that will be in the storage registers.

That is not junk but program instructions transformed into numeric values! The process is reversible. If you change the memory partition between writing and reading a card, programs can be turned into numbers and vice versa.

I remember that back in my Ti59 days (1978 to 1985 or so) people came up with, and published!, clever ways to make self modifying code on the Ti59 by having their program change some stored numbers, writing them on a card and reading them back in as program statements. That can all be programmed, the user only has to slide the card into the calculator when prompted. Maybe I still have the magazine article in some box that got never opened after our last relocation (22 years ago) but I am pretty much certain that I will never find it again...

Regards
Max

You are quite correct! I was mostly glossing over that fact and presuming that the data is junk to the typical user But the 59 has lots of interesting things to explore, such as the HIR registers, and the combined program/data storage that you've mentioned. (To say nothing of all the interesting tricks you can do when the printer is involved.)

I think a couple of other TIs allowed for self-modifying code in much the same way - can't remember exactly which ones though.