DM42

[Jeff O.]

(08-09-2016 04:19 AM)MDBarrett88 Wrote:  Hope it's not too late to jump in, but I had a thought about the DM42 that I'd like to share...
I do realize that the people at SwissMicros are already hard at work on finishing the hardware, and that the free42 project already has a list of priorities. I am not making demands, rather some suggestions and humble requests...

I like your suggestion to include functionality from the 17BII. I have one and use it frequently, so it would be nice to combine the functions of two great calculators into one device.

I also had some thoughts for enhancements that might be possible with the DM42, but hesitated to suggest because (as you acknowledge above) it is easy to ask for things that others will have to implement. Now that the ice is broken, I'll go ahead. I don't think I am asking for a lot, but I'll leave that to others to judge.

My suggested enhancements return to my well-worn, dead-horse-beaten wishes for improved complex number support. I won't ask for a complete redesign of the entry and display paradigm, just one (hopefully) simple change. On the 42S, the shifted COMPLEX function above the STO key has two functions, depending on the contents of the X and Y registers. If the X and Y registers both contain real values, executing COMPLEX will assemble a complex number from the values in the X and Y registers, placing said number in the X register. If a complex value resides in the X register prior to executing COMPLEX, the function will decompose the complex number into its two components, placing them in the X and Y registers. (If there is a real value in X and a complex value in Y, executing COMPLEX will result in an “Invalid Type” error.) My wish for the DM42 would be to augment (not replace) this method of entering complex values. Instead of being an actual function, COMPLEX would open a soft menu above the soft keys. The functions in this menu would be as follows:

i_____/_____R<>C_____ABS_____ARG_____CONJ

CONJ, ABS and ARG would have the obvious functions. R<>C would function exactly as COMPLEX does in the 42S. If two reals are in X and Y, assemble into a complex value placed in X. If a complex value is in X, disassemble into two reals in X and Y. This would insure compatibility with any existing programs a user might care to use that included the COMPLEX function. It would also allow users who prefer the existing method of complex number assembly and disassembly to continue to use it while eliminating the need to press the shift key constantly - just put up the COMPLEX menu and use the R<>C function. The i and / functions would allow direct entry of complex values: for a rectangular form number, key in the real part, press i, then key in the imaginary component. For a polar form number, key in the magnitude, press /, then key in the angle. Upon pressing ENTER, the complex value would be automatically converted to the current display format if it was entered in the other format. This would eliminate the need to perform the ->REC and ->POL functions to set things right if you were working in rectangular mode but had to enter a number in polar form or vice versa. (While not necessary, I might ask that a second pressing of the i or / key would terminate entry of the value, convert to the proper display format if necessary, and enable stack lift. I.e., it would behave exactly like pressing EXIT, or x<>y twice, or any other pair of inverse functions.)

As an alternative to changing the COMPLEX function on the keyboard into a menu call, the sixth shifted soft-key position left over from your 17BII suggestion could be used, labelled CPX or CPLX or similar to differentiate from the standard COMPLEX function. I'd still leave the R<>C function in my menu to enable repeated unshifted execution of that function.

Questions? Comments? Jeers? Cheers?