PPL INPUT function

[jlastofka]

Han,

Thanks for the link. Looks like I can learn a lot there.

I'd say the INPUT function is not very robust though. If I use it with the built in global E, I, L variables it usually (not always) works the first time or two I run a program, then starts acting up as I re-run the program several times. It will start prompting with values out of sequence say, the E value showing up in the I prompt, or sometimes a letter, like K, and if I go out to the home screen and use Shift-Mem to look at the list of variables I can click through them and occasionally find a letter k stored in what's supposed to be a Real Variable, like E for instance. I see this on the emulator and the calculator.

Sometimes the program will fail on launch with an Invalid Input (I forget the exact wording) warning. Sometimes it will let me get part way or all the way through the INPUT entry boxes and then error out. I've had it seem to go all the way through and then give me clearly wrong answers from my program.

All this is with that very simple program with only a few inputs and a couple equations.

Fortunately, it seems to work reliably with local variables and I can just do the local to global copying myself. I haven't checked how it does with global variables other than the simple A, B, C, .... Z ones built in. I suppose it does fine, or everyone would be talking about this. It's just that E, I, K and L are the historical notation for the equations I'm working with.

Sure is a nice calculator, though. I assumed the 50g was going to be the end of the line. I'm very glad that HP's kept on developing and I'm relieved they've stayed with a quality keyboard feel and haven't cheaped out there like so many other companies.

The only thing I actually dislike is having to type := all the time. It's very tedious on the keyboard. Odd that = works in practically every other computing language on the planet but not here.

-Jeff