WP 34S and 31S bugs and fixes

[Bit]

(01-17-2015 09:53 PM)walter b Wrote:  Hmmh. Fraction mode is designed for calculating with fractions (surprise!). Very big (>1e5) as well as very small (<1e-4) numbers are out of scope. Cf. e.g. p. 54 of 149 of the WP 31S manual. Now, why do you want to enter an exponent while calculating with fractions?? If you want to enter a number >1e5 I assume you know this immediately before putting it in* - so you can press [H.d] before. What's wrong with that?

There are two kinds of problems:

1. It's inefficient for some workflows. If you'd like to mix fractions and exponents, either because you need very small/big numbers or because some numbers are simply more convenient to enter in scientific notation, you need extra key presses for [H.d]. Some of the numbers you enter may be out of scope for fractions but the end result of such mixed calculations could be in scope, which is why you may want to stay in fraction mode.
   
   It can also be inefficient if you need to alternate between calculations with fractions and exponents.
   
   
2. It's less forgiving of mistakes. If you forget to press [H.d] before you start typing a number that needs an exponent, you'll have to either abandon the number and retype it, wasting effort, or you can enter it without an exponent and then multiply it with the exponent, again wasting some effort and also losing the top level of the stack.
   

If the above costs were offset by some gain, this would be a trade-off worth considering. However, there's no gain: If your workflow doesn't involve mixing fractions and exponents, you simply don't press the [EEX] key. If you press it accidentally, the mistake isn't costly, because [<-] clears the exponent without affecting the number you entered.

There's another small cost, although it's minor compared to the above:
3. A few extra bytes in the firmware for the check that disables [EEX].

Ultimately, not allowing [EEX] hinders some workflows and users but benefits absolutely nobody.