newRPL: [UPDATED April 27-2017] Firmware for testing available for download

[matthiaspaul]

(06-17-2016 03:02 PM)Vtile Wrote:  

(06-09-2016 08:09 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  I like this a lot! Something along the lines of using On-+/- to change the contrast, no need to get into a special form to change settings. Of course, newRPL supports a very complex way to display numbers, as there are 3 different number formats (for large, medium, small numbers), and the user has to select the limits between those classes of numbers too.
But we could have simple defaults that can be controlled from the keyboard directly.
Here's a simple proposal:
On + [space] can cycle between STD/SCI/FIX/ENG predefined defaults.
On + [number] can select display digits (On+9 = 9 digits, etc.).
On + [dot] can cycle between using dot, dot+thousand separator, comma, comma+thousand separator
On + [div] can increase the display digits by 1
On + [mult] can decrease the display digits by 1

In newRPL there's no such thing as moving the ENG exponent by 3 places. I need to study how to add that feature (should we call it exponent bias?), though I don't anticipate it being too difficult.

I'm actually not sure what you are truely meaning with exponent bias, maybe something you later posts refer as preferred magnitude or similar.

For my propose of using [EEX] as a special shift key (while you hold it down, just like [ON] key or [RShift]+[TOOL] to change R<>C) I see it more convenient way to manipulate the exponent and or other "display rounding properties ie. FIX n". More so than the ON+"keys".

Now one week after my half thought proposal I'm not sure anymore if the actual and real magnitude changing (actual shortcut for multiplying with 1000 or 0.001) I proposed for [EEX]+[UP]/[DOWN] would be the best option and truely usefull. Much more usefull option would be to change the shown decimals on fly as you propose for [On]+[mult]/[Div]. The [EEX]+[RIGHT]/[LEFT] would still be truely handy for those moments your head decides to turn pool of jelly and you struggle to comprehend some value like 800.0e-3 . With ie. [EEX]+[LEFT] (the working direction logic must be decided at somepoint to fit other parts of the system) you change shown exponent format (temporarily?) by one step at time. Maybe there would be better options?

For [EEX]+[up]/[down] it would change the decimals shown in all number formats. (This would be extremely handy ie. in standard and FIX modes) My argument over [ON] is that with [EEX] or [LShift]+[EEX] you kind of do similar task while entering the numbers.

Being a proponent of this Casio exponent shift mode as well, I once started to implement it for the WP 34s, however, it's still unfinished due to my lack of time - so nothing to show yet. I also thought about how to integrate it into other calculator user interfaces (but it really depends much on the calculator) and tried to combine it with another feature I'd like to see in modern calculators: "binary prefixes".

In interactive number entry:

- [EEX] starts a normal power-of-10 exponent entry (that is *10^). The calculator displays this using the standard E notation.
- [EEX] [EEX] would start a power-of-2 exponent entry (that is *2^). The calculator would detect this double-press and change the pending E to an B to use B notation. (On calculators where the uppercase B would look too much like 8, the somewhat similar P notation could be (ab)used instead.)
- (Pressing [EEX] a third time in a row should switch back to E notation, etc.)

The exponent following would (by default) be given as decimal number even if we were in binary etc. number entry mode. (This is the most useful mode in practise except for in a few special cases (out of scope here). Calculators such as the WP 34s provide only 3 digits for the exponent and therefore don't have the display capabilities to display reasonably long base-2 exponents, anyway. Also, the P notation makes decimal exponents mandantory, and even in B notation decimal exponents are common, even if the significand was given in another base.)

The idea is to make entry and display of numbers with binary prefixes easier and to easily switch between the two exponent modes:

1_Ki = 1024 = 1.024E3 = 1.0B10
1.5_Ki = 1536 = 1.536E3 = 1.5B10
1_k = 1000 = 1.0E3 = 0.9765625B10
1.5_k = 1500 = 1.5E3 = 1.46484375B10

Since pressing [EEX] in display mode is an established shortcut to enter
"1 [EEX]", it cannot be used as a toggle to switch the display between E and B notation, so we have to find other hotkeys for three display operations, for example:

- [Shift+Alpha]+[EEX]: Toggle display of number between E and B notation
- [Shift-Left]+[EEX]: Decrease exponent by x for displayed number (x is 1 in SCI mode, whereas in ENG mode it is 1..3 in E notation and 1..10 in B notation)
- [Shift-Right]+[EEX]: Increase exponent by x for displayed number (x is 1 in SCI mode, whereas in ENG mode it is 1..3 in E notation and 1..10 in B notation)

The first press of the hotkey in ENG mode would shift the exponent only by the amount necessary to lock on the next prefix (raster of 3 in E notation, raster of 10 in B notation), subsequent invocations of the hotkey would shift the exponent by the full amount of 3 or 10 in order to reach the next prefix.

Greetings,

Matthias