DM42 Programing: entering Local Label 00 - 99

[donaldhenry]

I am trying to program on my DM42. After several programming successes, i am frustrated about how to enter the simple line of code for local labels 00-99. On my DM42 the sequence of keys I use to enter the line is:
[PGM.FCN]
[LBL]
[SHIFT] [0] // no entry and a beep
[0] //
The response is
nn LBL ":_ // which isn't what I want

I can successfully add the line in Free42 (Windows):
[PGM.FCN]
[LBL]
[0]
[1]
Here the response is as expected:
nn LBL 01 //nn is program line number


What I am doing wrong in the DM42?

-Don

[Dave Britten]

Are you in alpha keyboard mode ([A] or [a] displayed at the top of the screen)? Try hitting Shift-Up/Down until you're back to normal keyboard mode (shows [ ]) and see if that makes any difference.

[Thomas Okken]

(09-25-2019 03:58 AM)donaldhenry Wrote:  I am trying to program on a we my DM42. After several programming successes, i am frustrated about how to enter the simple line of code for local labels 00-99. On my DM42 the sequence of keys I use to enter the line is:
[PGM.FCN]
[LBL]
[SHIFT] [0] // no entry and a beep
[0] //

It sounds like you're using one of the DM42's "alpha keyboard" modes.

For what it's worth, pressing Shift before the 0 in that sequence — I think what you're saying is [Shift] [3] [Σ+] [Shift] [0] [0] — does not work in Free42, it beeps when you type the 0, just like it does on a real HP-42S.

On the DM42, check what's in the top of the display after having pressed [Shift] [3] [Σ+]. If you see |A| or |a|, press [Shift] [▲] or [Shift] [▼] until it changes to | |, that's how you get the standard HP-42S / Free42 keyboard behavior. The other two modes put you in an HP-41-like mode where the letters of the alphabet can be typed directly and the digits are shifted. It looks like those modes don't work well with LBL, and that is something you should probably mention to SwissMicros, by emailing them or by posting on the SwissMicros forum.

CORRECTION: Instead of [Σ+], press the leftmost menu key. I'm still used to the HP-42S keyboard layout, where that row of dedicated menu keys does not exist...

[donaldhenry]

Thanks so much. Pressing [Shift] [▲] or [Shift] [▼] does the trick.

Now, I see it is documented in the DM42 user manual ( https://www.swissmicros.com/dm42/doc/dm42_user_manual/ ) in the "Alpha Input Mode" section.