HP-41 Help System ROM

[Ángel Martin]

HP-41 Help System

Tired of pulling the manual to check (again!) on those pesky system flags? How about the X-Mem file types, Buffer allocations or ASCII Editor hotkeys? Still wishing there was an on-line QRG for the Auto-Complete and universal XEQ modes at your fingertips? And how about starting to use the Formula Evaluation expressions for everyday calculations?

If you responded affirmatively to any (or many) of those questions, you’ll be glad to know that Help is on the way!

The new HP41 HelpSystem ROM is here to assist. Nothing fancy but a basic reference on the topics listed below. The ROM includes four Main programs and 10 Help files that cover frequently asked topics, both standard and advanced. Requires 388 X-Mem registers with all files loaded on-line – but can be accessed individually.

1. HP-41 Flags – Brief description of all 56 flags. Uses 79 X-Mem regs

2. HELP – includes:
a. WARP_Core XEQ+ Hotkeys. Uses 33 X-Mem regs
b. Formula Evaluation Syntax Cheat sheet. Uses 55 X-Mem regs
c. Sub-Function Launchers across the board. Uses 42 X-Mem regs

3. HELP-2, includes:
a. Buffers Allocation. Uses 36 X-Mem regs
b. X-Mem File System. Uses 35 X-Mem regs
c. System Catalogs. Uses 40 X-Mem regs

4. HELP-3 includes:
a. ASCII Editor. Uses 25 X-Mem regs
b. HEX Editor. Uses 25 X-Mem regs
c. Others (MFN, MSG). Uses 38 X-Mem rags


Each entry waits for a short pause on the LCD. This enumeration can be halted by pressing the SHIFT key, resuming again when you release it (not MCODE but a nice application of GETKEYX).

Happy Help Day!

PS. Yes this comes almost 41 years after the system introduction… let’s hope it was worth the wait ;-)

[rprosperi]

Looks excellent Angel, I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Appears to be another module I will keep loaded most of the time....

And 8 pages used to seem like a lot of ROM space...

[Massimo Gnerucci]

Whoa! Thanks Ángel.
Just downloaded, gotta try it on my DM-41X.

[Ángel Martin]

(05-06-2020 06:42 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Just downloaded, gotta try it on my DM-41X.

I thought about doing a 41X version to take advantage of the display but - alas - there's no way (that I know of) to put all that real state to work from within the RPN (or MCODE for that matter) user control... at least not using the standard commands/

I hope they'll use the text files contents and put it into dedicated help files.

BTW I found a few typos in the ROM, the updated one is now loaded here.
Remember to purge the existing file to get it reloaded...

[jonmoore]

(05-07-2020 05:22 AM)Ángel Martin Wrote:  

(05-06-2020 06:42 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Just downloaded, gotta try it on my DM-41X.

I thought about doing a 41X version to take advantage of the display but - alas - there's no way (that I know of) to put all that real state to work from within the RPN (or MCODE for that matter) user control... at least not using the standard commands/

I hope they'll use the text files contents and put it into dedicated help files.

Bob mentioned that there's a bare-bones HTML capability built into the DM hardware (at his HHC 41x unveiling last year), although it's not currently in the beta version of the 41x operating system. Hopefully they'll be able to take your raw content and render it via the HTML browser.

[Mark Hardman]

(05-07-2020 10:41 AM)jonmoore Wrote:  Bob mentioned that there's a bare-bones HTML capability built into the DM hardware (at his HHC 41x unveiling last year), although it's not currently in the beta version of the 41x operating system. Hopefully they'll be able to take your raw content and render it via the HTML browser.

The DM41X User Manual includes this statement:

There are several directories with special names (and purpose) on the FAT disk:
HELP
- Contains help file(s) for built-in DM41X help that can be activated from CSTM menu.

If you look at the most recent FAT directories at https://www.swissmicros.com/dm41x/fat/HELP/ there is a recent addition of 41.html. The top of this "web page" states:

DM41X Quick Reference Guide

Note that this file is just placeholder for future implementation of DM41X help file.


Maybe this feature is nearer than we think...

Bob?

[rprosperi]

Well now... errr.... um... near you ask?

I'll have to check to be sure, and get back to you...

[rprosperi]

Turns out you were right...