32Sii text display...?

[Socks]

Have a question which probably would require original HP 32Sii documentation for an answer... About 1990 I gave a 32Sii to my brother for his birthday. Somewhere (probably in the accompanying original paperwork) was instruction for implementing an "Easter egg" kind of 'feature,' which consisted of displaying a 'lengthy' text message (successive lines, using all 12 character 'spaces'). Today, the keyboard markings give me no clue as to how that was done...

Anyway, when the calculator was delivered to my brother, pressing a very few keys called up the message:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERETT MAY YOUR HOUSE BE SAFE FROM
COCKROACHES AND POLITICIANS"

Does anyone still have original 'paperwork'? Even the 376 page PDF manual doesn't seem to mention this 'feature.'

Thanks,
Jim

[Joe Horn]

See pages 12-14 through 12-17 in the Owner's Manual, the section called "Using Equations to Display Messages". In brief, the idea is to press shift EQN to start entering an "equation" into the program, with the understanding that your "equation" will not be mathematically valid at all, but that's ok, because you will be using it simply as a message, and not evaluating it. To type letters, just press RCL then the desired letter. If flag 10 is set, equations are displayed instead of being evaluated. More info in the manual. Voila... messages!

[J-F Garnier]

(02-08-2022 11:28 PM)Socks Wrote:  Anyway, when the calculator was delivered to my brother, pressing a very few keys called up the message:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERETT MAY YOUR HOUSE BE SAFE FROM
COCKROACHES AND POLITICIANS"

Unlike the 41C, the 32SII messages longer than 12 char are not automatically scrolled left.
So the message must be split into 12-char max parts with a PSE instruction just after each but the last one, to get a nice message effect:

01 LBL M
02 SF 10
03 HAPPY
04 PSE
05 BIRTHDAY
06 PSE
07 EVERETT
08 PSE
09 MAY YOUR
10 PSE
11 HOUSE BE
12 PSE
13 SAFE FROM
14 PSE
15 COCKROACHES
16 PSE
17 AND
18 PSE
19 POLITICIANS
20 RTN

Text lines entered in EQN mode using the method Joe indicated above. Space is keyed in with the R/S key.

We can also key a few lower case characters: b i m n r and the + - x ( ) = ^ signs.
It's not possible to key in the "." sign within text (or is it? I didn't succeed).

J-F

[Socks]

Gentlemen:

Thank you! And let me apologize for a very tardy response...have been in 'Internet-deprived' areas, plus 'distracted' by the red-tape-like details that life gives us all. Your suggestions showed the way to a much improved version of what was originally done!

There was an interesting 'quirk' in behavior of my calculator (back molding indicates Singapore and 1987), possibly due to version of 'firmware.' When initially entering the program, a number of 'steps' would not 'show up' in the listing (like PSE, RTN, etc.), but, upon 'going back' and 'editing' they worked seemingly flawlessly.

So, again, thank you very much. Knowledgeable people like yourselves taking the time and trouble to answer a query like mine, makes this website a valuable resource indeed.

Best regards,
Jim Hartsock
jsocks@siu.edu

[J-F Garnier]

(02-12-2022 07:45 PM)Socks Wrote:  There was an interesting 'quirk' in behavior of my calculator (back molding indicates Singapore and 1987), possibly due to version of 'firmware.' When initially entering the program, a number of 'steps' would not 'show up' in the listing (like PSE, RTN, etc.), but, upon 'going back' and 'editing' they worked seemingly flawlessly.

Can you give more details if you remember or still have access to this machine (does your brother still own it?).
We don't know such behavior on any known firmware version.

J-F