Rediscovering the HP50g after many years ...

[JohnStr]

Just brought the HP50g out the storage drawer. Would like to ask this fairly fundamental question ...

I have a HP48 program stored on the SD card in text format with this first line -

"%%HP: T(3)A(D) ...

How do I run the program?

Lost my knowledge of this in the mists of time and trying to avoid trawling through the documentation!

Thanks, John S

[Joe Horn]

That "%%HP" line is only there to tell the HP50g that it's arriving (usually via cable) in ASCII format. The T(3) means that the "Translate I/O" mode is 3, and the A(D) means that the angle mode is Degrees. You can pretty much ignore that line.

I would suggest putting the program (in string form) on the stack, then deleting everything before the first \<<, and then using the resulting string as input to this program:

« 3 TRANSIO #2F34Dh SYSEVAL DROP OBJ→ »

This should convert the string into the original program object. Good luck!

[JohnStr]

(02-28-2022 04:48 AM)Joe Horn Wrote:  That "%%HP" line is only there to tell the HP50g that it's arriving (usually via cable) in ASCII format. The T(3) means that the "Translate I/O" mode is 3, and the A(D) means that the angle mode is Degrees. You can pretty much ignore that line.

I would suggest putting the program (in string form) on the stack, then deleting everything before the first \<<, and then using the resulting string as input to this program:

« 3 TRANSIO #2F34Dh SYSEVAL DROP OBJ→ »

This should convert the string into the original program object. Good luck!

Hi Joe,

Many thanks for the above solution to my problem. Your program above converted my program string which ran OK when I saved it to a variable.

I now have the HP48g-50g Connectivity Kit installed on the PC and able to transfer my program across onto the 50g. However, when I edit the program on the calc decimal points seem to have been added to the integers in the listing?? Strange ...

See attached image.

John S.

[John Keith]

I don't see an image, but the decimal points are there because the 50g is in approximate mode. The 50g also has an exact mode which uses exact arbitrary-precision integers and rational numbers. The decimal points tell you that the number is approximate, whereas exact integers have no decimal point.

If you enter or edit a program in approximate mode, all integers are converted to approximate. If this is undesirable, hold down right-shift and press ENTER. This action switches between modes. Note that changing to exact mode does not remove the decimal points- you have to edit them out if they are unwanted.

Approximate numbers are identical to standard (floating-point) numbers from the HP48 series. Calculations are usually faster with approximate numbers than with exact integers but are limited to 12 digits.

[JohnStr]

(02-28-2022 08:18 PM)John Keith Wrote:  I don't see an image, but the decimal points are there because the 50g is in approximate mode. The 50g also has an exact mode which uses exact arbitrary-precision integers and rational numbers. The decimal points tell you that the number is approximate, whereas exact integers have no decimal point.

If you enter or edit a program in approximate mode, all integers are converted to approximate. If this is undesirable, hold down right-shift and press ENTER. This action switches between modes. Note that changing to exact mode does not remove the decimal points- you have to edit them out if they are unwanted.

Approximate numbers are identical to standard (floating-point) numbers from the HP48 series. Calculations are usually faster with approximate numbers than with exact integers but are limited to 12 digits.

Hi John, Many thanks for explaining the differences in representation of 'approximate' versus 'exact' integers. (I've now attached the 50g image file above.) I changed Flag 105 to 'Exact mode on' and re-transferred the program onto the 50g, the integers in the program listing no longer include decimal points. Problem resolved!