Re: Notepad > Emu48 > Calculator

On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:59:35 -0500, elly wrote:

can you give me a simple work flow on coding in your notepad,
testing on the emulator then transferring then on the calculator
via SD or cable.

Assuming you were asking me (or excuse my butting in if not :)

Well, you found that simple 'IN' program, from a post?
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.hp48/msg/4e7ed90b3cf11c42

The very first program (two lines) had to be manually created
on the calculator (or emulated calculator) itself;
once that is on board, everything else in UserRPL
(expressed in universal 7-bit characters that are all found
on everyone's computer keyboard) can be imported from a text file,
including the all the remaining programs in that post.

Everything that I post is in fact created and tested the same way.

First I type on my computer -- it doesn't matter whether in Notepad,
or my email composer, or my Newsgroup reader (from which I submit posts
directly), because text can be "copied" to clipboard from any window at all,
and then "pasted" to the Emu48 stack via "Edit" > "Paste stack";
ready to be run on the calc by just typing this command: IN

Since I post (or type) the commands for storing things as well
(e.g. \<< program \>> 'P123' STO), then 'IN' runs all that, too,
stores the programs, etc., so what's posted has been completely run
on Emu48 first, and tends to work again on real calcs when tried at home :)

If you save the entire part of a post which is intended to be
run on the calculator, and transfer that file via cable to the calculator,
the "Conn4x" transfer software tends to run it immediately on the
calculator as well, so it installs directly on the calculator, the same way.

If instead the file is carried to the calc on an SD card,
then just recall it to the stack and type the command: IN
on the calculator, the same as on Emu48, and the same thing occurs.

Conn4x should actually *not* execute command files that way, but it does;
if they ever correct that, and simply store the transferred file
into a calc variable and leave it unexecuted, then just execute
the original file that gets saved on the calculator (press its key -- done!)

There are, as you know, various development environments (HPuseredit, Debug4x)
which have their own composers, auto-completion, built-in syntax help, etc.

What I'm describing here is at the opposite end of the spectrum -- just simply
typing plain text, using no "helper" application, and then just running it
on the calculator, about the same as a feature of Conn4x (View > Calc command)
where you can just type commands for the calculator to run, and they get sent
to the calculator and run, as if you had typed them directly on the calculator.

So my approach is useful when you know what to compose,
and do not need any "outside" help (although you can always
open your PDF manuals in another computer window and read them on the side,
or use your emulated calculator's CATalog, built-in CAS help, or any
additional on-board libraries already in the calculator or in Emu48, etc.)

One little thing which you also need to know in advance is the set of
7-bit substitutes for 8-bit calculator symbols, such as \<< \>>
for program delimters, etc. The "rosetta stone" for all this,
which once was included right in the HP48 series user manual,
was also posted numerous times, such as in
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.hp48/msg/52e9cc3ee2b369b8

I don't always remember every one of those myself, of course,
but when I forget, I just ask an expert, namely the calc itself (or Emu48),
on which I type the actual character or command (in quotes or in a list),
then the command: OUT [that's the opposite of IN], and lo, the calc tells me!

So what can we summarize:

Creating and testing on Emu48:
Any text window > copy text > paste to Emu48 > run using: IN
Any text file > drag and drop onto Emu48 > run using: IN

Transferring to calc:
Any text file > send to calc using Conn4x > any commands execute automatically
Any text file > carry to calc on SD card > RCL to stack > run using: IN

Transferring any object from computer to calc:
Any object in Emu48 > RCL to stack > "Save object" to binary file on computer
Any binary file on computer > send to calc via Conn4x, or via SD card

Transferring any object from calc to computer:
Any object in calc > copy to computer on SD card, or via Conn4x (ascii or binary)
Any file copied from calc to computer > drag and drop onto Emu48, or "Load object"

To get 7-bit ascii "source" files for any "user" objects in Emu48:
Emu48 object > RCL to stack > OUT > "Edit," "Copy Stack," paste into any window

All binary "string object" files saved from calculator or Emu48 are also editable,
after deleting the 13-character "binary file" prefix: HPHP49-Xyyyyy
[or just visually delete what obviously doesn't belong at the very beginning]

What about the "%%HP: T(3)A(D)F(.);" stuff:
o It's never required (set Conn4x options: Translate #3, check the next two boxes)
o The advanced IN/INX programs automatically digest these headers anyway.
o Use OUTX instead of OUT to include a header, whenever desired.

How come Emu48 won't let me paste the string I want?
o Is it all digits, or anything that can be interpreted as an integer or real?
There used to be no exceptions, but now Emu48 *presumes* that any such "syntax"
is intended to be automatically compiled, and the result may even depend
on the current Exact/Approx mode; the only way to stop Emu48 from doing this
is to insert a space, say, at the beginning or end of such a string.

An example of this problem is when you've converted an object to a hex string
(e.g. via \->H or S\->H); if the string happens to be all digits (no A-F),
you can not paste that back into Emu48, and any space inserted to get around
this obstacle will mess up any calc command to restore the original object.

<rant_mode>Software of all kinds gets into this kind of bind when it starts
to be "cute and tricky," intending to be helpful, but unintentionally
introducing unanticipated glitches and consequences</rant_mode>

But Emu48 is a magnificent tool, without which no first- or second-generation HP49G+
(like mine) would survive, because its keyboard would otherwise have completely
disintegrated by now, if it actually had to be used all the time :)

So I owe many thanks to Sebastien Carlier (originator)
and Christoph Giesselink (all subsequent development/improvement),
and I never leave HOME without it :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Express#Credit_card_advertising

[r->] [OFF]
.

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