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thomasokken / free42

Free42 : An HP-42S Calculator Simulator
https://thomasokken.com/free42/
GNU General Public License v2.0
287 stars 55 forks source link

Complex number mode indicator #57

Closed sbridger closed 1 year ago

sbridger commented 1 year ago

I am using complex numbers a lot at the moment. You must know if you are in polar or rectangular before you enter a complex number. When you are going back and forth, this is a constant problem: either you enter the number and the mode is wrong or you have to check the mode before entering a new number.

There should be an indicator showing the current mode on the top status line. This would be a big help

(this could be either the word rect/polar or if a smaller symbol is preferred, i/[anglesymbol] )

thomasokken commented 1 year ago

I am adding a polar indicator in the next Plus42 release. It will be shown in the header line. Adding an annunciator is a different story. There are more than 100 skins already, and a new annunciator would have to be added to every one. That's a non-starter as far as I'm concerned.

sbridger commented 1 year ago

Do you know if there is a (programmatic) way to turn on the BEEP annunciator? (I have never used G-rad, print or beep in 35 years, and I can do this on my real '42)

An interim solution would be to add a preference "Use Beep Annunciator for Polar mode" The beep annunciator is not actually displayed on any of my free42s: linux,win,android.
As it is only transitory on an actual '42 anyway, it would be the best one to repurpose.

I would still suggest adding Annunciator 8 & 9 for polar and rectangular modes when you do plus42 I would be happy to edit some skins to add two new annunciators. It is no issue if a skin doesn't have them, as that's the status quo anyway, no one will notice.

sbridger commented 1 year ago

As I was editing a couple of skins I use, I added Annunciators 8,9 in case you want to add... http://i2cchip.com/free42/skins/

and a new annunciator would have to be added to every one. That's a non-starter as far as I'm concerned.

I did test removing annunciator lines from the layout, and currently Free42 is quite happy with missing annunciator lines, and it doesn't mind the extra new lines. This would be a change that does not require any changes to existing skins unless people want to change them.