Table of contents
xcalc - scientific calculator for X
xcalc [ -stipple ] [ -rpn ] [ -toolkitoption ... ]
xcalc -version
xcalc -help
xcalc is a scientific calculator desktop accessory that can emulate a TI-30 or an HP-10C.
xcalc accepts all of the standard toolkit command line options along with these additional options:
- -stipple
- This option indicates that the background of the calculator
should be drawn using a stipple of the foreground and background colours.
On monochrome displays improves the appearance.
- -rpn
- This option indicates that Reverse Polish Notation should be used. In this mode the calculator
will look and behave like an HP-10C. Without this flag, it will emulate
a TI-30.
- -help
- This option indicates that xcalc should print its usage message and exit.
- -version
- This option indicates that xcalc should print its version and exit.
Pointer Usage: Operations may be performed with pointer
button 1, or in some cases, with the keyboard. Many common calculator
operations have keyboard accelerators. To quit, press pointer button 3 on
the AC key of the TI calculator, or the ON key of the HP calculator.
Calculator Key Usage (TI mode): The numbered keys, the +/- key, and the +, -, *, /,
and = keys all do exactly what you would expect them to. It should be
noted that the operators obey the standard rules of precedence. Thus, entering
"3+4*5=" results in "23", not "35". The parentheses can be used to override
this. For example, "(1+2+3)*(4+5+6)=" results in "6*15=90".
The entire number in the calculator display can be selected, in order to paste the result of a calculation into text.
The action procedures associated with each function are given below. These are useful if you are interested in
defining a custom calculator. The action used for all digit keys is digit(n),
where n is the corresponding digit, 0..9.
- 1/x
- Replaces the number in the display with its reciprocal. The corresponding action procedure is reciprocal().
- x^2
- Squares the number in the display. The corresponding action procedure is square().
- SQRT
- Takes the square root of the number in the display. The corresponding action procedure is squareRoot().
- CE/C
- When pressed once, clears the number in the display without clearing the state of the machine.
Allows you to re-enter a number if you make a mistake. Pressing it twice
clears the state, also. The corresponding action procedure for TI mode is clear().
- AC
- Clears the display, the state, and the memory. Pressing it with
the third pointer button turns off the calculator, in that it exits the
program. The action procedure to clear the state is off(); to quit, quit().
- INV
- Invert function. See the individual function keys for details. The corresponding action procedure is inverse().
- sin
- Computes the sine of the number in the display, as interpreted by the current DRG mode (see DRG, below). If inverted,
it computes the arcsine. The corresponding action procedure is sine().
- cos
- Computes the cosine, or arccosine when inverted. The corresponding action procedure is cosine().
- tan
- Computes the tangent, or arctangent when inverted. The corresponding action procedure is tangent().
- DRG
- Changes the DRG mode, as indicated by ’DEG’, ’RAD’, or ’GRAD’ at the bottom of the calculator ‘‘liquid
crystal’’ display. When in ’DEG’ mode, numbers in the display are taken as being
degrees. In ’RAD’ mode, numbers are in radians, and in ’GRAD’ mode, numbers
are in grads. When inverted, the DRG key has a feature of converting degrees
to radians to grads and vice-versa. Example: put the calculator into ’DEG’
mode, and enter "45 INV DRG". The display should now show something along
the lines of ".785398", which is 45 degrees converted to radians. The corresponding
action procedure is degree().
- e
- The constant ’e’. (2.7182818...). The corresponding action procedure is e().
- EE
- Used for entering exponential numbers. For example, to get "-2.3E-4" you’d enter "2 . 3 +/- EE 4 +/-". The corresponding action procedure is scientific().
- log
- Calculates the log (base 10) of the number in the display.
When inverted, it raises "10.0" to the number in the display. For example,
entering "3 INV log" should result in "1000". The corresponding action procedure
is logarithm().
- ln
- Calculates the log (base e) of the number in the display.
When inverted, it raises "e" to the number in the display. For example,
entering "e ln" should result in "1". The corresponding action procedure
is naturalLog().
- y^x
- Raises the number on the left to the power of the number
on the right. For example "2 y^x 3 =" results in "8", which is 2^3. For
a further example, "(1+2+3) y^x (1+2) =" equals "6 y^x 3" which equals "216".
The corresponding action procedure is power().
- not
- Performs a bitwise not.
The corresponding action procedure is not().
- and
- Performs a bitwise and.
The corresponding action procedure is and().
- or
- Performs a bitwise or.
The corresponding action procedure is or().
- xor
- Performs a bitwise exclusive or.
The corresponding action procedure is xor().
- trunc
- Truncates the number in the display to an integer.
The corresponding action procedure is trunc().
- PI
- The constant ’pi’. (3.1415927....) The corresponding action procedure is pi().
- x!
- Computes the factorial of the number in the display. The number in the display must be an integer
in the range 0-500, though, depending on your math library, it might overflow
long before that. The corresponding action procedure is factorial().
- (
- Left parenthesis. The corresponding action procedure for TI calculators is leftParen().
- )
- Right parenthesis. The corresponding action procedure for TI calculators is rightParen().
- base
- Changes the number base, as indicated by 'DEC', 'HEX, or 'OCT' at the bottom
of the calculator display.
When in 'DEC' mode, numbers in the display are taken as being decimal
(base 10). In 'HEX' mode, numbers are in hexadecimal (base 16), and in 'OCT'
mode, numbers are in octal (base 8).
The corresponding action procedure is base().
- shl
- Performs an arithmetic bitwise shift left, For example, entering "1 shl 2"
should result in "4".
The corresponding action procedure is shl().
- shr
- Performs an arithmetic bitwise shift right, For example, entering "8 shr 1"
should result in "4".
The corresponding action procedure is shr().
- mod
- Performs the modulo operation, which calculates the remainder when dividing
the first number by the second. For example, entering "14 mod 8" should
result in "6".
The corresponding action procedure is mod().
- /
- Division. The corresponding action procedure is divide().
- *
- Multiplication. The corresponding action procedure is multiply().
- -
- Subtraction. The corresponding action procedure is subtract().
- +
- Addition. The corresponding action procedure is add().
- =
- Perform calculation. The TI-specific action procedure is equal().
- STO
- Copies the number in the display to the memory location. The corresponding action procedure is store().
- RCL
- Copies the number from the memory location to the display. The corresponding action procedure is recall().
- SUM
- Adds the number in the display to the number in the memory location. The corresponding action procedure is sum().
- EXC
- Swaps the number in the display with the number in the memory location. The corresponding
action procedure for the TI calculator is exchange().
- +/-
- Negate; change sign. The corresponding action procedure is negate().
- .
- Decimal point. The action procedure is decimal().
Calculator Key Usage (RPN mode): The number
keys, CHS (change sign), +, -, *, /, and ENTR keys all do exactly what
you would expect them to do. Many of the remaining keys are the same as
in TI mode. The differences are detailed below. The action procedure for
the ENTR key is enter().
- <-
- This is a backspace key that can be used if you
make a mistake while entering a number. It will erase digits from the display.
(See BUGS). Inverse backspace will clear the X register. The corresponding
action procedure is back().
- ON
- Clears the display, the state, and the memory.
Pressing it with the third pointer button turns off the calculator, in
that it exits the program. To clear state, the action procedure is off;
to quit, quit().
- INV
- Inverts the meaning of the function keys. This would
be the f key on an HP calculator, but xcalc does not display multiple
legends on each key. See the individual function keys for details.
- 10^x
- Raises "10.0" to the number in the top of the stack. When inverted, it calculates
the log (base 10) of the number in the display. The corresponding action
procedure is tenpower().
- e^x
- Raises "e" to the number in the top of the stack.
When inverted, it calculates the log (base e) of the number in the display.
The action procedure is epower().
- STO
- Copies the number in the top of the stack to a memory location. There are 10 memory locations. The desired
memory is specified by following this key with a digit key.
- RCL
- Pushes the number from the specified memory location onto the stack.
- SUM
- Adds the number on top of the stack to the number in the specified memory location.
- x:y
- Exchanges the numbers in the top two stack positions, the X and Y registers.
The corresponding action procedure is XexchangeY().
- R v
- Rolls the stack downward. When inverted, it rolls the stack upward. The corresponding action
procedure is roll().
- blank
- These keys were used for programming functions on the HP-10C. Their functionality has not been duplicated in xcalc.
Finally, there are two additional action procedures: bell(), which rings the bell;
and selection(), which performs a cut on the entire number in the calculator’s
‘‘liquid crystal’’ display.
Accelerators are shortcuts for entering commands. xcalc provides some sample keyboard accelerators; also users
can customize accelerators. The numeric keypad accelerators provided by
xcalc should be intuitively correct. The accelerators defined by xcalc on
the main keyboard are given below:
TI Key |
HP Key |
Keyboard Accelerator |
TI Function |
HP Function |
|
SQRT |
SQRT |
r |
squareRoot( ) |
squareRoot( ) |
AC |
ON |
space |
clear( ) |
clear( ) |
AC |
<- |
Delete |
clear( ) |
back( ) |
AC |
<- |
Backspace |
clear( ) |
back( ) |
AC |
<- |
Control-H |
clear( ) |
back( ) |
AC |
|
Clear |
clear( ) |
|
AC |
ON |
q |
quit( ) |
quit( ) |
AC |
ON |
Control-C |
quit( ) |
quit( ) |
INV |
i |
i |
inverse( ) |
inverse( ) |
sin |
s |
s |
sine( ) |
sine( ) |
cos |
c |
c |
cosine( ) |
cosine( ) |
tan |
t |
t |
tangent( ) |
tangent( ) |
DRG |
DRG |
d |
degree( ) |
degree( ) |
e |
|
e |
e( ) |
|
ln |
ln |
l |
naturalLog( ) |
naturalLog( ) |
y^x |
y^x |
^ |
power( ) |
power( ) |
PI |
PI |
p |
pi( ) |
pi( ) |
x! |
x! |
! |
factorial( ) |
factorial( ) |
( |
|
( |
leftParen( ) |
|
) |
|
) |
rightParen( ) |
|
/ |
/ |
/ |
divide( ) |
divide( ) |
* |
* |
* |
multiply( ) |
multiply( ) |
- |
- |
- |
subtract( ) |
subtract( ) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
add( ) |
add( ) |
= |
|
= |
equal( ) |
|
0..9 |
0..9 |
0..9 |
digit( ) |
digit( ) |
. |
. |
. |
decimal( ) |
decimal( ) |
+ /- |
CHS |
n |
negate( ) |
negate( ) |
|
x:y |
x |
|
XexchangeY( ) |
|
ENTR |
Return |
|
enter( ) |
|
ENTR |
Linefeed |
|
enter( ) |
The application class name is XCalc.
xcalc has an enormous application defaults file which specifies the position, label, and function
of each key on the calculator. It also gives translations to serve as keyboard
accelerators. Because these resources are not specified in the source code,
you can create a customized calculator by writing a private application
defaults file, using the Athena Command and Form widget resources to specify
the size and position of buttons, the label for each button, and the function
of each button.
The foreground and background colours of each calculator
key can be individually specified. For the TI calculator, a classical colour
resource specification might be:
XCalc.ti.Command.background: gray50
XCalc.ti.Command.foreground: white
For each of buttons 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40, specify:
XCalc.ti.button20.background: black
XCalc.ti.button20.foreground: white
For each of buttons 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, and 39:
XCalc.ti.button22.background: white
XCalc.ti.button22.foreground: black
In order to specify resources, it is useful to know the hierarchy of the widgets which compose xcalc.
In the notation below, indentation indicates hierarchical structure. The
widget class name is given first, followed by the widget instance name.
XCalc xcalc
Form ti or hp (the name depends on the mode)
Form bevel
Form screen
Label M
Toggle LCD
Label INV
Label DEG
Label RAD
Label GRAD
Label P
Command button1
Command button2
Command button3
and so on, ...
Command button38
Command button39
Command button40
- rpn (Class Rpn)
- Specifies that the rpn mode should be used. The default is TI mode.
- stipple (Class Stipple)
- Indicates that the background should be stippled. The default is ‘‘on’’ for monochrome displays,
and ‘‘off’’ for colour displays.
- cursor (Class Cursor)
- The name of the symbol used to represent the pointer. The default is ‘‘hand2’’.
If you would like xcalc to use its TI colours, include the following in the #ifdef COLOR
section of the file you read with xrdb:
*customization: -color
This will cause xcalc to pick up the colours in the app-defaults colour customization file: app-defaults/XCalc-color.
xrdb, the Athena Widget Set
HP mode is not completely debugged. In particular, the stack is not handled properly after errors.
John Bradley, University of Pennsylvania
Mark Rosenstein, MIT Project Athena
Donna Converse, MIT X Consortium
Table of contents
The Xming website, documentation and images are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
Copyright © 2005-2024 Colin Harrison All Rights Reserved