Touch RPN version 7.20

In the next few weeks, the Touch RPN app will be updated to version 7.20 for both supported platforms: iOS and Android. The Web version has received updates as well.

Mobile version

The Settings pane gets two new items: ON key label style, and top band size.

Figure 1: Settings pane section with the two new knobs.

The style of ON key label can be either of: menu icon (known as "hamburger icon", the default) and the traditional ON label like a physical calculator.

This feature was requested by some users that like better the traditional look.

The top band size is a slider that regulates the space partition between the LCD and the keyboard. By default the slider is at maximum value, that corresponds to the visual proportion of a physical calculator. This configuration is only relevant for the landscape (horizontal) orientation.

This feature helps to increase the app's accessibility in smartphones with smaller and slender screens. Reducing the top band increases the keyboard area, making it more comfortable to type on.

Web version

On top of the improvements to the calculator proper, the Web version got a couple features of its own.

a) In the RPN program editor, when a program line is inserted or deleted, the GTO instructions are automatically adjusted throughout the program.

This is relelevant for the flavors where GTO jumps to absolute positions: financial, advanced financial, and scientific basic. This change does not affect the scientific flavor since GTO jumps to LBL labels in this one.

b) The keyboard shortcuts are now overlaid on the calculator itself. Press the button "Keyboard shortcuts" to toggle the shortcuts.

Figure 2: Keyboard shortcuts being shown after the indicated button has been pressed.

This feature works the same for all RPN flavors made available in the Web.

RPN behavior improvements

All flavors have received improvements to better align their behavior to physical RPN calculators. These changes have no impact in normal/casual operation of the calculator, but they might be important for users that write more elaborate programs.

In scientific flavors, the stack lift should be reactivated when a subroutine is called (via GSB or USER key). They are different of financial flavors in this regard.
In financial flavor, the CLEAR REG command should also reset the program counter.
In Advanced Scientific flavor, the flag 9 (overflow) should be edge-triggered. The display should blink only in interactive mode.
In the same flavor, the instructions DIM (i) and RCL DIM (i) should be programmable even though they do nothing. (They do nothing because the app does not have the stringent memory limitations of a physical calculator.)
In the same flavor, the maximum program size was increased to 750, so it can fit programs made for any other known variant or clone of the HP-15C or DM-15C.
The key ON/menu should open the Settings pane even when the calculator is in programming mode.
In financial flavors, as well as Scientific and Scientific Basic, overflow should be treated as an error and stop program execution. (In flavors Scientific Advanced and Computer Programmer, overflow just sets a flag.)
In power operations like Y^x, a result too big should report as overflow, not as Error 0.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank C. Nunes and F. Vincent for their bug reports and improvement requests that motivated many of the abovementioned changes and new features of the app.