My dream DM42 display layout

Discussion around the SwissMicros DM42 calculator
toml_12953
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by toml_12953 »

Hans S. wrote:
Thu Jan 04, 2018 10:29 pm
Guenter wrote:
Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:18 am
-1
+1 to this (in that case -1 +1 would not equal 0). I hope this is clear: one plus on Günter. ("If the one guy to the other guy..." and so on)

But: I could do the same on my house, my car, my dog, and my wife. My wife just would answer as following: Then you should go and buy another one. So your handheld could answer: then go and buy another one.
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tycho
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by tycho »

@Bob, thanks for the photo. I had no idea! And I see why you held this back.

@Hans, I am not offended by anyone here, rather the opposite - it's a good discussion. I don't think I am trying to change a well proven tech here. We are not discussing the functionality of the calc, but rather how it presents the results using its new screen. HP42S utilized every pixel almost to its fullest potential - not so with the DM42, yet.

@RAPo, this also occurred to me during the discussion. To implement this, the code is in the driver/os part I believe, not in Free42 code. However I think it should be fairly easy for SwissMicros to implement it if done right, so I'll try to outline how it may be done.

But before I go on, SwissMicros implemented a new feature: Dynamic menus, which pushes the displayed stack numbers up/down on the screen dynamically. Let's keep that aside for the moment, because it is not an important feature as I see it.

So sticking to a static display layout, DM42 already has user settings for font, font size, stack layout etc. As RAPo suggested, a config file should be loaded from a folder in the user memory area, similar to the OFFIMG bmp which is loaded when pressing the off key. SwissMicros probably already has an easy-to-change way to layout the screen, because in beta it had two fonts, two font sizes and a thick separator line. All they need to do is apply the info from the config file.

I would suggest being able to specify a monochrome bitmap font rather than a general vector font because of the limited screen resolution and no anti-aliasing. It has many advantages such as hand-optimized font for the fixed resolution, no need for a font-render package, light-weight, etc.

The following is a modified version of RAPo's config file. With this you could specify basically everything discussed, using a custom backdrop bitmap to show lines and specify menu appearance:

Code: Select all

<display>
	<name>My perfect layout</name>
	<statusbar>
		<statusitem>
		</statusitem>
		...
	</statusbar>
	<backdrop image="myperfectlayout.bmp"/>
	<bitmapfont id="smallfont" file="mysmallfont.pcf"/>
	<bitmapfont id="normalfont" file="myfont.pcf"/>
	<bitmapfont id="menufont" file="mymenufont.pcf"/>
	<annunciator id="downup" xleft="4" ytop="90" xsize="15" ysize="10"/>
	<annunciator id="shift" xleft="20" ytop="90" xsize="15" ysize="10"/>
	<annunciator id="grad" xleft="30" ytop="90" xsize="15" ysize="10"/>	
	<annunciator id="rad" xleft="26" ytop="90" xsize="15" ysize="10"/>
	<stack id="X" xleft="4" ytop="50" font="normalfont"/>
	<stack id="Y" xleft="4" ytop="80" font="normalfont"/>
	<stack id="Z" xleft="3" ytop="100" font="smallfont"/>
	<stack id="L" xleft="3" ytop="120" font="smallfont"/>
	<menu invert="1" font="menufont">
		<menuitem id="1" xcenter="33" ycenter="130"/>
		<menuitem id="2" xcenter="99" ycenter="130"/>
		<menuitem id="3" xcenter="165" ycenter="130"/>
		<menuitem id="4" xcenter="231" ycenter="130"/>
		<menuitem id="5" xcenter="297" ycenter="130"/>
		<menuitem id="6" xcenter="363" ycenter="130"/>
	</menu>
</display>
/edit: This would also allow internationalization if we could specify the text for each menu item in the config. The text would be displayed with the bitmap font specified.
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by RAPo »

Thanks.
We should also add justification (left/center/right) for each display item.
Furthermore if we could generalize the items, not only stack but also memory / flag.
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by tycho »

We should also add justification (left/center/right) for each display item.
Furthermore if we could generalize the items, not only stack but also memory / flag.
True. It would be nice then with one or two extra pages with custom layout to switch between!

I know, many will say this is for the DM43, but remember that the DM42 is already very different from the HP42S when it comes to display layout: multiple fonts, font sizes, stack layout, left/right alignment, lines between stack elements (not very useful, though), etc. This is merely a proposal for a better/more flexible firmware implementation of it, not really adding so much new.
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by Hans S. »

tycho wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 6:18 pm
I know, many will say this is for the DM43, but remember that the DM42 is already very different from the HP42S when it comes to display layout
Tycho,

first I would say thank you very much for beeing so big-hearted and not feeling offended. Your statement cited above brings the whole thing up to the very point; it is a rather philosophical question about "what is the DM-42, what could she (remember, ships and calculators...) be and what should she be?". Is she/should she be a pure remake of the original or something pointing from tradition to future?

I am not so shure about this as I was when I wrote my first post. The reluctant, conservative part of mine is opting for a DM-42 as closely to the original as possible. But I would like to see a, or "THE", DM-43 as soon as possible.

HAND

Hans
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by Walter »

tycho wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 6:18 pm
True. It would be nice then with one or two extra pages with custom layout to switch between!

I know, many will say this is for the DM43, but remember that the DM42 is already very different from the HP42S when it comes to display layout: multiple fonts, font sizes, stack layout, left/right alignment, lines between stack elements (not very useful, though), etc. This is merely a proposal for a better/more flexible firmware implementation of it, not really adding so much new.
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by Hans S. »

Walter wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 6:41 pm
@Hans: The DM42 might be quite personal, but it's not yet "she".
Walter,
For shure, she is. Ships always are feminine (at least in German as in English, also in French) - the grammatical gender is NOT identical to the biological gender (this could be discussed concerning the english language). So the "*"-people don't understand their own language.

The "Charles De Gaulle" is a she, the "Ronald Reagan" is a she, the "Shangri-La" was a she, and even the "Bismarck" was a she. "When dogs run free, why couldn't we?" (Dylan). So I have to insist that calculators are "shes". If this could not persuade you: Please have a look over the border to our gifted friends and neigbours* in France: calculators are called "calculatrices" - and this should be a prove by itself (not herself, ha ha); the heirs of Descartes (mostly) are right.

Hans
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by Olaf »

May I object that we french actually use "un navire" "un bateau" "un porte-avions" which is a solid "he" :-). But we also have "une embarcation", a more generic term, which is in turn is a "she".
All those variant for basically a boat, with both genders "fully supported".
Our language is lovely but is complex enough to become a complete nightmare to learn ;-)
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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by salvomic »

Hans S. wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 7:11 pm
... in France: calculators are called "calculatrices" - and this should be a prove by itself (not herself, ha ha); the heirs of Descartes (mostly) are right.

...
also in Italian: la Calcolatrice (feminine; il Calcolatore is another name for "computer") and also in Spanish: la Calculadora is the calculator... :)

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Re: My dream DM42 display layout

Post by Hans S. »

Olaf,
You are right, I forgot about "Le bateau ivre". But I imagined "L'Atalante", by Jean Vigo, as one of the greatest movies ever - and Atalante is, yes? So, forgive me to have tried spoiling your language.
Our language is lovely but is complex enough to become a complete nightmare to learn
I disagree. Let's say, there are two major languages to learn, English and French. English _may_ be at a first glance look as easy as it might be (that, btw, brought pidgin-english (like mine) up). But (BUT!) if you advance deeper and deeper, English becomes more and more complicated, due to its (not hers) germanic roots. In the end, there are no more rules, just exceptions to learn.
French works the other way round. At a first glance, it (not she) may look very complicated. But the deeper you advance, the pure logic of the language appears. Once mastered its (not hers) rules, it (not she) becomes as clear as a new morning.

Hans
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