DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Discussion around the SwissMicros DM42 calculator
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yuca
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DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by yuca »

I miss the "User mode" of the HP 41 on the HP 42S / DM42.

I am referring to the possibility of assigning a program to any key on the calculator and so have a full customized keyboard.

I think that the custom menu feature is a poor substitute. Any possibility that it can be implemented?
Thomas Okken
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Re: DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by Thomas Okken »

HP-41-style USER mode is on my list of "low priority, not sure if I'll even do them or not" items.

In Free42, you can customize the keyboard using custom skins. Of course this is less flexible than true USER mode, and it doesn't help if you're using the DM42.
pjh
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Re: DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by pjh »

I miss User Mode too. It's been a fundamental part of my "workflow" since my first HP41.

Free42/DM42 is in many ways a huge step forward from the '41, but the '41 is currently the most effective tool for many of the jobs I deal with on a daily basis. User Mode, and especially the ability to re-assign keys from within a program using PASN, is the reason I still use my DM41x for work, while the DM42 gathers dust.

This isn't just nostalgia, or a reluctance to spend time adapting '41 programs to run on DM42/Free42. The number of keystrokes needed to achieve a task is an objective measure of the efficiency of a UI, and I can find no way to work as quickly and efficiently on the '42. I'll keep trying, though...
Dave Britten
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Re: DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by Dave Britten »

User mode would be very nice to have, though there is of course the question of how it would be activated on the DM42 keyboard, since it obviously can't be rearranged to accommodate an extra key. Maybe the F3 key when there is no menu open? That's the only thing I see that currently isn't mapped to any function. And it would be great if it had the 1USR mode like the 48, where only the next keystroke is taken from the user definitions. Maybe press the key once for 1USR, then again to lock in USR mode until it's pressed a third time to deactivate.
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akaTB
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Re: DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by akaTB »

Dave Britten wrote:
Mon May 10, 2021 2:50 pm
User mode would be very nice to have, though there is of course the question of how it would be activated on the DM42 keyboard, since it obviously can't be rearranged to accommodate an extra key. Maybe the F3 key when there is no menu open? That's the only thing I see that currently isn't mapped to any function. And it would be great if it had the 1USR mode like the 48, where only the next keystroke is taken from the user definitions. Maybe press the key once for 1USR, then again to lock in USR mode until it's pressed a third time to deactivate.
And a fourth time to deactivate it only for the next keystroke... :lol:
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Peet
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Re: DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by Peet »

With the CUSTOM menus, the 42 has a similarly powerful, in some points even better system for quick access to task-related key assignments. You can use it to configure special hot keys for each area of application. Personally, I can't imagine any practical application in which the CST functions of the 42 would not be sufficient.
My programmable calculators - former: CBM PR100, HP41CV, HP28S, HP11C - current: HP48G(256kB), HP35S, Prime, DM41X, DM42
pjh
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Re: DM42/Free 42 feature request: "User mode"

Post by pjh »

Dave Britten wrote:
Mon May 10, 2021 2:50 pm
User mode would be very nice to have, though there is of course the question of how it would be activated on the DM42 keyboard
Long press of the shift (yellow) key?
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