WP43 News

This area is for discussion about these families of custom high-end Scientific Calculator applications for SwissMicros devices.
Linus_Sch
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 9:33 am

Re: 43S News

Post by Linus_Sch »

Walter wrote:
Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:07 pm
I think underlining is a clear way of distinguishing menus from the rest; it doesn't cost an extra colour. Feel free to suggest a different solution, please.
I agree that underlining is a clear, and fairly clean, way of distinguishing the menus - and I agree that distinguishing the menus is worthwhile. The darkened background boxes on the 42s and 32s ii were less visually distracting, more pleasing to the eye... to my eyes. But they do cost an extra colour. Maybe look into if a really thin outline box is an option?

I'm fairly neutral on busy faceplate vs deep or many menus when my memory is not enough. Whichever it is, I want the labelling to be as informative as possible, and grouping/structure (especially for menus) to be as logical as possible, as these things helps the memory and reduces the hunting. IMHO.

However, my opinion may be disregarded, as I'm not a 43s user.
Bill K. - USA
Posts: 157
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2022 7:49 pm

Re: 43S News

Post by Bill K. - USA »

Walter wrote:
Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:07 pm
Different strokes for different folks. Some of us don't want to deal with menus, some of us don't want to deal with busy faceplates, each of those being exacerbated when not using it as main or single calculator.
Sure, there'll be different perspectives on what makes for "the best" possible design. And, sure, I'm just voicing one opinion.
Walter wrote:
Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:07 pm
I think underlining is a clear way of distinguishing menus from the rest; it doesn't cost an extra colour. Feel free to suggest a different solution, please.
I think the simplest option is no underlining at all. Users should, after a little use, know which choices are functions/actions and which ones lead to menus. The underlining IMO adds clutter. (Similarly, on my HP-50g, whenever a soft key leads to another menu there's a little pip shown above the soft key--but I find that "blemish" in the crisp display to be annoying and would prefer it wasn't there.)
Walter wrote:
Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:07 pm
We use lower case labels, too. ... We don't use them all over since a) they are generally smaller and reading will become harder this way, b) many commands were introduced as upper case many years ago, and c) a random mix of upper and lower case labels would look ... ummh ... random. YMMV, of course.
ALL-CAPITALS MAKE FOR SLOWER READING. I'M NOT WRITING LIKE THIS TO "YELL" BUT TO REINFORCE MY POINT THAT READING ALL CAPS IS SLOWER. IMO CAPITAL LETTERS ONLY MAKE FOR EASIER READING WHEN THEY'RE SINGLE LETTERS, LIKE ON AN EYE CHART. OTHERWISE, GIVEN A CONSTANT TYPEFACE SIZE, small letters are much zippier to comprehend. They're not any harder to read--in fact they're easier. The eye recognizes the "shape" of the word and takes it all in at one glance; WITH CAPTIALS, THE EYE ESSENTIALLY HAS TO READ EACH LETTER INDIVIDUALLY AND THEN INTERPRET THEM, FOR WITH CAPTIALS, THE EYE SEES A BUNCH OF SQUARES--EVERY LETTER HAS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME HEIGHT THE SAME WIDTH THE SAME BOXY SHAPE.

A suggestion, consider keeping the first letter as a capital (and sometimes you'll even have room for another letter or two). See my post just below. Another advantage is that the user will instantly know whether a two- or three-letter string is an initialism or if it is an abbreviation.
Last edited by Bill K. - USA on Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Walter
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Location: On a mission close to DRS, Germany

Re: 43S News

Post by Walter »

I have a different opinion but DE GVSTIBVS NON EST DISPVTANDVM. Let's wait for more members speaking up. 8-)
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
rprosperi
Posts: 1703
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:48 pm
Location: New York

Re: 43S News

Post by rprosperi »

I believe that reading all caps indeed does slow the reader when reading paragraphs at a time, but this does not apply at all to function labels on a calculator keyboard. One doesn't read a keyboard's labels, one scans to locate/recognize the function labels and this would be no faster if changed to mixed case.

IMHO, please keep the 43S button and bezel label case as-is, the even slightly feasible benefits (possibly squeezing in one more character in a handful of places) do not justify all the (truly extensive) work required to adjust all the labels that are printed, shown in menus, used liberally throughout 2 huge manuals, etc.

Most potential owners of the 43S are... well, older and the larger labels, in addition to being generally familiar, will be easier to read, without having to hunt down reading glasses, turn on a desk lamp. etc.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
wasdaleweasel
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 7:37 pm
Location: Wasdale, Cumbria, UK

Re: 43S News

Post by wasdaleweasel »

Walter wrote:
Sun Jun 05, 2022 11:03 pm
I have a different opinion but DE GVSTIBVS NON EST DISPVTANDVM. Let's wait for more members speaking up. 8-)
Entirely a matter of taste, of course, but I would leave the design as is. The underlining is helpful, but not intrusive if you don’t need it, and, aesthetically, I’ve never liked mixed case for this type of use.
Bill K. - USA
Posts: 157
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2022 7:49 pm

Re: 43S News

Post by Bill K. - USA »

A quick comparison. (I removed the underlining as well which gives some room for increasing the font in the lower-case version.)

Current:
Current Template.jpg
Current Template.jpg (208.92 KiB) Viewed 1695 times

Proposed:
Proposed Template - enlarged - fuzzy2.jpg
Proposed Template - enlarged - fuzzy2.jpg (199.91 KiB) Viewed 1646 times

Note: The Italicized "Lg" and "Ln" sort of stand out, so I took that out too.
Last edited by Bill K. - USA on Mon Jun 06, 2022 9:14 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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PierreMengisen
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Location: Neuchâtel CH

Re: 43S News

Post by PierreMengisen »

Proposed Template Small.jpg is a nice personal work. But I find the result very disappointing. I agree with Bob : please keep the 43S button and bezel label case as-is.
Pierre
[TI59 with PC100C; TI-84 Plus CE-T; HP41CV with HP IL loop & 2*82161A DCD & 82162 TP; HP15C; HP28S; DM41; DM41L; DM42; DM41X]
Bill K. - USA
Posts: 157
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2022 7:49 pm

Re: 43S News

Post by Bill K. - USA »

Template Challenges:

I've tried printing out some templates, but it hasn't gone well. First, doing so uses a lot of black toner. Second, my black bleeds into the lighter yellows and blues, enough so, so that the text's difficult to read (I've tried different settings on my printer without luck). Third, my best attempt at cutting out the holes with a cork-backed metal ruler, new blade, and self-healing mat was still very poor.

I'm thinking of re-doing the template so that it's on a white background and uses a darker shade of yellow and blue and gray for the shifted functions. And I'm thinking of hand-printing the new button text on the sticky-backed portion of Post-It notes for the keys. And I have an idea for making the holes, too: I've just ordered a rectangular hole punch from Etsy. It cuts a 1/4-inch square hole and has a 2-inch reach, and costs about ten dollars.

Those are my current ideas, but I'm open to other suggestions . . .
Last edited by Bill K. - USA on Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Bill K. - USA
Posts: 157
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2022 7:49 pm

Re: 43S News

Post by Bill K. - USA »

I'm looking for an easier way to tryout the WP43S on my DM42. (I'm aware of the WP43C option, but I'd like to try the WP43S.)

I know I'll have to make some key stickers, however if I swap some keys around, I'll only need 7 new key caps. (With the full-blown WP43S key layout, I'd need 17 key caps.) So my question is, can I swap keys around by merely changing the keymap.bin file?

Key Caps:
Key Caps 2.jpg
Key Caps 2.jpg (200.07 KiB) Viewed 1461 times

Specifically, I'd swap these key assignments of the WP43S:

Exit <--> '+' (a straight swap)

Down Arrow --> 'x'
Up Arrow --> '/'
XEQ --> '-'
'/' --> XEQ
'x' --> Up Arrow
'-' --> Down Arrow

1/x --> move right one key
EXP --> move right four keys
TRI --> move left two keys
Ln --> move right one key
e^x --> move left one key
sqrt --> move left three keys

The corresponding modified Template would look like this:
Swapped Keys.jpg
Swapped Keys.jpg (208.4 KiB) Viewed 1434 times

-----------------

ON FURTHER INVESTIGATION (if I'm reading the installation notes right and if my brief experiments are right), if you keep the original DM42 keymap.bin arrangement, then when a DM42 is configured as a WP43S, the lower left key remains the "On" button, but everything else associated with the "EXIT" key (i.e., Off/Exit/Catalog) will be associated with the lower righthand key.

And that the way to do what I want will be via USER mode and ASN.
Last edited by Bill K. - USA on Thu Jun 09, 2022 5:13 pm, edited 4 times in total.
pyridine
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2017 11:48 pm

Re: 43S News

Post by pyridine »

Bill K. - USA wrote:
Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:28 pm
Template Challenges:

I've tried printing out some templates, but it hasn't gone well. First, doing so uses a lot of black toner. Second, my black bleeds into the lighter yellows and blues, enough so, so that the text's difficult to read (I've tried different settings on my printer without luck). Third, my best attempt at cutting out the holes with a cork-backed metal ruler, new blade, and self-healing mat still very poor.

I'm thinking of re-doing the template so that it's on a white background and uses a darker shade of yellow and blue and gray for the shifted functions. And I'm thinking of hand-printing the new button text on the sticky-backed portion of Post-It notes for the keys. And I have an idea for making the holes, too: I've just ordered a rectangular hole punch from Etsy. It cuts a 1/4-inch square hole and has a 2-inch reach, and costs about ten dollars.

Those are my current ideas, but I'm open to other suggestions . . .
I had no issue when using a laser color printer... I did it at office but some printer shops can do it for a small fee. Be just sure of the size.
I then laminated the printed paper with a clear sticking plastic foil.
And it exists some "printers" that can cut out laminated paper sheets (cf Cricut for example) but I did it manually and patiently with a sharp X-acto knife.
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