There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

This area is for discussion about these families of custom high-end Scientific Calculator applications for SwissMicros devices.
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H2X
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There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by H2X »

As the DM42 borrows code from the Free42 app - what would it take to create an app from the WP43S (or WP43C) code base?
What is the metric tensor in imperial units?
Dani R.
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by Dani R. »

Maybe I am completely wrong, but I think there is almost no code from Free42 in WP43.

Regarding porting to APPs; there may be we will get some hints on how to make an app out of a GTK program.
GTK
„Miscellaneous
GTK programs can be run on desktop environments based on X11 and Wayland, or window managers even those not made with GTK, provided the needed libraries are installed; this includes macOS if X11.app is installed. GTK can be also run on Microsoft Windows, where it is used by some popular cross-platform applications like Pidgin and GIMP. wxWidgets, a cross-platform GUI tool-kit, uses GTK on Linux. Other ports include DirectFB (used by the Debian installer, for example) and ncurses."

But I suspect this will not be that easy. And not on the list of the core team as a priority issue. I also appreciate the clarity of Free42 on a smartphone. No reason to put Free42 on the side.
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H2X
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by H2X »

Dani R. wrote:
Sun Apr 19, 2020 11:50 am
Maybe I am completely wrong, but I think there is almost no code from Free42 in WP43.
No, but in the DM42?

And since the underlying platform (DMCP) is the same, I was guessing there might be an easy-ish way for the WP43S or -C code to make the same jump, albeit in the opposite direction?
What is the metric tensor in imperial units?
cdmackay
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by cdmackay »

You mean an Android app, or a desktop OS app?

Either way, I imagine you would have to take the Free42 app source code, and tease apart the GUI element from the calculator core.

Then do the same with the WP43 emulator source code, and try to fit its calculator core to the GUI element from your Free42 app of choice. Perhaps with a shim layer. Or just write a new GUI front-end for it.

Doesn't sound like a 5-minute job :)

I'm not sure that having a DM version of either helps all that much in creating a different app of either, except that it probably indicates a clean separation of code from the calculator core to the GUI.
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H2X
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by H2X »

cdmackay wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:21 am
You mean an Android app, or a desktop OS app?
Sorry, my bad - I meant a mobile (iOS, iPadOS and Android) app, although Free42 also comes in desktop flavours.
What is the metric tensor in imperial units?
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Jaymos
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by Jaymos »

H2X wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2020 7:42 am
cdmackay wrote:
Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:21 am
You mean an Android app, or a desktop OS app?
Sorry, my bad - I meant a mobile (iOS, iPadOS and Android) app, although Free42 also comes in desktop flavours.
Even though possible to do, it is a non-trivial task, has nothing in common with Free42, and would warrant a project of its own. Although I don’t have the necessary references to share now, I investigated this superficially (to port WP43* running via GTK to iOS) some months ago, and I gave up before I began. The more I read the more I got disheartened, and left it. This route imo would be treacherous and difficult. Maybe a complete new calculator user interface using one of the known dedicated iOS UI tools, with direct access to the 43s libraries would be better, but that is a project on its own. IMO.
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Walter
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by Walter »

Way back, Pascal Meheut did this for the WP34S and iOS. It was a separate task, and it was so separate that there's no WP34S for Android until today. Anybody who's looking for a challenge may feel free to atack it. Good luck!
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Thomas Okken
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Re: There's not an app for [WP43S/C] - yet...

Post by Thomas Okken »

For a new project, it seems to me like Qt is the way to go. If I were to rewrite Free42 from scratch, that's what I'd use.

Reusing the existing Free42 UI code for a different calculator is probably not a very productive approach. On the one hand there is a pretty strict separation between UI (shell) and core logic, but on the other hand the design of the core/shell API is strongly driven by issues particular to the HP-42S.
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