Preferences
The Preferences dialogue allows you to change the simulator parameters. It can be found in the ON pop-up menu: Alt–O Preferences…
Pressing OK or Apply will activate the new settings for the current session. The settings are not saved to disk, and therefore not made persistent, until you save the current session. If you have unchecked Save on exit (see below) you must save the current session manually by pressing Ctrl–M.
The following items can be set in the dialogue box. Default values are used if no memory file is found at start-up.
Simulator
- Strict HP-15C behaviour
The real HP-15C stores numbers internally with 10 digits, and rounds every result to the 10th digit. The Tcl/Tk interpreter stores numbers in the IEEE-754 format with 17 digits and a different rounding mechanism. When checked, this option sets the number of relevant digits to 10 and rounding to that digit.
The following calculation shows the effect of the two settings:
f FIX 9
2 ENTER 3 ÷
0 . 6 6 −
1 0 0 0 ×
Result with strict HP-15C behaviour checked (10 digit precision):
Result with strict HP-15C behaviour not checked (17 digit precision):
Rounding to the last digit in the second case happens only in the display. Internally the number is stored as
6.666666666666599
, providing the full precision.
Further information can be found in the part about number encoding in the Differences section.Default: Not checked
- Pause length
Time in milliseconds a program pauses during execution when it encounters an f PSE statement. The valid range is
0
to5000
.This is also the time the display update is deferred after releasing the last key in f PREFIX, g MEM and f i.
Default: 1000
- Delay value
Time in milliseconds a program pauses after each statement. A value of around 100 gives a good impression of the performance of the real HP-15C. A value of 0 gives maximum performance.
Default: 0
- Access 'f' and 'g' functions directly
If this option is checked you can directly click the gold and blue secondary functions. You do not need to press or click f or g before. If unchecked, the gold functions can not be clicked and clicking a blue function is the same as clicking the main key function.
Default: Checked
- Highlight functions
This option enables mouse-over effects for the blue and gold labels, if direct access to the f and g functions is enabled.
Default: Checked
- Key sequence indicator
The key sequence indicator is a small black square in the bottom left corner of the display. It indicates an uncompleted sequence. For example, if you press STO the indicator goes on. If you now press 7 the indicator goes off, because the key sequence is terminated. If you instead continue with the + key, the indicator remains on. The simulator is still waiting for the storage register.
The key sequence indicator is disabled during program execution.
This function is inspired by the similar function on the DM15/DM15L from SwissMicros.
Default: Not checked
- Save memory on exit
If checked, continuous memory is enabled. When you exit the Simulator, the status is saved to disk.
If you uncheck this option, you must save the memory manually to make the new setting persistent!
Default: Checked
- Use "C locale" for clipboard
If this option is checked, a period is used as decimal point in the clipboard. The setting is independent of the current display settings for the decimal point and the digit separator.
Default: Not checked
- Copy program when in PRGM mode
By default, pressing Ctrl–C copies the content of the X-register to the clipboard. If this option is checked and the Simulator is inPRGM mode is on, Ctrl–C instead copies the program code to the clipboard.
Default: Not checked
Menus
- Program mnemonics
If this option is checked, the program pop-up menu (Alt–S) displays program steps as mnemonics. If unchecked, program steps are displayed with their key codes. Please note that this setting does not affect the display.
Default: Checked
- Coloured program menu
If this option is checked, the program pop-up menu will show LBL, RTN, GTO and GSB statements coloured.
Default: Checked
- Lines per column in program menu
The program pop-up menu displays the program steps in a multi-column format. This value defines the number of program steps per column.
Default: 30
- Register and label addresses with decimal point
This option controls how addresses of storage registers and labels between 10 and 19 are displayed. When enabled, the address is formatted with a decimal point, e.g.
,0
or.0
, and as two-digit integer, e.g.10
, when disabled.
The option changes the format in the following situations:
- Storage register menu
- Program menu (if mnenomics are switched off)
- GSB menu
- Documentation dialogue
- HTML export
Default: Not checked
- Two-column storage menu
By default, the storage pop-up menus show the available data storage registers in two columns. Uncheck this setting if you want the storage menus with all data storage registers displayed in one column.
Mac OS X: This option has has no effect when "Native Mac OS X pop-up menus" (see below) is activated. Mac OS X does not allow multi-column pop-up menus.
Default: Checked
- Sort labels in GSB menu
This controls whether the labels in the GSB menu are sorted or whether they are listed in the order they occur in the program. If the labels are sorted, letter labels are sorted before number labels.
Default: Not checked
- Show menu
Under Windows and Linux operation systems, a menu is shown at the top of the simulator window.
Under Mac OS X, the menu bar on top of the screen is always on.Default: Not checked (always checked under Mac OS X)
- Native Mac OS X pop-up menus
Earlier Tcl/Tk versions did not allow fixed width fonts in pop-up menus on Mac OS X; a feature needed for the simulator pop-up menus. Recent combinations of Tcl/Tk and Mac OS X do not have this limitation anymore and native pop-up menus are now used by default. Uncheck this option if you experience problems with the Stack and the Storage pop-up menus.
Default: Checked
- Language
This allows the user to set the language for menus and pop-ups. By default the system language is used. If this language is not supported, British English is selected.
The new setting is immediately active, except for the Preferences dialogue box. This dialogue box shows the new language the next time it is opened.Default: System
- Matrix notation
Two different styles are available for the matrix content menus: One with row and column headers like in a spreadsheet and one with the "row,column" information before each matrix element.
Default: Rows/Columns
- Matrix separator
When a matrix descriptor is in the display, pressing Ctrl–C copies the content of the matrix to the clipboard. One line for each row and the elementes of a row seperated by the selected separator.
Be careful when selecting the "Comma" as the separator, because it might conflict with the thousands separator or the decimal point character.Default: Semicolon
- Matrix sub-menus in stack menu
A matrix entry in the stack menu can be either a sub-menu button or just a label. In case of a sub-menu button, moving the mouse over the button will open a sub-menu with the matrix content.
Mac OS: This works only if "Native Mac OS X pop-up menus" are enabled.
Windows, Linux: If matrix sub-menus are enabled, clicking an entry, e.g. "y:
A 2 2 ▶", does not scroll down the stack.Default: Checked
Files
HP-15C Programs
- Encode programs in UTF-16 (LE)
By default, program files are encoded in UTF-16 (LE). Uncheck this option to encode them in the system default encoding.
Please note that HTML exports are always UTF-8 encoded.Default: Checked
HTML Files
- Structure in English
This settings determines which language is used for HTML headlines (
<h#>
), such as "Program Title", "Usage", etc., when exporting a program description into an HTML file. If this option is checked, British English is used; if the option is unchecked, the currently selected menu language is used.This setting has no effect on the text of the program description itself.
Default: Checked
- Indent subroutines
If this option is checked, subroutines in the HTML export are indented to show the program structure. The beginning of a subroutine, f LBL A…E, and the end, g RTN, are not indented.
Default: Checked
- Warn on missing documentation
If this option is checked, a warning message is shown if you export a file as HTML and one of the following elements is empty:
- Program
- Program Title
- Usage
Default: Checked
- Single-column program listing
By default, the program listing uses one column for programs up to 25 steps, two columns for up to 50 steps and three columns for programs with 51 or more steps. If this option is checked, the program listing will always use only one column.
Default: Not checked
- Keys in black and white
By default, the keys are printed in color, as on the real HP-15C. Enable this option to print them in black and white.
This can be helpful if you print out the documentation on a black and white printer, e.g. a laser printer.Default: Not checked
Other Parameters
- Author information
Information about the authorship of programs can be added in this field. The content of this field is added as a comment in "
.15c
" files and below the "Program Title" in ".htm
" files.Default: Empty
- Highlight tags
This sections allows to configure how tags are displayed in the "Usage" part of the Program Description Dialogue.
Defaults: "Colour": #0080ff (RGB 0, 128, 255), "bold": checked
DM-15
- DM-15 Support
This switches the DM-15 support on and off, e.g. the DM-15 menu entries are visible or hidden.
Default: Not checked
- Serial Interface Port
The number of the serial port, that is assigned to the USB connection of the DM-15.
Default: Not set
- Timeout
The timeout in seconds for the serial interface.
Default: 2 seconds
- Number of registers
Sets the number of data storage registers available in the HP-15C simulator. This should correspond with the number of registers on the DM-15.
Default: 64 registers
- Transmitted data
The ten check boxes, five for reading and five for writing, determine which data is exchanged between the DM-15 and the HP-15C simulator.
Default: "Program" checked for both reading and writing.
- Ask for each operation
When this option is checked the data to be exchanged between the source and the target device is interactively queried for each operation. The selection is set as the default for the next operation.
Default: Checked
Fonts
- Font set
The Simulator layout depends very much on the combination of fonts, font sizes and display resolution. The Simulator therefore provides predefined font sets for common display resolutions. These font sets have been finely adjusted to achieve a good reproduction of the real HP-15C body aspect ratio which meets the `Golden Ratio´.
The following table lists the available font sets for each platform and display resolution:
Platform Font set Size Fonts used in set UNIX/Linux
Mac OSDejaVu fonts small, normal, large and huge DejaVu Sans Microsoft fonts small and normal Arial
Microsoft Sans SerifMS Windows
(all versions)Microsoft fonts small, normal, large and huge Arial
Microsoft Small Fonts
Microsoft Sans SerifRemarks:
- The "HP-15C Simulator Font" is used with all sets.
- If you want to change fonts or font sizes or add new font sets, you will need to edit the Simulator source code. I suggest not changing existing font sets at all.
- "DejaVu" fonts can be found on the Internet (see the links page).
- Extended Unicode chars for key faces
The simulator can make use of specific Unicode characters to make the key faces look more like the original HP-15C key faces.
All current operating systems should provide fonts with the necessary characters. If you have checked this option and a character is not available you will see key faces like
instead of
or
instead of
.
You should then uncheck the option or install a suitable font.
Default: Checked
- Graphic display instead of "HP15C Simulator Font" (Windows only)
When this options is active, a graphical display is used instead of the the 'HP-15C Simulator Font'.
This is useful when you need administrator privileges to install a font but can't get them; e.g. on company computers.
Please note that this will decrease the Simulator performance by about 30%!
Default: Not checked
Help File Browser
This setting allows you to set the browser used to display the online help.
When you run the Simulator for the first time, or if no browser is set, the Simulator checks for available browsers in all
directories given by the "PATH
" environment variable. If available, the operating system's default method to
open a Web page is added at the top of the browser list. This results in the following list of possible browsers per operating system:
Platform | Browser list |
---|---|
UNIX/Linux | firefox chrome mozilla opera konquerer |
Mac OS | open firefox safari chrome opera |
Windows | start firefox safari chrome mozilla opera iexplore hh |
Remarks:
- open in the Mac OS list will always run the default browser.
- start in the Windows list will always run the default browser.
- hh is the browser used with the online help on Windows XP/Vista/7.
All browsers found will be listed, and the first from the list will be set as the help file browser. You can choose another browser from the list or select one using the Browse… button