HP Prime: Program Editing

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

I have some random remarks concerning on-device program editing:

1. I'm missing a template for strings, i. e. a pair of double quotes. The double quote from the char menu returns a single ", at least in the program editor. The same char returns a template on the command line which is not editable: The trailing " cannot be deleted and deleting the first " removes the whole string from the command line. In the editor, " is just a simple character.

2. The char menu could be more useful if it worked like a virtual keyboard, collecting a bunch of characters before submitting them all at once to the editor or command line.

3. Shift+cursor should mark text, not only for copy and paste but for applying a template such as () to the marked text. Adding a pair of parentheses to an existing part of text is quite a nuisance because you have to insert () and delete the superfluous half.

4. On the good side: With the calculator connected and the Connectivity Kit running, a program file on the device can be easily opened and modified with the PC keyboard. Ctrl+S saves the modified file directly on the calulator. That's well thought out.
   

Just add to the list so HP can harvest our ideas!

[Han]

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I have some random remarks concerning on-device program editing:

1. I'm missing a template for strings, i. e. a pair of double quotes. The double quote from the char menu returns a single ", at least in the program editor. The same char returns a template on the command line which is not editable: The trailing " cannot be deleted and deleting the first " removes the whole string from the command line. In the editor, " is just a simple character.

2. The char menu could be more useful if it worked like a virtual keyboard, collecting a bunch of characters before submitting them all at once to the editor or command line.

3. Shift+cursor should mark text, not only for copy and paste but for applying a template such as () to the marked text. Adding a pair of parentheses to an existing part of text is quite a nuisance because you have to insert () and delete the superfluous half.

4. On the good side: With the calculator connected and the Connectivity Kit running, a program file on the device can be easily opened and modified with the PC keyboard. Ctrl+S saves the modified file directly on the calulator. That's well thought out.
   

Just add to the list so HP can harvest our ideas!

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1. [Alpha] [0] gives two double quotes. It is currently not possible to delete just one of the two because of issues with textbook mode. When one of the two double quotes is removed, there is a difficult question of what the command line should do to reflect the changes.

Example: "b1/6A" ==> delete first " ==> should the command line redraw this as a fraction with b1 for the numerator and 6 (or 6A) as the denominator, and then the second " starts a new string? Or should it leave it as is because your intention was to, hypothetically speaking, do b+"1/6A" because b already contains a string? In this sort of case, it is nearly impossible to "guess" what the user intends so the redrawing of the command line in textbook mode gets really complicated.

2. Agreed. It should produce a secondary "command line" until you are "finished." This business of choosing only one character and then having to go back into the char catalogue is not very efficient.

3. I disagree. Shift cursor should move the cursor to the beginning or end of a line (for shift+left/right), or move to the start or end of line/page/entry (for shift+up/down). Pressing [()] followed by [Backspace] or [Shift][Backspace] has either less or the same number of key presses as [Shift][cursor][()].

4. Agreed! :-) Even coolor is that you can select the Content tab, do your editing there (so it's saved on the PC), and then right-click the program or app or note, and "Send All" will place a copy onto the calculator and/or emulator.

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

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1. [Alpha] [0] gives two double quotes. It is currently not possible to delete just one of the two because of issues with textbook mode. When one of the two double quotes is removed, there is a difficult question of what the command line should do to reflect the changes.

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Thanks for pointing me to Alpha+0. The color scheme prevented me from detecting it myself. I agree that in template mode it's hard to decide what to do if part of a template gets deleted. But in algebraic or RPN mode this shouldn't be an issue.

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3. I disagree. Shift cursor should move the cursor to the beginning or end of a line (for shift+left/right), or move to the start or end of line/page/entry (for shift+up/down). Pressing [()] followed by [Backspace] or [Shift][Backspace] has either less or the same number of key presses as [Shift][cursor][()].

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Do we agree to disagree? Maybe Alpha+arrow can take the role you are proposing.

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4. Agreed! :-) Even cooler is that you can select the Content tab, do your editing there (so it's saved on the PC), and then right-click the program or app or note, and "Send All" will place a copy onto the calculator and/or emulator.

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The problem with the Content tab is that you need a way to copy something from the calculator to the PC (and need to know the exact folder name) before it appears in the Content pane.

[Tim Wessman]

>2.

That is the purpose of the ECHO menu key (just like it was on the 50g). :-)

TW

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

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That is the purpose of the ECHO menu key

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Thanks for another "life-long learning" experience.

[Han]

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Thanks for another "life-long learning" experience.

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Hah! I'll join you on that =)

[Alberto Candel]

I believe that you can also, in the chars table, double-tap each character in a string, then OK to send the complete string to the program editor. It would be nice to have a SHIFT soft key as to avoid the double-tapping.

Edited: 4 Nov 2013, 4:59 p.m.