50g

m2mbob wrote:

> Thanks for your suggestion!
> I'm a bit slow at parsing your syntax - I recognize the << >>
> encapsulation of a program string, and I recognize the command XMIT
> from the catalogue, but I don't understand ->STR .
>
> Do you mean ->STR literally, as an argument for XMIT ?
> Does -> represent the HP-50g keyboard sequence: [right-shift][0] ,
> meaning that I should insert the right-pointing arrow ahead of the
> three characters STR (thus creating a local variable named STR, and
> transmitting its value, all in one elegant line of code)?

He means the command represented by the right-arrow symbol
[right-shift][0], followed by the letters STR, no space between. It
converts its argument to a string.

Since in plain text we don't have the symbol for right arrow, by
convention we use a digraph composed of the minus sign and the
greater-than symbol. (We also don't have a symbol for "two
greater-thans in one space", which you get from [right-shift][+], but
you got that one yourself.)

Try using the CAT key to see all the commands.

> In my first feeble attempts (before submitting my initial question to
> the group), I had assumed that I would need to build program steps
> like:
>
> << 'STR' STO (grabs the value of
> Level 1 of the stack
> into variable STR)
>
> XMIT (with baffling argument & syntax) (sends the value of
> STR through the wire)
>
> STR PURGE >> (deletes variable STR)
>
> - but I got the error message:
> XMIT Error: Bad Argument Type
>
> - which implies, to my neophyte mind, that XMIT won't work when a
> variable name is used as the argument.

The program Tim gave you used the XMIT command in RPN mode, with its
parameter on the stack, preceding the command. It transmits a string
serially.

> The old "49g+ Advanced" manual's description of XMIT describes the
> required argument as being the string, surrounded by "" .

You were looking at the description of how to use XMIT in ALG mode. In
RPN mode, the argument comes first.

> I just haven't figured out how to write program steps to grab the
> value in Stack Level 1, package it in "", and present it to XMIT as
> the argument.

That was the program Tim gave you. To repeat it:

<< ->STR XMIT >>

One program, two commands long, first ->STR, convert one stack item to
string, place result on stack. Then XMIT, transmit one stack item, put
nothing on stack.

> Any thoughts? I have a pretty high embarrassment threshold, so fire
> away!

When you look at the manual be aware that it switches between ALG and
RPN when describing the commands. It's pretty easy to tell what you're
reading if you remember that.

> My headstone will say: "I Never Shoulda Loaned My 15C To Nobody".

That's what eBay is for! But, yes, I certainly agree with the sentiment...




--
Dave Boyd
"If we hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall
like a house of cards. Checkmate." -Capt. Zapp Brannigan, D.O.O.P.