50g

Thanks again! Part of my confusion did indeed come from missing the
fact that the manual's description of XMIT uses ALG rather than RPN...

I still find, however, that if I write the program and then press
[ENTER], I get this error message:
Invalid Syntax

For example (in RPN mode):
3
7
5
[ENTER] (stores value 375 in x-reg.)
[right-shift][+] (<< >> to enter program mode)
[right-shift][0] (the -> character)
[ALPHA][APLHA] (prepares to input the next characters)
S
T
R
[SPC] (signals the end of the "STR" argument)
[right-shift][SYMB] (the CAT menu)
(scroll to) XMIT
[ENTER] (selects the XMIT command)
(or skip the CAT menu and just type XMIT)

Now my program is complete(?). If I next press [ENTER], the program
should be stored in the x-register, and then I should be able to
store the program as a variable.

But what happens instead when I press [ENTER] is:
Invalid Syntax

Similarly, if I attempt to invoke the same command sequence without
programming it:

3
7
5
[ENTER]
[right-shift][0]
[ALPHA][ALPHA]
S
T
R
[SPC]
X
M
I
T
[ENTER]

The result is:
Invalid Syntax

So either ->, ->STR, or XMIT needs something that I'm not providing.

Here, in advance, is the the big DUH that I will emit when somebody
points out whatever bonehead mistake I'm making!

--- In 50g@yahoogroups.com, Dave Boyd <boydda@...> wrote:
>
> 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.
>