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HP Forum Archive 21

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Synthetics
Message #1 Posted by John W Kercheval on 20 May 2012, 12:01 p.m.

I got into synthetics in the 1980s. Now I am trying to brush up, for obvious reasons.

Text is: "Synthetic Programing" by Prof. WC Wickes

Any other sources?

Any advances in synthetics?

Synthetics on 71?

John

      
Re: Synthetics
Message #2 Posted by Richard Wagoner on 20 May 2012, 1:22 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by John W Kercheval

I'd recommend Kieth Jarret's Synthetic Programming Made Easy.

Rick

      
Re: Synthetics
Message #3 Posted by Garth Wilson on 20 May 2012, 4:06 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by John W Kercheval

I got into it in the 80's with Mier-Jedrzejowicz's book "Extend Your HP-41." Later I got the ZENROM which did away with the need for the byte grabber and gave direct keyboard access to the synthetics as if they weren't really synthetic anymore.

            
Re: Synthetics
Message #4 Posted by Raymond Del Tondo on 20 May 2012, 4:19 p.m.,
in response to message #3 by Garth Wilson

And if you want even more, I'd recommend getting a CCD module:-)
The CCD module is rare, but much easier to get than the Zenrom,
and the CCD covers a wider range of entry aids, and eases use with many OS extensions.
Actually, the CCD module is _the_ OS extension for the HP-41.

                  
Re: Synthetics
Message #5 Posted by Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil) on 20 May 2012, 8:24 p.m.,
in response to message #4 by Raymond Del Tondo

Ditto!

If you cannot find the module itself, any of the machine language development hardware (MLDL2000, NOV-series, etc.) will let you delve into it.

Cheers.

      
Re: Synthetics
Message #6 Posted by Sylvain Cote on 20 May 2012, 6:12 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by John W Kercheval

I am not aware of any synthetic programming on the HP-71B.

The book "HP-71 Basic Made Easy" by Joseph Horn has a section on PEEK$ and POKE that show you how to read/write from/to the system.

Reading the HP-71B Internal Design Specifications is also a must.

Your other options are to use either the Forth language or the assembly language.

For the Forth language, at least three versions are available ...
- the Forth/Assembler ROM
- the 41 Translator Pac (include Forth)
- a RAM and ROMmable version is available on the J-F Garnier site.

For the native code, at least three assemblers are available ...
- the Forth/Assembler ROM
- an assembler is also available on the J-F Garnier site.
- the areuh tool for HP-48SX is also compatible with the HP-71B

Sylvain

      
Re: Synthetics
Message #7 Posted by Monte Dalrymple on 20 May 2012, 7:53 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by John W Kercheval

The 41CL Extra Functions make PEEKing and POKEing simple. You don't need byte-grabbers at all. And you can POKE anywhere in memory. It's a lot of fun, even if you can get yourself in all kinds of trouble.

            
Re: Synthetics
Message #8 Posted by Garth Wilson on 20 May 2012, 11:09 p.m.,
in response to message #7 by Monte Dalrymple

ZENROM has the direct memory editor too, which lets you edit any part of RAM. Again, you better know what you're doing, to stay out of trouble.

      
Re: Synthetics
Message #9 Posted by Frido Bohn on 22 May 2012, 5:05 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by John W Kercheval

Quote:
I got into synthetics in the 1980s. Now I am trying to brush up, for obvious reasons.
The primary question is in my view:
How sexy can 41-synthetics be if you can hook up with MCODE?
            
Re: Synthetics
Message #10 Posted by Ángel Martin on 22 May 2012, 5:20 a.m.,
in response to message #9 by Frido Bohn

Quote:
How sexy can 41-synthetics be if you can hook up with MCODE?

Not very, IMHO. In my mind Synthetics are great but a poor-man's replacement for some MCODE functionality :-)

                  
Re: Synthetics
Message #11 Posted by Gerry Schultz on 22 May 2012, 1:28 p.m.,
in response to message #10 by Ángel Martin

Yeah, but the learning curve is so steep I keep falling off!

            
Re: Synthetics
Message #12 Posted by Garth Wilson on 22 May 2012, 2:26 p.m.,
in response to message #9 by Frido Bohn

Quote:
The primary question is in my view: How sexy can 41-synthetics be if you can hook up with MCODE?
There's still some good stuff you can do with synthetics that MCODE doesn't really help with, like putting non-keyboard characters directly into a string without using XTOA for example.

Edited: 22 May 2012, 2:27 p.m.

                  
Re: Synthetics
Message #13 Posted by Ángel Martin on 23 May 2012, 7:56 a.m.,
in response to message #12 by Garth Wilson

Quote:
MCODE doesn't really help with, like putting non-keyboard characters directly into a string

well, try the CCD OS/X for that: its MCODE implementation allows you to input the character just by using its code (in either Decimal or HEX) directly in ALPHA mode.

But I agree with you, synthetics is very helpful and much easier to learn/use/command.

Edited: 23 May 2012, 7:57 a.m.

                        
Re: Synthetics
Message #14 Posted by Garth Wilson on 23 May 2012, 3:02 p.m.,
in response to message #13 by Ángel Martin

Quote:
well, try the CCD OS/X for that: its MCODE implementation allows you to input the character just by using its code (in either Decimal or HEX) directly in ALPHA mode.
I know I should look into the CCD. (I think that's the one with the 500-page labor-of-love manual, right?) In ZENROM (which I have), once in ALPHA mode, you do <SHIFT> <ALPHA> and then the two-digit hex character value, 00 through FFh. You can do it for labels and other things too, although it won't work in the 41cx text editor. The <USER> <ALPHA> has the lower-case letters, and <USER> <SHIFT> <ALPHA> gives other ones including but not limited to []#()'"@&\.


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