Subj:   "The HP48 Handbook" by Jim Donnelly

Date: 23 Jun 90 02:27:29 GMT
From: Jake-S@cup.portal.com  (Jake G Schwartz)
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Subject: "The HP48 Handbook" by Jim Donnelly

     "The HP48 Handbook" by Jim Donnelly is a nice compact companion  for
anyone out there who is interested in serious programming endeavors on
the HP48. It is 195 pages, spiral bound and about two-thirds the size of
the original calculator manuals. The book is divided into sections as
follows:


      Introduction
      Objects, Names and Constants   (structure and uses)
      Memory Organization     (system mem., temporary mem, mem in cards)
      Graphics                (nice treatment with diagrams)
      Statistics Data         (a short description)
      Data Transfer           (a nice treatment here with better organi-
                               zation than the manuals)
      Menus                   (description with sample programs)
      User Keys               (description with related commands
                               explained)
      Programming             (explanations of structures with examples)
      HP Solve Equation Library  (lots of good programming info here)
      System Operations       (self test, halt log, memory scanner)
      Printer Control         (several tables, diagrams)
      Built-in Units          (table of all units, types and values)
      Messages                (multi-page table)
      Menu Numbers            (table)
      Character Codes         (table)
      Object Types            (table)
      Flags                   (table of usage and defaults)
      Subject Index           (all calc functions categorized)
      Command Reference       (a 56-page table with stack diagrams)
      Alpha Keyboard          (diagram)


After having familiarized one's self with most of the HP48 features
through reading the manuals, Jim's book is a good reference for getting
to the specifics that one needs for day-to-day programming in the
machine.  It's just about all there under a single cover that is easy to
carry around, and supplies an order of magnitude more information than
the quick reference guide.  There are also a handful of tidbits that
haven't yet appeared in print any where else.


Jake Schwartz


Subj:   Re: "The HP48 Handbook" by Jim Donnelly

Organization: Imperial College Computer Center, London, UK
Subject: Re: "The HP48 Handbook" by Jim Donnelly


Having read Jake's review of "The HP-48 Handbook" I want to add a hearty
"hear, hear!" The two volume HP 48 manual is really too much to carry
around, and the Quick Reference Guide is really too compact to do the 48
justice (besides I did not get one with the HP 48 that I recently bought
- was this a one-off, or have other people found the problem? I hope
not, it seems unlikely since HP are generally very good about this, but
this time HP seem to think it is up to my dealer to find the guide, and
the dealer is short of 48s, let alone extra guides.)
One thing Jim deals with in the Handbook is "meta-objects". These are,
in effect, exploded lists, with each list element taking up one place on
the stack. Lists can be cumbersome to deal with, and Jim provides
several example programs to deal with meta-objects instead. One
advantage is that they can be faster to use than lists.
Readers in the UK can get the Handbook directly through the UK club,
which has a few copies now. Of course you can get copies direct from
Jim, or from EduCALC.
Well done Jim!
Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz,
Space and Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College, London.
BITNET: UMAPD51 @ VAXA.CC.IC.AC.UK
usenet - use address at the top
opinion-net - these opinions are mine - use them at your own risk



I just received my copy of the HP 48 Handbook, by James Donnelly.
Donnelly, a software engineer at HP Corvallis, helped develop the
HP 28, for which he published a reference booklet.  More recently,
he was a member of the team that developed the Solve Equation library.

This 193 page reference is typeset and printed on good quality paper,
coil bound in 5 by 7 inch vertical format.  The cover features a full
colour picture of the calculator with a beam analysis diagram in its
display.  The table of contents on the back cover is reproduced below.

        Introduction                            1
        Objects, Names, and Constants           3
        Memory Organization                     15
        Graphics                                21
        Statistics Data                         27
        Data Transfer                           29
        Menus                                   40
        User Keys                               43
        Programming                             45
        HP Solve Equation Library               64
        System Operations                       96
        Printer Control                         101
        Built-In Units                          103
        Messages                                110
        Menu Numbers                            117
        Character Codes                         118
        Object Types                            120
        Flags                                   121
        Subject Index                           125
        Command Reference                       139
        Alpha Keyboard                          195

This reference is the only manual you will want to carry with your HP 48.
It costs $20 at EduCALC or can be ordered directly from the publisher:

Armstrong Publishing Company
3135 NW Ashwood Drive
Corvallis, OR 97330 USA

I can only agree with the enthusiastic reviews posted by Messrs. Schwartz
and Mier-Jedrzejowicz (MEER-yanJAYovitch).  A great deal of hard work has
obviously gone into making this handbook clear, concise, and accurate.  We
should all thank Hewlett-Packard for supporting this kind of effort by its
employees.

Alonzo Gariepy                  // The opinions expressed in this article are
alonzo@microsoft                // not necessarily those of Microsoft Corp.