How to find if ROM/RAM Card is full
Harold Climer
find out how much room in a merged or independent RAM or ROM card is
left. Also is there a command that lists the variables( Objects)
stored in the RAM./ROM card and the size of each one? Like Dir
command in DOS.
.
Harold A. Climer
Lab Instructor
Dept.Of Physics & Astronomy
U. Tennessee at Chattanooga
Keith Farmer
> Is there a command for both the SX and GX to
> find out how much room in a merged or independent RAM or ROM card is
RTFM -- "PVARS"
Takes port number as input, returns var listing and free space.
Joseph K. Horn
>
> Is there a command for both the SX and GX to
> find out how much room in a merged or independent RAM or ROM card is
> stored in the RAM./ROM card and the size of each one? Like Dir
> command in DOS.
The answer I'd give one of my students is: use PVARS to get a list
of the contents; if it's RAM card, make sure it's write-enabled, and
then PVARS will also return the number of available bytes; if it's a
ROM card, there are no available bytes no matter what's in it.
The real answer is: Yes. Load the HACK library. For the contents of
a port, use XRCL. For the number of unused bytes in a port (RAM or
ROM), use PMEM. 1 PMEM takes 30.7_ms when port 1 contains a ROM card
with 12 objects and 645 unused bytes. Fast enough for most purposes.
If you want to see a nicely displayed list of a port's contents with
the object type and size of every item, then go to HPCALC.COM and
look at the memory utilities:
http://www.hpcalc.org/utils/memory/
My favorites are the PCT library and the MetaKernel's "filer", but
there are several other good ones too.
-Joe-
--
Joseph K. Horn - http://www.jps.net/joehorn/
Jeremy Fincher
^^^^^^^^^
I've seen this on the TI group, but I always thought HP owners were above this.
Perhaps not.
Jeremy
----------------------------------
If i ever forget to capitalize a proper noun, forgive me. i'm a big fan of ee
cummings
My ICQ # is 28153190. My AIM/AOL name is either jemfinch02 or Cassius80.
Have a good day, and good luck in your endeavors!
Keith Farmer
> >RTFM -- "PVARS"
> ^^^^^^^^^
> I've seen this on the TI group, but I always thought HP owners were above this.
> Perhaps not.
Perhaps both have been said on this group in the past 7 years, as well?
Perhaps you didn't see anything far and beyond a call to check provided
literature in the past month?
The gentleman's a lab instructor, and was given a gentle reminder
regarding basic information sources that many (myself included at times) neglect.
Horn's reply, though, was much more detailed.
Harold Climer
wrote:
>Harold Climer wrote:
>> Is there a command for both the SX and GX to
>> find out how much room in a merged or independent RAM or ROM card is
>
>RTFM -- "PVARS"
>
>Takes port number as input, returns var listing and free space.
Mr. Farmer, usually I do try to RTFM, but having to carry lots
papers and other books back a forth from home to school and from
school to home every day, I do not like to appear like a walking
library. (Too few and the politicians say college profs don't earn
their pay and too many marks you as a geek) Something had to give and
I had to make cuts in my assortment of books. The Fine Manual as you
put it, was a casualty. It was not alone, other books of even greater
stature had to be cut too. Also with TI taking over the student
calculator market here, there is hardly anyone left to borrow a manual
from anymore. It is also the summer term and this place lacks the
human resources that I can tap for information during the regular
semesters. I also must say this command is not a top priority on my
list of things I really need to know about the 48 off the top of my
head .
Keith Farmer
> Mr. Farmer, usually I do try to RTFM, but having to carry lots
Mr. Climer,
Happy to know that..
> their pay and too many marks you as a geek) Something had to give and
It was my experience as an astrophysics student that no matter the
number of books, the mere association with the program marked you as a
geek -- having a 48 only amplified that. On my campus, there were only
3 of us in my graduating year (as opposed to about 300+ biology
students), and one abandoned us to walk with his other major in EE.
As for the profs earning their pay, I agree that most (most) do, and the
number of books carried had little to do with it.
> I had to make cuts in my assortment of books. The Fine Manual as you
Nor have I carried my fine manual with me since I purchased the machine.
Like you, I imagine, I bulked up on my textbooks and copies of CRC.
> semesters. I also must say this command is not a top priority on my
I wasn't aware that a basic memory management command would be a low
priority for a 48 user. I apologize for the error.
Keith Farmer
> A gentle remind is "It's in the manual" Read The F*cking Manual (RTFM)
Mr. Climer translated it as 'Fine Manual'. Where's your lexicon?
> And far more appropriate for the level of professionalism in the group.
From what I've seen (cite the past month's holy wars as a destruction
test), it's no higher than the average UseNet group. This isn't, of
course, an alt.* group, but it's definitely *NOT* sci.*, which is in my
experience much more professional.
What would you tell a DOS user with demonstrated ability to use his
brain, if he asked "Is there a command to list the contents and free
space of a drive other than the one I'm on?" True, help files don't
exist native on the HP, as they do on DOS. Considering the basic
necessity of the command in question (PVARS) shouldn't there be a basic
level of competency regarding Life With the HP48 we may expect,
excepting the new user?
Or do I expect too much of what I deem to be intelligent people?
Joseph K. Horn
>
> Harold Climer wrote:
> > Is there a command for both the SX and GX to
> > find out how much room in a merged or independent RAM
> > or ROM card is
>
> RTFM -- "PVARS"
>
> Takes port number as input, returns var listing and free space.
Uh... no. PVARS does not return the free space in a RAM card that
is write protected, nor the number of unused bytes in a ROM card.
Jeremy Fincher
A gentle remind is "It's in the manual" Read The F*cking Manual (RTFM) is not
gentle by any stretch of the word
>Horn's reply, though, was much more detailed.
And far more appropriate for the level of professionalism in the group.
Jeremy
Dave Arnett
Harold Climer wrote:
>
> Is there a command for both the SX and GX to
> find out how much room in a merged or independent RAM or ROM card is
> left. Also is there a command that lists the variables( Objects)
> stored in the RAM./ROM card and the size of each one? Like Dir
> command in DOS.
>
> .
> Harold A. Climer
> Lab Instructor
> Dept.Of Physics & Astronomy
> U. Tennessee at Chattanooga
Hello, Harold.
As I teach the HP48 to friends, colleagues, and the occasional paying
group of students, I usually devote an hour to learning the scheme
behind the softkey menu structure. If you come across students
hunting for commands who also do not carry the 'fine' manual with
them, please urge them to get to know the keyboard. While it isn't
perfect, we tried really hard to place the commands in logical
locations.
One item that many users never quite manage to remember is that a
key with only a green label above it has both a green and a purple
shift function. We didn't print the label in both colors, because that
would have looked really dorky. The purple-shift option brings up
RPL commands dealing with the topic at hand.
So, for example, if you want to find commands related to characters,
you would press Purple-shift CHARS. If you want to find the stack
manipulation commands, you press Purple-shift STACK. If you want
to find the commands for adding and subtracting in hour-minute-second
format, you press Purple-shift TIME. If you want the commands that
allow you to manipulate algebraic expressions on the stack, it's
Purple-shift SYMBOLIC. And if you want to query for the contents and
free memory in a plug-in card, look at Purple-shift LIBRARY.
The most successful HP48 owners are those who read the manuals and
play around with the machine. Taken on balance, I expect that play
is the more important of the two activities after the first month of
ownership.
I'm glad you got the answer to your question.
Good Day!
Dave.
Engineer, Hewlett-Packard Company
Adjunct Professor, Clark College
------
I don't speak for HP when I post here.
Keith Farmer
> Uh... no. PVARS does not return the free space in a RAM card that
> is write protected, nor the number of unused bytes in a ROM card.
See my previous post, stating your response as more detailed. I never
write protect my cards since they do get used, so rarely encounter this
(lack of) behavior.
Keith Farmer
> One item that many users never quite manage to remember is that a
> key with only a green label above it has both a green and a purple
> shift function. We didn't print the label in both colors, because that
> would have looked really dorky. The purple-shift option brings up
> RPL commands dealing with the topic at hand.
I suppose (based on the apparent lack of tab slots) that the keyboard
overlays from the 48 series will have no equivalent in the 49 series.
Is this correct, or are there products in the works.
John H Meyers
> I suppose (based on the apparent lack of tab slots) that the keyboard
> overlays from the 48 series will have no equivalent in the 49 series.
> Is this correct, or are there products in the works.
The original HP48 overlay kit was only made for the S/SX,
and was later discontinued by HP, so they may not have found
this stuff to be very marketable.
However, there is nothing to stop third-parties from making
overlays, if they can figure out how to do so for the 49
(which I would bet against).
I use "mental overlays" on my 48G -- these have proved not only to
be cheap, but very flexible, and not one has ever fallen off :)
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With best wishes from: John H Meyers <jhme...@mum.edu>