The upper-left most item of the PC2 window is the Display area. Values that are entered, or resulting from operations, are displayed here. Prompts for functions requiring a second operand will be displayed here (ie Rect to Polar requires both a width and height values).
POPUP MENU
Immediately to the right of the display area is the Popup menu. The popup menu provides access to the basic modes of operation, user preferences, displayed results numeric formats, and this help feature. The specific contents of the popup menu may vary depending upon the menu type selection made in the user preferences dialog.
NON-VOLATILE MEMORIES
Directly below the display area are the non-volatile memory location status indicators. These special memory locations may be used to save values that are retained even after the Mac has been turned off. When a non-volatile memory location holds a non-zero value its status indicator will be lit in the current text highlighting color as set through the Control Panel desk accessory.
When the PC2 is closed, all current settings, and values saved to non-volatile memory, are saved to disk. The next time the PC2 is opened, these settings and saved values will be restored.
ANGULAR MODE
To the right of the memory status indicators, and below the popup menu are the current Angular input and display mode indicators. Angular mode affects only angular computations, which includes SIN, COS, TAN, Rectangular to Polar and Polar to Rectangular functions. The currently selected mode is lit with the text highlighting color and may be changed by clicking on "the other" indicator. If the display holds a non-zero value it will be converted appropriately.
STICKY BUTTONS
The "2nd" button and all of the memory operator buttons are "sticky buttons". When clicked the first time, they will remain highlighted until clicked again, or until another button is clicked thereby completing that operation.
NUMBER AND FUNCTION BUTTONS
The lower 70% of the PC2 window holds the standard 44 buttons for entering calculations. Almost all of the buttons (40) provide a secondary (or alternate) function which is accessed by clicking the "2nd" button or holding down the Shift key on the keyboard. In either case the button titles will change to reflect the alternate functions.
Many calculations involve only the basic math operators (+-x÷), if preferred, this calcuations may be entered entirely using the keyboard or numeric keypad. Store and Recall may also be entered using the "s" and "r" keys respectively.
The two buttons in the lower right of the center section are designated as Type Button 1 and Type Button 2. The may be configured through the user preferences dialog to facilitate the entry of "prefered" numeric formats. In essence they provide the punctuation character specific to a given numeric form such as "p" for Picas and Points, "cm" for centimetres, etc.
COPY AND PASTE
Numeric values may be pasted into the display area from the clipboard using the Command-V key combination. Values must conform to one of the supported numeric formats. If the value cannot be properly interpreted the "<ERROR>" message will be displayed.
A value in the display area may be copied to the clipboard in two ways. The method choosen will most likely depend on the destination of the value. If the destination is an application dialog entry, some applications parse for numeric type punctuation characters and others do not.
Command-C will copy the display exactly as it appears including special punctuation. Command-Option-C copies the display value to the clipboard without the special punctuation.
PROGRAMS MODE
In "Programs" mode the window is expanded to reveal 8 additional buttons which are functions specific to PC2 programs. Program Record mode adds 3 additional secondary functions to 3 of the standard buttons. See the "Programs Mode" topic for more information.
PAPER TAPE EMULATION
In "Tape Calc" mode the window is expanded to reveal a scolling list area and 2 control buttons. Calculations entered will appear in the scolling area on a line by line basis. See the "Paper Tape Mode" topic for more information.
Whenever there is a scolling list displayed, by Programs or Tape Calc modes, the list contents may be copied to the clipboard as text using the Command-Shift-C key combination.
