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Release 0.8.4 "Commands" - Optimizations and equation fixups
This release focuses on improving the solver support for the equation
library, fixing various bugs found during development of that equation
library, and optimizing the garbage collector.
Features
--------
* ui: The keyboard layout is now configured by a a `config/[keymap].48k`
file that describes which commands are assigned to which key by
default. A new setup entry, `Load keymap`, lets you change the
keyboard layout.
* ui: Add four predefined keyboard layouts:
* `db48x.48k` is a key layout that is more logical and effective for DB48x
[See thread](https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-20157-post-193647.html#pid193647)
* `legacy.48k` is the layout used for earlier releases, which
swaps the `exp` and `log10` keys relative to the DM42 in `42style.48k`.
* `42style.48k` keeps key layout as close as possible to the DM42
* `true42.48k` is identical to `42style.48k`, but the simulator shows an image
of the DM42 keyboard.
* Add various commands such as `Edit` to directly perform editing
operations in a programmatic way.
* units: Implement non-proportional unit conversions, notably
temperature conversions like `°F` to `°C`. The underlying engine
allows arbitrary conversions, including non-linear ones, which would
be useful for example for the Dalton temperature scale. However,
that capability is not presently used.
* units: Convert temperatures to `K` in multiplication and
division. For example, when computing `ⒸR*T`, we need the
temperature `T` to be in `K` even if given in Celsius or Farenheit
initially.
* solver: Report underlying evaluation error. For example, if the
expression being evaluated reports `Inconsistent units`, this is
what the solver will return instead of `No solution?`.
* ui: Add configurable interval for busy cursor drawing,
`BusyIndicatorRefresh`. The default is now 50ms, which refreshes
the busy cursor more frequently than before, and may be detrimental
to battery life and performance. You can restore the previous
behaviour by setting a higher value, e.g. 1000ms.
* performance: Automatic cleanup of temporaries to minimize the number
of garbage collection occurences. When a complex operation such as
`exp` is performed, there are a number of intermediate results that
require storage, and were previously only cleaned up by the garbage
collector. They are now automatically cleaned up before the function
returns. The same optimization applies to intermediate graphics
while rendering equations, notably on the stack. This delivers
[significant performance improvements](#garbage-collector-performance)
for long-running operations:
the "[floating-point sum test](https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-9750.html)
is now about 20% faster on SwissMicros calculators.
* commands: Add `GCStats` command to show garbage collector statistics.
* Allow `CustomMenu` to contain the name of a menu, or a program that
builds the menu dynamically. An example is shown in the `RPL`
directory of the Demo file.
* Allow `CustomMenu` to define "vertical" menus, i.e. menus where the
items are stacked on top of one another.
Bug fixes
---------
* Fix functions taking real-like unit input. For example,
`atan(1_cm/1_m)` now computes correctly.
* solver: Do not solve system of equations using existing values. The
multiple equation solver would incorrectly consider existing values
in variables to check if an equation could be used for solving. The
heuristic now picks up the equation that requires the smallest
number of unknown variables among the available equations.
* Parse `x!` as factorial of `x` and not as a `x!` symbol. The
incorrect parsing was due to an ambiguity in the HP48 parser that
was resolved in the HP50G. DB48X now behaves like the HP50G and does
not allow `!` to appear at the end of a name.
* Do not enter the debugger if `DebugOnError` is set while evaluating
an `iferr` statement. The assumption is that if you try to catch an
error, you do not intend to debug the code being tested for an
error. If this is not the desired behaviour, then an explicit
`DebugOnError` should be inserted in the body of `iferr`.
* Various unit-related fixes in the equation library.
* Ensure that we don't execute auto-completed catalog commands
twice. The recent change that added the auto-completed command to
the command-line history also caused the command to be executed on
the command-line before being evaluated again from the key.
* Avoid a rare crash when an equation was too big to be rendered
graphically and a garbage collection cycle occured between graphic
rendering and text rendering.
* Do not emit error message from `Vec→` for vectors containing
units. The incorrect error was introduced by the logic detecting
polar, cylindrical or spherical vectors.
* Fixed `atan2` special cases to always generate the correct
angle. Cases where `atan2` would generate an exact result would
usually result in the wrong angle unit scaling being applied.
* Fixed parsing of `tan⁻¹` in expressions.
* units: Skip the `=Cycle` section for unit definitions. This was
causing incorrect unit conversion errors for users who had added
common units in the `=Cycle` section of their `config/units.csv`
file.
* The user-defined units menu no longer list all the built-in units
after the user-defined ones.
* Add a missing `sqrt` in the `RelativisticKineticEnergy` sample code,
and do not compute the kinetic energies for negative values.
* Alias `keys` is for `KeyMap`, not `Header`. Fix typo in identifiers
table.
* Avoid a crash in `RandomMatrix` when hardware floating-point is
enabled, due to an incorrect conversion to integer. As a side
effect, fixed a couple of minor issues in the conversion to integer
values from decimal or binary floating-point values.
* Fix bogus `Bad argument type` message for `V→` when the number of
elements was not 2 or 3.
* Fix crash when dividing a matrix by a non-invertible matrix.
* Fix crash displaying non-normal hardware floating-point values.
* Fix crash in vector operations that cause errors, e.g. `[1][0] /`.
* Parse `ubase` algebraic expressions, e.g. `ubase(1_km)`, as well
as other function-like commands such as `size`.
* Accept numerical values in `ubase` and leave them as is.
* Adjust the "next step" computation in the solver to minimize the
complexity of conversions and remove unit ambiguity for temperatures.
* Rewrite the Heat Transfer equations to clarify temperature unit used
in the computation. Specifically, avoid having a `ΔT` in a
multiplication, where the value would be incorrectly converted to
`K`.
* Fix a problem when a garbage collection while parsing a fraction
could cause a large fraction of the subsequent program to be
skipped. This normally led to anomalous `Inconsistent units`
messages when this caused a unit such as `254/10_mm` for `in` to be
incorrectly parsed as `254/10`.
Enhancements
------------
* Major update to the documentation of the equation library,
contributed by Jean Wilson.
* equations: Replace `°F` with `°C` in equations
* tests: Add support for tests that are known to fail
* tests: Run equation tests with `11 DIG`
* tests: Add ability to take screen snapshots on failure
* units: Put temperatures before pressure in `Fluids` section
* help: Add image for B Field From Finite Wire
* Makefile: When using `make update`, do not keep the temporary `.png`
* Indicate where to get `tac` in the build documentation
* Fix README link to browser version
* Disable `DebugOnError` by default, since it confused new users
* Enhance the test suite so that it looks up the keys to use.
This makes the test suite more readable, e.g. we have `ID_exp` in
the test instead of `D` (the `D` key being where `exp` was on the
original layout), and it makes the test suite layout-independent,
paving the way for reuse on other hardware (e.g. HP50G).
Signed-off-by: Christophe de Dinechin <[email protected]>- Loading branch information
