Miscellaneous Functions
Stopwatch
In Time mode, buttons are available to control a
simple stopwatch.
To start the stopwatch use the start button, which results in increasing
time being displayed. This continues until one of the other stopwatch buttons is
pressed. The calculator cannot be used for other calculations unless the
stopwatch is stopped or set to lap count.
To stop the watch, use the stop button. Pressing start
again will cause the watch to resume from the time when it was stopped. Pressing
the
lap button while it is running freezes the display without
stopping the watch. When the start button is pressed again, the
display continues, showing the accumulated time. Once lap has been
pressed the calculator can be used for other calculations, for example saving
the lap time to a memory.
If reset is pressed, the stopwatch is set back to zero. The next
time start is pressed the watch will commence at zero.
Pressing count starts a countdown from the currently displayed time. This can be the result of a
previous stopwatch time, or the start time can be entered using the keypad. When
the countdown reaches zero the stopwatch beeps if "Error Beep" is enabled (see Modes).
The now button sets the display to the current (local) time at the
instant the button is pressed. If you need a clock, click on now
immediately followed by start which will result in a continuous
display of the current time.
The accuracy of the stopwatch may be
limited by the hardware device on which it is running. On WindowsCE devices the
accuracy is nominally plus or minus 25mS. The stopwatch accuracy is maintained
even if the device is switched off, or goes into the suspended state. The
nominal accuracy on Windows is plus or minus 1 mS.
In time mode, some of the functions described above can be operated from the
cursor (arrow) keys on your keyboard. On Pocket PC devices there is sometimes a
cursor device which performs the same function - for example on the Compaq iPaq
and others there is a four-way control pad which functions in the same way as
the cursor keys. This makes it possible to operate the stopwatch single-handed.
The arrow keys are mapped as follows:
Cursor Key Stopwatch function > (right) Start < (left) Stop ^ (up) Lap V (down) Reset
ASCII Converter
In Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal or Base-N modes,
you can use the ascii
button to bring up a table of ASCII values.
The values correspond to the number base being used. Selecting a value followed
by OK will result in the value for that character being input to the calculator. Click on Cancel if you want to
check an ASCII value without entering its value.
The example above shows the decimal values for some of the ASCII codes. These
were obtained by selecting Base-N mode with a base of 10, as explained in the Modes section.
The
control characters
character name.
Saving and Restoring Data
Use the File menu (Tools on Pocket PC) and select Save Data
As... and Load Data... to save and restore the calculator data,
including the contents of memory and arrays or matrices. This results in a
further dialog box to select the filename.
Physical properties, constants and conversions can also be saved or loaded.
Reverting to "Factory" Settings
Whenever you change the calculator settings using the Options dialog, or close
down the calculator, the configuration is saved to the Windows Registry. The
Windows Registry is simply a mechanism for storing data which is part of the
operating system. By using the registry, it is possible for an application to
maintain a different set of configurations for different users.
Sometimes you may want to force the settings back to those when the software
was first installed. This is analogous to the standard configuration of a piece
of equipment when it leaves the factory, which are often called the "factory settings". Unfortunately, if you simply delete the directory
containing the software and all the associated files, and then re-install the
software, the "remembered" settings will still be in the registry and will be
picked up when the application is started.
The registry is not regarded as part of the file
system, and is quite difficult to modify. There is a special tool called regedit which usually has to be run by typing the name or finding the file
in the Windows directory. It is not normally accessible from the Start menu or
Control Panel. The reason is that the registry contains parameters which control
the way the operating system works, and it is quite easy to accidentally make
the system unusable while editing it. If you ever need to manually edit the
registry settings, or keys (which we do not recommend), they can be found
under the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/FlowSimulation.
If you simply want to get rid of the registry settings, for example to start
afresh, there is a button on the Option/General page labelled "Factory
Setting". This will remove the registry entry and prevent it from being
rewritten when you close down the calculator. It will also delete the default
data file, so any calculation data will also be lost. You will be warned that
the registry setting will be deleted - answer "Yes" to this question. You should
then close the calculator (if it is in the system tray you will need to click on
its icon and choose Exit, and if it is running on a Pocket PC device you will
need to close it down either from the Start/Settings/System/Memory/Running
Programs page or using Ctrl-q on the input panel). If you continue any further
changes you make to the configuration are lost, so you are warned of this if you
enter the Options dialog again.
The next time you run the calculator, it will have the "factory" settings, as
if run for the first time. Note that any custom modifications to the conversions
and properties database are not affected by the factory reset. These are stored
in a separate file (default.prp) and if you need
to reset these also, you will need to delete this file. The original data should
be in a file called factory.prp which is loaded automatically if default.prp is not found. On Windows, the default.prp file should be
in the installation directory, and on Pocket PC in the "My Documents" directory.