Menus
Pop-ups and menu bar
Using pop-up menus
The Simulator provides several pop-up menus. Pop-up menus are invoked by clicking with the right mouse button on a user interface element, e.g. a button, the display etc., or by a keyboard shortcut of the form Alt–key.
If you invoke a pop-up menu by clicking a user interface element, its top left corner appears near the mouse pointer. If you invoke the pop-up with a keyboard shortcut, the top left corner of the pop-up appears at the bottom left corner of the GUI element.
In addition to the pop menus, a menu bar can be switched on.
Mac OS X specifics
Pop-up MenusEarlier Tcl/Tk versions did not allow fixed width fonts in pop-up menus on Mac OS X; a feature needed for the simulator pop-up menus. Therefore pop-up menus on Mac OS X were simulated with normal windows. Recent combinations of Tcl/Tk and Mac OS X do not have this limitation anymore and native pop-up menus are now used by default. However, this has the disadvantage that all native pop-up menus are always one-column. You can therefore return to the old style menus if you deactivate "Native Mac OS X pop-up menus" in the Menus section of the preferences.
The only exception is the "Program Menu" which is always a normal window. This is because coloured entries and multi-column pop-up menus are not supported by Mac OS X.
Menu bar
Under Mac OS X the menu bar is always on as it serves as the application's standard menu bar.
ON Menu
The ON pop-up menu provides functions that are typical for a "File" menu.- Right mouse button: ON,
(The area around the display)
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–O,
F10
Menu item | Shortcut | Description |
---|---|---|
Open program… | Ctrl–O | Open a HP-15C program file. Opens the operating system standard "Load file" dialogue box to select a file. The new program will override the current program(s) when loaded. |
Save program… | Ctrl–S | Save the current HP-15C program(s) to a file. Opens the operating system standard "Save file" dialogue box to specify a file. |
Program description… | F12 | Opens the Program Description dialogue box. Used to edit/enter program documentation. |
HTML help: text | Ctrl–F1 Shift–F1 |
Displays the HTML file for the current program. If a HTML file is available, "text" is the file name without an extension. If no file is found, the "text" is "<not available>" and the menu entry is greyed out. |
Clear storage registers | Shift–Esc | Set all storage registers to zero. |
Memory ▸ | - | Memory submenu. See below. |
Stay on top | Ctrl–T | HP-15C stays on top of other applications on the desktop even if it hasn't the focus. |
Swap comma and period | Alt–. Alt–, |
This swaps the representation of the decimal point and the digit separator. |
Preferences… | Ctrl–, Ctrl–; |
This entry opens a dialogue box that allows you to configure the Simulator. See Preferences for details on configurable items. |
Help | F1 | Displays the Simulator online help while in Run mode or the help file for the current program (if available) in PRGM mode. |
Show back side | - | Shows the back side of the HP-15C simulator. |
About HP-15C… | - | Opens a dialogue box showing the Simulators copyright, disclaimer, serial number and other information. |
Exit | Alt–F4 | Shuts off the Simulator. |
Memory submenu
Menu item | Shortcut | Description |
---|---|---|
Save memory | Ctrl–M | Save the Simulator memory to disk. Path and file name depend on the operating system and can not be changed by the user. |
Load memory | Ctrl–L | Reload the Simulator memory. |
Reset memory | Ctrl–R | Reset the memory to the default value. |
Stack Menu
This menu shows the status of the stack. That is, the values of the numbers stored in each of the four stack registers and in the last x register.
The stack menu is available only in Run mode, not in PRGM mode.
- Right mouse button:
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–S
Selecting one of the menu entries X through T performs a stack roll down. The selected register becomes the X register. Selecting the entry LSTx performs a push on the stack and copies the contents of the LSTx register to the X register.
Numbers in the pop-up menu are formatted in the same way as in the display. Let us assume you have keyed in the following:
1 2 ex g √x̅ (or x²)
1 2 ENTER
7 7 7 7 7 7 ⅟x
4 2
f 7 2 (or simply FIX 2)
When you right click the display, you will see the pop-up menu as shown in the first image:
The key sequence f 7 4 gives the format shown in the second image and f 8 3 that in the third image.
In Complex mode, the stack pop-up menu displays both the real and the imaginary stack:
If a stack register contains a matrix descriptor, e.g. " E 2 2",
the menu entry for this register can have two different styles. It can either become a sub-menu button
with the cascading sub-menu showing the content of the matrix represented by the descriptor. Or the entry can simply
show the matrix descriptor without a cascading sub-menu.
Storage Menus
This menu displays the status of the storage registers.
- Right mouse button: STO, RCL
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–M,
Alt–R
Depending on whether you invoke the menu on the STO key or the RCL key, the menu is either in storage or in recall mode. Selecting a register in recall mode will copy the contents of that register to the X register. In storage mode the contents of the X register is copied to the selected register.
By default, the storage menu is displayed in two-column mode. It can be changed to one-column mode in the
Menus dialogue box.
As with the real HP-15C, the user can change the number of available registers with
f DIM (i).
The pop-up menu will show only the registers currently defined, but a maximum of 20 registers, plus the
I
register. If, for example, the user has limited the number of registers to 7, the pop-up menu will
look like this:
Matrix Menus
The matrix functions, along with the functions for complex numbers, are those that have the greatest impact on the handling of the HP-15C. Matrix functions affect the memory, use key sequences in which the g key precedes a gold letter function, make use of the USER mode when entering the data of a matrix, in PRGM mode store the USER status that was active during the programming.I therefore strongly recommend to read the HP-15C Owner's Handbook for a complete list of all matrix functions, .
Matrix Content
A matrix content menu shows the elements of a matrix in the selected format.- Right mouse button: A…E
- Mouse over: Matrix descriptor in the stack menu


Matrix Functions
The matrix functions menu shows ten of the matrix specific functions and calculations.- Right mouse button: MATRIX
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–Z
Number | Function | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | 0 DIM | Dimensions all matrices to 0×0. |
1 | 1→R0, 1→R1 | Sets row and column numbers in R0 and R1 to 1. |
2 | AP → Ã | Transform ZP into Z̃. |
3 | Ã → AP | Transform Z̃ into ZP. |
4 | AT | Calculate transpose of matrix specified in X-register. |
5 | ATB | Multiplies transpose of matrix specified in Y-register with matrix specified in X-register. Stores in result matrix. |
6 | B=B-AC | Calculates residual in result matrix. |
7 | MAX Σ|aij| | Calculates row norm of matrix specified in X-register. |
8 | (Σ|aij|²)½ | Calculates Frobenius or Euclidean norm of matrix specified in X-register. |
9 | |A| | Calculates determinant of matrix specified in X-register. Places LU in result matrix. |
Program Menu
This menu shows the current program steps in a multi-column list. It is the equivalent of the real HP-15C function GTO CHS # # # (where # is in [0…9]) which moves the program pointer to the step with the given number.
In PRGM mode the menu is invoked by:
- Right mouse button:
, GTO
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–S
In Run mode the menu can only be invoked by:
- Right mouse button: GTO
If you select a program step from the menu, the program pointer is positioned on that step. In PRGM mode, the selected program step will also show up in the display.
Three settings affect the layout of the menu (see Menus).
- Program steps can be displayed either in the standard row-column notation or as mnemonics
- Labels, sub-program calls (GSB and GTO) and return commands can be displayed coloured
- The number of program steps displayed in each menu column
The following figure shows some examples of pop-up menus:
By default, the menu displays coloured mnemonics.
GSB Menu
This menu shows all defined program labels. If no labels are defined, the menu is not shown.
- Right mouse button: GSB
You can determine whether the labels are sorted or whether they are listed in the order they occur in the program (the default). If the labels are sorted, letter labels are sorted before number labels.
If a label is used more then once, it appears only once in the sorted list. In the unsorted list, all occurences are listed. Please note that in this case, the current program position determines, which occurrence of the label is actually accessed.
If a label description is available in the Program Documentation, this description is shown right to the label. The following
examples are from the "Time Value of Money" program:
Flag Menu
This menu shows the status of the 10 flags.
- Right mouse button: F?
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–F
A value of "1" indicates that a flag is set ("on"), a values of "0" that it is not ("off"). The flags 1 through 7 are user-defined flags. Flag 8 indicates whether or not the Simulator is in Complex mode. Flag 9 indicates the blinking of the display.
When you select a menu entry in PRGM mode, the key sequence "43. 6. N" to inquire the status of Flag "N" is inserted in the program. Selecting a menu entry in Run mode has no effect.
Test Menu
The test menu provides access to the 10 compare operations not directly accessible from the keypad.
The test menu is available only in PRGM mode, not in Run mode.
- Right mouse button: TEST
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–T
The HP-15C has 12 different compare operations. Two of them, x≤y and, x=0, are accessible directly from the keypad. The ten remaining through g TEST n, where n indicates the code of the operation:
When you select a menu entry in PRGM mode, the key sequence "43.30. N" to perform test "N" is inserted in the program.
Error Menu
If an error occurs, the HP-15C displays the word "ERROR" followed by the error code. The error pop-up menu provides a decoding for the error numbers.
- Right mouse button:
- Keyboard shortcut: Alt–S
No. | Short desc. | Description |
---|---|---|
0 | y ÷ 0, LN 0, … | Invalid mathematical operation Invalid argument in one of the following routines:
×, where
x < 0 .⅟x, where x = 0 .LOG, where
|x|>1 .COS-1, where in Real mode |x|>1 .
STO ÷, where Δ%, where the value in the Y registers is 0.
HYP-1 COS, where in Real mode Cy,x or Py,x, where
|
1 | LN A, SIN A, … | Invalid Matrix operation The Simulator does not support matrix functions. |
2 | Σ Error | Invalid statistic operation
x̅, |
3 | R?, Aij? | Invalid address for register or matrix element The addressed storage register or the indexed matrix element does not exist. |
4 | LBL?, GTO > MEM, PRGM > MEM |
Invalid line number or label name Program step addressed by line number is not in use or does not exist (line number > 448). Attempt to enter more than 448 program steps. Addressed label does not exist. |
5 | > 7 RTN | To many nested sub-programs More than 7 nested sub-program levels. |
6 | SF > 9, CF > 9, F? > 9 | Invalid flag Attempt to call a flag greater than 9. |
7 | SOLVE(SOLVE), ∫yx(∫yx) | Recursive call to SOLVE or
∫yx A program called by SOLVE calls SOLVE; a program called by ∫yx calls ∫yx. |
8 | SOLVE ? | No root found SOLVE can not find a root in the given interval. |
9 | ON / × | Service This error can not occur with the Simulator. |
10 | DIM > MEM | Insufficient memory Not enough memory to execute the requested operation. |
11 | DIM A ≠ DIM B | Invalid matrix element Inconsistent or improper matrix arguments for a given matrix operation:
+ or +, where the dimensions are incompatible.
scalar/matrix ÷, where the matrix is not square. ÷, where:
MATRIX 3, where the input is a scalar; or the number of columns is odd. MATRIX 4, where the input is scalar. MATRIX 5, where:
RCL DIM I, where contents of RI are scalar. DIM I, where contents of RI are scalar. STO RESULT, where the input is scalar. Py,x, where the number of columns is odd. Cy,x, where the number of rows is odd.
|
98 | File I/O Error | Error while opening or saving a program file
This is, of course, no error code of the real HP-15C. |
99 | Tcl/Tk Error | Tcl/Tk interpreter error This is, of course, no error code of the real HP-15C. Although the Simulator has been tested a lot, there may be some undetected errors in the code. When you come across such an error, it may happen that even restarting the Simulator does not solve the problem. In this case, the HP-15C memory file must be deleted manually. |
Pr Error | Memory error | Continuous memory was reset The memory of the Simulator was reset to the default values. |