Basic operation modes

RUN mode

• Card data is always transferred from the card to the calculator's memory.


• In RPN-67's Card Manager, you can modify and save a card without affecting the calculator's memory, except if the card is currently loaded. In this case, the changed card is automatically reloaded into the calculator.

W/PRGM mode

• Used to transfer data from the calculator's memory to a card.


• Only the card's metadata can be modified in the Card Manager.

Quick Access to cards

In the Card Manager, tapping on the title "Cards" lets you quickly access the cards you're working on.

• Tap once to toggle between the currently loaded card and last selected card. Defaults to the top card.


• Double-tap to toggle between Data Cards and Program Cards.


• Triple-tap to select the first card in the list.

Finding errors in the program listing

If errors are reported, you don't have to manually scroll through the program listing to find them.

• Tap the error message to scroll the next [???] error ("unknown command") into view.


• Long-press the error message to scroll the next [Err] error ("target not found") into view.

Finding labels in the program listing

You don't have to manually scroll through the program listing to find a given user-defined function label.

• Tap one of the label letters A...E (below the Card Labels), and RPN-67 will scroll the next occurrence of that label into view.


• Long-press the label letters for lower-case labels.

Reminder: To print label usage, execute 10 g OP SYS/INFO

Editing the listing area

You can modify a program (or register data) right in the listing area.

• Since you're modifying a card, not the calculator's memory, make sure the calculator is set to W/PRGM.


• Insert, cut, copy, paste code lines, even blocks of lines, as desired, then tap "Write Card" to save the new version.


• Everything except the keycodes (one, two or three double-digit numbers) in a line is ignored.


• Line numbers will be recreated based on the position of a line.


• Blanks are optional in opcodes. E.g. 312504 would insert a LBL 4 statement, as would 31 25 04.


• Opcodes must be double-digit, i.e. the numeric key 7 must be entered as 07.


• If you use HP-97 keycodes, make sure to set the switch before dismissing the onscreen keyboard. Some keycodes have different meanings on HP-67 and HP-97, so you can safely convert a listing only once.


• For a Data Card, you may enter an arbitrary number of values, one per line. The first 25 values will be assigned to registers R0, R1, R2, ..., I. Unused registers will be set to 0.


• Any text containing program lines with HP-67 opcodes may be pasted into the calculator display in W/PRGM mode. Valid lines will be inserted after the current program step.

Merging cards

The MERGE feature is described in section "Programming".

• On RPN-67, a MERGE command times out after 3 minutes.


• Programmed merging: you can cause a program to wait for a card to be merged like this:
  LBL 0  MERGE  PAUSE  GTO 0. The program will execute this loop until the card has been merged. It will then resume execution.
  (The 2-card version of program "HM04a - Characteristic Equation of a 3x3 Matrix" in section Library 3 makes use of this feature.)


• Auto-merging: a card containing only R/S commands in steps 1...112 and at least one non-R/S command in steps 113...224, will be treated as a "side-2-only" card. It will be loaded beginning at step 113 without overwriting steps 1...112 of program memory. For card size 224 only.
  (Program "23 - Heat Exchangers" of M.E. Pac I in section Library 2 makes use of this feature.)

Using the Paper Tape Printer


RPN-67's paper tape printer emulates the HP-97's printer and adds a few twists.
The tape can hold up to 2000 lines; older lines are dropped.

When using the printer, whether you are in MAN or NORM modes (where you must press Printx) or in TRACE (where RPN-67 automatically prints answers as they are calculated), printed numbers can be shown in any display format – fixed point, scientific notation, or engineering notation. By selecting the display format, you also select the print format.

Numbers that you key in – that is, numbers that are not the results of operations – are also printed by the HP-97. When you key in a number with the Print Mode switch set to NORM or TRACE, RPN-67 does not print it until you change display format or press a function key. Then the number is printed exactly as you keyed it in. A number that you keyed in is not the result of an operation, and no asterisks are printed to its right.

When you have keyed in a number, there is one time that the RPN-67 will change its format before printing. If you have specified fixed point notation and the number keyed in is also in fixed point format (i.e., you have not pressed EEX), RPN-67 will attempt to align the decimal points for easy readability on your printed copy. It will do this in fixed point notation by printing the number that you keyed in in the specified format (if the number can be printed without truncating), adding trailing zeros if necessary. This feature permits you to key in numbers in fixed point notation and line up the decimal points in the printed record of your calculations.

Press and hold line
If you long-press a line, a ghost picture of the line appears. Release it to copy the line content to the pasteboard. You may also drag the picture to the display and paste it there.

Printing Modes

• MAN
  With the Print Mode switch set to MAN (manual), the printer is idle and does not print unless you press the Printx key or one of the other PRINT functions.


• TRACE
  With the Print Mode switch set to TRACE, the calculator prints numbers, functions, and intermediate and final answers, just as they are seen in the display. The results of functions are printed with the symbol *** to the right of the number .


• NORM
  With the Print Mode switch set to NORM (normal), the calculator records a history of the calculation sequence so that you can reconstruct your problem. In this mode you see digit entries and functions, but intermediate and final answers are not printed unless you press the Printx key.

When running a program in NORM and TRACE mode, RPN-67 also prints information about subroutine levels. The number at the left of a line indicates the step where program flow will continue when the next RTN statement is encountered. No number means program execution will stop with the next RTN statement. Nested subroutines are displayed by indenting the step number according to the nesting level.

To advance the printer paper, tap the paper advance button at the bottom. Hold the button down to advance several lines.

To quickly scroll to the beginning or the end of the printout, tap the arrow button at the top.

Program Listing

With the calculator mode switch set to W/PRGM, the paper tape printer's Printx button changes to P Pgm. Tapping the button prints the currently stored program as follows:

Print Mode switch set to MAN:
The printer lists step number, operation, and keycode for each step of program memory. The print range starts at the first non-R/S instruction from the current step and ends at the last non-R/S step in program memory (as defined in "Number of Program Steps" in the settings.) All R/S inside this range will be printed.

Print Mode switch set to NORM or TRACE:
The printer lists only the step number and instruction, omitting the keycode. This type of listing is useful for preserving a record of your program without the keycodes.
The start of the print range is defined as in MAN mode, but printing will stop on the second R/S in succession.

In Vintage mode, printing stops after each R/S command. The step counter is automatically increased, allowing you to step through program memory by repeatedly tapping the P Pgm key.

If "Number of Program Steps" is set to 224 and both card sides (steps 1...112 and steps 113...224, respectively) contain statements different from R/S, two consecutive R/S will be ignored on side 1 up to the first non-R/S on side 2. This feature allows auto-merged programs (see section above) to be printed in a single step.

Printing Display Value, Stack, and Registers

With the printer turned on and visible, commands like REG, STK and -x- will execute much faster than on the regular HP-67. With the printer off or hidden, they run as usual.

Changing the Ribbon Color

Use the SYS/INFO command to change the default ribbon color of the paper tape printer.

Available colors are:

0 = black, 1 = gray,
2 = blue, 3 = light blue, 4 = green, 5 = light green,
6 = red, 7 = light red, 8 = purple, 9 = light purple

Example:
To change the ribbon color to blue, execute 2 OP SYS/INFO

Alternatively, you may use the PRT MODE command to change several printer settings, including color, at the same time.

Editing the Paper Tape

Swipe left on a paper tape line to delete it (DEL). You can also insert an empty line above a line (SPC), or paste text created by the TXT button (PASTE – use Store Text for pasting in the dialog).

Using the Dot-matrix Font

In Vintage mode only, the paper tape may show a font mimicking the dot-matrix font used on the HP-97 calculator.

To enable/disable the font, the extended mode operation PRT MODE is used (see tab "Extensions".) In the parameter m.csdf expected by PRT MODE, set f = 0 to disable the font, f = 1 to enable it.
For example, setting the parameter to -1.2001 would select MAN printing mode, negative results in red, blue ribbon color, dot-matrix font ON.

Since the dot-matrix font is not supported by the system, e-mailing and printing the paper tape is disabled while it is active.
Annotating the paper tape using the TXT command is disabled as well.

Creating and sharing a PDF version of the Paper Tape

1. Tap the Share button and select either "Print in Color" or "Print in Black"
2. Enlarge the image with two fingers
3. Tap the Share button

Quick-loading a program
In the list of program and data cards, double-tapping an entry causes the card to be loaded immediately.

Finding the first program line
To go to the top of program memory, enter the standard HP-67 command GTO.000 in either RUN or W/PRGM mode. Or execute RTN in RUN mode.

Finding the last program line
To go to the last used program line, enter GTO.. in either RUN or W/PRGM mode.

Displaying the current program line
To see the currently addressed program step number in RUN mode, tap the area above "OFF" and the display. Tap again to hide it.

Displaying program memory usage
In W/PRGM mode, a red line indicates the amount of program memory used by the current program.

How do I change the number of decimal digits?
The HP-67 works a little differently from, say, the HP-45. Executing FIX, SCI or ENG changes the display mode only. To change the number of decimal digits, you use DSP followed by the number of required digits.
Example: SCI DSP 4 (or DSP 4 SCI) sets scientific mode with 4 decimal digits.

How do I enable/disable thousands separators?

Use the extended operation OP DSP MODE.

To toggle separators display: FIX  0  OP  "DSP MODE"  CHS  OP  "DSP MODE"

In the register view, what do TOS and PC stand for?
TOS is short for "Top-of-Stack". It refers to the internal program execution control stack, not the familiar X,Y,Z,T registers. A non-zero value signifies that at least one level of subroutines is in effect. The value shown is the step number which will be executed after the next RTN statement. A value of 000 means that the next RTN statement will end program execution.
PC is short for "Program Counter". It is the number of the next step to be executed.

How do I clear the statistical functions registers?
Statistical functions use registers R_S4 through R_S9 of the protected secondary registers area. In order to clear them, you swap registers, clear, then swap again. Like this: P≷S CL REG P≷S.
If Enhanced Mode is on, a better way is to use the extended operation CLR ∑, which also clears some invisible statistics registers. CLR ∑ leaves non-statistics registers unchanged.

How can I quickly preset R₀ through R₉ to a value?
Fill ten extended registers with the value, then copy them to R₀ through R₉.

Example: To fill registers 0..9 with π: 0 ENTER 9 π OP FILL EXT 0 OP RCL REGS.

Note that you can fill R₁ through R₉ directly with OP MAT SET.

How do I quickly exchange the matrix {R₁ … R₉} with the matrix at the standard location {R₉₁ … R₉₉}?

Execute 90 OP XCH REGS. (Note that this command will also exchange R₀ and R₉₀.)

Is there a way to see which level of "Enhanced Calculator" applies, without going to the settings dialog?
Check the space at the very bottom of the calculator.
RPN-67: If it is empty, enhancements are off. If it says "• Enhanced •", enhancements are set to "Med". If it says "•• Enhanced ••", enhancements are set to "Max".
RPN-97: If the number 97 stands alone, enhancements are off. If it says "• 97 •", enhancements are set to "Med". If it says "•• 97 ••", enhancements are set to "Max".

On RPN-67, the white functions above the user-definable function keys have disappeared!
These functions are only available as long as the program memory is empty (actually filled with R/S statements.)
Clear the program using CL PRGM to make them reappear.

In the Card Manager I've selected a card different from the currently loaded one.
How can I return to the currently loaded card?
Tap the title of the cards table ("Cards").

How can I quickly get to the top of the cards list?
Triple-tap the title of the cards table ("Cards").

What's the use of the settings at the bottom of a card's details?
Whatever you set there will be stored on the program card. When the card is loaded, the calculator is preset to these values.

Why is there a gray vertical bar in the Instructions field?
The bar indicates the width of the instructions notes in the calculator view. This helps you control the line-breaks in the instructions without trial-and-error. You can ignore the bar if you wish.

How can I insert a step at the very top of the program memory?
Tap GTO.000 to go to the top of the program memory. Or tap RTN in RUN mode.

How can I quickly go to the last program step?
Tap GTO.. – this works in both RUN and W/PRGM mode.

When single-stepping a program in RUN mode, I'd like to peek at the next step without executing it.
Simply press SST, then – instead of releasing the key – slide your finger off the key.
This also works for BST.

Program instructions are not shown.
That's because no instructions have been entered for the currently loaded program. Or the card has been removed from the calculator.

How do I enter the instructions LBL a — GSB A —GSB a?
LBL a: g LBL A
GSB A: f GTO A (or simply tap A)
GSB a: g GTO A

OS X's QuickLook feature is a handy way to see the contents of an RPN-67/97 Pro file.
This doesn't seem to work anymore.
That's because the file extension changed from ".plist" to ".rpn67" and ".rpn97". Here's how to make QuickLook work with rpn67/97 files:
- Install QuickLookStephen from http://github.com/whomwah/qlstephen (look for the section "Installation")
- In Terminal, execute qlmanage -r to reload the plug-in (or restart computer)

What's the difference between "High accuracy" and "HP-67/97 accuracy"?
Early HP calculators are 10-digit machines, whereas the simulators have a much higher accuracy.
Here's a way to check the accuracy of a calculator (Calculator Forensics shows the results for many calculators):
Execute arcsin (arccos (arctan (tan (cos (sin (9) ) ) ) ) ) in degrees mode.
A perfect 10-digit machine returns 9.000417403 (as does RPN-67/97 with "Enhanced Calculator" set to "Off" or "Med".)
A perfect 12-digit machine returns 8.99999864267.
RPN-67/97 "Enhanced Calculator" set to "Max" returns 9.000000000. Note that some HP programs make use of the reduced 10-digit accuracy and will not work correctly at high accuracy.

Introducing HP-67 and HP-97
Here's an ad from a 1976 magazine announcing HP-67 and HP-97: Download
The equivalent selling prices, in 2014, would be $1,900 (HP-67) and $3,200 (HP-97).