Working Out Multis

[+SimonC_Here]

I have just put up a new version. 0.2.1

 

http://www.askp40.dsl.pipex.com/multicalc.htm

 

I think I've fixed the problem with pasting, and you can now copy partial text from the translations boxes.

I also fixed a problem that if your formula had an E in it, and you had not yet found the value for E, it crashed. It was trying to do exponential and getting confused. For the moment I have disabled exponential.

 

If anyone spots anything else, let me know.

 

Thanks

 

Simon

[+Learned Gerbil]

It seems to me that it would make sense for this application to be written as a Cachemate plugin. It could get round a lot of the cutting and pasting, and is probably the best way forward for Palm users anyway.

[+SimonC_Here]

It seems to me that it would make sense for this application to be written as a Cachemate plugin. It could get round a lot of the cutting and pasting, and is probably the best way forward for Palm users anyway.

 

The Royles Have written a version for the palm, see This Thread If you feel like doing a Cachemate plug in for Palm or PPC, feel free.

 

Sorry folks, another version.

I have fixed a bug where if the first thing to translate is in brackets, it ignores it!

Also if a number for a letter is 0, it was causing the calculation to be rejected.

It still rejects then whole part of the sum if you try to divide by 0 though.

 

Simon

[+Learned Gerbil]

Can I repeat the request in another thread that this allow saving of multiple sets of coordinates. As it it is you seem to be able to look for only one cache at a time.

[+Nellies Knackers]

Any chance of allowing both copy and paste for all textboxes Simon? I never did get round to trying to modify it, be handy for re-formatting coords for memory-map.

[+SimonC_Here]

Sorry folks, not been on the forum for a bit.

 

The multiple selection thing a'la the Palm version is in development, but work got in the way! Typical eh....

 

I'll get back to it soon, maybe over this long weekend, watch this space!

 

I'll add copy and past to all text boxes, just for you!

 

Simon

[+Friendly Flyer]

Did anything ever happen with a Palm version?

[+stora]

Did anything ever happen with a Palm version?

 

IIRC there is a working one for the palm on this link

[+henly]

Excellent Simon, just been rummaging around in my dustbin for the caches i did yesterday and it works a treat, getting a bit nearer to true paperless caching, cheers m8.

[+henly]

Did anyone get around to a cachemate plug in????

[+Friendly Flyer]

IIRC there is a working one for the palm on this link

 

Thanks for that - Works a treat

[+henly]

Would it be poaasable to provide a save as button so as to enter multiple sets of calcs, for a days cacheing, then enter the raw coords at home before set off then, when on site and gathering clues reload the calcs for that particular site, it would cut down on cut and paste and also allow the building of some calcs that sometimes have the data in the form,

 

e.g.

 

51 0a.bcd

01 0e.fgh

 

d=a-h

f=b+a-e

 

etc., had one like this yesteday and it took me ages and a pen and paper to work out the brackets in the pouring rain.

 

BTW Have you thought of making it shareware im sure contributions would be forthcoming.

Edited May 8, 2007 by henly

[+SimonC_Here]

Would it be poaasable to provide a save as button so as to enter multiple sets of calcs, for a days cacheing, then enter the raw coords at home before set off then, when on site and gathering clues reload the calcs for that particular site, it would cut down on cut and paste and also allow the building of some calcs that sometimes have the data in the form,

 

e.g.

 

51 0a.bcd

01 0e.fgh

 

d=a-h

f=b+a-e

 

etc., had one like this yesteday and it took me ages and a pen and paper to work out the brackets in the pouring rain.

 

BTW Have you thought of making it shareware im sure contributions would be forthcoming.

 

The palm version does that, or somthing similar.

I was in the middle of re writing this one to do the same but life got in the way and I haven't touched the code for ages.

 

For the example above, you could have changed the code to

51 0a.bc(a-h)

01 0e.(b+a-e)gh

 

Which I think would have worked!

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence that it may be worth something, I'll not charge for it as I've had so much good information from this site and so much fun from the hobby I'd like to think I was giving something back.

 

Simon

[The Royles]

Would it be poaasable to provide a save as button so as to enter multiple sets of calcs, for a days cacheing, then enter the raw coords at home before set off then, when on site and gathering clues reload the calcs for that particular site, it would cut down on cut and paste and also allow the building of some calcs that sometimes have the data in the form,

 

e.g.

 

51 0a.bcd

01 0e.fgh

 

d=a-h

f=b+a-e

 

etc., had one like this yesteday and it took me ages and a pen and paper to work out the brackets in the pouring rain.

 

BTW Have you thought of making it shareware im sure contributions would be forthcoming.

 

The palm version does that, or somthing similar.

I was in the middle of re writing this one to do the same but life got in the way and I haven't touched the code for ages.

 

For the example above, you could have changed the code to

51 0a.bc(a-h)

01 0e.(b+a-e)gh

 

Which I think would have worked!

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence that it may be worth something, I'll not charge for it as I've had so much good information from this site and so much fun from the hobby I'd like to think I was giving something back.

 

Simon

 

To clarify, Simon meant that the Palm version allows for multiple sets of calcs, so you can save them for when you return to that cache.

 

It does not allow for sub-calculations. You would have to substitute the values in the main calc as Simon suggests.

 

I also agree with Simon, I wrote it to contribute, so I will never charge for it (unless you want to buy me a pint if you meet me ).

 

Andy

[+SimonC_Here]

I also agree with Simon, I wrote it to contribute, so I will never charge for it (unless you want to buy me a pint if you meet me ).

 

Andy

 

Actually, I'll agree to that as well!!

 

Simon

[+henly]

Yes it would work, which is all very well for one calc, then however when you went on to the next one you would have to enter the raw data in the field which would possably mean a pen and paper,

 

Look at this one

 

 

Click here!

 

with the wind and rain, I dont want to do this on the fly I would like to do it at home and save it and then reload at the cache, Thoughts please.

Edited May 8, 2007 by henly

[+henly]

Hmmm!!! why didnt that work???

[The Royles]

Hmmm!!! why didnt that work???

 

The link did not work because you have some carriage returns in it (1 before "Click" and 1 after the "!")

[+henly]

Hmmm!!! why didnt that work???

 

The link did not work because you have some carriage returns in it (1 before "Click" and 1 after the "!")

 

Ahah Thanks for that,

[+Hi-Tek]

I've used "Coordinates" on my Palm based Garmin iQue 3600 on the (very) few occasions I do Multi's. I've had it for some time now and "it works for me" . It will save each separate cache stage (numbers) that you have found.

 

Can't recall where I got it from but an earlier post in this thread mentioned the same prog.

[The Royles]

The palm version is HERE, but that doesnt help the people who have a PPC.

 

I actually use a PPC, but wrote the palm version for the fun of it.

[+henly]

\mines an Ipaq running WM5.

[+Kryten]

I'm a big fan of the program and use it regularly. I agree that sub calculations can be bracketised but this is hard to do sitting under a bush in the wind and rain. The ability to define calculations in advance, for several caches, while in the comfort of home, and then load them in the field would be excellent.

[+SimonC_Here]

Yes it would work, which is all very well for one calc, then however when you went on to the next one you would have to enter the raw data in the field which would possably mean a pen and paper,

 

Look at this one

 

 

Click here!

 

with the wind and rain, I dont want to do this on the fly I would like to do it at home and save it and then reload at the cache, Thoughts please.

 

Crikey I see what you mean!

 

All right, I'll dig out the code again and see what I can come up with. Don't hold your breath though!

 

Simon

[+henly]

gasp, gasp, weeze weeze, choke ok i give up ill breath again

[+SimonC_Here]

It's come together a bit quicker than I thought it would so I'll be puting up a beta tonight after I've tried it on my PDA.

 

It's still written for 2003 but as it's using .Net 2, it will probably work on WM5 but I can't try that out.

 

Anyone using the old version, I suggest backing up your PDA and uninstalling the old one manually first.

You can also remove the extra controls I included as .Net 2 includes copy and past functionality by default.

 

If anyone has any comments or errors on the beta let me know with as much detail as possibly and I'll try to fix it for you.

 

Simon

[+Kryten]

Sounds great and well done, what exactly do we need to remove to get rid of the unwanted controls ?

[+SimonC_Here]

In add/remove programs there should be 2 entries.

 

The Multicalc one and one for OpenNetCF framework.

 

Click on them and choose the Uninstall option.

 

I'll put it all in the readme.

 

No installer for this new one, just an exe that you copy over.

 

Simon

[+henly]

What a bl***y hero you are simon I was expecting to wait for months, top man. Thanks.

[+The Bolas Heathens]

We're really looking forward to trying it too Simon as we loved the ability to set up several formulae in the Palm version before a day's caching and really miss it on the PPC.

[+henly]

Simon I think I must be mssing something, I uninstalled both files and installed the new files but the new one looks the same as the old one although its v0.2.2 but I cannot see how to save multiple files. one other thingnwhen you cut and paste Lat and long, it traslates the initial letter i.e. either N or E as a calc can this be changed?. let me know if im asking to much I dont want to take liberties.

Edited May 11, 2007 by henly

[+SimonC_Here]

Ahem, Only just got home so NOW I can upload the new version!

 

If you check the page again you will find another line with a link to the beta version.

 

Multicalc with new version

 

Let me know any issues it has.

 

Oh and no, you have to take off the N and E yourself as there may well be those letters in the coordinates!

 

Simon

Edited May 11, 2007 by SimonC_Here

[+henly]

ok Ive uninstalled the old ver and installed the new, run the new ver but when i go to save I get the error message,'Some error in savetoxml ioexception' when I close that box it then comes up with,' There was an error saving the infomation'

 

Edit, Ive now moved it to the origenal Multicalc folder on the sd card and it seems to work fine including saveing so fingers crossed it looks good Simon, Thank you.

Edited May 11, 2007 by henly

[+henly]

Take a look at this one Simon,

 

click here!

 

Shows a need for another maths function.

 

Also I entered,

 

51 E(B+C).AE(F-E)

000 AC.(G-A)(G+E)(F+A+D)

A=2

B=5

C=0

D=0

E=1

F=5

G=5

 

after traslation this read

 

51 15.214

000 20.36(5+2+0)

 

any ideas

Edited May 11, 2007 by henly

[+Kryten]

Works fine on WM5.0, no more scruffy bits of paper for me

[+SimonC_Here]

The error is something to do with permissions on the directory you put the exe into.

I've tried it under the standard "Program Files" dir and on the SD card and it works from there. Where did you put the Exe the first time?

 

I know about the problem with the 3 numbers in 1 bracket. Its been around since the first one I think. I may have a look into it at some point as The Royals version does it properly, or you can change it to ((F+A)+D) which should work.

 

Glad it works on WM5. did either of you need to install .Net framework 2?

 

Simon

[+henly]

The error is something to do with permissions on the directory you put the exe into.

I've tried it under the standard "Program Files" dir and on the SD card and it works from there. Where did you put the Exe the first time?

 

I know about the problem with the 3 numbers in 1 bracket. Its been around since the first one I think. I may have a look into it at some point as The Royals version does it properly, or you can change it to ((F+A)+D) which should work.

 

Glad it works on WM5. did either of you need to install .Net framework 2?

 

Simon

 

Yes I did need to reinstall .net, the first time I installed it was in the root dir, then I moved it to the old Multicalc dir on the sd and it worked fine.

[+Kryten]

.NET2 was already installed so I just moved all the old stuff to a temp directory, dropped in the new exe and it ran straight away.

[+SimonC_Here]

I've fixed the (3+2+1) problem. It now calculates the sum.

Watch for (a+b*c) thought.

 

if

A = 2

B = 3

C = 1

 

(A+B*C) = 5

Like this is will calculate properly,

However; if you have (a*b+c) it will work out as 8 where it should be 7

 

You can get around this by adding the correct brackets.

((a*b)+c) = 7

I'm currently trying to get the list on the front screen sortable so you might want to skip this and wait until I've done that.

 

Just replace the exe, and it should be fine.

 

Simon

Edited May 14, 2007 by SimonC_Here

[+purple_pineapple]

I've fixed the (3+2+1) problem. It now calculates the sum.

Watch for (a+b*c) thought.

 

if

A = 2

B = 3

C = 1

 

(A+B*C) = 5

Like this is will calculate properly,

 

 

the given example doesn't actually make a difference which way round you do the calc..!

 

ie

 

(A+*C = 5

A+(B*C) = 5

 

does it actually do the multiplication first? ie, changing C to = 2, do we get...

 

A+(B*C)=8 (the mathematically correct solution)

or

(A+*C=10 (possibly the way a PC might do it!)

 

I could find out myself but I can't be bothered to find the PPC at the moment! And I thought it might be useful for others to know! As you say, its an easy workaround by putting the appropriate brackets in!

 

Many thanks for the prog - I may get to use it in anger if I get out caching sometime soon!

 

Dave

[+SimonC_Here]

With

a=2

b=3

c=2

 

(a+b*c) comes up with the correct solution of 8

 

however

 

(b*c+a) comes up with 12!

 

Careful with your equations!!!

 

Simon

[The Royles]

BODMAS young man

[Edgemaster]

Most computer languages parse mathematical symbols based upon importance. (for anyone interested, here's one list)

In this case, the parsing seems off, most likely due to the way its been programmed rather than a limitation of the language.

[+SimonC_Here]

Most computer languages parse mathematical symbols based upon importance. (for anyone interested, here's one list)

In this case, the parsing seems off, most likely due to the way its been programmed rather than a limitation of the language.

 

Oh, I freely admit it's my programming!

 

If you fancy supplying me with a vb.net function or class that takes a string in the format "([some equation but no brackets])" and returns the corect answer I will be heartily greatful.

 

[edit] ignore me, I'd forgotten about datatables. Instead of writing a BODMAS parser manually, the datatable's expression property does it for you. Bonus for .Net![/edit]

 

I've added the sorting which, when I upload it TONIGHT, will be Beta version 3.

 

Simon

Edited May 15, 2007 by SimonC_Here

[+Kryten]

Since the cut and paste functionality on CacheMate is not good, it ocurred to me that the PC is a much better place to be doing that stuff anyway. How about a PC program that can read and edit the data files used by Simon's utility. That way on the PC you could cut and paste equations from the original cache pages and create the datafile in advance. Then download it onto the PDA where you can choose which to run.

[+SimonC_Here]

Since the cut and paste functionality on CacheMate is not good, it ocurred to me that the PC is a much better place to be doing that stuff anyway. How about a PC program that can read and edit the data files used by Simon's utility. That way on the PC you could cut and paste equations from the original cache pages and create the datafile in advance. Then download it onto the PDA where you can choose which to run.

 

Actually the multicalc.exe program will run on XP as long as .Net 2 is installed.

Just copy the exe to your desktop and run it from there. It will save/load the data file to the desktop as well.

 

Accidently double clicked on my dev copy on my computer and it started up!

 

Not tried all the things on it but it should work.

 

Simon

[+SimonC_Here]

New and probably final version unless anyone comes up with any errors.

If you do find any, especially now I've changed the way I do the translations, post here or mail me through my profile.

 

I'll give it until next week and then change it from Beta to final version.

 

So here it is:

 

Multicalc V2 Beta 3

 

Simon

[+Kryten]

Bug report 1

Entries deleted from the list return from the dead.

 

1. Create a number of entries, delete one of them, then immediately exit from the program.

2. Re-start the program and the deleted entry will have returned, because it persists in the data file.

 

Workround

Once an entry has been deleted from the list it is necessary to select one of the others, view it, and then press "save". This overwrites the data file with a version in which the unwanted entry no longer exists.

 

(edited to say RTFM)

 

Bug report 2

When the "X" button is tapped, instead of remaining suspended in memory, the program genuinely terminates and is no longer present on the Windows task list. When re-run it must start again from cold. (WM5.0)

Edited May 16, 2007 by McKryton

[+SimonC_Here]

Bug report 1

Entries deleted from the list return from the dead.

 

1. Create a number of entries, delete one of them, then immediately exit from the program.

2. Re-start the program and the deleted entry will have returned, because it persists in the data file.

 

Workround

Once an entry has been deleted from the list it is necessary to select one of the others, view it, and then press "save". This overwrites the data file with a version in which the unwanted entry no longer exists.

 

(edited to say RTFM)

It's a feature?!

 

I left it like that primarily because I didn't want to be saving the xml file every time you delete a record as you might want to delete a load in one go and I hate the "Saved sucessfully" popups. Also if you delete the wrong one you can get it back!

 

So if you delete a record or 10, click the save button (in the file menu).

 

Bug report 2

When the "X" button is tapped, instead of remaining suspended in memory, the program genuinely terminates and is no longer present on the Windows task list. When re-run it must start again from cold. (WM5.0)

 

I'm not sure what it looks like on WM5, but on 2003 it is an OK button which intentionally terminates the program. Personally I hate the way programs hang around when you click on the X and have a program running in the background that kills them properly.

It can be changed, but there are ways around it. "Start" -> "Today screen" is the one I use.

 

Let me know.

 

Simon

Edited May 16, 2007 by SimonC_Here

[+Kryten]

The behaviour always seemed odd to me too but it's part of the Windows Mobile design philosophy that once started, an application does not terminate when "closed" but remains running in the background. If running short of resources, the OS will automatically shut down the oldest inactive application. I flagged this as a bug only because the behaviour of the new version differs from the original.

 

btw. It seems inconsistent that substitutions involving "N" are ignored but those involving "S", "E" and "W" are calculated.