Re: A86: Please read this!!! New shell!!! I need help!

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Re: A86: Please read this!!! New shell!!! I need help!

Joseph Gaffney wrote:
 
>  At 12:01 PM 9/9/97 -0400, Snoops010@aol.com wrote:
>  >I must agree with Dan.  I mean, what's the point??!!  Even if you pause
the
>  >program for so-called multitasking, it wouldn't really be multitasking.  
> The
>  >other programs wouldn't be running, they'd just be paused!  So you
couldn't
>  >benefit from 'multitasking'
>  
>  Sorry, but you're absolutely wrong =).  I will take it from 2
perspectives...
> .
>  
>  A) MATH - You have a program that rezquires that you have one value, but
>  can figure out the second value.  The second value can be used to find the
>  first value.  Lets call them values A and B....
>  
>  You have a program that can solve A based on B.  What you want to do,
>  instead of repeatedly running these programs (saying, of course, you cant
>  program a way to do this), is to switch back and forth between the 2,
>  finding B, then using it to find A using the other program.
>  
>  Now, this is a very basic idea, but you can sort of see what I mean.  This
>  is very simplified, and is fairly common - the uses of numbers are so
great
>  that a program cannot be made to do it all.  Therefore, this would be 
> helpful.

When have you ever had to do that?  I can't think of a single situation where
that would help.  The only time that I've ever had to do anything close to
that was when I used teh Poly Solver on the 85/86.  In order to to math with
the roots, you need to clear the screen, and you can't save them to a
variable either, but there's a way around that, even (using the poly(
command).  I don't think any math program would ever need a number that
results from a number that it produces...
  
>  B) GAMES - You are in math class, but feel like playing games.  HOWEVER,
>  you don't want to get caught.  So, you switch between a program to find
the
>  answers to what your teacher is discussing and the game you want to play.
>  As long as you don't scream out "A NEW HI SCORE!!!", you're pretty safe =)
 

I agree that that's annoying.  I've had to quit many a high scoring game
because I needed to either put the calc away or use it for math.  My solution
to that is very different, however.  The author should include a function to
"save" the current status of the game with a keypress or two, and then exit
out.  On the 86, this is considerably more difficult, involving external
variables or shells, but it can be done.

~Stephen Hicks
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