Triangle Solver

Contact:
Ryan Cumings <rcumings@clckwcher.ath.cx>

History:
On a bleak Monday afternoon last week it started. Colonel J. (our Calculus
teacher) said we need to do something to waste our time. AP testing had
already finished and we were tired of picking our noses. Someone came up with
the brialliant idea to program our calculators (I'd rather pass out). So the
Colonel decided to have us write programs to solve slopes. After a brief
fluctuation in neural activity I found myself suddenly on a Wednesday
afternoon. Apparently the whole class was writing programs to solve triangles
using the various geometric formulae [SSS, SAS, SSA]. Quickly crunching to
write the best damn program, I realized that my TI-Basic program was so bulky
that other students could solve two triangles on their TI-83's while my TI-89
monster (Got it freshmen year cause I figured the cost of buying another
scientific calculator for algebra and then 3 years later buying a TI-83 for
functions would total the cost of a TI-89 now). Then I realized that everyone
else had written for seperate for each case. I had written one program where
you enter each piece of information. It would then figure out which case it
was and display the triangle as well. Getting no respect for having the best
program in the class because it took too long to calculate left me with desire
to write the best program ever (Why, hello ego!). Therefore this project was
undertaken at the beginning of prom this weekend and ended about 2 hours ago.
About twenty minutes ago I decided that I would submit this to the ticalc.org
archives. 15 minutes ago I got fustrated because I couldn't rip screenshots
off my calculator. Then divine intervention prevailed I could use the VTI
emulator to pull screenshots off. 7.42441 minutes ago I pulled the latest
version of the GPL off the internet. And that just about brings us upto this
moment.

Use:
When you first load up, it will ask you to name your triangle. Use any three
letters and case IE: 'aBc'. Select your angle type. Most people choose
degrees. Now your at the info selection screen. Select which piece you want to
enter using the arrow keys. The backspace or clear key will erase the
currently selected piece. After you enter 3 pieces the calculator will spit
out the solved triangle. If AAA was given, it will give you a ratio. The
shortest side will become a length of 1, and the area will need to be
multiplied by the scale factor squared. F1, Quit, and various other keys will
cause the program to terminate. Itself. Don't do that or it will hunt you down
and hurt you. F2 will send you back to the beginning. F3 will allow you to
change the parameters of the triangle that is currently solved. Arrow keys
allow you to change the ambiuous case of SSA.

Changes:
I didn't compile for the TI-92 because I don't own one. I think that it would
still work fine, key codes might need to be updated, and the screen size would
be smaller than full. Submit changes and do whatever. This is freeware.

Thanks to:
TI-GCC team
VTI
TI-Calc
The Colonel