Post updates on your projects here, or give other authors your feedback on their works in progress.

When posting about an upcoming program of yours, please include a link to any relevant information (screen shots, etc.) in the URL field.

To have an entry removed, please Contact Us.

I'm writing a program (86CalcZip) that will allow you to compress a file and store it as a string. It'll appear in the TI-86 Misc. programs. So far, it only allows you one file per string, but I plan to include support for multiple-file archives and self-extracting archives (to use a winzip term). Does someone have a good RLE routine that I could use?

You should look at Zip86 by Ben Mickle. It is a good program, i've used it before. You should consider making it self-extract on the fly.

Good idea. I saw zip86 soon after starting 86calczip and stopped writing the code, but I later had problems with zip86 where it would crash the calc, so I've started again, this time using the Bloat compressor, instead of RLE (realized rle wouldn't compress much).

I'm writing a "pretty print" program for the TI-86 (assembly, of course) that will be posted in the math section. I've just got to finish the drawing routine and key lookup table, then I'll be done. Unfortunately, it's so complicated that debugging will be just about impossible with me doing it alone. If anyone is interested in helping me with debugging, please contact me at straney@umbi.umd.edu.

Is there anyone with an emulator that's interested in debugging this program? I can't get a ROM image from my calculator and can't debug without one! Please? I won't be able to release this program if I can't debug it.

I'd love to help you. I don't have an emulator, but I can look at the source code and help you debug. If you think I can help, email me.

That would be great! I'm writing an explanation (the code's really complex), and then I'll send it to you.

Send source and explanation to me too!

I could also debug, as I've got no problems with emulating the TI-86. Currently the only problem I've got is time... But that can always be solved ;)

Hey, found any problems yet?

I'm having so many problems with this program that I've decided to totally rewrite the whole thing. It might be a year or two before I'm finished.

I'm writing a debug monitor program. You call it with a small routine in your code (consider it as a breakpoint) and it'll display the contents of af, bc, de, and hl. That's all it shows so far, but I plan to have it display all other registers (i, r, ix, iy, all shadow), any chosen OPX, and another user-selectable memory location. It will also allow you to edit all of these before returning to the program.

First version uploaded. It displays af, bc, de, and hl.

If you want to display the other registers you'll have to make the entire program as an include file instead of running another program.

Then you'll have all the information available when calling the routine; you won't be limited by the functions TI-OS provide.

It'll display the other registers by putting them into OP1 (saving it on the floating-point stack first), then pushing the OP1-with-registers on the floating point stack. The program will then pop the register states off of the floating point stack, then pop the original OP1 value off of the floating point stack. To do this, it'll require a small include file (about 30 bytes), but it already uses that to call the program, so it doesn't really matter.

Actually, that's a good idea (having it just as an include file). That way, it wouldn't have to mess with the floating-point stack.

I have completed a program that will crash a ti-86 calculator when loaded. And it is in BASIC!!!!

I can make one in ASM:

:AsmPrgm
:3B

(3B = inc sp)

With this one you've got almost 100% chance to kill your calc.
You can also try this one, though some shells prevent this from chraching:

:AsmPrgm
:F3

(F3 = di)

Yeah, those would REALLY screw up your calculator. Here's another:

pop xx
ret

Again it is in BASIC.
Here is one version of it. Where Eq>St is the code for changing an equation to a string, and St>Eq is the opposite.
:A=.
:Eq>St(A,A)
:St>Eq(A,A)
:Eq>St(A,A)
:St>Eq(A,A)
:Eq>St(A,A)

The program will be running for as long as the battery is working, and pulling out the battery regardless of whether you have a backup battery will cause all the data to be erased.

There is another one that will not do anything, or it seems, then when user do anything on the home screen, the calc crash. But it is not working as well and I don't have a link to back up the calculator.

Oh, pressing ON will NOT break the program once the main portion is executed, and that takes about 50 millisecond.

Cool

Wouldn't you be able to have the Eq>St(A,A):St>Eq(A,A) just once?

No! The pair needed to be run more than once to crash the calc, by the 5th line, the if you try to read the equation variable you will get an ERROR 15 MEMORY error message.

Correction: push xx, ret

Just thought of one that WOULD have a 100% chance of freezing your calculator-

di
halt