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-- Parenthesis in Calculator? (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=8625)

How can I calculate expressions with parenthesis in them in the Handspring Calculator? Or do i need "Parens", or do I have to make use of the 10 STOrage memories?

e.g.( 4 + 2 ) * 3 = 11

When you type in
4 + 2 * 3, it follows the order of operations and does the multiplication first, not the order of input.

I think that the best way to accomplish this is to write the parens in the graffiti. It doesn't show up on the screen, but you get the correct answer E.G.

If you just put in 4+2*3 it will give you 10

If you write the parens (4+2)*3 you get 18

Hope this helps

can get it to work

Huh?

I tried it about 50 times, but it doesn't seem to work. Are we talking about the same Handspring Calculator?

Basic and advanced calculators handle this differently

Very weird. When I try entering 4+2*3 in the basic calculator I get 18 with or without parens.

Ie: 4+2*3 and (4+2)*3 yeild the same result. Actually, it doesn't seem to accept the parens at all - no grafitti punctuation shift symbol.

When I enter 4+2*3 in the advanced calculator both with and without parens (here I see the punctuation shift symbol but not the parens), I always get 10.

As far as I know, neither the basic nor the advanced calculator accepts parentheses. However the basic calculator performs operation in order. Where as the advanced calculator performs operations based of standard precedence (Multiplication and Division first, then Addition and Subtraction). Thus the equation

1*2+3*4

((1*2)+3)*4 = 20

(1*2)+(3*4) = 14

Good. Next question.

So what's this jive about a parenthesis in Graffiti?

Whatever...next question. Is there a hack to put back the parenthesis? The Parens program is a little large just for that...(80K) Gotta spend real money, too.

If you press = after each operation it works correctly for simple operations. (1+2)*3. If you try (1+2)*(3+4) you will need to use the store mode.

[Edited by j762538 on 10-13-2000 at 12:29 PM]

__________________
My Treo has more memory than I do.

Whoah

Wow, I don't know what I was drinking this morning, but it must not have been coffee. Sorry Goyena, there is no way I could have performed that operation correctly. I have to put my two cents in and agree with j762538 on pressing the =. Seems the simplest way for most expressions.