1. Introduction
2. Setup
3. Keys Used
4. The Pi Menu and Desktop
5. Running Programs
6. Personalization
7. The PiCli Interface
8. The ON and CLEAR Keys
9. A Note about Editing
10. Adding Things to a Menu
11. Planned Improvements
12. Credits and Contact
13. Technical Information

There tends to be a problem with many of the imitations, it being that they tend to stray away from the original purpose of calculators: calculating. Pi-OS Quantum attempts to act as an operating system while at the same time allowing quick access to calculator functions. To this degree, there are plenty of computer-like programs included with it but also several calculator functions. Some examples include:

• PiType, a string editor which allows you create and view up to six screens (or "pages"), with up to 768 characters in each.
• PiCalc, a calculator program which allows access to arithmetic, trigonometric and logarithmic commands.
• Matrix Master, a program which runs off the home screen. It lets you create and access matrices.

Go to your memory management screen and archive everything except APIOS, MEM, PTOOLS, ZBATTCHK and ZRUN. You'll gain about 20-odd thousand bytes by doing this.

• ENTER selects whatever the mouse is over when on the desktop.
• The arrow keys move the mouse.
• CLEAR serves to act as a quick quit key, as explained later.
• 2ND begins HotKey mode.
• Y= opens and closes the Pi Menu

• prgm: Start PiCalc.
• /: Go to the math menu.
• 8: Go to the programs menu.
• 9: Go to the quit menu.
• Ln: Go to the settings menu.

The Pi Menu has four links: Programs, Settings, Math Menu and Quit Pi-OS. Notice that each one of these have a HotKey associated with them. At the top of the Pi Menu, the first six characters of the username are shown. From the Pi Menu, the user can find menus that lead to the programs that come with Pi-OS and ones added by the user.

Currently, only one program at a time can be run. This is due to the limitations of BASIC (originally intended only for math and graphing programs), which doesn't function at the lowest level. The other reason it the relative slowness of the calculator's processor - 6 to 8 MHz, depending on the model. In the future this may be different, but for now this is how the operating system works.

• Background: Background On/Off (warning: be sure to have an image in Pic0 or else you will get an error.)
• Mouse Options: Sensitivity (how many pixels the mouse moves at a time) and Screen Wrap (the mouse would reach the edge of the screen and jump to the opposite side.)
• Screen Saver: Type (Dots, Scrolling Text or Traveling X's) and time until screen saver goes into effect.
• Power Options: Time until Screen Wipe (display goes blank until key press), auto-shutdown (quits after a period of unuse) and CLEAR key function (Shutdown, Standby or Store).

• ABOUT - presents information about the version of Pi-OS being used.
• ARC - archives a program.*
• BATTERY - checks the battery status.
• BG - toggles background on and off and displays the background's status.
• DATE - Shows the date.
• DEL - delete a program.*
• EXIT - quits PiCli.
• HELP - shows a summary for each command.
• LOCK - locks a program so it can't be edited.*
• QUIT - exits PiCli and Pi-OS (a confirmation is requested).*
• RAM - checks the amount of free RAM and shows the percent free.
• RUN - runs a program.*
• TIME - displays the current time.
• UNARC - unarchives a program.*
• UNLOCK - unlocks a program.*

The CLEAR key is intended to be a "hurry up and quit" button. With a single press, the desired function (usually Shutdown or Store) is accomplished in about a second. There is less potential of problems afterwards because the variables were properly dealt with and the graph screen returned to the default form. Always try to use CLEAR or its command-line counterpart if you need a quick quit.

Disclaimer: What, your calculator imploded? It's not my fault. Sorry, but Pi-OS Quantum is given out on an as-is basis - what you get is what you got. Unless you get it from TI-Calc.org or my calculator website, it may not be the real deal. At the time this is released, there are no known bugs. Anything bad that may happen is not intentionally set up that way.

If you do want to edit the code but don't know what it is you're doing, I suggest you either learn TI-BASIC or e-mail me at the address provided below. I check my e-mail several times a week, so an answer will be swift and specific. Just tell me what you want to do and where, and an idea will be devised.

When editing any kind of code, always have a backup copy just in case something goes wrong. Even though most of the operating system is archived, RAM clears do occur, taking out vital data. Be careful.

The letters or numbers you choose become the label, which tells the calculator which section of the code to jump to. Let's make my label TN. When put in the first slot, this is what I would get:

PROGRAM:ZPRGM    ,J :Lbl B :Menu("     Game s      ","Obstac le",TN,"",B,"",B ,"Back",A,"Add S omething",J

When inserting text, use the key sequence of 2ND [INS] so that you don't overwrite any text. Then afterwards remove any excess letters.

Now to make the label and link to the program. At the end of the program is an entire screen of empty command lines:

PROGRAM:ZPRGM    :  : : : : : :

Press the PRGM key and 9. Onto the command line the cursor is over, the letters Lbl will appear. This starts the label. Now put in the symbols used (i.e. TN). Press ENTER.

Now it's time to put in the program's name. You can either choose it from the program list (PRGM Left arrow) or type it in. If you do type it in, first use the key sequence PRGM ALPHA D to paste the prgm token into the code.

If the program is from the Games menu, follow it with the command Goto B on the next line: ENTER PRGM B. If it is from the Programs menu, substitute the letter with H.

Some programs are made in assembly language. For this, you need to start the command line with Asm(, available from the catalog. This would go before the prgm token.

This should be the finished result:

PROGRAM:ZPRGM    :Lbl TN :prgmOBSTACLE :Goto B : : : :

Now 2ND [QUIT]. When you access it from the menu, it should work. Any error is likely to be that you used a label that you weren't supposed to (A - Q) or that you are missing something. Go through it again to make sure it was done properly.

• A window system, instead of everything being on the home screen.
• Multiple desktops like many graphical Linux operating systems.
• The ability to make custom desktop icons or custom menus for fast access to favored programs.
• Multiple user accounts.
• Running more than one program at a time.
• PiTalk, a chat program with many more features than just passing strings over a wire.
• Small games that come with the program (simple ones like blackjack, roulette or a minor RPG).
• A calendar, possibly one that can hold reminders for events.
• An encoding system where strings can be represented by numbers.
• Calculator Connect, or CalcNet, an Internet-like program which allows connected calculators to transfer data and view "Webpages" under a "domain name". If this idea is implemented, there may become server editions of Pi-OS which specializes in sending out data and managing multiple calculators.
• Desktop icons, the ability to add icons and multiple themes.

• Dana W., for getting me interested in programming TI calculators.
• Edward M., for testing an early version of the program.
• Michael Vincent, creator of Basic Tools.
• David Lindström (Cirrus Programming), creator of Program Tools.
• Detached Solutions for making MirageOS.
• All those OS programmers who left their programs unlocked and (mostly) free of errors. Your programs were used as invaluable templates for this one.
• You, the prospective user.