TI-86 Basic


Modes, Menus, and Linking



What you'll learn:
Well...here we'll simply start with the Menu( command. Here's a brief example:

Code
Menu(1,"Play",A,2,"Help",B,5,"Quit",C
Lbl A
Disp "You picked 1
Return
Lbl B
Disp "You picked 2
Return
Lbl C
Disp "Good Bye


See the pattern: 1,"Play",A... It means SLOT,"TEXT",LABEL. That's the basic setup for each menu entry, up to 15; the text is limited to 5-6 characters. A common technique is to make the last option go to another menu or quit.

Now, on to linking commands. They are: Get(), and Send(). Get() recieves any value sent by the TI or CBL/CBR device you're linked to. Send() sends values to another TI or CBL/CBR device. Since we're discussing linking, an IR link is preferable; though hard to make, an IR link can give a wireless range up to many 100's times the length of your standard link cable (pretty cool). The following is a simple example showing how the link commands can be used:

Code
Input "VALUE:",A
Menu(1,"Send",A,2,"Get",B,5,"Quit",C
Lbl A
Send(A
Return
Lbl B
Get(A
Disp A
Return
Lbl C


In that program, both people must use both options at the same time. Using link commands demands 'timeout' and 'value checking' code, which will not be in this lessons big program. Now for modes...
Normal and Sci are ways of displaying numbers. 5 in Normal is 5, in Sci it's 5E0, and in Eng it's 5E0. Float displays as many decimals as possible for an answer. Using Fix and any whole number 0-9, you can limit that. Fix 0 always shows 0 decimal places while Fix 9 always shows 9. Degree and Radian are ways of measuring angles. AxesOn turns the Graph's axes on, while AxesOff turns the axes off. CoordOn turns the Graph's coordinates on, while CoordOff turns the coordinates off. FnOn turns all y= on, while FnOff turns all y= off. GridOn turns the Graph's grid on, while GridOff turns the grid off. LabelOn turns the Graph's axes labels on, while LabelOff turns the axes labels off. PlOn turns all stat plots on, while PlOff turns all the stat plots off. IAsk and IAuto are used during Table Setup. Each one uniquely deals with how values are inputted. RectGC makes rectangular graphing coordinates, while PolarGC makes polar graphing coordinates. DrawLine draws connected lines while DrawDot draws dotted lines. SeqG draws y= 1 at a time, while SimulG draws them all at the same time. Func is function graphing, Param is parametric graphing, Pol is polar graphing, and DifEq is sequential graphing. A last few:
dxDer1 - Exact Calculation Differentiation Mode
dxNDer - Numerical Calculation Differentiation Mode
CylV - Cylindrical Vector Coordinates
RectV - Rectangular Vector Coordinates
SphereV - Spherical Vector Coordinates
!WOW!, that's alot of modes. Now to put them into a menu based program, so they'll be very easy to set whenever...
I know this example program is horribly bloated. All you really need are text menus and about 50 If statements and a scrolling text menu. This concludes Lesson 3 "Modes, Menus, and Linking"
On to Lesson 4, Dive into Graphics

Any Errors need to be reported to William White.