FAQs / Sci:Pro Calculator

Why are ‘Error’ values showing after upgrading the app?

Sci:Pro Calculator version 1.2.0 moved to new floating point engine to improve accuracy and reliability of operations in Basic and Scientific modes. This new engine supports a slightly smaller range of exponent values than earlier versions of Sci:Pro Calc did. A side effect of this change is that any display values, history values, or memory values that exceed the new exponent range will be converted to error values upon upgrading to the new version. This is an expected behavior and should not affect the operation of the app.

How can I enter binary values?

Starting with version 1.2.0 Sci:Pro Calculator supports a binary radix mode which allows direct entry of binary values. Earlier versions of Sci:Pro Calculator did not feature a binary entry mode; just a binary view for the current value being displayed. A workaround to this limitation was to use the copy & paste functionality to paste in binary values which would then be displayed/converted to the current radix. Updating to the latest version of the app will add binary radix functionality and allow you to enter binary values in Programmer Mode.

(iPhone) How do I switch to Scientific or Programmer mode?

On the iPhone and iPod Touch Sci:Pro Calculator uses the device orientation to determine which mode is displayed. Holding the device in portrait orientation will always display the Basic Mode. Rotating the device to landscape orientation will display either the Scientific Mode or Programmer Mode according to what has been selected in the ‘Calculator Mode’ section of the application settings panel.

How do I access the history view?

The history view is always accessible by dragging the calculator up or down from the LCD display-area. In general, dragging the display anywhere above the top row of buttons will work. Returning to the calculator view from the history view is done the same way; just touch and drag on the display area of the calculator located at the bottom of the screen. On iPad devices, touching the status bar at the top of the screen will make the history view slide into view. If the history view is already being displayed, touching the status bar at the top of the screen will scroll the contents of history display to the top.

How does the copy/paste function work?

Using a double-tap gesture anywhere in the display area of the calculator accesses the copy and paste functionality. When using the programmer mode of the calculator this behavior is slightly different. On iPad devices the location of the double tap gesture is used to determine which options to show. Tapping on the value area of the display will bring up the normal copy and paste options. Tapping in the binary or encoding area of the display will bring up the format-specific copy options such as ‘Copy binary’, ‘Copy ASCII’, etc. On iPhone devices, the copy and paste options are based on the current display mode: Normal, Encoding, or Binary views.

What does the “use result” option do?

Selected values in the history view can be used as part of new calculations by choosing the “use result” option on the history selection menu. This option will add the selected value to the current expression in the calculator. If an operation is already pending in the calculator, the selected value will be added to the current expression. If no operation is pending, the value will be used to begin a new expression.

(iPhone) Why doesn’t the ‘BIN’ key behave like the other radix keys?

Starting with Sci:Pro Calculator version 1.2.0 the ‘BIN’ key behaves like the other radix keys and converts the current display value to binary and allows direct entry of binary values. Earlier versions of the app used the ‘BIN’ key to toggle a binary view mode that showed a binary representation of the current value without changing the current radix.

Why does the display value change when switching to programmer mode?

The programmer mode of Sci:Pro Calculator works with 64bit integer values and is incapable of displaying fractional values that can be used in the basic and scientific modes of operation.  Additionally, the floating-point engine used in the basic and scientific modes is capable of storing very large and small values than cannot be represented by a 64bit integer value. For relatively small decimal values, Sci:Pro Calculator will convert the value to an integer equivalent (e.g. ‘123.45’ would become ‘123’). For larger values that exceed the integer limitations, the value displayed will be equal to the maximum possible integer value (e.g. ‘0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’ or ‘18,446,744,073,709,551,615’) due to overflow.

What’s the difference between the ‘C’ and ‘AC’ keys?

The clear key has two different modes of operation. When entering or using a new value the button label will show ‘C’ and pressing it will only clear out the current value and not the whole expression. After clearing the current value the button label will show ‘AC’ and pressing it will clear the currently displayed value along with all other pending operations and values.

Why does the delete key not work all the time?

The delete key can only be used while entering new values. It is meant to let you delete erroneous keystrokes and is not meant for deleting values that have already been entered.

Why am I seeing strange characters in the e-mail preview?

When using HTML formatted e-mail and the ‘Use Web Fonts’ option has been enabled, the mail preview page will show strange characters in place of symbols in the e-mail being sent; this is normal since the iOS mail preview page does not show web fonts.  These characters will be displayed as graphical symbols when viewing the e-mail in a supported mail program. (Note: this has been tested with Apple e-mail clients on iOS and MacOS. Many other e-mail clients such as Outlook do not support this functionality)

How many expressions are stored in the history view?

Sci:Pro Calculator keeps track of the 100 most recent expressions entered on the calculator. Expressions are added to the history view every time the equals ‘=’ key is pressed. Individual entries in the history view can be removed by using a left or right swipe gesture on any row that you would like to remove.