Creating an Alpha Message

Although the alpha register can hold 80 characters, only 16 characters can be displayed at one time. If you enter more thant 16 characters, the message scrolls left to accommodate the newly entered characters. An arrow indicator appears when any characters have scrolled off the display to the left.

Entering A Message


Before entering an alpha message, you must first activate alpha mode by pressing [ ALPHA ]. After the alpha mode is active, you can type your message.

Example

The following example uses the alpha mode to display the message HELLO THERE.

Procedure

Press

Display

Clear calculator[ CLEAR ]D_oelMrx
Activate alpha mode[ ALPHA ]D_71Dsuo
Begin alpha messageHELLOD_Ywoe2i
Enter "space"[ SPACE ]D_C15pZA
Continue messageTHERED_nDBIIo
Exit alpha mode[ ALPHA ]D_NPRLmu
When you exit the alpha mode, any message longer than 16 characters scrolls across the display and stops when the last 16 characters are visible.
  • You can press [ ← ] to see the first part of the message again.
  • You can press [ → ] to skip to the end of the message instead of waiting for it to scroll.

Using Upper and Lower Case


The first time you activate the alpha mode after turning the calculator on, the keyboard is locked in uppercase letters. You can toggle between uppercase and lowercase lock by pressing { LC } from the alpha menu. The LC indicator shows when lowercase lock is in effect. The case that you select remains in effect until you change it or turn the calculator off.
  • To enter a lowercase letter while uppercase lock is in effect, press [ 2nd ] before pressing the key for the letter.
  • To enter an uppercase letter while lowercase lock is in effect, press [ 2nd ] before pressing the key for the letter.

Note:

If you press the [ 2nd ] key by mistake, pressing it again cancels the shift request.

Example

The following example uses both uppercase and lowercase characters to display the word Radius.

Procedure

Press

Display

Clear calculator[ CLEAR ]D_oelMrx
Activate alpha mode[ ALPHA ]D_71Dsuo
Enter first letter in uppercaseRD_UuzxUz
Select lowercase lock{ --> }
{ LC }		D_B9JJz7
Complete word in lowercaseADIUSD_gq44qx
Reselect uppercase lock{ LC }D_q8ZIIM
Exit alpha mode[ ALPHA ]D_8IhebF

Using the { CHR } Selection

The { CHR } selection on the alpha menu lets you specify a character by referring to its character code. (For a listing of these codes, see Appendix C.) This function is particularly useful when you want to:
  • Include printer control codes (such as carriage return) in an alpha message.
  • Display special characters (such as ∑, π, and ÷) in an alpha message.
To use the { CHR } selection:
  1. Activate the alpha mode and position the cursor where you want the character to appear.
  2. Select { CHR } from the alpha menu.
  3. Enter the three-digit code for the character. The character is displayed at the cursor position.
If the character is a control code for the printer, exit the alpha mode, and press [ 2nd ] [ PRINT ] to send the code to the printer.

Example

This example uses { CHR } to send a carriage-return command to the printer.

Procedure

Press

Display

Clear calculator[ CLEAR ]D_oelMrx
Activate alpha mode[ ALPHA ]D_71Dsuo
Enter first letter in uppercase{ --> }
{CHR }
013		D_6LEpkt
Exit alpha mode[ ALPHA ]D_7rp3Cw
Send code to printer[ 2nd ]
[ PRINT ]		D_7rp3Cw

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