The Home Screen and Its Commands

The TI-83/+/SE home screen is composed of eight rows (1 to 8 from top to bottom) by sixteen columns (1 to 16 from left to right); it is like a grid. The home screen uses the large, easy to see, 5 by 7 font. Because each character takes up the same 5 by 7 space, regardless of what its actual size is, the text cannot be moved around to get pixel perfect precision.
The table below shows the coordinates used for the Output( command (see below). Enter these coordinates in the Output( command as shown, only without the parentheses. There are different coordinates for a TI-84+C SE (10 rows and 26 columns, to be exact).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1 (1,1) (1,2) (1,3) (1,4) (1,5) (1,6) (1,7) (1,8) (1,9) (1,10) (1,11) (1,12) (1,13) (1,14) (1,15) (1,16)
2 (2,1) (2,2) (2,3) (2,4) (2,5) (2,6) (2,7) (2,8) (2,9) (2,10) (2,11) (2,12) (2,13) (2,14) (2,15) (2,16)
3 (3,1) (3,2) (3,3) (3,4) (3,5) (3,6) (3,7) (3,8) (3,9) (3,10) (3,11) (3,12) (3,13) (3,14) (3,15) (3,16)
4 (4,1) (4,2) (4,3) (4,4) (4,5) (4,6) (4,7) (4,8) (4,9) (4,10) (4,11) (4,12) (4,13) (4,14) (4,15) (4,16)
5 (5,1) (5,2) (5,3) (5,4) (5,5) (5,6) (5,7) (5,8) (5,9) (5,10) (5,11) (5,12) (5,13) (5,14) (5,15) (5,16)
6 (6,1) (6,2) (6,3) (6,4) (6,5) (6,6) (6,7) (6,8) (6,9) (6,10) (6,11) (6,12) (6,13) (6,14) (6,15) (6,16)
7 (7,1) (7,2) (7,3) (7,4) (7,5) (7,6) (7,7) (7,8) (7,9) (7,10) (7,11) (7,12) (7,13) (7,14) (7,15) (7,16)
8 (8,1) (8,2) (8,3) (8,4) (8,5) (8,6) (8,7) (8,8) (8,9) (8,10) (8,11) (8,12) (8,13) (8,14) (8,15) (8,16)

The home screen does not have access to any of the drawing commands that are available on the graph screen (such as the points, pixels, lines, or circles). This leaves you with just using the text to imitate graphics, which unfortunately does not look very good. Using the home screen is faster than using the graph screen, though.

There are five main home screen commands:

  • ClrHome — Clears the home screen of any text or numbers. It should be used at the beginning of a program and at the end to make sure the user has a clear screen afterwards.
  • Disp — Displays one or more arguments of text or values on a new line on the home screen and scrolls down if necessary. Disp should be used instead of Output( in most cases.
  • Output( — Displays text or a value at a specified row and column location on the home screen. It also wraps the text or value around the screen if needed.
  • Pause — Pauses the program and displays the home screen until the user presses ENTER. It also can display text or a value with scrolling available.
  • Menu( — Displays a generic menu on the home screen, with up to seven options for the user to select from. It utilizes branching to make the menu.

You should commit yourself to learning how to use these commands and then actually start using them in your programs. They are rather basic, but still quite powerful. Once you have them down, move on to the graph screen commands.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/homescreen


The Graphscreen and Its Commands

The TI-83/+/SE graphscreen is 64 rows, by 96 columns, the coordinates for the pixels being 0 to 62 a total of 63 and 0 to 93 a total of 94. So amount of editable X and Y pixels are 95 and 63. With the coordinates 0,0 actually being the very top left pixel. The graphscreen uses the small (3 by 5) font, which allows you to display more text; and the large (5 by 7) font, which allows you to make the graphscreen look like the homescreen. On the color calculators, the available screen is 165rows by 265 columns, starting at 0. Graphics can also be displayed on the graphscreen, in the form of points, pixels, lines, or circles, as well as shading an area of the graphscreen. These graphics can be displayed with the text, and they can be saved to pictures for later use.

The graphscreen does not have access to some of the commands that are available on the homescreen (such as the user input). In addition, some of the graphscreen commands have their coordinates reversed, so the row comes before the column. These commands also take longer to draw.

Setting up the Graphscreen

Note: it is good practice to save the current settings at the beginning of the program with StoGDB, and recall it later with RclGDB. The syntax for those commands is illustrated below.

Before using the graphscreen, you first need to set it up appropriately. When displaying text or drawing graphics, you want to make sure that they are displayed how you want them to be displayed. This is achieved by clearing the graphscreen, adjusting the window dimensions, and turning off the graph formats.

Clearing the Graphscreen

The ClrDraw command is the graphscreen equivalent to ClrHome. ClrDraw is usually used before you display text or draw anything on the graphscreen, to ensure that it won't be interrupted by anything that was previously displayed on the graphscreen.

Format
:ClrDraw

You also want to make sure to clear the graphscreen when exiting programs. This ensures that the next program that the user runs won't have to deal with whatever text or graphics your program left behind. It also helps the user, because they won't have to manually clear the graphscreen.

To use the ClrDraw command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM. Then press ENTER on ClrDraw. Now the command has been put into your program.

Adjusting the Window Dimensions

After clearing the graphscreen, you will want to set the window dimensions to the desired size. There are four window variables that control the window dimensions: Xmin, Xmax, Ymin, and Ymax. When storing values in these variables, you have to remember that the max variables always have to be larger then the min variables, otherwise you will get an error.

The Xmin variable sets the minimum value that the X coordinate can have. The Xmax variable sets the maximum value that the X coordinate can have. The Ymin variable sets the minimum value that the Y coordinate can have. The Ymax variable sets the maximum value that the Y coordinate can have. You can use these variables like regular variables.

Format
:#→Xmin:#→Xmax
:#→Ymin:#→Ymax

Although the graphscreen is 96 pixels wide by 64 pixels tall on the monochrome calculators, and 320 pixels wide by 240 pixels tall on the color calculators, the bottom row is unusable for monochrome TI-Basic programs and the far right column is reserved for the monochrome pause indicator. On the color calculators, the screen is taken up with a border, and the info bar on the top of the screen. So, most monochrome programmers set the window dimensions to 0 for Xmin and Ymin, 94 for Xmax, and 62 for Ymax. This sets the X range from -1 to 94 totaling 95 columns and the Y range from -1 to 62 totaling 63. On the color calculators, most programs set the screen to ZStandard, then ZSquare, making the screen 20 spaces on the Y axis, and just over 32 on the X.

Format
:0→Xmin:94→Xmax
:0→Ymin:62→Ymax

In a simpler notion, to make everything positive from the bottom left corner you would use the following code.

Format
:1→Xmin:95→Xmax
:1→Ymin:63→Ymax

Others set 0 for Xmin and Ymax, 94 for Xmax and -62 for Ymin. This allows them to use the same coordinates for pixel and point commands, as pixel rows on the screen are counted starting from the top. So the top pixel row is 0 and the bottom row is 62, while the point top row is 0 and bottom row is -62.

In addition to those four window variables, there are two other window variables that you can use to set the window dimensions. ΔX is the difference between Xmin and Xmax divided by the graphscreen width and ΔY is the difference between Ymin and Ymax divided by the graphscreen height. When you set Xmin and Ymin to 0, you just need to set ΔX and ΔY to 1 to make Xmax 94 and Ymin 62.

:0→Xmin:94→Xmax
:0→Ymin:62→Ymax
Replace with ΔX and ΔY
:0→Xmin:1→ΔX
:0→Ymin:1→ΔY

To use the window variables, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press VARS and 1, then scroll down to whichever variable you want to use and press ENTER. Now the variable has been put into your program. You then have to type what number you want to set the window variable to.

In addition to setting the window variables individually, there are also a couple commands that can set them all at the same time. Although these commands are only useful in a couple situations, they are a lot easier (and smaller) to use.

The ZStandard command sets the window dimensions to their default settings (which is -10 for Xmin and Ymin, and 10 for Xmax and Ymax). The ZSquare command sets the window dimensions so that they make the screen square. This is important when drawing circles because it makes the circles look like circles (instead of ellipses).

Format
:ZStandard
:ZSquare

To use the ZStandard or ZSquare command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press the ZOOM key. Then scroll down to whichever command you want to use and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program.

Turning off the Graph Formats

After adjusting the window dimensions, you will want to turn off the graph formats. The graph formats include the grids, plots, axes, and functions. These can be turned off and turned on, depending on what is desired.

The GridOff command turns the grid off and the GridOn command turns the grid on. The PlotsOff command turns the plots off and the PlotsOn command turns the plots on. The AxesOff command turns the axes off and the AxesOn command turns the axes on. The FnOff command turns all of the functions off and the FnOn command turns all of the functions on.

Format
:GridOff/On
:PlotsOff/On
:AxesOff/On
:FnOff/On

The plots and functions commands can also be used to just deal with one or two plots or functions, instead of all of them. You just put the plots or functions and their numbers after the command, separating each one with a comma.

Format
:PlotsOff/On function#[,function#,...]
:FnOff/On function#[,function#,...]

To use the graph formats, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and ZOOM. Then scroll down to GridOff/On or AxesOff/On and press ENTER. To use the PlotsOff/On or FnOff/on commands, you need to press 2nd and 0 for the Catalog menu. Then scroll down to the command or press the first letter of the command and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program.

Graph Databases (GDB)

There are 10 graph database (GDB) variables (GDB0 through GDB9) that store the window and graph format settings, so they can later be used to recreate the graphscreen; GDBs do not contain graphics or stat plot definitions. If a program utilizes the graphscreen, it should restore the graphscreen settings with a GDB when the program finishes executing.

The StoreGDB command saves the graph settings in a GDB. It is best used at the beginning of a program. The RecallGDB command restores the graph settings that are stored in a GDB. It is best used after a program is finished executing. You should remember to delete the GDB after recalling it.

Format
:StoreGDB #
:RecallGDB #

To use the GDB commands, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd DRAW and > > twice. Then scroll down to StoreGDB or RecallGDB and press ENTER. Finally, press the number of the GDB you want to use.

Putting all of these commands together, here is a typical way to set up the graphscreen at the beginning of a program:

PROGRAM:GRAPHSET
:StoreGDB 1
:ClrDraw
:GridOff
:PlotsOff
:AxesOff
:FnOff
:0→Xmin:1→ΔX
:0→Ymin:1→ΔY

Graphing Functions on the Graphscreen

Graphing functions is primarily used in math programs. There are three commands that are used for graphing functions: DrawF, DrawInv, and Tangent. The commands do not change the function variables, and their graphs (and tangent line) are erased when any command changes the graphscreen.

The DrawF command graphs an expression. The DrawInv command graphs the inverse of an expression by plotting X values on the y-axis and Y values on the x-axis (as if the X and Y values are switched). The Tangent command draws a line tangent to the expression, with the line touching the expression at the X value. Use the Input or Pause command to view the graph (or tangent line).

Format
:DrawF expression
:DrawInv expression
:Tangent(expression,value)

The expression can either be a function variable (Y0 through Y9) or a function in terms of X (such as 3X+4). While you create a function variable by storing an expression (enclosed in quotes) to it, the function in terms of X is just the expression itself (which allows you to bypass the function variable). The expression can consist of numbers, variables, and math functions.

Format
:"expression"→Y#
:expression

After the function variable is created, it is stored in the Y= editor and selected to be graphed. If you already have an expression stored in a function variable, you can combine function variables with other expressions to create new expressions. You cannot use a list in the expression to draw several graphs at one time.

When graphing functions, you have to adjust the graph formats and window dimensions to ensure the functions display correctly on the screen. Although you can have successive graphs (graphs displayed on top of each other), this is sometimes unwanted because it interrupts the graphscreen while you're graphing your functions. You can get rid of this problem by using the FnOff command.

To use the graph commands, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM, then scroll down to whichever command you want and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program. You then have to type the expression you want to graph. The function variables can be found by pressing VARS, pressing > once to get to the Y-Vars menu, and then scrolling down to Functions.

Displaying Text on the Graphscreen

The Text command displays text, numbers, variables, or expressions wherever you want on the graphscreen. Because the Text command utilizes the small font (available only on the graphscreen), more text can be displayed on the screen. The Text command overwrites any existing text on the screen, and it is also not affected by the graphscreen window settings.

When you use the Text command, you need to specify the starting coordinates of what you want to display. You first specify the row (0 to 57 from top to bottom) and then the column (0 to 91 from left to right). Although the graphscreen is actually 94 rows by 62 columns, you will get an error if you try to display text on a higher row or column.

The reason is that the graphscreen text is five pixels tall and a variable width. While numbers, uppercase letters, and most lowercase letters are three pixels wide, some lowercase letters (such as w and m) are five pixels wide, and spaces are one pixel wide. There is an automatic space (one pixel wide) inserted between text. So, you need to factor in the height and width of the characters when positioning them on the screen.

Format
:Text(row,col,argument)

A good way to find where exactly you want to place the text or other drawing is to use a blank Input command. This gives you a cursor to find where to put it. Just remember that the coordinates at the bottom of the screen are not what you put into the Text( command.

Format
:Input

The Text command can display multiple arguments of both text and variables on the same line, at the same time. This is very useful because it eliminates the need to have to worry about spacing. If the variable changes, the Text command will adjust it on the screen accordingly. This allows you to sometimes remove multiple Text commands and just use the first one to display everything.

:Text(5,5,A
:Text(5,9,"/
:Text(5,13,B
Combine Text Commands
:Text(5,5,A,"/",B

On the TI-83+/SE calculators, the Text command can also display the large font that is available on the homescreen. Just put a negative one (-1) before the row and column arguments. When using the large font, you have to keep formatting in mind because it is very easy for the text to go off the screen. This is useful when you want to clear large portions of the graphscreen at a time.

Format
:Text(-1,row,col,argument)

If you have a string of numbers that you are displaying, you don't need to put quotes around the numbers. You may want to keep the numbers in a string, though, if they have any leading zeros. Because the numbers are no longer in a string, the leading zeros will be truncated (taken off) and not be shown.

:Text(2,2,"2345
Remove the Quotes
:Text(2,2,2345

To use the Text command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM. Then, scroll down (all the way at the bottom) to Text and press ENTER. Now the Text command has been put into your program. You can then begin typing some text by turning on the alpha-lock with pressing 2nd and ALPHA.

Drawing & Shading on the Graphscreen

Drawing on the graphscreen is one of the main uses of the graphscreen. There are several different things that you can draw, including points, pixels, lines, and circles. Besides drawing, you can also shade in an area on the graphscreen with whatever size and look you want.

Drawing Points

The point commands are used to draw points on the graphscreen. A point is just a pixel on the screen. The point commands use the (x,y) coordinate system, which is affected by the window settings. This means you have to change the window settings accordingly when you use the point commands, otherwise the points won't show up correctly.

The Pt-On command turns on the point at the given (x,y) coordinates. The Pt-Off command turns off the point at the given (x,y) coordinates. The Pt-Change command toggles the point at the given (x,y) coordinates. If the point is on, it will be turned off and vice versa.

Format
:Pt-On(x,y)
:Pt-Off(x,y)
:Pt-Change(x,y)

The Pt-On and Pt-Off commands also have an optional mark argument that determines the shape of the point. The mark can be either one (dot), two (3x3 box), or three (3x3 cross). You don't need to specify the mark when using the first mark because it is the default. Remember to use the same mark when turning a point off as you used to turn it on.

:Pt-On(5,5,1
Remove Mark
:Pt-On(5,5

To use the point commands, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM, then press right once and scroll down to whichever command you want and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program. You then have to type the numbers for where you want the point to appear on the screen.

Drawing Pixels

The pixel commands are the alternative way to draw pixels on the graphscreen. Although they are easier to use because they are not affected by the window settings (which means you don't have to set the window dimensions when using them), the coordinate system is switched around so that the row comes first and then the column — it's (y,x) instead of (x,y).

The Pxl-On command turns on the pixel at the given (y,x) coordinates. The Pxl-Off command turns off the pixel at the given (y,x) coordinates. The Pxl-Change command toggles the pixel at the given (y,x) coordinates. If the pixel is on, it will be turned off and vice versa. The pixel commands are faster than their equivalent point commands, so they should generally be used instead whenever possible.

Format
:Pxl-On(y,x)
:Pxl-Off(y,x)
:Pxl-Change(y,x)

Besides these three commands that have point equivalents, there is also a Pxl-Test command. The Pxl-Test command checks whether the pixel at the given (y,x) coordinates is on or off. One is returned if the pixel is on and zero is returned if the pixel is off. You can store the result to a variable for later use, or use the command in a conditional or loop.

Format
:Pxl-Test(y,x)

To use the pixel commands, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM, then press right once and scroll down to whichever command you want and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program. You then have to type the numbers for where you want the pixel to appear on the screen.

Drawing Lines

The Line comand allows you to draw a line anywhere on the screen. The line can be any length that you want. When using the Line command you need to supply the coordinates of the two endpoints. The Line command draws the line from the first endpoint (x1,y1) to the second endpoint (x2,y2).

Format
:Line(x1,y1,x2,y2)

The Line command has an optional fifth argument that controls whether the line will be drawn (the argument should be one) or erased (the argument should be zero). The line is drawn by default, so it should be left off unless you want to erase it.

:Line(5,5,10,5,1
Remove Line's Fifth Argument
:Line(5,5,10,5

When you have multiple pixels in a straight line that you turn on or off, you can sometimes replace the pixel commands with one or more Line commands. In the case that the pixels are arranged at a slant or angle, you can just adjust the line coordinates accordingly. You should also use Line commands instead of pixel commands when clearing large portions of the graphscreen at a time.

:Pxl-On(5,5
:Pxl-On(5,6
:Pxl-On(5,7
Replace with Lines
:Line(5,5,5,7

There are two other line commands that are also available. They are primarily designed for when you want to quickly draw a line across the entire screen. The Horizontal command draws a horizontal line at a given row and the Vertical command draws a vertical line at a given column. The argument can either be a number or a variable.

Format
:Horizontal y
:Vertical x

To use the line commands, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM, then scroll down to whichever command you want and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program. You then have to type the number(s) for where you want the line to appear on the screen.

Drawing Circles

The Circle command draws a circle on the graphscreen. When using the Circle command, you must enter three numbers (separated by commas): the (x,y) coordinates of the center of the circle and the length of the radius. Because circles take a long time to draw, you should use them sparingly.

Format
:Circle(x,y,radius)

The window settings affect how the circles are drawn. With the screen height being larger than the width (the screen is a rectangle), the circles will actually look like ellipses. To make them look like circles, you need to use the ZSquare command.

To use the Circle command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM, then scroll down to Circle and press ENTER. Now the Circle command has been put into your program. You then have to type the numbers for where you want the center of the circle to be and the length of the radius.

Shading Areas

The Shade command shades in an area on the graphscreen. For basic shading, you just need to specify a lower function and upper function. The Shade command will vertically shade in the area that is above the lower function and below the upper function across the whole length of the screen. The functions can either be a function variable (Y0 through Y9); or a function in terms of X, consisting of numbers, variables, and math functions (such as 3X+4).

Format
:Shade(lowerfunction,upperfunction)

When shading with the function variables, the window settings affect how the shading looks. You should set the window variables to ensure that the shading is done correctly. This also applies when you are shading at the same time as drawing, because some of the drawing commands are affected by the window settings.

Because you might not want to shade the whole length of the screen, the Shade command has two optional arguments that allow you to specify the left and right boundaries for shading (the boundaries themselves are also shaded). Xleft and Xright can be whatever numbers you want, as long as they are between Xmin and Xmax (the horizontal window dimensions). You can also just specify Xleft by itself if you only want to change the left boundary (you need to set Xleft to set Xright, though).

Format
:Shade(lowerfunction,upperfunction,Xleft,Xright)

The Shade command has two other optional arguments that allow you to change the look of the shading, but you need to also set the left and right boundaries to use them. The pattern can be either one (vertical), two (horizontal), three (slanted backwards), or four (slanted forwards); and the patres (the frequency of the shading) can be from one to eight pixels.

Format
:Shade(lowerfunction,upperfunction,Xleft,Xright,pattern,patres)

To use the Shade command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd and PRGM, then scroll down to the command (or press the 7 key) and press ENTER. Now the command has been put into your program. You then have to specify the functions (and boundaries, pattern, and patres) for how you want to shade the area.

Storing the Graphscreen to a Picture

After you have spent lots of time drawing something on the graphscreen, you naturally want to keep it for future use. So, you store it to a picture variable. A picture variable holds a copy of the graphscreen at the respective time it was stored to. Although pictures are often used, it really is a personal preference.

The StorePic command saves the current graphscreen to the designated picture. After saving a picture, you can display it again with the RecallPic command. Before recalling a picture, you should first make sure that the graphscreen is clear. This ensures that the picture won't be interrupted by anything that is already on the screen. You can only use numbers with the StorePic and RecallPic commands; no variables.

Format
:StorePic #
:RecallPic #

Because each picture takes up 768 bytes, you should delete them when exiting programs. The program should only keep the picture if it is used for something important (such as a titlescreen). The user doesn't want to have their memory cluttered up with lots of variables.

To use the picture commands, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press 2nd DRAW and < once. Then scroll down to StorePic or RecallPic and press ENTER. Finally, press the number of the picture you want to use.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Pictures

The main advantage of using pictures is that the graphics show up almost instantly compared to the slow speed of drawing them. This is particularly noticeable the more detailed the graphics are and depending on what graphics (primarily circles) are being drawn. Speed is a top priority in most programs (because the user doesn't want to wait), so pictures are usually used.

The main disadvantage of using pictures is that there are only ten pictures (from Pic0 to Pic9). With every program sharing the pictures, there can be conflict when two programs use the same picture (the picture will usually be overwritten by the other program).

Another disadvantage of using pictures is that it is another file that the user needs in order to use your program. If you give someone your program, you will have to also give them your pictures. Your program won't work properly anymore if somebody deletes your pictures or forgets to include them with your program. Although this is mostly out of your hands, users will think your program is at fault.

Pictures have a weird behavior, that can be a curse or blessing. When recalled, they only turn on pixels — not turn them off. Try recalling one picture, then recalling a different picture. You'll notice they overlap. This has an application anytime that you are displaying something (sprite) on top of a background. Draw the sprite on the screen, and use a pic for the background.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/graphscreen


Math Functions

Calculators are built with one primary purpose: math. Programming, game playing, and everything else is secondary. Thus, you will find a number of powerful math commands. Although it may seem that they are of no use to a programmer, programs sometimes need math functions, and many math functions can be used in clever ways. In this guide we'll group the commands into the following general groups:

Number Operations

These commands deal with different ways you can manipulate the integer and fraction parts of a number, and are mostly found in the MATH-NUM menu.

Probability and Combinatorics

These commands are generally found in the MATH-PRB menu (except for randM(, which is in the MATRIX-MATH menu). They include commands for generating random numbers, and commands that are useful for solving problems in combinatorics and probability theory.

Calculus

Although the TI-83 series calculators don't, by themselves, have the capability for symbolic calculations, these commands (found in the main MATH menu) can provide numerical approximations for some commonly computed quantities in calculus.

  • fMin(, fMax( — numerical function optimization in one variable.
  • nDeriv(, fnInt( — derivatives and integrals.
  • solve( — numerical solution of an equation in one variable.

Trigonometry

These commands allow you to manipulate angles, and are generally affected by Radian mode and Degree mode (so you should check those pages out). Some of these commands live in the 2nd ANGLE menu, some are on the keyboard, and some can only be found in the 2nd CATALOG menu:

Complex Number Operations

These commands are used for dealing with complex numbers, and are found in the MATH-CPX menu. Many other math commands work on complex numbers too, and complex numbers are fairly strongly connected to trigonometry.

Operators

These commands are found on the keyboard and in the 2nd TEST menu, and deal with basic mathematical and logical commands.

Powers, Inverses, Exponentials, and Logarithms

These commands are found all over the place, many on the keyboard itself, and deal with raising some value to a power, or raising a number to some value, or the inverses of those operations.

Miscellaneous

These commands have nothing to do with each other, but don't really belong to other categories either.

  • π, e — famous (and occasionally, even useful) math constants.
  • min(, max( — returns the smaller number(s) or the larger number(s).
  • lcm(, gcd( — returns the least common multiple or the greatest common denominator of two numbers.

Comments

Note that the statistics commands are not included here. That is because statistics is not math. There is also the finance commands and variables, which are another topic unto themselves.

In addition, all of the above commands, except for the calculus and random number generating commands, can be applied to lists as well. For single-argument commands, this just means that the command is applied to each element of the list separately.

For multiple-argument commands, there are two ways to do it: with a number and a list (then, the command is applied with that number to each element of a list), and with two lists (then, it's done pairwise, and the lists must be the same size, otherwise the calculator will throw a ERR:DIM MISMATCH error).

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/math


Variable Types

Variables are used extensively in programming, as most programs use variables in one form or another. They are used to keep track of numbers or text or stats; there are many uses for variables. Put simply, programming wouldn't be programming without variables. Imagine variables being little boxes which you can store almost anything in.

A variable is a reference to the information that it holds. Variables allow you to store the information, so that you can later use it for whatever purpose is desired. The thing to remember, though, is that programs all share the variables.

There are several different kinds of variables available on the calculator, but the four main variables that you will be using are number variables, lists, matrices, and strings. Number variables are used for storing a single number. Lists are used for storing a collection of numbers. Matrices are used for storing numbers in a two-dimensional format. And, strings are used for storing text.

Storing & Deleting Variables

Variables have values stored in them so that the values can be recalled for later use. When storing an expression containing a variable into another variable, the value of the variable at that time is used. The store (→) command is used for storing variables, and it is accessed by pressing the [STO►] key. When storing a value in a variable, you have the value on the left side of the store command and the variable that it will be stored to on the right side.

Format:

value→variable

Examples:

123→A
123+456→A
"Hello"→Str0

When you are done using variables, you should delete them with the DelVar command to save space. The DelVar command deletes the contents of a variable from memory. If the DelVar command is used with a real variable, the variable is not only deleted from memory but automatically set to zero the next time it is used. DelVar does not work on specific elements of a list or matrix. In fact, it will actually return an error.

Format:

DelVar variable

Examples:

DelVar A
DelVar B
DelVar Str0
DelVar L₁

Numeric variables

Numeric variables are used for storing numbers. There are 27 numeric variables (from A to Z and θ) that can be easily accessed, and more that the calculator uses for its specific purposes.

Examples:

1→A
2+3→B
(A+B)/(6+7→C

Tip: You don't need to close brackets before using the STO command. The calculator will automatically close any open brackets and string quotes as soon as it comes across a STO command.

Most numeric variables can either be real or complex (the latter involve i, the square root of -1, and are important to advanced algebra). In either case, up to 14 digits of a number can be stored, although only the first 10 will be displayed and used for comparison.

To access a real variable, press ALPHA and then the key corresponding to whatever letter you want your variable to be. You can initialize a real variable by storing a number, another variable, or an expression into the variable using the STO key (or, just using it almost anywhere will initialize it to 0).

Flag Variables

Flag Variables are a numeric variable that is used for the specific purpose of controlling program flow. They typically only contain the value 1 or 0 and are sometimes described as being binary, or Boolean variables.

(for more information, see Using Variables as Flags)

List Variables

Lists are used to hold multiple numbers at once, in a specific order. There are six "default" lists named L1 through L6, but an important feature of lists is that they can be given names, so that there are millions of possible lists. Lists are important for programmers for many purposes - saving data after a program finishes running, and storing a level of a game are only two of them.

Examples:

{1,2,3}→L₁
L₁+10→L₂
{4,5,6}→⌊X
{7,8,9}→⌊DATA

There are 6 built-in list variables available: L₁, L₂, L₃, L₄, L₅, L₆. Beyond that, you can create custom list names using one to five characters, comprised of any combination of capital letters and numbers and theta, but it must begin with a letter or theta.

(for more information, see Lists and Their Commands)

Matrix Variables

Matrices are two-dimensional lists (row by column). Equivalent to lists, they are used when the data needs more structure. Matrices are often used for storing a level or a map of the screen. There are only ten matrices available (from [A] to [J]).

(for more information, see Matrices and Their Commands)

String Variables

Strings are used for storing a sequence of characters, that is, text. A common use for strings is to manipulate text to be displayed in a program, but they have many different purposes: highscores, level and map data, and whatever else is desired.

"Hello"→Str0
"World"→Str1
Str0+" "+Str1→Str2

Using the "+" sign will concatenate strings together, so the last line above will put "Hello World" into Str2.

Although there are only ten built-in string variables (Str0 through Str9) available to use, strings can hold many different kinds of characters, including letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers, functions, and even other commands. The amount of free RAM is the only limit on the number of characters in a string.

Tip: You don't need to close the quotes before using the STO command. The calculator will automatically close any string quotes as soon as it comes across a STO command.

(for more information, see Strings and Their Commands)

Picture Variables and GDBs

Picture variables and GDBs (short for Graph DataBase) are used to save two different elements of the current graph display. A picture variable is used to store the exact appearance of the graph screen. A GDB is used to store system variables relevant to the graph screen - equations, window settings, and the like. 10 built-in variables of each type exist: Pic0 through Pic9 for pictures and GDB0 through GDB9 for GDBs.

(for more information, see Pictures and GDBs)

System Variables

System variables are, for the purposes of this guide, variables that certain commands will use or modify without asking (i.e. without supplying them in the command's arguments). This is a somewhat ill-defined category, and in fact the system variables we'll discuss are of a somewhat miscellaneous nature. They include equation and plot variables, window and table parameters, statistical variables, and finance variables.

(for more information, see System Variables)

Converting Between Variable Types

Between lists and matrices

The List►matr( and Matr►list( commands are used to convert between a matrix and several lists. Using these commands, it should be simple to implement any kind of conversion between these two data types.

Between strings and numbers

It is very easy to convert a string version of an expression to a number, list, or matrix: the expr( command can do it — for example, expr("5") will give you the number 5, and expr("{1,2,3}") will give you the list {1 2 3}.

Going the other way, however, is slightly more complicated because there is no built-in command to do it. What you need to use instead are a few small routines: see number to string for how to convert a number to a string. To convert a list or matrix, convert each individual element instead.

Archiving and Unarchiving Variables

On the TI-83+/84+/SE calculators, you can archive and unarchive variables. What this entails is the calculator moving the variable to the archive memory or the calculator moving the variable to RAM respectively. The main advantage of archiving a variable is that it is protected from calculator crashes, which clear the calculator's RAM. At the same time, you can't access a variable that's archived; it needs to be in RAM to use it.

:Archive L1
:UnArchive Str1

There are a couple things you need to be aware of when using Archive and UnArchive. First, since the TI-83 only has RAM, archiving is not possible, and subsequently neither of these commands are available. This means that you shouldn't use either of these commands if you plan on porting a program to the TI-83. Second, archiving does not work with the majority of the system variables, including the graphing, statistical, and finance variables. You can archive the other types of variables, however, although list variables are actually more manageable using the SetUpEditor command.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/variables


Getting Input from the User

Getting user input is a basic part of almost all programs. It provides a way of changing variables or transferring control to the user. The four commands used for getting input are: Prompt/Input, getKey, and GetCalc.

User input includes getting values for variables on the calculator, getting the keys that the user pressed, and getting a variable off of or sending a variable to another calculator over a link cable.

Getting Input

You can get input in three ways: Input, Prompt, and a graph-screen method. There are certain advantages and disadvantages to each command, and there are also certain situations where each command should be used. The first two are commands on the I/O menu of the prgm button (only while editing a program). The third has no single command. It has to be done manually. Below explains the third method a bit better.

Let us focus on the first two. Prompt and Input can be used with any variable, but some of the variables have to be entered in a certain way. If the variable is a string and you are using the Prompt command, the user must put quotes ("") around the value. However, both Prompt and Input require the user must also put curly braces ({}) around lists and square brackets ([]) around matrices.

Getting Input with Prompt

The Prompt command is the simplest way of getting user input. The Prompt command asks the user to enter a value for a variable, waiting until the user enters a value and then presses ENTER. When using Prompt, the variable that is being asked for will be displayed on the screen with an equal sign and question mark (=?) after it.

:Prompt variable

Because displaying what variable the value will be stored to does not tell the user what the variable will be used for, you can put a Disp command before the Prompt command to give the user some more insight into what an appropriate value for the variable would be. The Prompt command will be displayed one line lower, though, because the Disp command automatically creates a new line.

:Disp "Text"
:Prompt X
SCREEN01.BMP

When you have a list of Prompt commands (and each one has its own variable), you can just use the first Prompt command and combine the rest of the other Prompt commands with it. You remove the Prompt commands and combine the arguments, separating each argument with a comma. The arguments can be composed of whatever combination of variables is desired.

The advantages of combining Prompt commands are that it makes scrolling through code faster, and it is more compact (i.e. smaller) and easier to write than using the individual Prompt commands. The primary disadvantage is that it is easier to accidentally erase a Prompt command with multiple arguments. So, instead of:

:Prompt A
:Prompt Str1

Combine the Prompts and get:
:Prompt A,Str1

To use the Prompt command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press the PRGM button, then arrow over to the I/O menu. Then, scroll down to Prompt and press ENTER. Now the Prompt command has been put into your program. You then have to type what variable(s) you want to prompt the user for (separating each one with a comma).

Final note: since the real-world applications take strings (like a username or a command) quite a bit, no-one uses Prompt because it forces the user to use quotation marks. A programmer would know to use it at the =?, but the casual user won't. 99.9% of the time, you see Input, which is discussed next.

Getting Input with Input

The other way to get input is to use the Input command. The Input command asks the user to enter a value for a variable (only one variable can be input at a time), waiting for the user to enter a value and press ENTER. The Input command, by default, does not display what variable the user is being asked for, but instead just displays a question mark.

:Input variable

Because just displaying a question mark on the screen does not really tell the user what to enter for input or what the input will be used for, the Input command has an optional text message that can be either text or a string variable that will be displayed alongside the input.

Only the first sixteen characters of the text message will be shown on the screen (because of the screen dimensions), so the text message should be kept as short as possible (a good goal is twelve characters or less). Don't worry about the user not having enough room, their input does word-wrapping.

:Input "Text",variable
:Input Str#,variable

If the text message is longer than twelve characters or you want to give the user plenty of space to enter a value, you can put a Disp command before the Input command. You break the text message up and display it in parts. The Input command will be displayed one line lower, though, because the Disp command automatically creates a new line.

:Disp "Text"
:Input "Text",variable

When you are just using the text message to tell the user what the variable being stored to is, the Prompt command makes it a byte easier. And, if there is a list of Input commands following the same pattern, you can reduce them to just one Prompt command.

:Input "A",A
:Input "B",B

Replace with Prompt and get:
:Prompt A,B

The Input command can also be used another way. When you just put the Input command by itself, the graph screen will be shown and the user can move the cursor around. When the user presses ENTER, the (x,y) coordinates of the cursor will be stored to the X and Y variables, respectively.

:Input

To use the Input command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press the PRGM button, then arrow over to the I/O menu. Then, scroll down to Input and press ENTER. Now the Input command has been put into your program. You then have to type the text message and the variable that you want to ask the user for.

Graph Screen Method

This method has no automatic command. This must be done manually and, as you can imagine, takes a lot of space. If you value speed over design, then don't bother. Otherwise, this guide will show you how to do it.

Reading Keypresses

getkey.png

The getKey command is widely used in many programs because it allows the program to directly access user input. The getKey command returns the number of the last key pressed, and resets to 0 every time it is executed.

Every key has a number assigned to it, except for ON (which is used for breaking out of programs). The numbering system consists of two parts: the row and column. The rows go from one to ten, starting at the top; and the columns go from one to six, starting from the left. You just put the row and column together to find the key's number. The only confusing parts for beginners are the arrow key numbers.

When the getKey command is used, it's value automatically resets to 0, so the next time it is used, it no longer returns the last pressed key. Because of this, the getKey command is usually stored to a variable. Storing getKey to a variable allows the program to keep track of which key was pressed, taking different actions depending on what the key was. This opens up a variety of possibilities for the programmer. For example, using getKey inside a loop allows the program to wait for a keypress and store it:

:Repeat Ans
:getKey
:End
:Ans→K

You can also put getKey in the condition of a loop, to make the loop repeat until any key or a particular key is pressed by the user. The same thing can be done with conditionals as well. This is useful if you don't want to store getKey to a variable, but you still want to have the user press a key. It's perfect for a "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" screen.

:Repeat getKey
:End

Note that you can get a keypress at any time by directly assigning to a variable, like so:

:getKey→K
:If K=45
:Output(1,1,"Do Something")

To use the getKey command, you should first be in the Program editor for your program. In the Program editor, press the PRGM button, then arrow over to the I/O menu. Then, scroll down to getKey and press ENTER. Now the getKey command has been put into your program.

Final Notes

Once you mastered this, you've mastered half of all programming. Literally. The other half is output. That's all a program is. A program gets user input and gets results, which are usually shown to you. Good luck to the rest of your TI-Basic venture

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/userinput


Operators

Just like other programming languages, TI-Basic has the standard set of core operators built-in (math, relational, and logical), although they each have their own syntax and rules.

Math Operators

There are five math operators: +, -, *, /, and ^. Anybody who has ever done even basic math should know and recognize at least the first four operators, but for those who don't, their meaning is pretty straightforward:

+
Adds two numbers together
-
Subtracts one number from another
*
Multiplies two numbers together
/
Divides one number by another
^
Raises a number to a power

There are two similar negative symbols on the TI-83 calculators — the subtraction symbol (the - key) and the negation symbol (the (-) key). These aren't interchangeable. However, it's almost always clear from an expression which one is being used, so the - symbol will be used to represent both throughout most of this guide.

Relational Operators

There are six relational operators: =, , >, , <, and . Just like with the math operators, these operators are used in almost every math class, and thus most people should know them.

=
X=Y is true if X is equal to Y
X≠Y is true if X is not equal to Y
>
X>Y is true if X is greater than Y
X≥Y is true if X is greater than or equal to Y
<
X<Y is true if X is less than Y
X≤Y is true if X is less than or equal to Y

Because the calculator does not have a separate time for logical values (true and false), they are represented by the numbers 1 and 0. This becomes important when dealing with piecewise expressions.

Logical Operators

There are four logical operators: and, or, not(, and xor. Their interpretations are mostly intuitive when thinking about the meaning of the English word:

and
X and Y is true if both X and Y are true
or
X or Y is true if at least one of X and Y is true
xor
X xor Y is true if only one of X and Y is true
not(
not(X) is true if X is false

Again, as with the relational operators, 1 is used to for 'true', and 0 is used for 'false'. It so happens that the logical operators treat all nonzero values as though they were 1 (true), so the expression '2 and 3' will be true just as '1 and 1'.

Here is a truth table of the various values:

A B A and B A or B A xor B not(A)
0 0 0 0 0 1
0 1 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1 1 0
1 1 1 1 0 0

Order of Operations

The TI-83 series of calculators has nine priority levels for evaluating expressions. All the functions on a priority level will be calculated from left to right before moving on to the next priority level. Of course, calculations within parentheses are done first. Here is a table of the priority levels:

Priority Level Functions
1 Functions that precede their argument (such as √( or sin(), except for negation
2 Functions that follow their argument (such as 2 or !)
3 ^ and ×√
3.5 Negation
4 nPr and nCr
5 Multiplication, division, and implied multiplication
6 Addition and subtraction
7 The relational operators =, , <, >, ,
8 The logic operator and
9 The logic operators or and xor
10 Conversions such as ►Frac

TI refers to the routine that determines order of operations as the Equation Operating System (EOSTM). Unfortunately, this cool name hasn't become common usage.

Test your knowledge

Here are some sample problems on logical operators, in order of complexity. For the more difficult ones, it may be best to break them up into smaller parts and work in steps.

# Question
1 0 and 1 or 1
2 0 and (1 or 1)
3 4 and -4 xor (.6 and 0)
4 not(1) xor (1 and 1 xor 1)
5 1 and 0 xor (6*4 and 0) or not(0 and 6)
6 1 and (1 xor not(5 xor 1 and 0)) xor not(1 xor not(1 or not(1)))

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/operators


Calculator Linking

One of the most important features of the TI graphing calculators is their linking, where they communicate with another TI calculator or a computer across a link cable that is connected between them. There are a few different link cables that TI has created, and they each have their own advantages and disadvantages:

  • Graph Link — This is the classic link cable that has been around since the TI-83 was first released. It works with every calculator before the TI-84+CE, and it comes in black (for the PCs) or gray (for the Macs). It works with the Graph Link software, which doesn't work very well with the newer calculators. The TI-84+CE no longer has an I/O port so this cable cannot be used to transfer data.
  • USB Link — This is the new link cable that is designed to be much faster, since it uses the USB port of a computer rather than the COMM port that Graph Link uses. Besides the port, it also only works with the TI Connect software instead of the Graph Link software.
  • Mini USB Link — This is only available on the newer TI-84+/SE calculators, since it actually uses the second smaller USB port on the TI-84+/SE calculator instead of the usual I/O port. It works pretty much the same way the USB Link does, and in fact uses the same TI Connect software.

In addition to the official link cables, you can also make your own using parts of other cables. Putting together a link cable is a rather delicate operation, and requires a considerable amount of knowledge of electronics and linking. This isn't recommended unless you know what you are doing — if you screw up, you can really mess up your calculator!

Calculator to Calculator

There are two commands that you can use when linking one calculator to another: GetCalc(, and Get(. The GetCalc( command was designed such that you can receive a variable from another calculator; unfortunately there are very specific requirements for the sending calculator to actually send the variable (it must be in a preemptible state like Pause or Menu(, and cannot be executing an assembly program). Whilst this can seem a difficult task to actually create a fully functional and fun multiplayer game, the multiplayer page shows workarounds to make such a program achievable — the key to which is fully understanding the nature of GetCalc(.

The Get( and Send( commands were created for use with the CBL (Calculator-Based Laboratory) and CBR (Calculator-Based Ranger) devices in math and science classes. These devices collect real-time data from various sensors that you can connect to them, and allow you to view and analyse the results. At the same time, they were originally used by the TI-82 calculator for receiving and sending variables respectively between calculators, and actually still operate in that capacity.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/linking


Controlling Program Flow

Controlling flow defines the order in which a program runs, what line of code will be executed next; to repeat or skip a group of commands. There are three main parts of controlling flow: conditionals, loops, and branching. Each of these parts is used in different situations and to serve different functions. Together they are an integral part of all programs.

When dealing with conditionals and loops, the decision whether the conditional or loop will be executed is based on Boolean Logic — the principle that something can only be true or false at any given time. While any nonzero value is evaluated to true (i.e. it will be executed), a zero value is evaluated to false (i.e. it will be skipped over, not executed).

Conditionals

Conditionals are used to make decisions in programs. The program can carry out different actions, depending on if certain conditions occur — directing the flow of program execution. Conditionals determine if code will be executed or not.

There are three different types of conditionals: If, If-Then, and If-Then-Else. There are certain advantages and disadvantages to each conditional, and there are also certain situations where each conditional should be used.

If Conditional

The first, and simplest, type of conditional is the If. It is used when you only want to execute one command. The If conditional needs the If command to work. The command that is immediately following the If conditional will be executed if the condition is true, but it won't be executed if the condition is false.

Format
:If condition
:Command

Because If conditionals are generally slow, you should replace them with Boolean conditionals when you are just changing a variable. You take the condition that is in the conditional, put parentheses around it, and multiply it by the value that you are changing the variable (the value should be left off when it is one since it is unnecessary).

:If X=3
:Y+2→Y
Use Boolean Conditional
:Y+2(X=3→Y

The reason that this works is the condition will evaluate to one if it is true and zero if it is false. Since this value is then multiplied by the value that you are changing the variable, the changing value will stay the same if the value is one but it will become zero if the value is zero. So, the Boolean conditional is faster than an If conditional when the condition is true, but it will be slower when the condition is false because zero is still stored to the variable.

Boolean conditionals also have another advantage over If conditionals. When you have several Boolean conditionals that deal with the same variable, you can combine them into one Boolean conditional. Boolean conditionals can have multiple conditions that change the variable by different values. If you change the variable by the same value in two or more conditions, you can factor the value out by multiplication. This works best with large values.

:A+5(K=26→A
:A-5(K=24→A
Combine Conditionals
:A+5((K=26)-(K=24→A

If-Then Conditional

The second type of conditional is the If-Then. It is used when you want to execute more than one command. Besides the If command, the If-Then conditional needs the Then and End commands to work. The Then command tells the calculator that there are multiple commands in the conditional to execute, while the End command signifies the end of the command block.

Format
:If condition
:Then
:Command(s)
:End

The commands immediately following the Then will be executed if the condition is true, but the commands won't be executed if the condition is false. Instead, program execution will continue after the End. Because If-then conditionals are twice as fast as If conditionals (they are larger, though, because of the added commands needed to use them), you might want to replace an If conditional with an If-Then conditional when speed is the top priority.

:If A=1
:Disp "Hello
Replace With If-Then Conditional
:If A=1:Then
:Disp "Hello
:End

With the If-Then and If-Then-Else conditionals, you can put conditionals inside of each other (known as nesting). You can also put loops inside conditionals. When you have two or more If conditionals that have a common condition (i.e. a compound condition made using the logic operators), you should take the common condition out, make it into an If-Then conditional, and nest the If conditionals inside it.

:If A=1 and B=1
:C+2→C
:If A=1 and B=2
:D+1→D
Take Out Common Condition
:If A=1:Then
:C+2(B=1→C
:D+(B=2→D
:End

This will speed up the program execution when the If-Then conditional is false. Instead of testing each If conditional and its conditions, the If-Then conditional (and the nested If conditionals) will be skipped over if the first condition is false. Remember to put the closing End command for the If-Then conditional, otherwise you will get an error.

If-Then-Else Conditional

The third, and last, type of conditional is the If-Then-Else. It is used when you want to execute one or more commands if a condition is true and one or more other commands if the condition is false. This is equivalent to two separate If-Then conditionals with opposite conditions, but it is faster because there is only one condition test (since only one of the conditions can be true at one time). Besides the If command, the If-Then-Else conditional needs the Then, Else, and End commands to work.

Format
:If condition
:Then
:Command(s)
:Else
:Command(s)
:End

The commands between the Then and Else will be executed if the condition is true, while the commands between the Else and End will be executed if the condition is false. This is an important part of If-Then-Else conditionals because it determines what order you put the commands, whether they should go in the true or false part of the conditional.

When using an If-Then-Else conditional and only one command is executed if the condition is true or false, you can replace the If-Then-Else conditional with a simple If conditional. You switch the order of the commands so the false command comes first (because that command will be executed by default), and place the If conditional between the two commands. This primarily works when the commands are store commands, but it also can be used when you are building a string of text that you display.

:If B:Then
:"Hello→Str1
:Else
:"Goodbye→Str1
:End
Replace with If conditional
:"Goodbye→Str1
:If B
:"Hello→Str1

To put the conditional commands in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll over to CTL. The If, Then, and Else commands are in the first three spots (respectively), while the End command is in the seventh spot. You press ENTER to put the commands in your program.

Operators

Operators are used if you want to make compound conditions that are true depending on two or more conditions. When using operators, the left side is being compared to the right side. The operators can be used with any of the three different types of conditionals, as well as the Repeat and While loops.

There are two kinds of operators: conditional and logic. The six different conditional operators are: =, ≠, >, <, ≥, and ≤. The four different logic operators are: and, or, xor, and not. Conditional operators can be used (joined) with logic operators.

The =, ≠, >, <, ≥, and ≤ operators all compare and test two conditions. = returns true if the conditions are equal. ≠ returns true if the conditions are not equal. > returns true if the first condition is greater than the second condition. < returns true if the first condition is less than the second condition. ≥ returns true if the first condition is greater than or equal to the second condition. ≤ returns true if the first condition is less than or equal to the second condition.

Format
:If condition = condition
:If condition ≠ condition
:If condition > condition
:If condition < condition
:If condition ≥ condition
:If condition ≤ condition

The one instance where you don't need the ≠ conditional operator is when comparing a variable to zero. Because every nonzero value is treated as true, you don't need to compare if the variable's value is nonzero since any value will work. Instead, you can just put the variable by itself.

:If C≠0
Remove ≠ Operator
:If C

There is a simple truth table that is used to show how the logic operators work. The truth table is based on Boolean Logic, the principle that a condition can only be true or false. A true value is represented by one or any nonzero number. A false value is represented by zero. A and B are just conditions.

A B and or xor not(A)
1 1 1 1 0 0
0 1 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1 1
0 0 0 0 0

The and, or, and xor operators compare and test two conditions, while the not operator only tests one. and returns true if both conditions are true. or returns true if one or both conditions are true. xor returns true if either condition is true (but not both). not returns true if the condition is false.

Format
:If condition and condition
:If condition or condition
:If condition xor condition
:If not(condition)

One way that the not operator can be used is for switching something from true to false or on to off, and vice versa. When dealing with a variable, not inverts the variable's value; so you should use not instead of comparing a variable to zero because not returns true when the variable is zero. At the same time, don't try to use not in every condition because there are many ways of writing a condition.

:If A=0
Use not Operator
:If not(A

The not operator is also used when applying DeMorgan's Law. DeMorgan's Law can be used for conditions in which there is an individual not operator around two separate unary conditions (i.e. they don't have conditional operators) joined by the and or or operators. It allows you to remove the second not operator and then change the and to or, and vice versa.

:If not(A) and not(B
Use DeMorgan's Law
:If not(A or B

The and and or operators can be replaced using math logic. Since and is only true when all the conditions are true, you can multiply the conditions together for the same effect (you can leave off the multiplication sign). Only one condition has to be true for or to be true, so adding the conditions together works as well. For conditions that have operators attached to them, you just put parentheses around them so they are treated as Boolean values. However, math logic is somewhat slower compared to the logic operators.

:If A and B
:If A or not(B
Replace Operators
:If AB
:If A+not(B

When using the and operator, if the first condition is false, the second condition will not be tested. The and and not operators have the highest importance (precedence) of the logical operators, so they are evaluated first. This is useful when you have a condition that combines the and and or operators (where the and operator comes first), because you don't need to include parentheses around the and operator. However, parentheses are sometimes needed simply to provide clarity.

:If (A=1 and B=2) or (A=2 and B=1)
Remove Parentheses
:If A=1 and B=2 or A=2 and B=1

To put the operators in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press 2nd and MATH. The conditional operators are in the TEST menu, while the logic operators are in the LOGIC menu. You press ENTER to put the commands in your program.

IS>( and DS<(

Two specialized conditional commands are available: IS>( and DS<(. These commands are equivalent to If conditionals, except the next command will be skipped when the condition is true. They have the variable update built-in, so they are smaller than using regular If conditionals.

The IS>( and DS<( commands each take two arguments, but they differ in functionality. The first argument is the variable, and it can be a real variable (A-Z or θ). The second argument is the value, and it can be either a number, variable, or expression.

IS>( adds one to the variable (increments it by one), and compares it to the value. The next command will be skipped if the variable is greater than the value, while the next command will be executed if the variable is less than or equal to the value.

Format
:IS>(variable,value)
:Command

DS<( subtracts one from the variable (decrements it by one), and compares it to the value. The next command will be skipped if the variable is less than the value, while the next command will be executed if the variable is greater than or equal to the value.

Format
:DS<(variable,value)
:Command

These commands are not without problems, however. Because the skipping feature is usually not needed, you will have to make sure that the value is always greater than (or less than) the variable, so that the next command is executed. This is not always possible to do. An undefined error will occur if the variable doesn't exist before the command is used, which happens when the DelVar command is used. Finally, these are not looping commands, so they shouldn't be used in that manner.

To put the IS>( and DS<( commands in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll down the CTL menu until you find the commands. You press ENTER to put the commands in your program.

Loops

Loops cause a segment of code to repeat until a stated condition is met. Instead of having to write out something or do an action several times, you just do it once and put it inside a loop.

There are three different kinds of loops: For, While, and Repeat. There are certain advantages and disadvantages to each loop, and there are also certain situations where each loop should be used. For loops should be used when you know how many times the loop will be executed, whereas Repeat and While loops are the converse. The For loop is the fastest of the three loops.

For Loops

The For loop takes four arguments: the variable (A-Z or theta), the starting value, the ending value, and the increment. It counts from the starting value to the ending value at the specified increment.

The variable is used to keep track of how many times the For loop has been executed. Because it is set to the starting value when the For loop begins, you don't need to initialize the variable before. The ending value is the value that the variable ends at. The increment determines how much the variable's value will be increased each time through the loop. The default increment is 1, so the increment can be left off when it is 1 (it is optional). The increment can be positive or negative.

After each time the For loop is executed, the variable is checked to see if it is equal to or greater than the ending value. If the variable is, then the loop is exited and program execution continues after the End command. (The End command determines the boundaries of the loop.) If the variable isn't, the variable is incremented by the increment and the loop is executed again.

Format
:For(variable,start,end[,increment])
:Command(s)
:End

One of the common uses of For loops is making delays. Although you can use the Pause command, this brings the program to a halt and the user has to press ENTER to get out of it. With a For loop, you can make a small delay that will only last as long as you want it to last and it doesn't require the user to do anything. You just use an empty For loop (no commands inside of it). The larger the difference between the starting and ending values, the bigger the delay.

:For(X,1,200)
:End

Sometimes you might want to prematurely exit out of a For loop (stop it before it is completely finished). You can do this by changing the variable inside the loop. You just need to make the variable larger than the ending value.

:For(A,5,100)
:110→A
:End

To put the For loop command in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll over to CTL. You then scroll down to For (or press the 4 key) and press ENTER. The End command can be found in the same menu, just lower at the seventh spot on the menu (press the 7 key).

While Loops

A While loop executes a block of commands between the While and End commands while the specified condition is true. The condition is tested at the beginning of the loop (when the While command is encountered), so the loop will be skipped entirely if the condition is false when the loop is first entered. To ensure that the loop will be executed, you need to declare the values of the variables in the condition before the loop.

After each time the While loop is executed, the condition is checked to see if it is false. If it is false, then the loop is exited and program execution continues after the End command. If the condition is true, the loop is executed again.

Format
:While condition
:Command(s)
:End

When using While loops, you have to provide the code to break out of the loop (it isn't built into the loop). If there is no code that ends the loop, then you will have an infinite loop. An infinite loop just keeps executing, until you have to manually exit the loop (by pressing the ON key). In the case that you actually want an infinite loop, you can just use 1 as the condition. Because 1 is always true (based on Boolean Logic), the loop will never end.

Format
:While 1
:Command(s)
:End

To put the While loop command in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll over to CTL. You then scroll down to While (or press the 5 key) and press ENTER. The End command can be found in the same menu, just lower at the seventh spot on the menu (press the 7 key).

Repeat Loops

A Repeat loop executes a block of commands between the Repeat and End commands until the specified condition is true. The condition is tested at the end of the loop (when the End command is encountered), so the loop will always be executed at least once. This means that you sometimes don't have to declare or initialize the variables in the condition before the loop.

After each time the Repeat loop is executed, the condition is checked to see if it is true. If it is true, then the loop is exited and program execution continues after the End command. If the condition is false, the loop is executed again.

Format
:Repeat condition
:Command(s)
:End

When using Repeat loops, you have to provide the code to break out of the loop (it isn't built into the loop). If there is no code that ends the loop, then you will have an infinite loop. An infinite loop just keeps executing, until you have to manually exit the loop (by pressing the ON key). In the case that you actually want an infinite loop, you can just use 0 as the condition. Because 0 is always false (based on Boolean Logic), the loop will never end.

Format
:Repeat 0
:Command(s)
:End

To put the Repeat loop command in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll over to CTL. You then scroll down to Repeat (or press the 6 key) and press ENTER. The End command can be found in the same menu, just lower at the seventh spot on the menu (press the 7 key).

Nesting Loops

One important aspect of loops is putting them inside other loops (known as nesting). Besides nesting any of the different kinds of loops inside each other, you can also nest loops inside conditionals. When nesting loops, you need to remember to put the appropriate number of End commands to close the loops.

The easiest way to keep track of lots of nested loops is to code the first part, add an End immediately after the conditional, and then hit [2ND][DEL] on the line with the End, then hit [ENTER] a lot of times.

Branching

Branching allows the calculator to jump from one point in a program to another. Sometimes you don't want every part of the program to be executed. You may want to skip over a certain part of a program if a certain condition occurs.

Branching uses the Lbl and Goto commands. Lbl and Goto work in pairs; you need to have both for branching to work. The Lbl command specifies a location in a program. The label can be any one or two alphanumeric character combination (from A-Z, 0-9, and θ), but ideally you want it to be only character to save memory. The Goto command causes program execution to jump to the specified label with the same character combination, and then continue from there.

Format
:Lbl character1[character2]
:Goto character1[character2]

When using branching, you have to provide the break-out code (it isn't built-in). If there is no code that ends the branching, then program execution will continue indefinitely, until you manually exit it (by pressing the ON key). If conditionals are commonly used, but in the case you want infinite branching, you should instead use a While or Repeat loop.

:Lbl A
:Goto A
Replace with Loop
:Repeat 0
:End

To put the Lbl and Goto commands in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll over to CTL. You then scroll down to Lbl (or press the 9 key) and press ENTER. The Goto command can be found in the same menu, just lower at the tenth spot (press the 0 key).

Disadvantages of Branching

Although branching may seem like a good alternative to loops, it should be used sparingly. Branching should only be used when a loop isn't practical and when something only happens once or twice. This is because branching has several disadvantages associated with it.

The biggest disadvantage of branching is that it's slow. When the calculator reaches a Goto command, it stores the label name in memory and goes to the beginning of the program. It then searches through the program until it finds the Lbl command with the matching label name. If the label is deep within the program and you have a large program, this can bring the program to a crawl.

Another disadvantage of branching is that it can lead to memory leaks when used to exit conditionals or loops (anything that uses an End command). The calculator stores the End command in memory, and it is only released when the calculator reaches it.

If the conditional or loop is exited with branching, however, the End command is never released from memory, and the calculator will continue using that memory. If this is done enough times, the calculator will eventually run out of memory, causing a memory leak. When there's less memory, the program also runs more slowly. Memory leaks don't have any real affect on the calculator, as the memory is released when the program exits.

The last disadvantage of branching is that it makes program code difficult to read and maintain. While loops are straightforward, following a set pattern, branching can lead to anywhere in a program. Trying to figure out how branching affects the program code can cause some serious headaches.

Reworking Branching to Remove Memory Leaks

One of the simplest memory leaks that occurs is using branching to exit out of a loop when a certain condition of an If conditional is true. If the loop is an infinite loop (i.e. Repeat 0 or While 1), you should take the condition from the If conditional and place it as the condition of the loop. This allows you to remove the branching, since it is now unnecessary.

:Repeat 0
:getKey→B
:If B:Goto A
:End:Lbl A
Place Condition in Loop
:Repeat B
:getKey→B
:End

Of course, the only reason that this memory leak fix is possible is because of the If conditional (since the If conditional doesn't need a closing End command). When dealing with an If-Then or If-Then-Else conditional, you will have to rework the conditionals so the branching has its own If conditional. Depending on how many commands there are in the conditionals, you might be able to just use an If conditional or you might need to use an If-Then conditional.

:If B:Then
:Disp "Hello
:Goto A
:End
Use Separate If Conditionals
:If B
:Disp "Hello
:If B
:Goto A

This memory leak fix will work most of the time, but it isn't applicable when one of the values of the variables in the condition is changed by one of the commands inside the condition. The way to get around this is by using another variable for the If conditional that the branching uses. You initialize the variable to zero, assign the variable whatever value you want in the conditional, and then check to see if the variable is equal to that value in the branching conditional.

:If A=1:Then
:3→A:4→B
:Goto A
:End
Use Another Variable
:Delvar CIf A=1:Then
:3→A:4→B:π→C
:End
:If C=π
:Goto A

So What Is Branching Good For?

Despite its many disadvantages, Lbl and Goto statements actually have their uses. For example, you may want to have a label at the end of the program that you Goto everywhere you want to exit the program. This is useful if you have a lot of clean-up (such as deleting large temporary variables) every time the program exits.

If K=45:Goto Q
...
Lbl Q
DelVar [A]DelVar L1
ClrHome

Goto statements are also good in programs that call themselves very many times. Every time a Repeat or While statement is encountered, the program has to set aside a portion of memory to remember about that statement. In recursive programs, this can add up (a good example is a recursive program to fill in an arbitrary shape). Gotos require no such overhead, and if the program is small, they're not as slow as they are in larger programs.

Just remember that since Goto-Lbl constructs are slow when the label is far from the beginning of the program, and you shouldn't use them in speed-critical situations. Also, they make your program hard to read for when you or anyone else edits it, especially if they jump backwards.

Subprograms

Subprograms are programs called from inside other programs (at any time while the program is running). Although they are listed in the program menu and can be executed independently like any other program, subprograms are primarily designed to do a particular task for the other program.

The prgm command is used to execute another program as a subprogram. You insert the prgm command into the program where you want the subprogram to run, and then type (with the alpha-lock on) the program name. You can also go to the program menu to choose a program, pressing ENTER to paste the program name into your program.

Format
:prgmname

To create a subprogram, you take the code from the parent program and put it in a new program. When naming your subprograms, you should try to name them Zparentn or θparentn, where parent is the name of the parent program and n is the number (if you have more than one). Because subprograms are relatively unimportant by themselves, you want them to appear at the bottom of the program menu.

When the subprogram name is encountered during a program, the program will be put on hold and program execution will transfer to the subprogram. Once the subprogram is finished, program execution will go back to the program, continuing right after the subprogram name.

Although subprograms can call themselves or other subprograms, this should be done sparingly because it can cause memory leaks if done too much or if the subprogram doesn't return to the parent program. Branching is local to each program, so you can’t use Goto in one program to jump to a Lbl in another program. All variables are global, so changing a variable in one program affects the variable everywhere else.

To put the prgm command in your program, you need to first be in the Program editor. You press PRGM and then scroll over to EDIT. Once in your program, you press PRGM again and scroll over to CTL. You then scroll down until you get to the prgm command, and press ENTER to put the command in your program.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Subprograms

There are several advantages of using subprograms. First, and foremost, subprograms reduce program size by eliminating redundant code. Instead of having to type the code multiple times for a task that occurs more than once in a program, you just type it once and put it in a subprogram. You then call the subprogram whenever you want to perform the task in your program.

Second, subprograms increase program speed by making programs as compact as possible. You separate conditional tasks from the program (they either happen every time or they are skipped over), and put them in a subprogram; you then call the subprogram instead. This improves program speed because the calculator doesn't have to go through all of the conditional code anymore.

Third, subprograms make editing, debugging, and optimizing easier. Instead of going through the entire program, looking for the code you want to change, you can focus on one subprogram at a time. This makes the code more manageable, allowing you to more thoroughly look at each subprogram and to better keep track of which subprograms you have looked at.

Lastly, subprograms are reusable, allowing multiple programs to share and use the same code. Breaking a program into smaller, individual subprograms, which each do a basic function or task, allows other programs to use those subprograms. Consequently, this reduces program size.

The primary disadvantage of subprograms is that there are additional programs that the user needs to use your program. If you give someone your program, you will have to also give them your subprograms. Your program won't work properly anymore if somebody deletes your subprograms or forgets to include them with your program. Although this is mostly out of your hands, users will think your program is at fault.

The simple solution to this problem is to put the subprogram back in your program when you finish it. This should only be done if the subprogram was just used once or twice and it won't slow the program down. All you have to do is paste the code from the subprogram in place of the program call. You could also put all of the programs used into a group and distribute it as so.

Exiting Programs

Exiting programs (terminating the execution of a program) is done with the Return and Stop commands. The two commands are different and each have advantages.

In most cases, Return and Stop both stop program execution and return to the homescreen (even from inside loops). Return and Stop function differently, however, when used in subprograms. The Return command will stop the subprogram, and program execution will resume in the calling program after the line where the subprogram was called. In contrast, Stop will stop both the subprogram and any calling programs and go to the homescreen. Return should generally be used instead of Stop because old versions of some utilities such as DCS cannot safely run programs with the Stop command.

:ClrHome
:Input "Guess:",A
:Stop
Replace Stop with Return
:ClrHome
:Input "Guess:",A
:Return

When the calculator reaches the end of a program, it will automatically stop executing as if it had encountered a Return; therefore, Return is unnecessary on the last line of a program.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/controlflow


User Settings
MODE.PNG FORMAT.PNG TBLSET.PNG

The TI-83 series of calculators has many options to select from that influence either the effect of commands or the way numbers or graphs are displayed. Outside a program, these can be changed by accessing the Mode, Format, or TblSet screens (shown above), and selecting the correct options. When editing a program, going to these screens and choosing an option will instead paste a command that sets that option for you.

These commands are given below, divided by the screen where it is found:

Mode Settings (MODE)

Graph Format Settings (2nd FORMAT)

  • RectGC and PolarGC determine how coordinates of the cursor are displayed and stored.
  • CoordOn and CoordOff determine whether the coordinates of the cursor are displayed at all.
  • GridOn and GridOff determine whether the grid is displayed.
  • AxesOn and AxesOff determine whether the X and Y axes are displayed.
  • LabelOn and LabelOff determine whether the X and Y axes are labeled (if they are displayed)
  • ExprOn and ExprOff determine whether the equation graphed or traced is displayed.
  • Time, Web, uvAxes, uwAxes, and vwAxes (visible in Seq mode) determine the way sequences are graphed, the default being Time.

Table Settings (2nd TBLSET)

  • IndpntAuto and IndpntAsk determine whether values of the independent variable in the table are calculated automatically.
  • DependAuto and DependAsk determine whether the values in the table are calculated automatically for all equations.

Miscellaneous Settings (2nd CATALOG)

Using these settings in a program

A fair amount of these settings are important to programmers because, if set to the wrong value, they can easily mess up the program. At the beginning of the program, therefore, it's a good idea to set these settings to the correct value. At the very minimum, programs that use the graph screen should set AxesOff if necessary, since AxesOn is the default and a very common setting. This is a part of program setup.

However, another important consideration is that it's somewhat rude to change the user's settings without permission, so your program should change as little as possible. How to reconcile these diametrically opposite goals? There are several ways that work for different settings:

Use GDBs (Graph DataBases)

The graph screen settings can be backed up in (and retrieved from) a GDB file by the StoreGDB and RecallGDB commands. If you store to a GDB at the beginning of the program, and recall from it at the end, you will have preserved all settings that deal with the graph screen.

Change math settings implicitly

Instead of changing settings like the Degree/Radian or the Real/a+bi setting, you can use certain commands that will force calculations to be done with that setting regardless of the mode. For example, you can use the degree symbol or radian symbol to make ambiguous calculations like sin(30) into unambiguous ones like sin(30o). Similarly, by adding 0i to a number, you force it to be complex, so that calculations done with it will never cause an ERR:NONREAL ANS (even if you're in Real mode).

Ignore uncommon settings

You might ignore settings that are too uncommon to matter. For example, setting the Full command is unnecessary, because very few people would ever use a split screen, and people that do probably will also figure out why your program breaks when they do so.

Be rude when you must

For something like Float, there's no way to avoid changing the user's settings in a way you can't restore. If you have to change a setting so your program works, do it, and mention the issue in the readme. If you changed a setting to an uncommon value, change it back to "Float" (in general, to the default value) when you're done.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/settings


Memory Management

The TI-83 and TI-84 series of calculators feature a considerable amount of memory available for storing variables, programs, groups, and even assembly applications (the last two are only available on the TI-83+/TI-84+/SE calculators). However, as you start putting those things on the calculator, the memory slowly gets used up, and if you don't do anything, the calculator will eventually run out of memory — giving you the dreaded ERR:MEMORY error.

Before getting into memory management, it is important that you know there is a major difference between the TI-83 calculator and the rest of the TI-83 and TI-84 series of calculators. In particular, the TI-83 just has RAM (Random Access Memory) memory, while the rest of the calculators have RAM memory as well as Flash ROM (Read-Only Memory) memory, also known as archive memory.

RAM is the faster memory of the two, and it is what is primarily used whenever you run a program. Its one downfall is that it tends to get cleared very easily after crashes. Most people have probably noticed this when their calculator crashed, and they turned it back on, and it said RAM cleared. In addition, variables in RAM can be overwritten accidentally by a program that uses them.

Flash ROM, on the other hand, is the more reliable memory, and it is what is used when you want to store a program for long-term. Its one downfall is that you can't access something stored in ROM. The only exception to this is assembly programs and applications, which are programmed in the calculator's own programming language and thus can access anything on the calculator.

There are several different commands you can use for managing your calculator's memory:

  • DelVar — DelVar is useful for deleting variables, which is the most obvious way to manage memory, and it is what most people are interested in. The DelVar command can delete any variable that you want, with exception to specific elements of a matrix or string or system variables.
  • ClrList/ClrAllLists — Similar to DelVar, ClrList and ClrAllLists only work with lists and they set the dimensions of one list or all lists to zero respectively. This essentially causes the list(s) to be deleted, since you can't do anything with a zero element list.
  • Clear Entries — When executing programs or doing math on the calculator's home screen, the calculator keeps a history of these entries (you can cycle through them by pressing 2nd ENTER). If you do a lot of stuff on the home screen, the entries history can become rather large.
  • Archive/UnArchive — When using variables and programs, you need to move them from archive to RAM; and when you are done using them, you move them back to archive. While you can archive programs on the home screen, that is not possible from inside a program (although you can use an assembly library to do that).
  • GarbageCollect — As you archive and unarchive variables and programs, the calculator keeps storing things until it eventually needs to clean the archive memory. Rather than simply leaving this until the calculator finally forces you to do it, which takes a fair amount of time, you can run the GarbageCollect command periodically.

Since the TI-83 calculator only has RAM memory, it does not have the Archive, UnArchive, and GarbageCollect commands. If you plan on porting a program to the TI-83, you shouldn't use any of these commands, since they will cause the program to be corrupted. In the case of lists, however you can use the SetUpEditor command instead of UnArchive to get around this problem.
Also note that trying to use DelVar or ClrList with an archived variable does not work, and will actually return an ERR:ARCHIVED error.

Accessing the Memory Menu

When accessing a variable or program from the memory menu, you press 2nd MEM. You then select 2:Mem Mgmt/Del and press one to display a scrollable list of all the files on the calculator. You use the up and down keys to move the cursor on the left. On the top lines of the screen you will see how much free RAM and ARC (archive) memory there is.

Once you have found a file you want to delete, press DEL. If the file is not a variable, the calculator will prompt you to confirm the deletion, and you have to select 2:Yes. Once you have found a file you want to archive, press ENTER. An asterisk will appear to the left of the file name, indicating that it is archived. Some files, such as applications, will not allow you to unarchive them since they can only reside in ROM.

Archiving may sometimes not be possible, however, if the calculator does not have sufficient free ROM available. This occurs primarily when a person can't bring themselves to delete a file because they feel like every file is important. At this point, the only option is to delete some files off of their calculator to make room. As part of memory management, a good policy is to keep the calculator's memory organized and to delete any files that you don't need.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/memory-management


Time And Date Commands

The TI-84 Plus and TI-84 Plus SE, which have a built-in hardware clock, introduce several commands for dealing with time. Some of these rely on the built-in clock, while others are used for formatting times and dates and could technically have been introduced on earlier calculators. However, the only time/date command that is available on the pre-84 calculators is dbd(.

All of these commands except dbd( can be found only through the command catalog (2nd CATALOG). dbd( can also be found in the Finance menu — 2nd FINANCE on the TI-83, and APPS 1:Finance… on the TI-83+ or higher.

Despite its name, the Time command has nothing to do with the clock. It is a mode setting for sequence graphs.

Low-Level Commands

  • startTmr — This command returns the current value of a timer that is updated every second when the clock is enabled. This value doesn't correspond to any actual time, but can be used with checkTmr( to get a time difference.
  • checkTmr( — checkTmr(X) is equivalent to startTmr-X. This can be used to get the time elapsed since startTmr was used.
  • ClockOn, ClockOff — Enables or disables the hardware clock.
  • isClockOn — Tests if the clock is enabled or not.

Time Commands

  • setTime( — Sets the current time, in hours, minutes, and seconds. If the clock is enabled, this time will be updated every second.
  • getTime — Returns the current time as the list {hours, minutes, seconds}. This command is unaffected by time format.
  • setTmFmt( — Sets the time format - 12 hour, or 24 hour.
  • getTmFmt — Returns this time format setting.
  • getTmStr( — Returns the current time as a string, affected by time format (though you can override it with an optional argument).

Date Commands

  • setDate( — Sets the current date (year, month, and day). If the clock is enabled, this date will be updated as needed.
  • getDate — Returns the current date as the list {year, month, day}. This command is unaffected by date format.
  • setDtFmt( — Sets the date format - 1 for month/day/year, 2 for day/month/year, or 3 for year/month/day.
  • getDtFmt( — Returns this date format setting.
  • getDtStr( — Returns the current date as a string, affected by date format (though you can override it with an optional argument).

Time/Date Manipulation

  • timeCnv( — Converts a number of seconds into a list of {days, hours, minutes, seconds} representing the same time lapse.
  • dayOfWk( — Returns the day of week (Sunday through Saturday encoded as 1 through 7) of a specified date.
  • dbd( — Returns the number of days between two dates — this command is available on all calculators, not just the 84+/SE.

For the most up-to-date version of this command, see http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/time-and-date

page revision: 5, last edited: 31 Oct 2008 20:57

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