Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!hp-sdd!hp-pcd!hpcvra!billw
From: billw@hpcvra.CV.HP.COM (William C Wickes)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: HP48 Bug in ->Q?
Message-ID: <21580048@hpcvra.CV.HP.COM>
Date: 30 Mar 90 00:41:44 GMT
References: <99rhelps@yoda.byu.edu>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA
Lines: 13

In the HP48SX display of algebraic objects, integers <1000 (absolute
value) are displayed as if in STD mode--no decimal point or trailing
zeros.  Other floating point numbers in an algebraic are displayed in
the current display mode.  

In the HP 28, all integers in algebraic objects were displayed in STD
mode--but anything >= 1E12 is an "integer," so you would lose display
control over such numbers and couldn't limit the number of displayed
decimal places.  So in the 48 we decided to cut off the auto STD at
an arbitrary value, finally fixing on 1000.  The primary reason for
this display handling is so that coefficients and exponents in polynomials
would look "nice," and we figured that 3 digits would cover most
of such numbers.