Kalk 1.1.5

Kalk is a simple RPN calculator for the Mac OS, with a 30-level stack, that knows the four basic operations plus some trig and log functions. It is designed with the typical HP calc user in mind.

It's tiny both in screen real state and disk (40KB). Six or seventeen levels of the stack are shown, and a quick reference dialog is available on the Help menu. You can also download an optional audible feedback plug-in.

Here are some key features of "Kalk":

· +, -, /, *: the basic four operators are used directly from the keyboard
· Enter: you can press Return, or Enter on the keyboard
· Swap: you can use the = key
· Drop: you can use Option-= or Delete (Delete only works as Drop if the edit line is empty)
· CHS: you can use Option-
· Clear: you can use the Clear key, or Esc, or "Clear" on the "Edit" menu
· Pi: you can enter an approximation of Pi by pressing p, P, option-p, or option-P. This may be useful for trig calculations, since sin and cos on the Kalk menu are performed with degrees (not rads).
· The "E:" on the Edit Line changes to red boldface when there have less than five free levels on the stack.
· Pressing the Option key while selecting the Kalk menu brings the inverse trig/log functions.
· "Edit First Line" (Command-E) puts the first line of the stack into the edit line.
· If you press Enter with an empty edit line, the current first level is duplicated (Dup).
· Copy and Cut puts the contents of the first level only into the clipboard.
· Paste is quite different. It actually "plays" any text that's in the clipboard through the same general input procedure, just as if it was being typed. You can copy a list of values (separated by "returns") from a text editor or spreadsheet and paste into Kalk: the values will be entered into the edit line, and the "returns" will be interpreted as Enters, filling the stack automatically. Bad digits (not valid numbers) will be filtered out, the same way they are when you type. If there are Kalk special characters in clipboard text (+, -, /, *, Pi, not-equal, =, option-) they will be interpreted also, making Kalk minimally "programmable" in RPN form.
· The "grow box" at the window title bar toggles between two window sizes, one showing 6 levels of the stack and another one that shows 17 levels at once.
· The percentage function (on the Kalk menu) takes two arguments on the stack, and returns the base value on the second level untouched, and the percentage on the first level. After that, you can add or subtract (markup/markdown) the resulting value from the base value left on level 2. This works more like the HP38E (and not like the HP28C/S as the other Kalk capabilities).
· Kalk remembers the stack and window position and size after Quit, unless you lock

Customizing Kalk
· You can change the background texture of the window using the "Desktop Patterns" Control Panel (System 7.5.0 to 7.6.1). Just open the control panel, select a pattern and press the Option key to change the button from "Set Desktop Pattern" to "Set Utilities Pattern". This will change the background of most Apple utilities (Key Caps, Calculator, Find File, etc.).
· The beep sound can also be changed. Just add a System 7 sound file named "Kalk Beep" to your System suitcase.
· A special file called "Kalk Extra Options" can be placed in the Preferences folder inside the active System Folder. This file contains sound resources, making Kalk sound differently for every basic operation performed. Please see the read me file for details.


Limitations:

· Runs on Mac OS Classic only

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· No code change. Released for a final rebirth as "Kalk Classic", listed on VersionTracker. Changed contact info on the "About" dialog box. Did some testing on Mac OS 9.2.2 running under Classic from Mac OS X 10.3.2. Released A40308. Nice to see old ResEdit and Canvas 3 still kicking under Classic after all these years...