Copyright: The Base Calculator help file is Copyright © 1996, John Zaitseff.


Table of Contents

  Getting Started

  Introduction

  The user interface

  How To...

  Perform simple calculations

  Select the number base

  Select the word size

  Select signed or unsigned numbers

  Convert a number between bases

  Tips and Tricks

  Finding out what a button does

  Using keyboard equivalents

  Working with numbers in memory

  Using the Clipboard

  Displaying a number in different bases simultaneously

  Reference Information

  Contacting the author

  List of keyboard equivalents

  GNU General Public License


Introduction

Welcome to the Base Calculator!

This application was specifically written for computer programmers.  It provides an integer calculator with not only the usual operations such as addition and subtraction, but also the most common logical operations.  In addition, Base Calculator understands that computers represent integers using different bit sizes, and hence provides 8 bit, 16 bit and 32 bit numbers, both signed and unsigned.  It can display these numbers in decimal, hexadecimal, binary or octal.

Base Calculator is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.  Please feel free to contact the author of this program.


The user interface

Base Calculator has been designed to mimic a standard calculator as closely as possible.  As a result, the calculator is quite intuitive to use.  As with a standard calculator, it consists of a display screen, various mode buttons and the actual calculator keys.

The display screen simply shows the current number you have entered in the appropriate base, size and sign.  In addition, the display shows an M if a number is stored in the calculator's memory.

The Base Calculator display.

The mode radio buttons (and check-box) allow you to specify the base and word size of any numbers you enter, as well as if they are to be treated as signed or unsigned.  For more information, click on one of the radio buttons or the check-box in the diagram below:

Select a mode button for more information.

The rest of the buttons in Base Calculator mimic calculator keys.  These buttons allow you to enter in the required numbers, as well as to actually perform operations on them.  For more details on any button, click that button in the diagram below:

Select a button for more information.

  Related Topics


List of keyboard equivalents

Base Calculator allows you to use the keyboard instead of the mouse, as the following table shows.

Button	Key	Button	Key	Button	Key
Dec	CTRL+D	Clear	ESC	x	* (asterisk)
Hex	CTRL+H	««	BACKSPACE	/	/
Bin	CTRL+B			-	–
Oct	CTRL+O	M in	I (letter i)	%	% or \
8-bit	CTRL+8	MR	R	+	+
16-bit	CTRL+1	M+	M
32-bit	CTRL+3			=	=
Signed	CTRL+S	NOT	! or ~ (tilde)
		AND	&	0–9	0–9
(Copy)	CTRL+C	OR	| (bar)	A–F	A–F
(Paste)	CTRL+V	NEG	_ (underscore)
(Help)	F1	XOR	^
  Related Topics


GNU General Public License

Base Calculator is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, which appears below.  Please feel free to send any comments, suggestions, corrections and enhancements for this program to:

John Zaitseff,

4 McCabe Close,

Menai, NSW, 2234,

Australia.

Email:	J.Zaitseff@unsw.edu.au

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 2, June 1991

Copyright © 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble

The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it.  By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software—to make sure the software is free for all its users.  This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it.  (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by the GNU Library General Public License instead.)  You can apply it to your programs, too.

When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price.  Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.  These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have.  You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code.  And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.

We protect your rights with two steps:  (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.

Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software.  If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations.

Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software patents.  We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the program proprietary.  To prevent this, we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.

The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow.

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

0.   This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License.  The "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:  that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language.  (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term "modification".)  Each licensee is addressed as "you".

Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope.  The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).  Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.

1.   You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.

You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.

2.   You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

a)  You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.

b)  You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.

c)  If the modified program normally reads commands interactively when run, you must cause it, when started running for such interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this License.  (Exception:  if the Program itself is interactive but does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on the Program is not required to print an announcement.)

These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole.  If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works.  But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.

Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program.

In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License.

3.   You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

a)  Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

b)  Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

c)  Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code.  (This alternative is allowed only for non-commercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)

The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it.  For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable.  However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.

If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the source code from the same place counts as distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not compelled to copy the source along with the object code.

4.   You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program except as expressly provided under this License.  Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.  However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

5.   You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it.  However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works.  These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License.  Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it.

6.   Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions.  You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.  You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License.

7.   If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License.  If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all.  For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.

If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances.

It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the integrity of the free software distribution system, which is implemented by public license practices.  Many people have made generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed through that system in reliance on consistent application of that system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot impose that choice.

This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of this License.

8.   If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the original copyright holder who places the Program under this License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus excluded.  In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of this License.

9.   The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the General Public License from time to time.  Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.

Each version is given a distinguishing version number.  If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.  If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.

10.   If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author to ask for permission.  For software which is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this.  Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.

NO WARRANTY

11.   BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

12.   IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS


GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix".  This typically recursive programmer's joke is brought to you curtesy of the Free Software Foundation.  Either write to the Foundation, or see their Web page at http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/ for more information about the GNU project.


Contacting the author

If you wish to contact the author of  Base Calculator, either with comments, suggestions, corrections or enhancements, you can write to:

John Zaitseff,

4 McCabe Close,

Menai, NSW, 2234,

Australia.

Alternatively, you can send electronic mail via the Internet to:

J.Zaitseff@unsw.edu.au


Selecting the number base
To select the number base

•	Click Dec to select decimal (base 10).  In this base, the 0 to 9 keys and buttons may be used.

•	Click Hex to select hexadecimal (base 16).  In this base, the 0 to 9 keys and buttons may be used, as well as the letters A to F.

•	Click Bin to select binary (base 2).  In this base, only the 0 and 1 keys and buttons may be used.

•	Click Oct to select octal (base 8).  In this base, the 0 to 7 keys and buttons may be used.

Base Calculator will display the current number in the new number base.

  Related Topics


Selecting the word size
To select the word size

•	Click 8 bits to select byte-sized numbers.

•	Click 16 bits to select double-byte-sized numbers.

•	Click 32 bits to select quadruple-byte-sized numbers.

Base Calculator will truncate or extend all numbers you have entered so far to reflect the new word size.

Tips

•	Changing the word size downwards (to have less bits) will truncate numbers.  For example, 57007 as a signed 16-bit or 32-bit decimal becomes -81 in 8-bit signed decimal (in hex: DEAF becomes AF).  This truncation takes place with all numbers entered so far, including any number in memory.

•	Changing the word size upwards (to have more bits) will extend numbers, depending on whether they are signed or unsigned.  For example, AF as an 8-bit unsigned hexadecimal will still be AF under 16-bit or 32-bit word sizes.  AF as an 8-bit signed hexadecimal will become either FFAF or FFFFFFAF.

  Related Topics


8-bit words (bytes) are able to represent numbers in the range of -128 to 127 (signed, in decimal) or 0 to 255 (unsigned, in decimal).


16-bit words are able to represent numbers in the range of -32768 to 32767 (signed, in decimal) or 0 to 65535 (unsigned, in decimal).


32-bit words are able to represent numbers in the range of -2147483648 to 2147483647 (signed, in decimal) or 0 to 4294967295 (unsigned, in decimal).


Selecting signed or unsigned numbers
To select signed or unsigned numbers

1	Click the Signed check-box to use either signed or unsigned numbers.  Base Calculator will convert all of the numbers you have entered so far into the selected sign.

Tips

•	Certain operations, namely, / (division) and % (modulus), differ depending on whether the numbers are signed or unsigned.  For example, using 8-bit hexadecimals, AF/10= gives FB when signed numbers are used, and A when unsigned numbers are used.

  Related Topics


AF/10 in signed 8-bit hexadecimal is -81/16 in decimal, which gives FB, ie, -5.  As unsigned numbers, however, AF/10 is 175/16, which gives A, ie, 10.


Performing a simple calculation
To perform simple calculations

1	Select the number base and word size that you wish to use.

2	Enter the first number in the calculation.

3	Click one of the basic operators or one of the logic operators.

4	Enter in the next number in the calculation.

5	Enter any remaining operators and numbers.  Base Calculator makes sure that operator precedence is observed.

6	Click = to finish the calculation.

Tips

•	To use your numeric keypad to enter numbers and simple operators, make sure NUM LOCK is selected.

  Related Topics


Base Calculator supports the decimal (base 10), hexadecimal (base 16), binary (base 2) and octal (base 8) number systems, as these are the bases used by computers and programmers.

•	To select a base, click the appropriate radio button (Dec, Hex, Bin, Oct).


Base Calculator supports numbers that can be stored in 8, 16 or 32 bits (binary digits).

•	To select a word size, click the appropriate radio button.


The basic operators are:

+	(addition)

–	(subtraction)

*	(multiplication)

/	(division)

%	(modulus: returns the remainder of a division)


The logic operators are:

AND	(bitwise conjunction)

OR	(bitwise disjunction)

XOR	(bitwise exclusive OR)

EQV	(bitwise equivalence or inverse XOR)

NOT	(bitwise inverse)

NEG	(two's complement negation)

Note that NOT and NEG operate on the current number only (ie, they are unary operators).


Operator precedence means that some operators are evaluated before others.  For example, entering 5+6*7= gives 47, not 77, since the multiplication (6*7) is evaluated first, followed by the addition (5+42).


Converting a number between bases
To convert a number between bases

1	Select the number base and word size that you wish to use.

2	Enter in the desired number.

3	Select the new number base.  The calculator will convert the number into the new base.

or

3	Click Edit on the menu bar, then click Value (keyboard: ALT+E then V).  This will show the number in all of the different bases.

Tips

•	To use your numeric keypad to enter numbers, make sure NUM LOCK is selected.

  Related Topics


Finding out what a button does
To find out what a Base Calculator button does

1	Using your right mouse button, click a Base Calculator button, radio button or check-box.

2	Click the "What's This?" command.


Using keyboard equivalents
To find out keyboard equivalents

1	Use your right mouse button to click any Base Calculator button, radio button or check-box.

2	Click the "What's This?" command.

The information that appears will list the keyboard equivalent.

Tips

•	To see a complete list of keyboard equivalents, click "Related Topics" below.

  Related Topics


Working with numbers in memory

•	Click M in to store a number.  When you store a number in memory, an M appears in the calculator display.

•	To recall the stored number, click MR.

•	If you store another number into memory, it replaces whatever was already present.

•	To clear the memory, store a zero into it.

•	To add the result of the current calculation to the number already in memory, click M+.  Note that this completes the current calculation as if = was clicked first.


Using the Clipboard
To use the Clipboard

You can use the Clipboard to exchange numbers between Base Calculator and other applications, such as a programmer's editor.

•	To copy the current number from Base Calculator into the Clipboard, click Edit on the menu bar, then click Copy (keyboard: CTRL+C).  Whatever is on the calculator's display will be copied.

•	To paste whatever is in the Clipboard into Base Calculator, click Edit, then click Paste (keyboard: CTRL+V).  This has the same effect as if you typed the digits in the Clipboard yourself.

Tips

•	Only currently-allowed digits may be pasted into the calculator (ie, 0–9 and A–F, as determined by the current base).

•	Clicking Edit, then Value shows the current number in all of the different bases.  These numbers may be selected with a mouse and copied into the Clipboard.  Use the right mouse button for this.  For more details, click "Related Topics" below.

  Related Topics


Displaying numbers in different bases simultaneously
To display a number in different bases simultaneously

1	Select your desired number base and word size.

2	Enter in the required number.

3	Click on Edit on the menu bar, then Value.  This will display the current number in all of the different number bases.

Tips

•	You can copy any of the numbers displayed in the Value box to the Clipboard.  To do this:

1	Select the number by dragging the mouse over it (as you would select text in any application).  You can also use the right mouse button to Select All.

2	Click the right mouse button on the text.

3	Select Copy from the menu.


Enters this key into the calculator (if the current mode allows it).

Keyboard equivalent:   0–9,  A–F.


Multiplies the current number with the next number.

Keyboard equivalent:   *  (asterisk)


Divides the current number by the next number.

Keyboard equivalent:   /


Subtracts the next number from the current number.

Keyboard equivalent:   –  (minus)


Calculates the modulus (the remainder of the current number divided by the next number).

Keyboard equivalent:   % or \


Adds the next number to the current number.

Keyboard equivalent:   +


Adds the current number to any number stored in memory.

Keyboard equivalent:   M or m.


Performs any operations on the previous numbers.

Keyboard equivalent:   =


Calculates bitwise inverse (NOT) on the current number.

Keyboard equivalent:   ~ or !


Calculates bitwise conjunction (AND) of the current number and the next number.

Keyboard equivalent:   &


Calculates bitwise disjunction (OR) of the current number and the next number.

Keyboard equivalent:   |  (vertical bar)


Negates the current number (two's compliment).

Keyboard equivalent:   _  (underscore)


Calculates the bitwise exclusive OR (XOR) of the current number and the next number.

Keyboard equivalent:   ^


Calculates the bitwise equivalence (inverse XOR) of the current number and the next number.

Keyboard equivalent:   #


Clears the current calculation.

Keyboard equivalent:   ESC.


Deletes the last entered digit of the current number, if possible.

Keyboard equivalent:   BACKSPACE.


Stores the current number in memory, overwriting any value previously there.

Keyboard equivalent:   I or i.


Retrieves the number stored in memory.

Keyboard equivalent:   R or r.


Displays the current number in decimal (base 10).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+D.


Displays the current number in hexadecimal (base 16).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+H.


Displays the current number in binary (base 2).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+B.


Displays the current number in octal (base 8).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+O  (letter "O").


Converts all numbers entered so far (including that stored in memory) into an 8-bit number, either signed or unsigned.  The range of numbers is -128 to 127 (signed, in decimal) or 0 to 255 (unsigned, in decimal).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+8.


Converts all numbers entered so far (including that stored in memory) into a 16-bit number, either signed or unsigned.  The range of numbers is -32768 to 32767 (signed, in decimal) or 0 to 65535 (unsigned, in decimal).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+1  or  CTRL+6.


Converts all numbers entered so far (including that stored in memory) into a 32-bit number, either signed or unsigned.  The range of numbers is -2147483648 to 2147483647 (signed, in decimal) or 0 to 4294967295 (unsigned, in decimal).

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+3  or  CTRL+2.


Converts all numbers entered so far (including that stored in memory) to be either signed or unsigned.

Keyboard equivalent:   CTRL+S.


BASECALC.RTF:	Help file source for the Base Calculator.  © John Zaitseff, 1996.