Who wrote this program
The XCALC program is written by
Bernt Ribbum
Greverudhagan 4
1415 Oppegård
Norway
Email:
Web:
This is one of the very first programs I have ever written for MS Windows, and I have learned a lot during the
development. Thanks to Borland C++ (Versions 2.0, 3.1, 5.0 and C++ Builder 5.5) writing the program has been fun,
and I am happy to share it with anyone who will use it (not the source code...).
Well, I have also used various
versions of Visual C++ for debugging purposes, but long double is still
not supported by that compiler, so releasing a version compiled with that is out
of the question. Unfortunately, the GNU MinGW system is also broken. It uses
microsoft run-time libraries to format numbers, and can therefore not format a
long double properly. Otherwise I might have used that compiler to generate
release versions.
Don't send me any money, but do send me – or a postcard, and tell me if you like the program.
Please also tell me where you found your first XCALC version. I would appreciate any constructive feedback
(and you must shout me a beer the next time you visit Norway).
One more thing: XCALC is written in C. Not C++. There is not a class in sight.
The lack of class libraries is one of the reasons XCALC still has a relatively small footprint,
and I intend to keep it that way!
Version History:
- Sep 1992 Version 1.0
- Nov 1992 Version 1.01 (added clipboard functions)
- Nov 1992 Version 1.02 (separate VGA/SuperVGA dialogue boxes)
- Dec 1992 Version 1.1 (fixed overflow error; added keep in front; display only selected elements on screen; configure on system menu; memory popup window, memory save)
- Jan 1993 Version 1.1 rel. 2 (removed BWCC.LIB from XCALC_A)
- Jun 1993 Version 1.2 (added keyboard display; greyed out inactive buttons; mouse sizing; more digits on memory popup; added percent and remainder functions; fixed a few bugs)
- Apr 1994 Version 1.2 rel. 2 (Decimal point / decimal comma selection; new keyboard)
- Oct 1994 Version 1.3 (Added editable screen colours)
- Nov 1996 Version 1.4 (Added 1000's separators; visible feedback in dialogue boxes; colour editing) Never published – I wanted a version 2.0 and went on..!
- Feb 1997 Version 2.0 (Added font based display; undo operation; better accuracy and larger numbers; sorted out some mathematically displeasing behaviour; normal/minimum toggle; other minor changes)
- Apr 1997 Version 2.02 (Separate 32-bit version; added conversions; save stack/conversions; consistent dialogue keyboard interface; fixed display roundoff errors; arithmetic shift)
- Jun 1997 Version 2.03 (Added constants dialogue box; right mouse button help; NumLock toggle capability)
- Jul 1997 Version 2.04 (Added hyperbolic functions)
- Aug 1997 Version 2.05 (Added more decimal key choices)
- May 1998 Version 2.1 (Exit 16-bit XCALC; fractions; better clipboard copy/paste; a few 32-bit fixups.)
- Dec 1998 Version 2.1.1 (Bug fixes, mainly due to the fractions.)
- Jul 2000 Version 2.2 (Bug fix; small changes.)
- Jul 2000 Version 2.3 (Tooltips; Swapped OK/Cancel buttons in dialogues; small bug fixes.)
- Jan 2001 Version 2.4 (Changed program name to XCALC.EXE; More tooltips; proper Mini/Normal config; odd problem with memory popup fixed; stay on screen when resized.)
- Jan 2002 Version 2.4.1 (Added F5…F8 to change radix.)
- Sep 2002 Version 2.5 (User defined conversions; single instance forced.)
- Oct 2003 Version 2.6 (XCALC now lives on the “System Tray”, not the taskbar; small bug fixes)
- Oct 2003 Version 2.6.1 (Better mouse resize.)
- Sep 2004 Version 2.6.2 (Bugfix: fractions divided by zero)
- Dec 2004 Version 2.6.3 (Back to taskbar; one more bitmap; more on system menu; more constants)
- Oct 2005 Version 2.6.4 (Bugfix: odd integer root; mini/tray separate; max 16 stack registers)
- Oct 2005 Version 2.6.5 (Close [X] button does not exit application when living in the tray.)
- Nov 2005 Version 2.7 (Tabbed config dialogue; editable custom colours; topmost works properly.)
- Sep 2006 Version 2.7.1 (32, 16 and 8 bit binary words; mini page fully customisable.)
- Oct 2006 Version 2.7.2 (Stack size setting; up to 64 stack entries; optional copy-on-drop; config dialogue tracks current mode; little bugfix)
- Feb 2007 Version 2.7.3 (Corrected US Pint and US Gallon conversion values.)
- Mar 2007 Version 2.7.4 (8, 16 bit signed; better accuracy with real results)
- Sep 2007 Version 2.8.0 (DMS support; “quick” feedback; mouse wheel)
- Nov 2007 Version 2.8.1 (Exception fix for e.g. 2^63)
- Feb 2008 Version 2.8.2 (Message popup window, HTML help)
- Feb 2008 Version 2.8.3 (Bugfix: 1/1 as input crashed)
- Mar 2008 Version 2.8.4 ("R" as round key; 1/1000'th
separator; help update)
- Mar 2008 Version 2.9.0 (Help file in same dir as exe - always
found; rudimentary keyboard edit; simple programming)
- June 2008 Version 2.9.1 (Keyboard defaults to 6, not 7 rows)
- July 2008 Version 2.9.2 (Bugfix in 32-bit binary %, new MOD and
DIV)
- July 2008 Version 2.9.3 (Bugfix: the ENG button did not show as
activated when selected)
- Sep 2009 Version 2.9.4 (Easier entering of programs)
See also