Documenting an Equation in Solver

In the last issue of The HP Palmtop Paper, we presented a Solver Equation that works with complex numbers (pairs of numbers in which one number is in the real domain and the other is in the imaginary domain).

If you're like me, you probably tuck such equations away in an archive where they tend to collect electronic dust until you find a good use for them. The problem is that by the time you need such an equation you've forgotten how to use it.

To provide yourself with some instructions, you could imbed comments in the body of the equation: just enter text enclosed by exclamation marks.

A better way to add instructions is to use the Name field of the Solve Catalog screen. The Name field most often contains the name you give to an equation. The rest of the line in the Catalog screen usually displays the first line of the equation itself.

Since the name field can contain up to 60 characters or so, you can use several lines in the Catalog screen to give yourself some instant help when you load the equation file in Solver. Screen 1 shows how this looks for the Complex equation file.

Screen 1.